History Literature / DevilsCape

* KnifeNut: Osprey uses knives designed as extensions of her fists.

* TheCowl: Hangman seems to have been this, but from the sound of it, he went beyond "dark" into "SociopathicHero" (and even that might be over-generous; he's implied to have been involved with the KKK). Nobody feels bad when the Robber Baron arranges his death.

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: the map of Devil's Cape at the beginning of the book shows that it's in the same geographic location as Slidell, Louisiana

* PowerTrio: our three main superhero characters are the new Doctor Camelot (Kate Brauer), Argonaut (Jason Kale), and Bedlam (Cain Ducett).

* TheCape: Every one of the Storm Raiders, but Doctor Camelot is the one we hear most about.

* {{Expy}}: the map of Devil's Cape at the beginning of the book shows that it's in the same geographic location as Slidell, Louisiana.

Devil's Cape is a novel by Rob Rogers set in a world of superheroes and supervillains. Although early in the story the narrative alternates between significant past and present events, the main storyline is set in the modern-day town of [[WretchedHive Devil's Cape, Louisiana,]] a former pirate town that attracts tourism mainly through its famous crimes, and the fact that it was home to the first named supervillain, notorious pirate St. Diable, and his nemesis Lady Danger.

A group of carnies are exposed to the moment of death of a famous superhero, and as a result gain superpowers based on their own abilities. Taking the name of the "[[CircusOfFear Cirque d'Obscurite]]," they make a name for themselves as a deadly group of supervillains, killing the superhero Doctor Camelot. When the rest of his team, the Storm Raiders, track the Cirque D'Obscurite to Devil's Cape to bring them to justice, they are all killed with brutal efficiency. They settle in as enforcers to the Robber Baron, Devil's Cape's [[VillainWithGoodPublicity resident]] [[ObviouslyEvil well-known mob boss]].

Around the same time as the Cirque D'Obscurite are rising, Cain Ducett, a young juvenile delinquent, has a run-in with Jazz Rydland, a girl his age with a deep interest in voodoo. When he knocks her down and almost kills her, she curses him, and he soon finds himself morphing into a demonic monster, sending him into a panic that drives him to take hostages, until he realizes the change is gone, seemingly imagined, and reforms his life. He leads a normal, respected life as a psychiatrist, dismissing the incident as hallucination, until twenty-two years later, he suddenly begins to change again and seeks out Jazz to discover that not only was her curse genuine, she made him relapse to force him to protect her - from the Robber Baron himself.

* BadassNormal: Swashbuckler, one of the Storm Raiders, had no superpowers.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It's not until Behemoth finds Hector Hell's corpse that he is really enraged by the attacking superheroes, and he comes rampaging out of the mansion holding the body and hunting for the culprit.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Initially what Jazz's curse is.
** ImmortalityImmorality: [[spoiler:The Robber Baron. He reveals himself to be St. Diable, and that he killed the woman he loved in order to live forever. He began as a pirate, and became a mob boss.]]

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Bedlam's major ability is this.
** Werewolf is also capable of changing shape - he can appear fully human or fully wolf, but he prefers his third shape, a hybrid of the two.

** [[spoiler:At the end of the book, Scion finds the heroes and tells them where they can find the Cirque d'Obscurite, and involves himself in the fight to help take out Hector Hell. Julian is furious that Costas brought Zhdanov to his and Jason's father's restaurant, especially when he made it clear to Costas that his father and brother are to be left out of Costas' work entirely.]]

* {{Shapeshifting}}: Bedlam's major ability is this.
** Werewolf is also capable of changing shape - he can appear fully human or fully wolf, but he prefers his third shape, a hybrid of the two.

* SuperStrength: Most of what Behemoth got as his superpower.

* WingedHumanoid: Osprey, Bedlam, and the late Winged Tornado. The latter two are both specifically targeted by the former, as Osprey has a vendetta against other superbeings with wings.

Devil's Cape is a novel by Rob Rogers set in a world of superheroes and supervillains. Although early in the story the narrative alternates between significant past and present events, the main storyline is set in the modern-day town of [[WretchedHive Devil's Cape, Louisiana,]] a former pirate town that attracts tourism mainly through its famous crimes, and the fact that it was home to the first named supervillain, notorious pirate St. Diable.

* CorruptCop: Dustin Bilbray, who is both overtly racist, only even attempting to stop a young Cain from doing whatever he wants when he threatens the white Jazz, and who outright demands a bribe to let Jason into the scene of the Storm Raiders' murder.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Robber Baron. While he has [[ShameIfSomethingHappened his talk]] with Warren Sims, passersby are more excited than frightened to see him.

Katie Brauer discovers a secret of her father's several years after his death. He was the late Doctor Camelot, [[LegacyCharacter the third to take the title,]] and she makes the decision to [[TakeUpMySword become the fourth]] and bring the Cirque d'Obscurite to justice - especially [[HeroKiller the Behemoth,]] [[YouKilledMyFather who killed her predecessor.]]