Tuesday, July 1, 2014

DRAGONS & DIRIGIBLES by Cindy Spencer Pape



Publisher: Carina Press
Date published: May 19th, 2014
ISBN:
13: 9781426898372
Steampunk
E-book
Reviewed by Helen
Weblink: http://ebooks.carinapress.com/E2513D74-2785-4F91-83E9-8962F28D6894/10/134/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=699EC8D7-468A-4406-9B90-F6127ED1C559.
Obtained via publisher
Rating: 5



The new Earl of Blackwell, recently retired ship’s captain Victor Arrington, has enough to deal with after the unexpected death of his older brother leaves him in charge of a gothic manor he didn’t want in an area with smuggling problems. Smugglers who use fire-breathing mechanical dragons.
Melody Mackay, airship engineer, crash lands on his property and instantly involves herself in the mystery to his annoyance. Not to mention the problem of who shot-down her new experimental dirigible.


The Gaslight Chronicles Series Book Seven.
I am really enjoying this series and am always waiting impatiently for the next installment in the saga. Ms. Spencer Pape has an amazing ability to throw history, science and magick into her cauldron and pull believable rabbits out of her hat. Yes, that’s a mixed metaphor, but hey, it’s exactly what happens in these books, and the reader is dragged along accepting every last one of them.


Once again, all the characters from the key couple to the most minor, are sketched unerringly and made incredibly three dimensional and real. Victor’s mental gymnastics as he worked through the issues facing him were very well drawn. The author demonstrated her plotting skills in that there were a few hints as to the smugglers, one I picked up on, the other I completely missed until it was too late. There’s lots of action, drama, fun, humor, and, as always in these books, a great fight scene. The dialogue is witty, the action fast-paced, and the tension high enough to make the reader shiver, yet never too high to be bearable. All in all, the reader will be like me, unable to put the book down until the final page.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.
 



2 comments:

Melissa Keir said...

Great Review! I love Cindy's books. She's fabulous!

Sandy said...

A lovely review, Cindy. I Googled it.