What do you think?
Rate this book
Bad Machinery #10
Bad Machinery Vol. 10: The Case of the Severed Alliance
From the bestselling author of Giant Days comes the final pocket-sized volume in his beloved Bad Machinery series!
The mystery-solving teens of Tackleford are finding out that not every summer is a perfect one. Charlotte and Shauna, once inseparable, are decidedly on the outs. Mildred bounces between the formerly best friends while trying to save up money for a car. Amy’s rent at the antique store gets tripled, casting doubt on the future of her career. Meanwhile, the boys are channeling their energies into finding love down by the river, with only Jack’s acoustic guitar between them and “romance.” But tragedy strikes when they find that a developer has started building a huge condominium in their favorite swim spot. Unable to get a moment’s peace at home, Charlotte has no choice but to force her way into an internship at the local newspaper, unleashing her brand of maverick sleuthing on... blood pouring out of public art? Strange ooze coming up out of the ground? Shifty doings at the Chamber of Commerce? Classic Tackleford!
The Case of the Severed Alliance pits our favorite crew against the changing tide of time itself as friendships and romantic bonds are tested, and the inexorable wave of gentrification remakes Tackleford itself. Summer is just beginning... but it feels like The End for our heroes? That’s because it is the of Bad Machinery !
The mystery-solving teens of Tackleford are finding out that not every summer is a perfect one. Charlotte and Shauna, once inseparable, are decidedly on the outs. Mildred bounces between the formerly best friends while trying to save up money for a car. Amy’s rent at the antique store gets tripled, casting doubt on the future of her career. Meanwhile, the boys are channeling their energies into finding love down by the river, with only Jack’s acoustic guitar between them and “romance.” But tragedy strikes when they find that a developer has started building a huge condominium in their favorite swim spot. Unable to get a moment’s peace at home, Charlotte has no choice but to force her way into an internship at the local newspaper, unleashing her brand of maverick sleuthing on... blood pouring out of public art? Strange ooze coming up out of the ground? Shifty doings at the Chamber of Commerce? Classic Tackleford!
The Case of the Severed Alliance pits our favorite crew against the changing tide of time itself as friendships and romantic bonds are tested, and the inexorable wave of gentrification remakes Tackleford itself. Summer is just beginning... but it feels like The End for our heroes? That’s because it is the of Bad Machinery !
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 26, 2021
1 person is currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
John Allison
319 books828 followersJohn Allison is the author and artist of the British webcomics Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 19, 2023
John Allison wraps up his Bad Machinery series with a little supernatural mystery involving real estate shenanigans and gentrification. As with most of the other books in the series, it's a decent mix of wit, humor, and mild adventure amongst a Scooby gang of teenage friends in a small town in England.
It was never a great series, but it was a consistently pleasant diversion. Anyone expecting a big finale had best understand that it's not so much a matter of the characters' stories are done but that Allison is just done telling them in this configuration. Charlotte Grote -- who first appeared in Allison's Scary Go Round and popped up briefly in Giant Days -- has already had her own spin-off: Wicked Things.
It was never a great series, but it was a consistently pleasant diversion. Anyone expecting a big finale had best understand that it's not so much a matter of the characters' stories are done but that Allison is just done telling them in this configuration. Charlotte Grote -- who first appeared in Allison's Scary Go Round and popped up briefly in Giant Days -- has already had her own spin-off: Wicked Things.
March 9, 2021
The final Bad Machinery case returns to supernatural mysteries after a few cases dabbling in murkier and more 'real life' waters. It's a nice send off to a cast and format I had a lot of affection for. The thoughtful afterword gives some interesting observations on the problems of running a long running series with a maturing cast and how these things can 'get away from you a bit.'
I'd like to think there's still legs in these characters, Allison had returned to Lottie and Mildred lately on his website and the rest are still out there somewhere and could pop up again but who knows... either way, it was a nice way to start the day for a good part of a decade.
I'd like to think there's still legs in these characters, Allison had returned to Lottie and Mildred lately on his website and the rest are still out there somewhere and could pop up again but who knows... either way, it was a nice way to start the day for a good part of a decade.
October 24, 2020
I started to read this last year on the Scary Go Round website and never got around to marking it on Goodreads. I also left it half finished for months because I wasn't ready to leave these goofballs, but after catching up on future Charlotte in Wicked Things, I finally went back and finished this case. I love the mystery kids and am so sad to say goodbye. Time to start from the beginning and reread the entire series.
