Rector Sherman makes money by selling, and sometimes sampling, the local favorite drug, sap. His eighteenth birthday is just around the corner, which means his time at the orphanage is coming to an end. With nowhere to go, and a heavy conscience weighing on him about Zeke, a missing friend that he feels responsible for, he decides to enter the forbidden walls of Seattle as his last resort. Once inside, Rector realizes it's not as bad as he'd heard -- it's worse. The blight and zombies abound. Add in a strange and deadly something that resides in the mist, and another opening in the wall itself by another threat, and the question becomes will Rector make it out alive.

Book number five in the Clockwork Century series, THE INEXPLICABLES is a surprisingly easy read if you're not privy to the prior books, Priest has given adequate but brief explanations to set the stage for the cast of characters. Set in an alternative late nineteenth century walled off Seattle where fantastical steampunk tropes abound, the main character, Rector, is a drug-riddled youth who goes searching for a lost friend. To say this character is flawed is to put it lightly, but what he lacks in morals or ethics, he makes up for in heart. With Rector, the reader is able to see his transformation throughout the story. Not quite from ugly duckling to swan, but believable and with a certain depth. My favorite element was Seattle itself. It was creepy enough to keep me reading, wanting to see what else lies within the borders. Blight, gas masks, rotters, and zombie Sasquatch. Enough said.

The overall story arc is continued nicely. Fans will know that we can trust Locus award winning Cherie Priest's writing and she certainly keeps up the standard to which fans are used to. I recommend the entire series for steampunk enthusiasts and horror, sci-fi and fantasy readers alike.