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The government of Her Britannic Majesty, Queen Victoria, struggles against a criminal conspiracy that threatens to destabilise the Empire. A conspiracy that reaches from the riverside slums of London, to Whitehall and the palace itself.
History stands at a crossroads. The Empire may rise to new heights or fall into ruins.
Meanwhile, Benjamin West searches for the truth about his long lost father who disappeared in the Amazon basin some fifteen years before. His search has led to Cheapside and the funeral of the famous Polynesian engineer Mr Maybe, the man who had held the answers Benjamin seeks.
The death of Maybe, and how it is connected to the disappearance of West’s father bring together West, his former manservant Gothe and the mysterious woman standing by Maybe’s graveside. Fate entangles them in a struggle against criminals, murderers and the agents of those forces that threaten to bring down the government.
Can they hope to win out against the odds stacked against them?
Maybe…
Praise for The Hannibal Smyth misadventures
"If you like Douglass Adams you should definitely read this book!"
"A riveting roller-coaster of a book."
"A must-read for Steampunk fans."
- GenresSteampunk
252 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 15, 2020
33 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Mark Hayes
27 books50 followersMark writes novels that often defy simple genre definitions, they could be described as speculative fiction, though Mark would never use the term as he prefers not to speculate.
When not writing novels Mark is a persistent pernicious procrastinator, he recently petitioned parliament for the removal of the sixteenth letter from the Latin alphabet.
He is also 7th Dan Blackbelt in the ancient Yorkshire marshal art of EckEThump and favours a one man one vote system but has yet to supply the name of the man in question.
Mark has also been known to not take bio very serious.
When not writing novels Mark is a persistent pernicious procrastinator, he recently petitioned parliament for the removal of the sixteenth letter from the Latin alphabet.
He is also 7th Dan Blackbelt in the ancient Yorkshire marshal art of EckEThump and favours a one man one vote system but has yet to supply the name of the man in question.
Mark has also been known to not take bio very serious.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 2, 2023
A real treat
Lovely book full of tongue in cheek references , surprise characters, and plot twists that will have you snickering for days. Well done!
Lovely book full of tongue in cheek references , surprise characters, and plot twists that will have you snickering for days. Well done!
December 16, 2020
I enjoyed this book because of its characters and the general storyline. I plan to read the next in the series for those reasons. However, I have to say that there were a couple of things about the book that I found annoying.
The author chose to write the narrative from multiple characters' perspectives - sometimes even minor characters. Jumping from one perspective to another was jarring. I realize that this approach allowed the author to fill in details that otherwise would have been difficult to include as well as highlight or hide motivations of characters in support of the story.
There were glaring instances of poor word usage ('Hanson' cab instead of 'Hansom', 'mute' instead of 'moot' used three times on a single page!) that disrupted my immersion in the mid-19th century setting. Finally, this is less steampunk than I expected. Call it 'steampunk light' if you will.
Still, as I said, I did become interested in the characters and in their adventure and plan to read the next book.
The author chose to write the narrative from multiple characters' perspectives - sometimes even minor characters. Jumping from one perspective to another was jarring. I realize that this approach allowed the author to fill in details that otherwise would have been difficult to include as well as highlight or hide motivations of characters in support of the story.
There were glaring instances of poor word usage ('Hanson' cab instead of 'Hansom', 'mute' instead of 'moot' used three times on a single page!) that disrupted my immersion in the mid-19th century setting. Finally, this is less steampunk than I expected. Call it 'steampunk light' if you will.
Still, as I said, I did become interested in the characters and in their adventure and plan to read the next book.
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May 10, 2021Steampunk at its finest
in a victorian era where technology is powered by clockwork mechanisms and steam engines, the adventure begins with another brilliant world created from the marvelous mind of Mark Hayes.
An engrossing story from beginning to end, if you like steampunk, you'll love this. brilliantly done Mark.
in a victorian era where technology is powered by clockwork mechanisms and steam engines, the adventure begins with another brilliant world created from the marvelous mind of Mark Hayes.
An engrossing story from beginning to end, if you like steampunk, you'll love this. brilliantly done Mark.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews