Elitist Book Reviews

THE EXECUTIONER'S HEART is the fourth Newbury and Hobbes novel, and it takes place several months after the crazy events of the prior novel, THE IMMORALITY ENGINE. Veronica Hobbes' sister has been rescued, and now Sir Maurice Newbury is desperately trying to figure out the key to her prophetic visions, and why the Queen of England is after her.

In a way, this novel is the start of a new series. It's a new start that, while certainly building on the prior "trilogy", sets off in a new direction. With the backdrop of Newbury trying to help Hobbes' sister, a new threat runs amok. A series of brutal murders where the victims chests are torn open and the hearts taken. Along with it comes a vision that Hobbes may be the next victim.

This is pretty standard George Mann. The pacing is relentless, as usual, but is seems even more so with the "time bomb" that Newbury's vision of Hobbes' death sets into motion. The killer--The Executioner--is a terrific character herself. The weaving of her story into that of the other series regulars makes for fun fiction.

Really, that's what I've come to enjoy the most about George Mann's novels: the fun. I love how his glee for the characters and the world shine through in his writing. Every chapter has breathless momentum to it. There is no wasted space. Of course, when I say "fun" I don't mean everything is rainbows and clockwork kittens. Mann doesn't hesitate to put his characters into danger. These characters have been emotionally and physically worn down. Everything bad that can happen to them has happened, or happens in this novel. But the fun resides in the spirit both Newbury and Hobbes show. Beaten but never defeated.

The majority of this novel revolves around The Executioner. In a way this is a transitional novel. I got the impression that it is a novel to get the pieces into place before the real fireworks start. And talk about a cliffhanger ended. Sheesh.

So here's the deal. If you liked these novels before, you will love this novel. If you didn't, this novel won't change your mind. If you are a new reader yet to begin the series...well...I suppose I've spoiled a bit of it for you huh? Well you shouldn't have read ahead!

I love this series. I have loved it ever since reading THE AFFINITY BRIDGE. THE EXECUTIONER'S HEART just adds to the fun. It gives me steampunk, adventure, weird science, the supernatural, and the fun I need when I want to escape the seriousness of everyday life.

Recommended Age: 14+
Profanity: On par with the prior novels. So hardly any, and nothing super bad.
Violence: The Executioner rips out people's hearts. Nuff said?
Sex: Nope.

Get the series here:

THE AFFINITY BRIDGE
THE OSIRIS RITUAL
THE IMMORALITY ENGINE
THE EXECUTIONER'S HEART

I've come to a point in my reading life where I start planning the books I'm going to read well in advance. A new Dresden Files novel in the Spring. New Erikson & Esslemont novels in the Fall/Winter. A new Joe Ledger novel around February/March. Since starting this whole review gig, I've added George Mann to my list. For whatever reason, he work always entertains me.

Now, I dig Mann's Ghost series, I really do. But I get REALLY excited for the Newbury and Hobbes novels. This series just pushes all the right buttons for me. A copy of THE IMMORALITY ENGINE finally came to my doorstep, and I ignored everyone and everything while I started and finished it in virtually one sitting.

I absolutely love the setting and the blatant parallels to Sherlock Holmes. Sir Maurice Newbury is one of my more favorite characters to read, and his assistant Veronica Hobbes is his perfect match. You'll recall (and if you don't, this is where I remind you) that one of my main complaints for this series has been the small amount of screen time given to Hobbes. She was such an interesting character, but I never really felt like I was allowed to understander her from a reader's perspective. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Mann was reading my mind (or my reviews...whichever makes more sense). This book is told almost primarily from Hobbes' eyes. And it is awesome.

There are a lot of questions for readers going into this novel. What is the Queen's real goal? What is the deal with Hobbes' sister? Can Newbury keep it together without falling completely under the spell of opium? For the most part all these questions are addressed and answered. It was quite refreshing actually. What the readers end up with is a fairly solid trilogy that answers a ton of questions while setting up further story.

Again, I can't stress enough how great it was for me to get a majority of PoV sections from Veronica Hobbes. I just find her character so extremely interesting. She is very much a woman ahead of her time, and in this specific Steampunk setting it works absolutely perfectly. Don't get me wrong, I love Newbury. I love his Sherlock Holmes persona. I love his toughness. But Hobbes? For me she is excellent. I could read another novel right now from her PoV and be totally immersed.

You'll notice I haven't said much about the actual plot. The thing is, readers want to know if a series maintains its quality through the whole ride before starting it. All of you awesome readers want to read a review for one of the latter books in the series without having the earlier books spoiled. I get it, I really do. For the most part I can make that work. So, here is what you need to know:

THE IMMORALITY ENGINE is terrific in every single way. Once you read this book, the whole series will take on a different light. The real villains will seem more intelligent and more frightening. The main protagonists will seem more human. Suddenly a ton of small details from the first two books will pop out. George Mann did an amazing job making this novel work.

