The Transatlantic Conspiracy

by G.D. Falksen

[Beth C.]

It's 1908, and the world is on the verge of war. Rosalind, however, is worried more about having to go back home to America to her parents than anything else. Her father, an industrialist, instructs her to ride home on his new "underwater railroad", and while she's less than thrilled, it gets better when the friends she has been staying with offer to go with her. But once on the train, everything changes. One friend has disappeared, and another ends up dead. With nowhere to run, Rosalind has to figure out what is going on - and quickly - before she ends up dead as well.

So. While this book is not high literature, it is reasonably entertaining. However, I did find the CONSTANT reminders of class separation annoying. It's one thing to introduce a topic to your readers with some information and then let the book speak for itself. It's a whole other thing to be consistently bashed across the head with A VERY SERIOUS POINT while reading. Had that been toned down - a lot - it would have made for a better reading.

The characters definitely need a little polish, but since this appears to be the start to a series, one can only hope that they improve. There was so much emphasis on A VERY SERIOUS POINT that I think the author must have run out of room to actually work on the characters.

Another weird thing is that - all the main characters were older teens (Rosalind is 17). And yet (no spoilers), the writing feels middle-grade and their actions often feel older than YA. It's a strange combination, sort of like trying to appeal to everyone at once and missing the mark.

Overall, yes - it has issues. Several of them. But the story is mildly entertaining. If you decide that you still want to read the book, my recommendation would be to get it from a library.