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Rogue Angel #43
Clockwork Doomsday
A key. An ancient automaton. A race against the devil to the deep blue sea…
It started in 48 B.C. when a centurion on a rescue mission for Caesar went down with the ship in a storm. With his last breath, he saw the object of Caesar's seafaring excursion—an accursed, mechanical minotaur—hit bottom…and start to walk away!
While taping an episode of Chasing History's Monsters, TV host and archaeologist Annja Creed learns that her sometime friend and protector Garin has acquired an ancient butterfly key artifact, the kind once used to wind automatons, clockwork-style devices. Except, this key comes with a rumor attached, a story that it once worked a god-touched device both rare and unbelievably powerful.
No sooner does Garin hold the key than it's snatched from his hands by a freewheeling historian who plays by her own rules. And she wants ultimate power, which could happily include the sword of Joan of Arc. The quest for the key and the mythological automaton reunites Annja, Garin and his old mentor Roux in Genoa, and pits them in a race across Europe to beat a foe as resourceful and skilled as Annja herself.
It started in 48 B.C. when a centurion on a rescue mission for Caesar went down with the ship in a storm. With his last breath, he saw the object of Caesar's seafaring excursion—an accursed, mechanical minotaur—hit bottom…and start to walk away!
While taping an episode of Chasing History's Monsters, TV host and archaeologist Annja Creed learns that her sometime friend and protector Garin has acquired an ancient butterfly key artifact, the kind once used to wind automatons, clockwork-style devices. Except, this key comes with a rumor attached, a story that it once worked a god-touched device both rare and unbelievably powerful.
No sooner does Garin hold the key than it's snatched from his hands by a freewheeling historian who plays by her own rules. And she wants ultimate power, which could happily include the sword of Joan of Arc. The quest for the key and the mythological automaton reunites Annja, Garin and his old mentor Roux in Genoa, and pits them in a race across Europe to beat a foe as resourceful and skilled as Annja herself.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 2, 2013
9 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Alex Archer
99 books236 followersA house name for the Rogue Angel series, published by the Harlequin Publishing's Gold Eagle division.
The first eight novels were written by Victor Milan and Mel Odom. New writers joining the series starting with book nine include Jon Merz and Joseph Nassise.
The first eight novels were written by Victor Milan and Mel Odom. New writers joining the series starting with book nine include Jon Merz and Joseph Nassise.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 24, 2013
Clockwork Doomsday finally reversed a common trend in the series, and it made me perk up. So many of the books had Annja getting into a jam, and either Garen or Roux (or both) come running to help her out.
In this volume, Garen gets into trouble with a family of villainous salvage divers over a clockwork antique from ancient Greece. He calls Roux, who is also a target because of past events. And they end up calling Annja, who drops everything to come running to *their* rescue.
So, Annja to the rescue. Plus some details about Garen and Roux's lives between Joan and Annja. And the family after them (Roux killed a member of the family. Never mind that said person was brutally torturing Roux for information, it is still all Roux's fault) actually realizes that they are not aging (although they decide that the ancient clockwork devices Roux is searching for are the cause of his long life). All in all, a lot of stuff to like.
The only quibble is that Annja was arrested at the start of the book after taking on Russian smugglers, and later on it is mentioned that she failed to show up in court when she was supposed to, so the question is, will we ever find out how she deals with that little problem.
In this volume, Garen gets into trouble with a family of villainous salvage divers over a clockwork antique from ancient Greece. He calls Roux, who is also a target because of past events. And they end up calling Annja, who drops everything to come running to *their* rescue.
So, Annja to the rescue. Plus some details about Garen and Roux's lives between Joan and Annja. And the family after them (Roux killed a member of the family. Never mind that said person was brutally torturing Roux for information, it is still all Roux's fault) actually realizes that they are not aging (although they decide that the ancient clockwork devices Roux is searching for are the cause of his long life). All in all, a lot of stuff to like.
The only quibble is that Annja was arrested at the start of the book after taking on Russian smugglers, and later on it is mentioned that she failed to show up in court when she was supposed to, so the question is, will we ever find out how she deals with that little problem.
February 24, 2017
Clockwork
Another interesting story of creed . . . Good to see Roux and Garin actually working together and not trying to kill each other. Always love the history of things that actually happened. Till the next one
Another interesting story of creed . . . Good to see Roux and Garin actually working together and not trying to kill each other. Always love the history of things that actually happened. Till the next one
December 25, 2018
One of the best
Those of you who follow the Angel know that some of the writers aren't very good. This book was written by one of the best. Wish i knew who it was.
Those of you who follow the Angel know that some of the writers aren't very good. This book was written by one of the best. Wish i knew who it was.
August 14, 2022
2.5 stars
This book is a strange mix. Some of the characters are very 2D and the book wasn't interesting until the action started. The action is well written, but with an extreme body count, high levels of destruction and a slightly too gleeful description of all the weapons. The European characters speak American slang and cook American breakfasts, despite being in the heart of Europe with the gastronomic delights of Italy and Greece to hand. The settings are very imaginative and the constructed history interesting, but the good things are outweighed by the bad.