And seriously, look at this cover of the US edition. A mechanical horse with a Gatling gun on the side? If that doesn't make you want to read the book you are dead inside, and I pity you.

What else can I say to get you to read this book and this series? THE IMMORALITY ENGINE (and the prior novels) is about pure enjoyment and fun while reading. You get mystery, action, a little romance, Steampunk and supernatural stuff all wrapped up in one novel. I love this book, and I will endeavor to give George Mann a huge hug should I ever see him.

Recommended Age: 15 and up.
Language: Very, very light. Almost none.
Violence: To me, this was the most violent novel of the series, but there still wasn't a ton. This series is about the mystery.
Sex: Nope.

Books in the Newbury & Hobbes Series:

THE AFFINITY BRIDGE
THE OSIRIS RITUAL
THE IMMORALITY ENGINE

There's a reason we like George Mann's work. It's all fast-paced, fun, and can be read without having to work at it. GHOSTS OF WAR is Mann's second Ghost novel, and follows up immediately after GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN. It has pretty much all the elements that made MANHATTAN fun, yet also seems to have more flaws than the first entry.

Mechanical, bat-like constructs are terrorizing the city of Manhattan. They swoop down and abduct random people off the streets, and those people are never found. The Ghost does what any good vigilante hero would and tries to solve the mystery. He is helped once again by Detective Felix Donovan—one of the few who know the Ghost's real identity.

There is something you have to understand about the Ghost novels. They aren't meant to be the pinnacle of literature. They are pure leisure reads and will be enjoyed by those who dig novels with pulp sensibilities. GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN was steampunk Batman with some Lovecraft thrown in at the end. We loved it. Others don't because they seem to be taking it far to seriously. GHOSTS OF WAR is the same thing. When describing this book (and really while writing this review), we feel like we should do it in that old-fashioned TV personality way. You know, with dramatic music and everything. Will the Ghost survive this encounter? Dun dun DUNNNNNN!!!

The good here is that Mann tries to give a little more weight to the Gabriel Cross/Ghost dynamic. Which one is the real personality, and which is the mask? It's the same question explored in every superhero comic/book/movie. Overall we felt Mann did a good job here. Cross/Ghost is still a good character, and Donovan remain excellent as well.

Unfortunately the other main character, Ginny, doesn't fare as well. We kept waiting for her to be revealed as someone important: a spy, a supernatural hunter...something. But she never was. She was oddly good with guns, and was kinda a love interest, but she never really took on any personality. She was more of an object that was made into a person. We still aren't really sure what her point was in the novel. She appears, does a couple things, then vanishes. Will she have a bigger role (and a more explained and less coincidental role at that) in future novels? She better, or what was the point?

There are also a few logic holes in the novel, mostly with how certain creatures are destroyed, and with how TOUGH the Ghost is. We lost track of how many times he was stabbed, battered, and bludgeoned...and yet he was always good to go. Normally these things get overlooked in long novels, but GHOSTS OF WAR isn't long. It's really short, so every flaw stands out and seems more glaring.

If you liked GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN, you'll like GHOSTS OF WAR. It's really that simple. The setting is a fun as ever. The extended information on the conflict between the British and the U.S. is pretty awesome. The action scenes are thrill rides of entertainment. This isn't Mann's best work, but it serves its purpose. It's fun, fast, loose, and action-packed.

We definitely look forward to the next one in the series.

Recommended Age: 17 and up.
Language: There is a bit of strong language, though it didn't seem like there was as much as in the first novel.
Violence: Well duh. You read the first one right? Flechettes, guns, explosives and monsters. This series is pretty violent. Again though, the pulp-nature of it kinda makes that a must.
Sex: No detailed scenes, but some conversations about it.

George Mann is awesome. That is all.

OK, that really isn't all we are going to say, but it covers our opinions nicely. George Mann has given readers quite the year. If you were late to the party, you got THE AFFINITY BRIDGE. You also got GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN. In the UK you got THE IMMORALITY ENGINE. And now here in the US, THE OSIRIS RITUAL has finally been released. How great is that?

THE OSIRIS RITUAL is the second of Mann's Newbury & Hobbes novels, and it fits perfectly with the theme and quality of the first novel (which we reviewed here). Newbury, as you will recall, is very reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, and Hobbes is his Watson...only female. The main plot of OSIRIS revolves around a series of murders taking place after the unveiling of a recently discovered mummy. To get much more into the plot would reveal too much, so we will leave it at that.