April 25, 2021
Oh, man! This was the last book in the series!
Well, John Allison, it’s been a fun, extra weird ride. Please never stop writing!
Well, John Allison, it’s been a fun, extra weird ride. Please never stop writing!
Read
June 3, 2023The last Bad Machinery story is maybe not the best of the series, but it's still a fun read, with plenty of good moments for the main cast. This time: Charlotte (and others) join the Tackleford newspaper, Amy's antique store goes through changes and gets involved in a conspiracy that Chamber of Commerce is at the center of, and Charlotte and Shauna discuss what happened in the last book.
I'm going to miss these characters going through school together and solving weird mysteries. Thankfully some of them are in other Allison comics, which you bet I'm going to read (Scary Go Round will probably be next).
I'm going to miss these characters going through school together and solving weird mysteries. Thankfully some of them are in other Allison comics, which you bet I'm going to read (Scary Go Round will probably be next).
February 9, 2021
Sadness.... it's the last Bad Machinery tale.
This isn't really an ending for the characters; they are, after all, teenagers on the cusp of adulthood with a lot more of their lives to go. (And we see some glimpses of what that adult life might be like, especially for Charlotte.) But it is a grand mystery, both literally and figuratively huge, and I enjoyed seeing the entire team work together on a larger scale.
This isn't really an ending for the characters; they are, after all, teenagers on the cusp of adulthood with a lot more of their lives to go. (And we see some glimpses of what that adult life might be like, especially for Charlotte.) But it is a grand mystery, both literally and figuratively huge, and I enjoyed seeing the entire team work together on a larger scale.
January 9, 2025
1/5/2025 The LAST Bad Machinery book! I didn't want to read it at all because I always wanted one more to look forward to, tho I do have some of the gang's further adventures on deck to get into. I'll miss them so much tho! Full review tk at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
1/9/2025 I usually read a Bad Machinery book each Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it this past year. Book 10 is the very last book of the series, and I was not in the correct frame of mind to face the end of the stories featuring my favorite teen mystery solvers, not until last night when I was too sick to go spend time with my Arsenal family anyway. Missing their camaraderie, I needed some wit and suspense and good cheer, and found it in spades in The Case Of The Severed Alliance.
As anyone who's been keeping up with the series knows, our two main characters (and cover stars here) Shauna and Charlotte had a massive falling out in Book 9. Honestly, I couldn't face going into this book knowing that the former best friends were no longer on speaking terms, which was another reason I dragged my feet a bit. Plus, they're all growing up! They're fifteen and evolving into their adult forms! They're not even my babies and I'm all verklempt!
Anyway, Charlotte (who is possibly my favorite fictional creation ever) is trying to find something to do to occupy her summer. Her mother is fixing up the house, making writing an impossibility, so a bored Charlotte decides to join the local newspaper in order to combine her love of writing with her gift for detecting. Her first task: to ferret out five stories. Interestingly, they all seem to lead to the topic of the on-going gentrification of Tackleford, who might be behind it and why.
Meanwhile, Shauna is encouraging her own boss at the antique store to fight higher rents by moving away from the rapidly gentrifying city center. Funded by their newest employee's uncanny talent for sniffing out valuables, Shauna and Amy open up in a new locale... only to find themselves hired to seek out an allegedly lost treasure. As Shauna investigates, her path threatens to collide with Charlotte's. Will the two girls be able to come together to solve what might be the biggest mystery their town has ever faced, or is their friendship over for good?
All I'm going to say is that I found the ending deeply satisfying and a great way to wrap up the series! I do have a digital version of Wicked Things that I'm going to read SoonTM, and the single issues of the Great British Bump-Off, AND the first two volumes of Steeple. I just miss these dear kids already, but am so, so glad I get to live in a world which has allowed me to revel in the on-going adventures of Lottie Grote. I'm not saying that the bangs I'm currently rocking are in homage to her, but I'm not NOT saying it either, lol.
Anyway, I have to go fix up my library and give all ten books of this series pride of place. Bad Machinery is easily the best young mystery-solvers (paranormal division) comics series ever written, and confident, kick-ass Charlotte will always be my #goals.
The Case Of The Severed Alliance (Bad Machinery #10) by John Allison was published January 26, 2021 by Oni Press and is so hard to find, I caved and got a secondhand copy from Amazon. But please do check back on Bookstore from time to time via my storefront!
1/9/2025 I usually read a Bad Machinery book each Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it this past year. Book 10 is the very last book of the series, and I was not in the correct frame of mind to face the end of the stories featuring my favorite teen mystery solvers, not until last night when I was too sick to go spend time with my Arsenal family anyway. Missing their camaraderie, I needed some wit and suspense and good cheer, and found it in spades in The Case Of The Severed Alliance.
As anyone who's been keeping up with the series knows, our two main characters (and cover stars here) Shauna and Charlotte had a massive falling out in Book 9. Honestly, I couldn't face going into this book knowing that the former best friends were no longer on speaking terms, which was another reason I dragged my feet a bit. Plus, they're all growing up! They're fifteen and evolving into their adult forms! They're not even my babies and I'm all verklempt!
Anyway, Charlotte (who is possibly my favorite fictional creation ever) is trying to find something to do to occupy her summer. Her mother is fixing up the house, making writing an impossibility, so a bored Charlotte decides to join the local newspaper in order to combine her love of writing with her gift for detecting. Her first task: to ferret out five stories. Interestingly, they all seem to lead to the topic of the on-going gentrification of Tackleford, who might be behind it and why.
Meanwhile, Shauna is encouraging her own boss at the antique store to fight higher rents by moving away from the rapidly gentrifying city center. Funded by their newest employee's uncanny talent for sniffing out valuables, Shauna and Amy open up in a new locale... only to find themselves hired to seek out an allegedly lost treasure. As Shauna investigates, her path threatens to collide with Charlotte's. Will the two girls be able to come together to solve what might be the biggest mystery their town has ever faced, or is their friendship over for good?
All I'm going to say is that I found the ending deeply satisfying and a great way to wrap up the series! I do have a digital version of Wicked Things that I'm going to read SoonTM, and the single issues of the Great British Bump-Off, AND the first two volumes of Steeple. I just miss these dear kids already, but am so, so glad I get to live in a world which has allowed me to revel in the on-going adventures of Lottie Grote. I'm not saying that the bangs I'm currently rocking are in homage to her, but I'm not NOT saying it either, lol.
Anyway, I have to go fix up my library and give all ten books of this series pride of place. Bad Machinery is easily the best young mystery-solvers (paranormal division) comics series ever written, and confident, kick-ass Charlotte will always be my #goals.
The Case Of The Severed Alliance (Bad Machinery #10) by John Allison was published January 26, 2021 by Oni Press and is so hard to find, I caved and got a secondhand copy from Amazon. But please do check back on Bookstore from time to time via my storefront!
September 6, 2021
This is a review for all 10 volumes of Bad Machinery, which I read consecutively. Each of the volumes warrants a top review, but it is the opinion of this reviewer that the series should be read all at once for maximum effect.
Welcome to Tackleford, England, a low-to-middling “town full of mysteries” typically solved by the Mystery Kids, a sextet of 11-year-old students at Griswalds Grammar School. The boys—Linton, Jack and Sonny often work in parallel to the girls—Lottie, Shauna and Mildred—but sometimes also as mild rivals, and often unwitting allies. Chockablock with witty dialogue, great laughs and characters who you will certainly grow to love. Bad Machinery begins as a kind of deeply English homage to both Harry Potter and Scooby-Doo, but evolves into a terrific character comedy and some coming-of-age drama along the way.
Written and illustrated by John Allison, Bad Machinery feels rather close to his other work, especially the fantastic Giant Days (which is essentially Bad Machinery set in college rather than high school), but that’s alright. Once this story really finds its footing in the second volume, it’s a consistently excellent ride to the finish, as we watch our heroes grow up, grow wiser, and in some cases, grow apart. It’s a story teased out in tiny increments, page by page, betraying its webcomic origins. But Bad Machinery very shows why it’s won the armloads of awards to its name, and for those willing to give it a little room to breathe and get on its wavelength, there is some immense fun and terrific storytelling in store. Teen-appropriate, but be warned, American readers, if you’re not up on your English slang, you’ll miss a few of the jokes.
Bottom line, if you love any of John Allison’s other work, you’ll love this.
Welcome to Tackleford, England, a low-to-middling “town full of mysteries” typically solved by the Mystery Kids, a sextet of 11-year-old students at Griswalds Grammar School. The boys—Linton, Jack and Sonny often work in parallel to the girls—Lottie, Shauna and Mildred—but sometimes also as mild rivals, and often unwitting allies. Chockablock with witty dialogue, great laughs and characters who you will certainly grow to love. Bad Machinery begins as a kind of deeply English homage to both Harry Potter and Scooby-Doo, but evolves into a terrific character comedy and some coming-of-age drama along the way.
