Back Seat Book Club – Book Four: Phoenix Rising

Author: Tee Morris & Pip Ballantine

Published: 2011

Harper Voyager

Plot Summary – Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade . . . and a librarian.

These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences—the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling—will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest . . . and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.

For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Books and Braun—he with his encyclopaedic brain and she with her remarkable devices—must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot . . . or see England fall to the Phoenix!

Quick Thoughts:

Scott needs to be quiet and read what we tell him to read!

Fluffy swords and sorcery is good.
Comparison of Phoenix Rising and Lethal Weapon.
Yes, that’s what I said.
Librarians… quiet, studious, tea lovers.
The easiest way to get out of a corset? Duh, a knife!
Corset wearing also depends on level of boobage.
Books & Braun = Scott & Sam, especially if Sam can have explosives.
Teasing for the 2^nd book was teased!
Bad-ass Italian assassin lady, of course.
Scott sums up the plot in two sentences.
Slow start for first couple of chapters, then it steamrolls.
In which Prince Lord Fontlebottom Receives a Guest… or Batman.
Lena mixes up chapters. There’s a surprise.
The settings are vivid and a great backdrop to the story.
A good introduction to Steampunk for the novices.
World takeovers via Steampunk, human-boned robots. Yeah!
The hunting scene. That happened.
Adjectives are good, use them.
Crazy Victorian secret societies need orgy scenes.
It’s a dude-oriented orgy. You don’t hear that very often, do you?

“She groaned as her face turned to press against the rosewood floor. “Welly, remind me to order a better mattress for my bed. This one is far too firm.”

“Oh, Eliza,” Wellington gasped, now remembering why he was in these lush surroundings. “No broken nose, I hope.”

“S’all right,” Braun slurred. Her voiced dropped to a whisper. “My ample bosom broke my fall.” –

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