Zomtober: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Title: Boneshaker
Author:  Cherie Priest
Release Date: September 29th 2009

Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 416
Source: Library
  
Summary (from Goodreads):
"Cherie Priest's much-anticipated steampunk debut has finally arrived in the form of a paperback original. Its plot features the sort of calibrated suspense that readers of her Four and Twenty Blackbirds would expect. Boneshaker derives its title from the Bone-Shaking Drill Engine, a device designed to give Russian prospectors a leg up in the race for Klondike gold. Unfortunately, there was one hitch: On its trial run, the Boneshaker went haywire and, long story short, turned much of Seattle into a city of the dead. Now, 16 years later, a teenage boy decides to find out what is behind that mysterious wall. Can his mother save him in time? 

My Thoughts:
Boneshaker was definitely an original and well put together novel. When I heard there was a steampunk zombie book taking place in Seattle, I knew I had to get my hands on it and devour that book. I had high expectations for Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, and I was not let down. 


The world Priest creates is fascinating and ominous at the same time. It set the tone for the novel and added that extra "umph" to the book. The characters were also great. I felt like I knew Zeke and Briar was a wonderful heroine, definitely a kick-ass lady! I also liked how the Rotters (Zombies) weren't caused by medical experiments gone wrong or viruses. Instead they were created by dangerous volcanic gas called "blight", the blight can turn even a normal healthy person into a munching zombie if inhaled too much. I loved how Priest didn't make the Rotters the main part of the book, instead she allowed them to be lurking around which greatly improved the suspense in the book.


This book was also refreshing because it didn't focus on the typical relationships included in books nowadays (IE. Dramatic BF/GF stories). Boneshaker is the story about a mother and son's relationship and how secrets can sometimes lead people to do crazy things for the truth. The book did have some slow parts and a lot of the story in the end could have easily been predicted from the beginning. Despite that, it was usually well paced and action packed. I honestly don't remember being bored reading this book. I encourage everyone to read Boneshaker and I'll be sure to be on the lookout for the sequel. 


Rating: 4/5