Sheer Madness: A Buffalo Steampunk Adventure

Overall a unique and interesting story. Good overall writing.

Topaz Hathor is a heroine I can get behind 100 %. Not only is she the a-typical waif of her time period, she is a fierce warrior, and a kick-ass woman who has one more quality you don't see very much: she is able to communicate with "spirits." When we first meet her in Shear Madness she is fighting off a potential abduction - hers! And she does it naked and brandishing a stiletto. Who couldn't be drawn to this heroine?

Romney Marsh has been banished from his body while confined to an asylum. He has no memory of who he is or why he is imprisoned, but his spirit feels compelled to reach out and communicate with Topaz. Drawn to each other without understanding how or why, they form a deeply spiritual bond, that has Topaz risking everything to help release him from his prison.

I've never read Steampunk before, so there were some descriptions and terms that were alien to me at the start of the book. But by the end, I was a true convert and believer. Ms. Strickland has written a suspenseful, engaging, thoroughly enjoyable tale about an era I had no knowledge of, but one I'm definitely going to be exploring from now on.

5 well deserved stars for a great story and a fabulous heroine.

The characters and story were well thought out and I really enjoyed this book

While the book title describes this as a steampunk adventure, the story is heavily focused on concepts revolving around spiritualism and other mechanisms for one's soul to interact with other souls and/or bodies. Topaz Hathor, our leading lady, is a member of a dysfunctional family of spiritualists living in Buffalo, NY. She inadvertently winds up getting mixed up with the soul of a handsome, mysterious stranger named Romney. While unraveling Romney's mystery and falling in love with him, she makes discoveries about her own family that cause her to question her personal role in the spiritual world. The author presents some pretty innovative concepts in this story - automatons who are possessed by souls that used to inhabit other bodies and what happens when spiritualists combine their abilities to defend other souls. She also presents the seedy side of this world to include the lengths people will go to keep the spirits of their loved ones alive after death and the way spiritualists will manipulate others to believing twisted truths just to earn some extra fame and fortune. Through all this, Topaz and Romney teach other readers how far folks will go to not only find but hold on to love.