This is a novel I've read multiple times as the author shaped it, then reshaped the story. I've just finished a final draft for what will be the Kindle/Createspace novel in a few weeks. I've got to say, even being familiar with the story of Sheldon Webb, this iteration of the novel kicked ass. The pacing is solid, the characters are interesting, some are even more fascinating because Flewwelling only hints at their true depth. And the great thing is, there will be more in the Fog of Dockside series.

If you enjoy historical novels, if you're a fan of the old-time radio plays from the Thirties, if you like superheroes, if you like a mystery, if you're into SF...seriously, this book has it all. When it becomes available, buy it and read it. Great story. ( )

I gave the first book in this series, [b:The Fog of Dockside City: The Obliteration Machine|18146717|The Fog of Dockside City The Obliteration Machine|Pat Flewwelling|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1381752114s/18146717.jpg|25498739] a four-star review. But this one...this one just smokes.

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy, and in conversation with the author at one point, I said, "It's a pulpy story overall, but there's such awesome, deep, mature undertones that the whole thing is completely elevated."

What I mean by that is, if you look at the cover (and by the way, it's a gorgeous cover, isn't it?) you'll get a sense that this is some sort of steampunk adventure.

Well, actually, it is, I'm told, dieselpunk. Whatever. I hate these restrictive genres. It's a damn good story. It's part SF, part Fantasy, part Superhero, part Horror, part Pulp Mystery. Flewwelling has her feet firmly planted in the era of old time radio plays. That's what I mean by the "pulpy story overall" comment.

But. But.

This one transcends all of those genres through two major improvements over the first novel (not that the first one was bad, hell, I gave it four well-deserved stars).

The first is the plotting. This one has an awful lot going on. There's the search for the plans for the Obliteration Machine. There's Sheldon's increasing knowledge of his power. There's his boss's subplot. There's the strange goings on with Sheldon's previous "family" and then there's...well, there's the monsters. Yes, monsters, plural. And yet, Flewwelling keeps all the plates spinning smoothly and effortlessly.

The second quantum leap in this story is all the characterization that Flewwelling gets in there. When I read a pulp type story, I don't go in expecting a lot of insight into the human condition. But, here, in this story, these characters climb out from the pages and live and breathe. They become people you love, people you hate, people you root for, people you hope will get their asses kicked.

Which of course, elevates this novel miles above any other comparable story.

Why should you read this book? Well, obviously you don't need to take my word for it, but I've read a ton of Flewwelling's writing. Her published stuff, and a lot of stuff that has not yet been published. And out of all of those stories, I can say, without a trace of doubt, this is the best thing she's ever written.

So, you want to read a work by an author at the top of their game (so far...I expect it's all going to just improve from here), this is one book you want to read. It's deep, it's action-packed, it's poignant, it's irreverent. But most of all, it's fun as hell. ( )

I'm a big comic book fan, so I love superheroes. Granted, most of my favourites wield an Asgardian hammer, or a red, white and blue shield, or wear a high-tech suit of gleaming metal armor, or shoot webs, or...

Well, you get the idea.

What I'm not fond of is historical fiction. Also, not a big fan of radio plays.

But when I get to read the origin story of a new hero, regardless of setting, I'm there. And that's what this first installment of The Fog of Dockside City is...a superhero origin story.

It's also a fun romp with some engaging characters. But I think the major thing that caught my imagination in this one is the slow building of the subplot. Yes, you meet Sheldon Webb, yes, you find out how he becomes The Fog, and yes, you also get some great scenes as Webb learns to deal with his newfound powers. But you also get a small peek, just a slight lifting of the lid, into Sheldon's past, and the characters that are attached to that are fascinating.

So, while you get to see the start of Sheldon's powers, and have a great time reading that, I think the next book's going to be even better, because that (hopefully) will be the true origin story of Sheldon Webb. The one that lets us see exactly where he came from.

I said I wasn't a fan of historical fiction or radio plays. This book is built up just like an Olde Tyme Radio Play, however, there's no more engaging story than the "who am I?" story. Flewwelling's done that that this time as Sheldon determines who he is now, as the Fog, but she's also masterfully set up a confrontation with his past as well.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series. ( )

(Really a 3.5)
I came to this book in an interesting way. I read a blog post by the author, where she talked about how this book (self-published) had not been well-reviewed (hardly reviewed at all, in fact). She discussed the dilemma of whether to rewrite and re-issue a new version, or continue on with the series and let the first book stand. It was very interesting to me, as an editor and an author gearing up to self-publish the first book in a series myself. My curiosity was piqued enough to check out the book.

My feelings about the book are complicated. On one hand, I really enjoyed it. It has intriguing characters, and a unique setting that really resonated with me. I've always loved noir and superhero fiction and one of my favorite books of all time is "Invisible Scarlett O'Neill"--this made me think of that one. It has a complex plot that kept me picking up the book and reading on to see what happened next. That's the most important thing you want your book to do. I shelve a lot of books that don't hold my interest, but I read straight through to the end of this one.

On the other hand, the close attention of a good, experienced editor could have smoothed out the rough spots and really made this book shine. The writing is solid, really great in places. But many times I wanted to get out my editorial pen and mark it up. :) There were places where characters' motivations needed to be clearer, where things were confusing, rough patches in the writing, and where there were substantive issues that could have been easily fixed with some editorial input.

This is not to say that every traditionally-published book that has been professionally edited doesn't have some or all of these problems. Far from it. And--maybe this book was edited, and there were still things that were missed. I really don't know. But it always makes me sad when I read a book with so much potential, that falls short of the mark for this one missing element--good editing. Or at least feedback from thoughtful, objective readers who can point out these types of problems (as long as the author will act on their advice). I think the importance of having this kind of input is the single most important thing that gets overlooked by indie authors. And it makes readers put books down and never try that author again.

So. I have to give this book 3 stars (which is really 3.5 in my mind)--and keep in mind that I assign ratings based on Goodreads' definitions. I did really like the story and have already bought the next book, in the hope that the issues in this one will have been better addressed in the next. ( )