The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter

June 23, 2014
Steeped in illusion and grounded in an alternative history of the Luddite Rebellion, Duncan’s strong supernatural mystery serves ably as both a standalone adventure and the start to a series. A rebellion has divided the United Kingdom into two republics. The prose’s arch-Victorian tone establishes both character and place in the voice of the admirably driven Elizabeth Barnabus, who poses as her nonexistent twin brother, Edwin, in order to work as a private detective in the starchy, straight-laced Anglo-Scottish Republic. Strategically placed steampunk tropes inform but do not overwhelm Elizabeth’s headlong quest to find a missing aristocrat sought by the Patent Office, which is fixated on both achieving perfection and eliminating “unseemly science.” A hazardous border crossing into the permissively corrupt Kingdom of England and Southern Wales provides ample excitement, and a glossary at the novel’s conclusion hints enticingly at a much more involved story to come.

August 1, 2014

Leading a double life in the Anglo-Scottish Republic, Elizabeth Barnabus is a careful planner and a quick-change artist. At night, she sets aside her skirts and parasols and dons pants and a false mustache to pretend to be her own brother, a private detective and enquiry agent. Elizabeth has managed to make a meager living this way since she was forced to flee the Kingdom of England and Southern Wales because her family was targeted by the all-powerful Patent Office, which forbids any advanced technology. Elizabeth takes on the case of a kingdom aristocrat looking to find her missing brother and tangles with vicious thugs, circus impresarios, and government agents. VERDICT If readers can suspend disbelief long enough to swallow the premise of a present-day England that has voluntarily halted its technological development at the stage of the steam engine and allowed Luddites to split the country in two, this is a hugely entertaining novel. Nonstop adventure, danger, and a plucky heroine who consistently saves herself from peril make this new series from the author of the "Riot" trilogy (Backlash; Breakbeat; Burnout) one to watch for steampunk fans.

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