I read about two thirds of this book, until the little group figured out everything that was going on in about five pages of exposition.

I really miss when Mercedes Lackey wrote for adults. I think this book wouldn't be too far out of the range of something an eight year old friend of mine who's steadily working her way through the Boxcar Children could read, aside from the subject matter of zombies.

VERY young adult. Your mileage may vary. ( )

Not bad, but not a favorite. It takes a lot of cliches and plays with them in very interesting ways. I'm not interested in zombies, so that's a minus for me; and there's one really annoying scene where the woman-dressed-as-a-man, who's just escaped a zombie attack, goes gushy over the only male, and notices with surprise and delight that the other woman (who is stated to be beautiful) isn't interested. I'm pleased that that didn't become a sub-theme through any of the rest of the book - but I could have done without that scene at all, at least partly because it doesn't get referenced again through the rest of the book. What was the point? Just to establish that she is in fact a woman? Ugh - but that's the only reason for the scene I can think of. Aside from that one bit, Jett is nicely portrayed as a woman acting as a man, without falling into too many cliches. White Fox is something of a cipher - we get some of his backstory (more, I think, than his partners get), but he doesn't show much emotion and his internal life stays internal, even from the readers. Gibbons is fun, as a female steampunk scientist (one step back from mad, though she's still pretty obsessive about finding things out). Again, I think we get more of her backstory than her partners do (the same is true of Jett as well), but her actions and emotions do more to flesh out her story and personality than White Fox's. Jett is at least as obsessed as Gibbons, in her case with the Confederacy and the Union - I wanted to shake her a few times as she stubbornly refused to see any good in the Union or any bad in the Confederacy. But she is the survivor of a serious trauma, so maybe she has some excuse. Not enough, to my mind, but some. As I said, I don't like zombies, and despite Gibbons' acceptance of the "science" behind creating them I find it pretty wobbly. So the main adventure leaves me rather cold. The theories about why and what exactly is going on get pretty wild - as in, built on very flimsy premises - and turn out to be pretty much accurate, which smells of author fiat. I don't know. I found it interesting, and I would definitely read a sequel (which is left open as a possibility at the end), but I'm not sure I'd reread this. ( )

I rounded this book up to 4 stars because it successfully incorporates zombies, the wild west, and some steampunk. It is an ok book with a premise I enjoyed reading. I liked the mystery and suspense of the who-dunnit, and why. Jett was an interesting character, I didn’t get much personality off White Fox, and I liked Gibbons’ scientific prowess and contraptions. I wanted a little more wild west with my zombies, by which I mean gunslinging; they didn’t shoot any zombies. There are some questions left unanswered, but I expect a sequel is intended. The story may not be for everyone, but if the subject interests you, go for it. ( )

I rounded this book up to 4 stars because it successfully incorporates zombies, the wild west, and some steampunk. It is an ok book with a premise I enjoyed reading. I liked the mystery and suspense of the who-dunnit, and why. Jett was an interesting character, I didn’t get much personality off White Fox, and I liked Gibbons’ scientific prowess and contraptions. I wanted a little more wild west with my zombies, by which I mean gunslinging; they didn’t shoot any zombies. There are some questions left unanswered, but I expect a sequel is intended. The story may not be for everyone, but if the subject interests you, go for it. ( )

I struggled with the story's opening. The paragraph establishing Jett's secret identity was a mess. First I thought Jasper was her twin brother, and Philip and Philippa her siblings. And the time line for when she played acted being a boy was muddled with being separated by the war. This confusing introduction was followed hard by Jett's less than convincing reasons why her boy persona had to be a flashy, attention grabbing shootist (if she has the real skills to protect herself with a gun, why pick the over the top costume that guarantees she's going to have a confrontation with someone in every new town?), and these two narrative snafu's made it hard for me get invested in the story.

Unfortunately, even a third of the way in I wasn't any more interested. Jett and White Fox and Gibbons are each caricatures of their own particular flavor, and the tomboy, bluestocking, stalwart Indian scout trio made for super awkward fire side chats. I got as far as tracking the zombie horde to a cult before I couldn't take it any longer, both Jett and Gibbons' POV are clunkey with vernacular.