Prehistoric Clock

Prehistoric Clock by Robert Appleton
Carina Press, 2012
189 pages
Romance; Steampunk; Time Travel
4/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had read Appleton's previous novel The Mysterious Lady Law and was sufficiently entertained to want to check out this new story. I began the story confused as the characters burst onto the page with strong personalities and fully formed backgrounds. I was trying to figure out how everything went together in this alternative world as we jumped around three different perspectives: airship captain Verity Champlain who mourns the loss of her sister; Lord Garrett Embrey, whose father and uncle were executed as traitors and now finds himself on the chopping block; and Professor Cecil Reardon who is planning to travel back in time in order to be reunited with his deceased wife and son. I found it very jarring at first but soon all of those plus more converged on one spot and traveled back in time. Not the few years that Reardon had anticipated but back to prehistoric times with dinosaurs.  Needless to say this results in chaos as they scramble to return while battling an evil secret government agency.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the dinosaur ages so that was not a draw to me; it wasn't even something I thought about. Still it's not something featured often in books so the uniqueness did appeal to me. I was much more interested in the secret agency which is incredibly powerful and has a very hidden agenda that will presumably be unraveled in future books as this is a start to a series.

I am guessing that since we are at the beginning of series, that explains the lack of romance. I wanted much more in that regard and there is some sexual tension between Verity and Embrey but not as much as I would have liked. I am betting that more is to come though.

Overall: Interesting characters and a promising premise bode well for the future of this series!