Ghosts of Manhattan

Batman meets steampunk with slight touch of Lovecraft, set in 1920s Prohibition New York  Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann has all of these features. Coal-powered cars travel the street; a Cold War between America and the British Empire; and Roman Coins in mint condition appearing at crime scenes - you have an interesting book.

The Ghost is a vigilante hero, whose alter-ego is playboy haunted by 'things' he saw during war including something that he can't explain - so there is the Batman/The Shadow link. People are dying and crimes being committed by a gang headed by The Roman. Who the Roman is? Why is he called the Roman? What are these people dying? These questions are explained with a touch of creatures from another dimension throw in for good measure.

This is a good fun book, that I kept thinking would make an great graphic novel; like a lot of steampunk the images are strong.  Well paced action and story, that keeps the readers interest.

For more reviews of this book:

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder is a great book. Richard Burton (the explorer not the actor) has had his destiny change by a time-traveller who comes to change the actions of one of his ancestors and ends up doing a lot more. This is the first in the series (previously I reviewed the second book http://scott-turner.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/curious-case-of-clockwork-man.html ).Richard Burton the explorer as a Sherlock Holmes-style private detective is an great idea, giving the character a reason to be an action hero. What genre to put this book is curious steam-punk or alternative history (a time-traveller had previously changed history), with well-known scientific heroes revealing a potentially darker alternative side.

Read this book first. It helps with understanding some of the issues in the second book, but also a great read that is hard to put down which is not bad for a 479 page book.

To read other reviews:

The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man

The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder is an interesting book. Richard Burton the explorer as a Sherlock Holmes-style private detective is an great idea, giving the character a reason to be an action hero. What genre to put this book is curious steam-punk or alternative history (a time-traveller had previously changed history), with well-known scientific heroes revealing a darker side or alternative side.


Little touches are good here like good like the foul-mouthed parakeets who pass on messages but add their own insults to the message.I really enjoyed this book, but it is hard (so perhaps best not) to pigeon-hole this book. There are elements of steam-punk, detective story (I keep thinking Sherlock Holmes as this not helped by one of the characters being a Doyle); but also areas traditionally associated with fantasy such as jewels with power.


Well worth a look. I would be interest to know what others think.#