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Life is anything but easy for high school student Nick Solitario. Everywhere he goes, people either see right through him or abuse him both emotionally and physically. The only source of joy in his life is Lindy Xin, a girl he admires only from afar because she dates Ice, one of Nick's most sadistic tormentors. One day the tables finally turn for Nick when he curiously discovers that he has strange super powers. At first it just seems to be red eyes and the ability to turn invisible, but later Nick learns that he can hypnotize people and project visions into their heads. Vowing to get revenge on his bullies as well as the thugs who killed his mother, Nick begins to prowl the city nightly as The Phantom, a vigilante that stops at nothing to achieve vengeance.
Drawing inspiration from plenty of superhero lore that precedes this story, this book blends many ideas that may be familiar to fans of comic books into something new. Nick is a tragic hero, but one with a tendency to cross the line of what is acceptable versus what is just. Despite the younger characters, this story contains a considerable amount of adult material, though it focuses mostly on graphic violence rather than anything sexual in nature. Allusions are made to stronger, darker forces at work behind the scenes, and this first series of adventures lays the groundwork for much more to happen and develop in later books. Readers that like urban fantasy with a strong dose of grizzly realism, may find a new favorite hero to follow in The Phantom.