The Death Collector

Good opening for this science fiction mystery set in the past. (Imagine you buried a family member days ago, but he suddenly shows up at your house. Yeah.) I liked the main characters and the tie-in with dinosaurs was a plus. Enjoyed the séance, too. Figuring out the object the villain wanted well before the heroes did merely made me wonder when they'd find out. The dangers our heroes encountered were reasonably scary, although I wondered what England's climate would do in the long run, and couldn't help but think that training teams with screwdrivers and wrenches/spanners might wreck havoc with the villain's grand plan. Nice climax!

Victorian England — something strange and evil seems to be in the air. The British Museum is broken into in the dark, late hours. The thieves are looking for Glick’s diary. Not finding it, destruction of property and a death are what they leave in their wake.

Eddie Hopkins is a street urchin who earns money as a pickpocket. When he steals the wallet of George Archer, he finds a piece of a page with charred edges and himself involved in bringing down a man with dangerous ideas.

George Archer works at the British Museum. The loss of his wallet and death of a close friend sends him into a strange, dangerous and dark world filled with mechanical monsters, an obsessed and power hungry industrialist, with high ambitions of his prehistoric show more creations that will control the world under his power. George is up against this man that will stop at nothing to accomplish his dream…or rather nightmare.

Fast paced, with moments of London’s dark and smoggy fog, the adventure is to solve the mystery of who is behind these strange mechanical monsters and the events related to them.

A fun read of an unusual adventure. show less

Victorian Flair with a Hightech Scare

This is a fabulous blend of mystery and horror for young adults who would like a Victorian scare with high-tech flair. The story was fast paced, and I was riveted to my seat from start to finish in one sitting. I am a big fan of the author's Invisible Detective series and found this another great title to enjoy. Like in the Invisible Detective series, the plot mixes a nice blend of endearing characters with some very nasty villains and lots of action and mystery to keep one turning the pages without stopping. . Two thumbs up for this creepy suspense novel!

This was great fun! An evil Victorian industrialist has learned how to animate machines using dead bodies and dead body parts. He is trying to learn the secret of how to reproduce these zombie-like creatures. Our heroes: a boy, young women and young man, along with an older gentleman, have to stop them. It's a page turner for sure!

Good, but not great. Although the plot is rather imaginative, the novel starts much stronger than it ends. The beginning is very atmospheric and "Londony," but Richards abandons his descriptive flow in favor of quick plot advancement after the first chapter. Still, worth reading.

This was a fun, face paced read, set in Victorian England in the British Museum. George, Eddie, and Elizabeth race against time to discover the secret coveted by an evil man who has discovered the secret to creating a semblance of life after death and wants to use his knowledge and the artifact in question to take over the world. Will he succeed or will they stop him in time?

A good read! A pickpocket, science, magic, Victorian London. A clergyman's daughter, an apprentice clockmaker, horror, mystery, and a touch of romance and humor. What's not to like?