Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Nefertiti's Heart


Nefertiti's Heart
by A.W. Exley

Cara Devon has always suffered curiosity and impetuousness, but tangling with a serial killer might cure that. Permanently.

London, 1861. Impoverished noble Cara has a simple mission after the strange death of her father - sell off his damned collection of priceless artifacts. Her plan goes awry when aristocratic beauties start dying of broken hearts, an eight inch long brass key hammered through their chests. A killer hunts amongst the nobility, searching for a regal beauty and an ancient Egyptian relic rumored to hold the key to immortality.

Her Majesty's Enforcers are in pursuit of the murderer and they see a connection between the gruesome deaths and Cara. So does she, somewhere in London her father hid Nefertiti's Heart, a
fist sized diamond with strange mechanical workings. Adding further complication to her life, notorious crime lord, Viscount Nathaniel Lyons is relentless in his desire to lay his hands on Cara and the priceless artifact. If only she could figure out his motive. 

Self-preservation fuels Cara's search for the gem. In a society where everyone wears a mask to hide their true intent, she needs to figure out who to trust, before she makes a fatal mistake.




*****
5 Stars


This book blew me away. Suspense, mystery, romance, and the added element of steampunk injected with some mythology. It was exactly what I was looking for when I carelessly typed steampunk into Amazons search bar praying and hoping something decent would pop up for once.

Cara was an amazing character, right from the get go I was dying to know what her story was, and with any great book it was giving to me in increments. Keeping me biting at the bit for more and surprising me with different information given once I thought I knew it all. She was a strong women and didn't rely on anyone but herself for protection, and I loved that. Especially since she didn't make stupid decisions and put herself into needless danger like you see a lot with lead female heroines. She took the bull by the horn and laughed while she kicked it into submission.

Nate. . .now I don't know where to even start with him. Let me just give me a big ole WOW. He kept me guess probably more then Cara did. I wanted to know what his motives were and what angle he was coming from. But I would have liked to have gotten a little more of his background story.

The mystery. . .amazing. I was constantly thinking I had it figured out only to start waffling back and forth again. I liked the added touch of the murders thoughts tossed in there. At first I thought it would make it to easy to guess who it was, but it didn't not at all. Though I did actually think it was the person a few times, I never actually settled on it until just before they made themselves known to everyone else. Ah I know I'm just teasing you here. . .but to give it away would completely ruin the entire read for everyone but I need to express the greatness of how it was handled.

I liked how the point of view switched a few times. . .not enough to distract from the story but enough to keep you on your toes about everything that was going on. Its handled very well and is a great way to give you insight on certain things without giving to much away to fast.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, it was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary genre. . .one of the very few books that make me what to start searching for more steampunk books out there.

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