King of the Cracksmen

By Dennis O'Flaherty

The year is 1877. Automatons and steam-powered dirigible gunships have transformed the nation in the aftermath of the Civil War. Everything on the other side of the Mississippi has been claimed for Russia. Lincoln is still president, having never been assassinated, but the former secretary of war Edwin Stanton is now the head of the Department of Public Safety, ruling with an iron fist as head of the country's military. Liam McCool is a bad man, one of the best Irish cracksmen there is when it comes to robbery, cracking safes, and other sundry actives—until he was caught red-handed by Stanton. Those in the South who don't fit into Stanton's plans for the Reconstruction, and Stanton realizes Liam McCool is more useful doing his dirty work than sitting in a jail cell. But when his sweetheart, Maggie, turns up murdered, Liam McCool realizes he'll do anything, even if it means getting way over his head with bloodthirsty Russians, to solve the crime. The King of the Cracksmen is an explosive, action-packed look at a Victorian empire that never was, part To Catch a Thief, part Little Big Man. It's steampunk like you've never seen it before, a murder mystery in a foreign world where no one is who they seem to be and danger lurks around every corner.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Night Shade Books
• Release date: Jan 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781597805629

Reviews for King of the Cracksmen

[drneutron_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In 1877, an America threatened by a Russia that controls everything west of the Mississippi and led by Secretary Ed Stanton is on the verge of a meltdown. The aftermath of the Civil War has led to a police state, where citizens spy on one another and where an elite class rules with an iron fist.In this world, Liam McCool, safecracker and leader of a New York gang, is trying to clear himself by spying on a coal miners' terrorist group. When his lover Is killed, he vows to find her murderer, but this may lead him farther afield than he ever expected.Dennis O'Flaherty lends his years of experience writing films and television to create a nice mix of To Catch a Thief and Little Big Man with steampunk trimmings. And by steampunk, I don't just mean dirigibles and automatons, although they're there. The key to good steampunk is in the punk - that rebellious, fight the man attitude that this sort of book should have. This one really reminded me of the classics like Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates. Recommended!