From Publishers Weekly
It's May of 1884, and Scotland Yard has just been blown up, the latest attack in the Irish Republican Brotherhood's dynamiting campaign to force Home Rule. Young Welshman Thomas Llewelyn, apprentice to Scottish master detective Cyrus Barker, rushes to the scene of the crime with his mentor in this fast-paced, cleanly written follow-up to Some Danger Involved , Thomas's first historical crime novel featuring the intrepid duo. Despite the resistance of Scotland Yard's ineffective Special Irish Branch, Barker resolves to find and stop the radicals himself. His method: disguise and infiltration of the Fenian faction. Told from Llewelyn's keen and worshipful perspective, the tale traverses London and Europe and chronicles Barker and Llewelyn's undercover adventures and Barker's submersion in the character of German explosives expert Johannes van Rhyn. Llewelyn is brought into the thick of the action as van Rhyn's assistant, Thomas Penrith, an anarchist similarly skilled in bomb making. Together, they're initiated into the violent faction, called the Invincibles, while the younger double agent is enticed by the gorgeous redhead Maire O'Casey, sister of one of the terrorists. Can Llewelyn and Barker play along yet stop the Invincibles before they cripple the English government and bring down London's infrastructure? The action unfolds briskly, and Llewelyn's voice should appeal to boys of all ages.
Copyright ยฉ Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From
Cyrus Barker, enquiry agent, and his increasingly able assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, attempt to stem terrorism and anarchy in Victoria's London in their second ingenious race toward certain calamity (after Some Danger Involved , 2004). This time the chameleon talents of the eccentric Pekinese-petting, tai chi-practicing "Guv'nor" are required to prevent Scotland Yard's new Special Irish Branch investigators from exacerbating an already flammable situation between the British Home Office and the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Their mission: to infiltrate and expose the faction responsible for bombing Scotland Yard and threatening to do worse if a home-rule bill is not put before the Parliament. And what better way to do so than to pose as bomb-making specialists? The two spies step into increasingly volatile situations, including a painful stick-fight initiation ceremony, bomb-making sessions, and a tricky affair of the heart. Thomas places his cast of likable even heroic characters within a complex political minefield and then waits for the explosion. Intense and insightful. Jennifer Baker
Copyright ยฉ American Library Association. All rights reserved