Mann's Newbury & Hobbes novels seem to follow a formula of sorts. We have an interesting beginning, a large chase scene in the middle, an action-packed ending, followed by and epilogue that introduces and continues an over-arching conflict. So, there is your warning. If you read THE AFINNITY BRIDGE (which you SHOULD have), the structure of OSIRIS will be very familiar, as will the pacing.

Newbury himself is devolving further into opium addiction, further making him familiar to the Sherlock Holmes readers of the world (who know of Holmes' cocaine addiction). It is a terrific conflict, especially with how it spills over into his professional life, and his interactions with his friends. Hobbes gets more "screen-time" in this novel, but still manages to feel a tad underused until, like in book one, the epilogue. The cast of side-characters are fantastic, and serve the story well. One thing we do wish, however, is for a bit clearer-cut interaction with the Osiris Ritual itself (you'll know what we mean when you read it). At times, it seemed almost irrelevant.

These novels aren't got to make you stop an reconsider the world. They are Sherlock Holmes Steampunk mystery novels. If you know that going in, you will love every bit. If we have one desire for this series, it is that in future installments, the line between science and the occult becomes even more murky.

Recommended Age: 14 and up.
Language: One word the entire novel.
Violence: Yeah, these books never lack for it. It is well executed, and not near as extreme as in Mann's GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN. Essentially, expect more of the same from THE AFFINITY BRIDGE.
Sex: No, not in this series.

If you have been following our not-so-humble blog, you know we like George Mann. So when we got our paws on his GHOSTS IN MANHATTAN, published by Pyr, we knew we were in for a treat.

GHOSTS is set in America during the roaring 20's, but with a Steampunk bent, and as if that isn't cool enough, George Mann inserts enough Urban Fantasy elements to create a sweet mesh of the two genres. Actually, the genre almost does a complete swap in the last third of the book. It was a little jarring, but the pace of the book swept us along, without giving us time to let the change bother us.

Let us say, right up front, this book won't be for everyone. The violence is just brutal. The opening scene was quite violent even for us, and we love a good action scene. The titular character uses a flechette cannon and shreds bad guy's heads. There is plenty of swearing and talk about sex. One of our close friends, read the opening chapter and didn't finish it. He heard that Nick liked the book, and said, "Yeah, that sounds about right." Your sensibilities will largely determine whether you like this book. If you have to ask yourself whether you will or not, you will probably be offended.

However...the action scenes were SO awesome. They were very clear, immediate, and visceral. There wasn't an action scene to be found that didn't make us wonder, just for a minute, exactly how the Ghost would be maimed or crippled, and yes, he was injured PLENTY of times. Also, to Mann's credit, there wasn't any indication of "Butcher syndrome" where the protagonists were exhausted, injured, and spent, and somehow managed to reach inside and find some well of energy left. We hate that. When the characters in GHOST were presented with a challenge, they had to actually meet it. No Deus Ex here folks! Woohoo!

Aside from the pacing and strong writing, if we were to pick out a strength of the novel, it would be Mann's ability to make these characters all believable and likable. All except the love interest of the protagonist. She remains largely a mystery, with a fairly shallow characterization until the end. But by then we didn't care quite as much about her as we should have. The rest of them are Ah-Mazing, though. Gabriel is the perfect jaded playboy; the Ghost is menacing, dangerous, yet 'heroic'; Donovan, while having a slightly cliche cop story, was enjoyable the whole time. The villain(s) were just as intriguing. Bravo, Mann!

One of the cool things that was done in the book was the attempt to keep us guessing at the true identity of the Ghost. We both actually wished this aspect had been pressed harder. It was obvious right from the start who he was, but there were constant moments of "Wait...is he really...or is he someone else...?" We could have done with more of those.

As soon as Steve finished the book he called Nick (who luckily got to read the book first). As if the website wasn't proof enough that we are linked at the brain, we both said at just about the same moment, "Could have been 150 pages longer." We really wish this was true. The fast pace works both for and against the book. Ever eaten a meal so fast you barely got to taste it? That's a little bit how the book felt. It was too fast and too short, with extremely likable and interesting characters, that ALL deserved a lot more screen time than they were given. The book didn't just leave us room for dessert, but another course when we were finished. That's a little annoying.

GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN is a bit cliche-ridden, quick, a little on the light side of plot, a bit heavy-handed at times, but is just plain fun. It hurls the Steampunk and Superhero genres at each other with full force, and somewhere in between the two Urban Fantasy/Horror gets caught in the Melee. We like the recipe that was created here. A lot. We want more, and are looking forward to the next installment. Is it the best book you will read this year? Not even close, but it is completely entertaining.

Recommended Age: 18 and up.
Language Ayep. Rated-R here.
Violence: Oh wow, yes. The first chapter is a very good indication of what the rest of the book contains. In said chapter bad guys kept disintegrated by flechettes, burned and boiled by jetpacks, and a lady gets stabbed. It was...an interesting choice to start the book with that much graphic violence.
Sex: A few acts committed and mentioned, nothing graphic or explicitly shown.

