Readers' rating:
Published Sep 2010
400 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Nurse Mercy Lynch is elbows deep in bloody laundry at a war hospital in Richmond, Virginia, when Clara Barton comes bearing bad news: Mercy’s husband has died in a POW camp. On top of that, a telegram from the west coast declares that her estranged father is gravely injured, and he wishes to see her. Mercy sets out toward the Mississippi River. Once there, she’ll catch a train over the Rockies and - if the telegram can be believed - be greeted in Washington Territory by the sheriff, who will take her to see her father in Seattle.
Reaching the Mississippi is a harrowing adventure by dirigible and rail through war-torn border states. When Mercy finally arrives in St. Louis, the only Tacoma-bound train is pulled by a terrifying Union-operated steam engine called the Dreadnought. Reluctantly, Mercy buys a ticket and climbs aboard.
What ought to be a quiet trip turns deadly when the train is beset by bushwhackers, then vigorously attacked by a band of Rebel soldiers. The train is moving away from battle lines into the vast, unincorporated west, so Mercy can’t imagine why they’re so interested. Perhaps the mysterious cargo secreted in the second and last train cars has something to do with it?
Mercy is just a frustrated nurse who wants to see her father before he dies. But she’ll have to survive both Union intrigue and Confederate opposition if she wants to make it off the Dreadnought alive.
"Starred Review. The battles and intrigue are entertaining, but the real draw is Priest's latest no-nonsense heroine, who comes equipped with a full measure of sharp judgment and brutal competence as well as a nurse's kind (but not saintly) heart." - Publishers Weekly
This information about Dreadnought was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Cherie Priest made her debut with the Eden Moore series of Southern Gothic ghost stories that began with Four and Twenty Blackbirds. She is best known for her 2009 book Boneshaker. It was nominated for a Nebula Award and a Hugo Award. Boneshaker also won the PNBA Award, as well as the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Her other works include Jacaranda (2014), Maplecroft (2014), Fiddlehead (2013), The Inexplicables (2012), Ganymede (2011), and Dreadnought (2010). Ganymede won the 2012 Airship Award for Written Fiction.
She lives in Seattle, Washington.
Read Cherie's blog post at BookBrowse.
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