Review: The Doctor (Magic and Steam #3) by C. S. Poe

Rating: 5🌈

Sawbones. The doctor behind all the heinous experiments and the battlefield nightmares. A sadist now being hunted and who’s hunting.

The Doctor starts off on the cliffhanger of a heartbreaker of that ending in The Gangster. Then it ended with a explosive revelation by Gillian Hamilton just as the DC Special Agents were flooding the building he and his outlaw lover, Gunner the Deadly, were in. Gillian forced Gunner to leave for his safety, before turning to face the unknown.

Now we know the results that awful day. Gillian Hamilton has lost everything. He’s been imprisoned by the Council, under conditions that have him losing his sanity and hope.

It’s a truly chilling opener.

We’re inside his mind and just so devastated as he’s emotionally bereft without Gunner’s loving support. He’s isolated, tortured, and still aware of all the sinister elements and evil characters in play around him.

Poe’s writing distills the horrors of Gillian’s state of mind as well as his physical damage with a cold conciseness.

The complicated storylines and whereabouts of the characters we care about are threaded neatly through the plot as Poe advances Gillian’s plight from stage to stage.

The suspense is tight and fraught with anxiety for Gillian’s safety. Poe starts to introduce more steampunk elements as well as horror aspects as the plot expands to bring in more characters and bigger sinister details.

I am so addicted to this couple and series. So of course, The Doctor ends on a moment of heartbreaking revelation once more. One, however, the reader was somewhat prepared for this time.

The Councilman will do you need to go is that what you’re telling me OK

Magic & Steam series to date:

🔹The Engineer #1

🔹The Gangster #2

🔹The Doctor #3

🔹The Councilman #4 – Release TBD

Another outstanding cover.

Cover art: Reese Dante

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Doctor (Magic & Steam, #3) by C.S. Poe – Goodreads

https://www.cspoe.comC.S. Poe | Homepage

Synopsis:

1882—Gillian Hamilton, magic caster and Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Magic and Steam, has been stripped of his title, badge, and freedom. Gillian’s true name and powers have been exposed, so now he’s kept under lock and key. To make a tragedy worse, Gunner the Deadly has returned to his life out in the Wild West and has not been heard from since.

Rumors of a doctor, known only as Sawbones, with access to illegal magic have persisted into the new year. Gillian believes that violence, chaos, and certain death will befall New York City if this criminal isn’t apprehended. And despite having lost his sense of purpose, Gillian knows he’s the only one capable of confronting this new madman—with or without the backing of the FBMS.

But such dangers should never be undertaken alone. Gillian will need both Gunner’s deadeye marksmanship, as well as his love, if he’s to detain Sawbones before irreparable damage is done to the magic of his world.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

By Scattered Thoughts

At over 50, I am ruled by my terriers, my gardens, and my projects. A knack for grubbing about in the woods, making mud pies, and tending to the injured worms, bugs, and occasional bird and turtle growing up eventually led me to working for the Parks. I was a park Naturalist for over 20 years, and observing Nature and her cycles still occupy my hours. From the arrival of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the Spring to the first call of the Snow Geese heading south in the Fall, I am entranced by the seasons. For more about me see my bio on my blog.

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