P.S. - Also, the cover art, by Benjamin Carre, is soooooo rad. Nick is determined to get a giant print of it to hang in his room.

If you are like us, when you go to a bookstore you let your eye wander. If you already know what you want to buy, and you walk right to it and pick it up, you've missed a golden opportunity. When you let yourself browse the bookstore, you get the opportunity to let books choose you, in a sense. This is how we discovered THE AFFINITY BRIDGE by George Mann. The art design on the cover is incredible--some of the best we've see this year, in fact--and we knew right away that we wanted to read it. So, we each picked up a copy...

...and remembered that, unfortunately, we are poor. So we put the copies back, and went to the library. It was a bummer.

The second anyone sees this cover, they will know that it is Steampunk. For the uninitiated, there is only one thing you need to know about the sub-genre. Steampunk = awesome. THE AFFINITY BRIDGE is no exception. Airships, automatons, steam-carriages, tea, and zombies (wahoo!!!). Yeah, this has all the good stuff.

But you know what really made this novel great for us? The feeling that it was a Sherlock Holmes novel. In a Steampunk setting. Where Watson is a chick. And the Queen is a Steampunk monstrosity. Geez...it's exciting and cool just thinking of it.

There are several plots afoot (we've always wanted to say 'afoot') that are happening all at the same time in Mann's novel. A mysterious glowing policeman is killing people. There are zombies running around the streets of London (once again, WAHOO!). However, the main investigation taken by our PoVs Newbury (the Holmes character) and Hobbes (the female Watson character), is an airship that crashes Hindenburg style, killing all of its occupants. The plots, and their resolutions, are completely fantastic. In all seriousness, THE AFFINITY BRIDGE is a standard mystery novel, yet...if feels so fresh. Maybe it is the nostalgic Sherlock Holmes feel, or maybe it is the Steampunk setting. Perhaps it is even the simple added possibility that the supernatural actually exists in this world created by Mann. Whatever the cause, we loved every minute.

This story would have failed terribly without good characters. Newbury, the main PoV, is perfectly written in our opinion. From his drug addiction to his obsession to the occult, he his a flawed and real character. Hobbes--Newbury's assistant--is a strong female character who really deserved more "screen-time." And just wait until you read the epilogue. It really made the Hobbes character awesome for us, and we imagine it will give her more PoV time in the following novels. The side characters were well done, as are the villains (thankfully, the villains weren't crazy over-the-top like in most mystery-like novels). One of the side characters, The Fixer, was fabulous. His small section in the story illustrated perfectly how to show off "cool-stuff" in a story without it feeling tacked-on. Budding authors, take note.

There were a few issues we had. The PoV switches were very poor in some places. There were times where you had two or three different PoVs in a single paragraph. It didn't happen all the time, but often enough to make note of. In addition, setting description was very light at times. We would have liked some time dedicated to showing us the differences in this London from the real historic one. But hey, all of the good plot and character made up for these small problems.

Like so many novels lately, this one has been out in the UK for a bit now, and the sequel already came out as well. If the price for importing wasn't so high, we would consider sending for the second one. But once again, we are poor. It makes us sad pandas. That being said, we fully intend to read everything that George Mann releases. He has his next Newbury & Hobbes novel coming out next year (book 2 for the US, book 3 for the UK), as well as another novel titled GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN coming out through Pyr SF&F in April (looks like the UK gets it in May). Go grab a copy of THE AFFINITY BRIDGE (it is worth every penny of the cover-price), and while you are at it, preorder Mann's next novels.

The Affinity Bridge - A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation Book 1
The Osiris Ritual - A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation Book 2 - UK EDITION
The Immorality Engine - A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation Book 3 - UK EDITION
Ghosts of Manhattan

Simply put: we can't wait to read more George Mann!

Recommended Age: 13 and up. This novel is perfectly accessible to all ages.
Language: Nope.
Violence: Yeah, there is some, especially towards the end with the zombies and such. It's great.
Sex: Nope.


Steve's Note: I'm a big sucker for mystery novels, and I tend to read quite a bit in the mystery/thriller genre. Lately, however, the genre has gone stale, and I've looked for my mystery fix in other areas--namely horror or classics. Mann's THE AFFINITY BRIDGE was picked up strictly based on its cover, but the mystery novel inside really made me excited for mystery again. It also made me pick up the Complete Annotated Sherlock Holmes collection. Three huge hardbacks with every Sherlock Holmes short story and novel. They look pretty, but my wife won't let me read them until Christmas.

Seriously, give Mann's Steampunk novel a try. Not only will it give you an appreciation for the awesomeness of Steampunk, but it might restore your belief in mystery novels again.