Title: The Affinity Bridge (A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation)

Author: George Mann

Publisher: A Tor Book 2009

Genre: Steampunk

Pages: 333

Rating:   5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Steampunk

How I Got It: Borrowed from the library

Welcome to the bizarre and dangerous world of Victorian London, a city teetering on the edge of revolution. Its people are ushering in a new era of technology, dazzled each day by unfamiliar inventions. Airships soar in the skies over the city, while ground trains rumble through the streets and clockwork automatons are programmed to carry out menial tasks in the offices of lawyers, policemen, and journalists.

But beneath this shiny veneer of progress lurks a sinister side.

Queen Victoria is kept alive by a primitive life-support system, while her agents, Sir Maurice Newbury and his delectable assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes, do battle with enemies of the crown, physical and supernatural. This time Newbury and Hobbes are called to investigate the wreckage of a crashed airship and its missing automaton pilot, while attempting to solve a string of strangulations attributed to a mysterious glowing policeman, and dealing with a zombie plague that is ravaging the slums of the capital.

I loved loved loved this book!  It had everything I want in an adventure novel: great characters, witty dialogue, fast-paced action, a bit of romance, mysteries, and zombies.  Okay, confession time...  I will read almost anything with zombies.  But I have found a few that I didn't like.  This falls into the majority.  I loved the mystery surrounding the murders and the downed airship.  The zombies were a welcome addition to the mystery.

Newbury and Hobbes are an entertaining detective duo.  I loved that they didn't make Hobbes a wimpy wallflower, but gave her some strength.  She's still a lady of the time period, but she's a progressive lady.  And Newbury is the right amount of gentleman and kick ass hero.  The villains are villainous.  The danger is real.  It was a roller coaster adventure.  I can't wait to read more from Mann.

Newbury and Hobbes Investigations

• #1 The Affinity Bridge
• #2 The Osiris Ritual
• #3 The Immorality Engine
• #4 The Executioner's Heart
• #5 Case Book of Newbury and Hobbes