It is 1880 in a mechanical and supernatural
London. Agents of Prince Albert’s Secret Commission, their criminal pasts wiped
from their memories, are resurrected to fight the eldritch evils that threaten
England. Amidst this turmoil, Jim Dastard and his new partner Artifice must
stop a re-animationist raising murderous dead children. As Art and Jim pursue
their quarry, Art discovers clues about her past self, and through meeting
various intriguing women—a journalist, a medium, a prostitute, and a mysterious
woman in black—where her heart lies. Yet the question remains: What sort of
criminal was she? A new beginning, a new identity, and new dangers await Art as
she fights for the Secret Commission and for her second life.
You can buy Risen here:
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*please note, this book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review.
I had some trouble getting into this book
in the beginning, not because of the plot, but because it took me some time to
get used to the English that was used in this book. *can you tell I’m not born
into the English language?* I even had to look up the term Quaker. Never heard
about that before. Well, I learned something new. :-)
Once I came past the oldish English, I
caught up with the story quickly and found myself locked into the mystery that
was Art, Jim and the re-animationist who is making trouble wherever he goes.
Art is a ghost, a woman resurrected when
she died, now working for the Secret Commission catching criminals. But not
everybody is resurrected. Only former criminals are brought back to catch other
bad guys, but in the process, they lose their memories of their previous lives.
They know basic things, but everything personal is ripped away. Art is a former
Quaker, and some of that is still lodged within her, and she know how she is
supposed to act…. I liked Art, and I liked the mystery she represented, and
that it was only in the very end we got to know more about her.
Her partner; Jim Dastardly is a skull with
a wondrous appetite for the finer things in life and a need for smoke and fire.
I have no doubts that Jim has his secrets as well, and I am hoping we get to
see more of him and his past in future books. Imagine a skull shouting and
screaming anything that comes into his mind, and at the same time, cares about
his surroundings, the people in his life.
Add into the story a mix of mystery,
danger, amazing gadgets, magic…. And
you’ve got the first book in Dark Victorian series.
I was intrigued after my initial problems
in the beginning, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
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