Required Reading

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Friday, November 22, 2013

Box Car Baby by J.L. Mulvihill


This is book one of the Steel Roots series.   Even telling you that up front won't stop you from being annoyed when the book stops abruptly.  I enjoyed the book but I wish the author would have coasted to a stop rather than doing a tuck and roll out the window and having the story just stop.  Abby is a teenager thrust into an intolerable situation when her father disappears, her main caretaker grandmother is incarcerated and she is pursued by an evil landlord.  

Ms. Mulvihill did a nice job creating a steam punk world.  She postulates early industrial age job bondage accompanied by a big brother presence.   Abby shows a lot of character development as the story progresses.   It is a coming of age personal study of Abby and hints at future responsibilities.

A smidge of the occult comes in toward the end of the book.   The sweat shop setting is reminiscent of the industrial revolution knitting mills in New England.   The occasional mention of steam engines, large and somewhat improbably small (sewing machine) seems to the main connection to the steam punk genre.

I enjoyed the book and await impatiently for the follow up.

Web Site: http://www.seventhstarpress.com/j-l-mulvihill/

 This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

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