Written and illustrated by John Allison, Bad Machinery feels rather close to his other work, especially the fantastic Giant Days (which is essentially Bad Machinery set in college rather than high school), but that’s alright. Once this story really finds its footing in the second volume, it’s a consistently excellent ride to the finish, as we watch our heroes grow up, grow wiser, and in some cases, grow apart. It’s a story teased out in tiny increments, page by page, betraying its webcomic origins. But Bad Machinery very shows why it’s won the armloads of awards to its name, and for those willing to give it a little room to breathe and get on its wavelength, there is some immense fun and terrific storytelling in store. Teen-appropriate, but be warned, American readers, if you’re not up on your English slang, you’ll miss a few of the jokes.
Bottom line, if you love any of John Allison’s other work, you’ll love this.
June 2, 2021
Lottie takes center stage in this, the final Bad Machinery mystery. The mystery and the mystery gang come together quite well throughout the book. I enjoyed the return to the Tackleford newspaper, which has featured so heavily in so many other of Allison's works (but ooof funny joke about NFT standing for "normal for Tackleford", that unfortunately hasn't aged well due to the rise of the new NFTs (nonfungible tokens)). I do feel like the emotional arc of Lottie and Shauna's friendship was rather rushed -- it was hard to return to such a mystery-heavy story after the last "case", especially knowing that this is the last. It was frustrating to have so much of last story spent on Blossom and her friendship with Shauna, when Blossom didn't appear at all in this story, feeling like a loose end.
However, lots of good, dry British humor and a very solid mystery (that takes us yet again to the sewers yay!). I'm very sad to say goodbye, but am happy to report that Lottie has recently appeared again in comics on the scary go round website! I hope she solves many more mysteries in the future.
However, lots of good, dry British humor and a very solid mystery (that takes us yet again to the sewers yay!). I'm very sad to say goodbye, but am happy to report that Lottie has recently appeared again in comics on the scary go round website! I hope she solves many more mysteries in the future.
October 9, 2021
I can't say exactly what I loved about this series: perhaps its unrepentant Britishness, its cheeky and intelligent characters, the subtle intersection of everydayness, the sublime, and the Lovecraftian. I do know that I wish there were ten more volumes to enjoy...
December 2, 2024
This ended on kind of a whimper vs. a bang… Also fifteen year old Mildred “dating” a newspaperman was creepy. Yeah it turned out she was getting driving lessons. Still creepy all the men fawning over a child. I’ll miss this series but all in all it was very uneven.
April 11, 2021
This was crazy weird.
June 23, 2021
Every time I finish a Bad Machinery reread I get sad for like a week that there isn't more Bad Machinery.
July 31, 2021
Great ending to the series. I have enjoyed watching the gang grow over the run of this series. Sorry to see the end.
October 6, 2021
Cute last book
November 19, 2021
Good ending to a fabulous series.
December 2, 2021
4.5/5 stars…I’m gonna miss this series…and those meddling mystery kids!
December 20, 2021
Voy a extrañar a los mystery kids/teens de Tackleford.
February 19, 2023
Mystery kids working at the newspaper, the Tackleford Fatberg, Revenge for Wendlefield, a cursed knife, Amy's antique store. Return of Erin Winters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2023
I'll miss you Bad Machinery :(
August 31, 2022
This is the last installment of Bad Machinery! Though I only learned that once I'd read the afterword. It didn't feel like an ending. It felt like there would be more adventures to come. I'm disappointed that there won't be, but I think that's actually the right way to end this series. It's better to think of these kids as still out there getting into and out of trouble, rather than forever stuck in some final freeze frame. I would have happily read about the rest of their school days, which is apparently what Allison had planned before he decided the kids were growing up and out of their genre; I liked that they were growing up and, occasionally, apart, but maybe they would have reached a point where those separations became lasting, so it's fine that it stopped where it did. I'll miss them, though.
Like the series as a whole, this volume was the perfect mix of absurdity and real world problems as our teens solve the mystery of gentrification and also of the thing in the sewers. And friendship. Always friendship.
Like the series as a whole, this volume was the perfect mix of absurdity and real world problems as our teens solve the mystery of gentrification and also of the thing in the sewers. And friendship. Always friendship.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews