I've been sitting on this one for ages now, waiting to post it.
Once London's top thief, Barclay Pearce has turned his back on his life of crime and now uses his skills for a nation at way, including keeping an eye on a talented engineer working as a clockmaker, But not until he rescues the man's daughter from a mugging does he begin to wonder what his future might hold.
Evelina Manning has constantly dreamed and worked for independence, but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiance to end their engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clock repair with her father, she can't help being interested. But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is a simple as it seems.
As 1915 England plunges deeper into war, the race is on for any technological edge, and Evelina's father's ideas have captured the attention of many- perhaps too many. As danger seems to encroach from every side, it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape.
Where to start... it's always the hardest part of a review. Not because I don't love the book, but because I'm trying to find a balance between how I feel about the book and sounding like a sane human being. *cue nervous laughter*
I have so enjoyed each of Roseanna's books that I've had the opportunity to read. Although I'm also generally annoyed with myself for reading books 1&3 in a series {This is the SECOND time I've done that...ugh!} You may remember how- shall we say emamored?- I was {and probably still am, honestly} with A Name Unknown, book 1 in the Shadows Over England series. I was so looking forward to reading book 2, didn't get around to it, and decided not to wait when I saw book 3 had landed in my mailbox. I honestly think I used a bookmark all of 4 times. I stopped for supper {only because I didn't want to get ketchup on the pages} and a couple of other times to do something that I can't recall at the moment. But mostly, I read straight through. Into the night. It was almost 2 in the morning when I stopped, having successfully read the entire story. Why was I unable to put it down? Well, I'm glad you asked!
The book {the series, really} starts with the greatest premise! A unique storyline in more ways than one. Set in WWI, the story follows a family of former thieves who work for the British Navy. If that sentence doesn't make you raise your eyebrows and want to know more, then can we even be friends? I've loved this family since reading Rosie's story last year. {Was it last year?} If you've been here long at all, you know that adoption is my achilles' heel in a book. And honestly... this family of adopted children, street rats turned spies, {There's about a dozen kids, who've adopted each other to survive and my heart can't take the feels!} has fascinated and delighted me since my first foray into their world. Seeing the love and care and laughter and bickering and... the just plain ol' family-ness of them just sets my heart to all sorts of pitter-pattering.
The character growth in this particular story was stunning. Barclay and Lina both growing in their faith. Lina trying to puzzle out if she were only an automaton. And the most surprising, and perhaps most delightful of all, POSSIBLE SPOILER Judith Manning's character development, which I'll admit I didn't think possible at first. IT'S OVER NOW!
This book is very lighthearted, though it is set in the midst of The Great War. Lighthearted, but also realizing the seriousness. It's what you might call "well-balanced." The plot of Barclay and co working for the navy was first of all so unique, letting the author play with many different options. But then add to that the different dynamics of the street life. The different turfs that each "gang leader" had. There was never a moment that I was bored, and indeed I learned quite a bit. I was evening chuckling aloud several, several times.
One more thing, I'd like to say that V becoming a real live person, so to speak, was pretty cool. He's still a little mysterious, but he's so much more. And that epilogue just got me. But I really hope that the series does not end here, with a nice little trilogy. Forget nice little trilogy! There's like.... a half dozen more kids that she could give stories too, that would fit the theme of the series. I want more of these books! I want one for Elinor and Retta and Lucy and maybe Georgie, though he had a bit of it in this book. I'm just not ready to say goodbye to these characters!
Okay, actually, this is going to be the last thing! But seriously, Barclay stealing an hour from The Great Clock to prove he was the best thief in London was soooo funny! AND THE COVER IS GORGEOUS!
And, good heavens! I've gone on and on! It's 5 stars from me, and if you read this I hope you'll share your thoughts! Bonus points if you made it through the entire spiel, and I hope I gave enough information for you to see if this is the book for you. I'm so sorry for my *slight* rambling. Although, to be fair, the book is over 400 pages, so maybe that inspired the monstrously long review.
PS) Meggy, I've figured out where and why I picked up "Blast" in the first place. You may have to re-break me of that habit... 😂
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