The Devious Dr. Jekyll by Viola Carr
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Steam Punk/Fantasy
Release Date: October 27th, 2015
Buy Links:
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Book Description:
Dr. Eliza Jekyll, heroine of the electrifying The Diabolical Miss Hyde—an edgy
steampunk retelling of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—investigates a bizarre
murder case in an alternate Victorian London while battling her treacherous secret
half: Lizzie Hyde.
Solving the infamous Chopper case has helped crime scene physician Dr. Eliza
Jekyll establish her fledgling career in the chauvinistic world of Victorian law
enforcement. But the scrutiny that comes with her newfound fame is unwelcome
for a woman with a diabolical secret. And there is the mercurial Royal Society
agent and wolf man Remy Lafayette. Does he want to marry her, eat her, or burn
her at the stake? Though Eliza is uncertain about Remy, her dark and jealous
shadow self, Lizzie, wants to steal the magnetic and persistent agent, and usurp
Eliza’s life.
It’s impossible to push Remy away when he tempts her with the one thing she
can’t resist: a bizarre crime. The search for a bloodthirsty ritual torturer dubbed the
Pentacle Killer draws them into a terrifying world of spies, art thieves, and evil
alchemy, where the price of immortality is madness—or damnation—and only
Lizzie’s dark ingenuity can help Eliza survive.
As Eliza and Remy race to thwart a foul conspiracy involving the sorcerous
French, they must also overcome a sinister enemy who is all too close: the
vengeful Lizzie, determined to dispose of Eliza for good.
"The Devious Dr. Jekyll" by Viola Carr was a bit
of a different read for me. Although I'm familiar with the aspects of the Steam
Punk genre, I've never actually read any before. It took me a bit to get
familiar with the culture and language being used, but once I was properly
acclimated I was able to enjoy Carr's story.
This is actually the second book in Carr's "Electric
Empire" series. This is another series that I'm not starting at the
beginning, but it was enough of a standalone book that I was able to read the
second in the series and not feel completely lost. However, there were a lot of
characters in this electric Victorian world that sometimes seemed to all run
together for me. This is possibly something that would have been easier to keep
track if I had read the previous book.
There also seemed to be a lot of bad guys in the story. Just when Dr. Jekyll thinks that the case is solved, a different facet opens up with another guilty party. While this does keep the story moving forward, I think that things could have been simplified a bit more.
One of the things that I found interesting was the
relationship between Eliza and Lizzie. While they're never technically together
in the same room, they are always apart of each other's lives. That could be taxing
on a relationship. As a result, their feelings towards each other seems to
seesaw from one spectrum to another, but I think that the shifts in emotion are
realistic for the situation.
Not only would I recommend "The Devious Dr.
Jekyll", but I also think that I am going to find the first book in Carr's
series to read as well. It might have taken me a bit to get into the story, but
now I am in and would like to continue on and read what happens next.
Viola Carr was born in Australia, but wandered into darkest London one foggy October evening and never found her way out. She now devours countless history books and dictates fantastical novels by gaslight, accompanied by classical music and the snoring of her slumbering cat.
She loves history, and pops down to London’s many historical sites whenever she gets the chance. She likes steampunk, and thought it would be cool to investigate wacky crimes with crazy gadgets…just so long as her heroine was the creator of said wacky gadgets: a tinkerer, edgy, with a dash of mad scientist.
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