Parents' Guide to

The Clockwork Scarab

By Mary Eisenhart, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Steampunk murder mystery with teen girls intriguing, gory.

The Clockwork Scarab Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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Fans of vampire fiction, historic fiction, steampunk, Sherlock Holmes, or tales of the occult will find intriguing portals into unfamiliar niches in this novel, though some elements never quite gel.

Both the Sherlock Holmes stories and Bram Stoker's Dracula have spawned more than a century's worth of fanfiction, as both Holmesiana and vampire tales have become thriving genres of their own. In that context, The Clockwork Scarab's premise is intriguing, but at least in this first volume of a planned series, not fully realized. As the title's overtones of steampunk and Egyptology suggest, the tale, told in the alternating voices of the two heroines, features a sometimes chaotic collision of genres.

Many issues that remain unresolved will probably return in later books, the first of which is due in 2014.

Book Details

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