A body has appeared by the marvel of the Transatlantic Span, and as it turns out, the corpse is faceless. Inspector Matthew Langton has recently lost the love of his life, his wife, Sarah. Her death has left him with endless nightmares and attacks of fear and hopelessness. He takes on the case hoping to preoccupy himself, but it soon turns sinister with soul snatchers who come in the darkness of night, and the mystery may involve more of him than he could ever imagine.
A gritty murder-mystery with its own outstanding steampunk mythos, Doktor Glass does not disappoint. Mourned love, supernatural Jar Bars, and the chilling title character all fill the pages. There's a lot going on in DOKTOR GLASS and author Thomas Brenham does it spectacularly. The massive Transatlantic Span is almost a character in its own right, and a conspiracy involving Queen Victoria is also highlighted in a grand way.
There's so much to love with DOKTOR GLASS. Inspector Matthew Langton provides wonderfully detailed and surprisingly real investigations into the strange murder that the tale opens up with. His discoveries lead to some surprising conclusions, and he finds hope for his deceased wife, Sarah, or at least he thinks. By the end of the book I was torn with Langton's ultimate decision, and I'm personally glad it wasn't me faced with the same. Langton's debut novel is delightful and his writing is very promising. I look forward to reading more from this author.
"In an age of zeppelins and gyroplanes, atomics and
horseless carriages, the Transatlantic Span is the
industrial marvel of the nineteenth century. A monumental
feat of engineering, the steel suspension bridge stretches
across the Atlantic from Liverpool to the distant harbor of
New York City, supported by no less than seven hundred
towers. But in the shadows of its massive struts, on the
docks of the River Mersey, lies a faceless corpse...
Inspector Matthew Langton is still seized with grief when he
thinks of Sarah, his late wife. Tortured by nightmares and
afflicted by breathless attacks of despair and terror, he
forces himself to focus on the investigation of the faceless
man. The victim wears the uniform of the Transatlantic Span
Company but bears the tattoos of the Boers--could there be a
Boer conspiracy to assassinate Queen Victoria on the
upcoming inauguration day of the Span? But the truth, as it
begins to emerge, is far more bizarre than a political coup.
As additional victims turn up--all with strange twin burn
marks on their necks--Langton draws a connection between the
dead man beneath the bridge and chilling rumors of the Jar
Boys, soul snatchers who come under cover of night. Most
frightening of all is the mythic and elusive Doktor Glass,
who not only may be behind the illicit trade in souls...but
may hold the key to what happened to the inspector's own
beloved wife on her deathbed.."--
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