This book is a strange mix. Some of the characters are very 2D and the book wasn't interesting until the action started. The action is well written, but with an extreme body count, high levels of destruction and a slightly too gleeful description of all the weapons. The European characters speak American slang and cook American breakfasts, despite being in the heart of Europe with the gastronomic delights of Italy and Greece to hand. The settings are very imaginative and the constructed history interesting, but the good things are outweighed by the bad.
June 1, 2019
I was heartbroken when the clockwork pieces of art were lost again, but I loved the storyline, as always! Thanks!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2020
3.5 stars.
Back to Annja, Roux and Garin. I do like the ones where they have to work together. This time against a criminal dynasty and a hidden island filled with deadly clockwork creations.
Back to Annja, Roux and Garin. I do like the ones where they have to work together. This time against a criminal dynasty and a hidden island filled with deadly clockwork creations.
April 9, 2015
Another episode in the Rogue Angel series featuring archeologist Annja Creed and her two mentors, Garin and Roux.
I chose to read this based on a review of another GoodReads member who said it featured a change between the three characters. I agree with that assessment more or less, i.e. in this the 43rd installment of the series, protagonist Annja Creed does come to the aid of both Garin and Roux but she puts herself in danger by doing so and it isn't much of a reversal of roles for the 3 of them.
Also, I was hoping for more background information on Garin and Roux and found little that I didn't already know. But I did notice one interesting change. I have read 7 of the books in the series before this one and nearly every mention of either Garin or Roux states they are both centuries old. While their exact age has never been revealed when it is discussed its usually around 400 years for both. Here in this 43rd installment they clearly state that both are around 500 or even close to 600 years old. So this is a significant change in the background information to these two men. Author Alex Archer is actually a Nom de Plume for a group of 5 authors. They each have a slightly different prose style but they all follow the series formula.
The author of this episode isn't as good as some of the others. He left several loose ends unexplained at the end of the story and the tone of this story is particularly lacking, even dismal.
For fans of the series, this is another notch in the canon but as I alluded to above, I didn't care for this one, in spite of the new information and slight change in roles for the 3 main characters. I plan to read a few more but will probably not ever read the entire series (49 installments so far).
I chose to read this based on a review of another GoodReads member who said it featured a change between the three characters. I agree with that assessment more or less, i.e. in this the 43rd installment of the series, protagonist Annja Creed does come to the aid of both Garin and Roux but she puts herself in danger by doing so and it isn't much of a reversal of roles for the 3 of them.
Also, I was hoping for more background information on Garin and Roux and found little that I didn't already know. But I did notice one interesting change. I have read 7 of the books in the series before this one and nearly every mention of either Garin or Roux states they are both centuries old. While their exact age has never been revealed when it is discussed its usually around 400 years for both. Here in this 43rd installment they clearly state that both are around 500 or even close to 600 years old. So this is a significant change in the background information to these two men. Author Alex Archer is actually a Nom de Plume for a group of 5 authors. They each have a slightly different prose style but they all follow the series formula.
The author of this episode isn't as good as some of the others. He left several loose ends unexplained at the end of the story and the tone of this story is particularly lacking, even dismal.
For fans of the series, this is another notch in the canon but as I alluded to above, I didn't care for this one, in spite of the new information and slight change in roles for the 3 main characters. I plan to read a few more but will probably not ever read the entire series (49 installments so far).
July 28, 2013
Annja Creed, who wields Joan of Arc's sword and is very reminiscent of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft and especially Sarah Pezzini, appears every other month or so in a new Rogue Angel adventure. It's a very formulaic series, like television adventure series used to be, with everything at the end having to be re-set to the way it was at the beginning. They're usually light, fun, books, good for a couple of hours of relaxation. Predictably, some of them aren't very good, but every once in a while there's one that's way above the average, such as the newest, CLOCKWORK DOOMSDAY. It's a kind of James Bond-ish story involving ancient clockwork constructions. At the start of the story Annja is searching for graveyard ghosts in the company of two delightfully quirky characters, Colleen Digby and Victor Lambert. Things don't go as planned, and they encounter a ring of Russian smugglers. Eventually Annja's off to Europe to meet up with old friends Roux and Garin, and the game is afoot. Later we meet Roux's new driver, Honeysuckle Torrey, who's another great special-guest-star kind of character. The action is fast-paced and furious as they track down the ancient evil and save the world for another couple of months. It's very well-written and a whole boat-load of fun.
November 16, 2013
The only thing holding me back from giving this one 5 stars is the prologue. It totally makes the clockwork items appear to be way more deadly. What happens later totally does not match the same scale of what happened in the prologue. Besides, I don't recall what they did with the "powerful" item. Loose ends totally NOT tied up as far as I can see. If I missed it, then let me know. It may be enough to get me to change my review.
October 8, 2013
I liked it because Roux and Garin are alot more prominent in this book then in most of the series..It was a nice change..It kinda of raised more questions then it gave answers though..Hence the 4 star rating instead of 5..Still it was a good read that gripped me and I honestly didn't put it down til it was done..
September 20, 2013
4.25 stars
Definitley one if the better stories in this series!
Definitley one if the better stories in this series!
July 15, 2013
A silly series, but fun.
September 7, 2013
Best one in a while! Maybe because of Roux and Garin?
January 8, 2014
Ebook is currently available directly from harlequin.com
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews