Review: AMD's first attempt at Steampunk... A Winner... 5 Stars.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 19, 2013
"Colt Coltrane and the Lotus Killer" is a steampunk novel in the 'The Colt Coltrane Series' by author Allison M. Dickson and featuring Justin Wasson's illustrations. This Kindle e-book was approximately 148 printed pages and sold for $2.99 at the time of writing this review.Please Note: the author provided me with a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.A tale out of the post-war 1940s when dime-store detective novels had reached the height of popularity. In an era where the bad guys were still likely to be gangsters, their gals were molls and all other women were dames.General theme (some spoilers)It's the late 1940s in LA and there's been a series of grisly murders in the river area. Detective and P.I. Colt Coltrane (former member of the police force), finds himself hired out to beautiful girl of Japanese descent who thinks she knows who might be responsible. So Colt and his trusty bot partner, Petey, take the case... but little did they expect to become embroiled in a series of events that turned out be beyond anyones imagination.Some thoughts on "Colt Coltrane... "1.) Steampunk from an era I loved, starring two heroes a reader can identify with. I quickly grew to like Colt and his mechanical sidekick, the bot called Petey.2.) character development... Colt Coltrane, who as seen it all during his career with the LAPD, and prior to this gig, has been forced into the sleazy profession of checking up on cheating husbands and tracking down missing alimony payment... you get the idea. AMD does a great job of bringing this down on his luck character to life.3.) a story that involves various factions typical of the post WWII era, many unexpected twist and turns, and an abundance of steampunk related action that touches on elements of both Sci-fi and horror.4.) cover art... a B & W image, yet truly representative of detective novels of the 40s & 50s.Impression:This tale was a 'steampunk' work, using modern day inventions (in this case robots) to enhance a strange tale from the not too distant past. A tale to pull you in with its extremely well written prose, its cast of intriguing characters and maybe the most constant of her writing skills, Allison's impeccable sense of pace and timing as crunch time approaches.A tale that was at times both sad and funny, where action filled pages were frequently balanced out by the quietude  that sometimes only reflections from the past can bring.For anyone who thought AMD might be a author confined to horror tales will be pleasantly surprised when they look at her first foray into this particular genre. The story is different than her normal fare, but the talent of this writer comes shining through.As it is... 5 Stars.Ray Nicholsonraynicholsonsreviews@hotmail.com@ralannicholson