Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Boneshaker (Clockwork Century, #1)

by Cherie Priest

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska's ice. Thus was Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue's widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

2 of 5 stars

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I expected to enjoy this book a lot more than I actually did. The Steampunk/Post Apocalypse/Zombie blend is a really great idea. I think the main problem I had was the simple fact that the characters didn’t mean anything to me and I didn’t care if they lived or died, also I do think the story droned on a little bit and could of been trimmed a little more to make the story more exciting.

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  • Started reading
  • 9 February, 2011: Finished reading
  • 9 February, 2011: Reviewed