My sister is an author. And she’s amazing. Her name is Cherie Priest (many of you may already know her) and not only is she awesome but so is her cat Spain (who totally dominates her YouTube feed), her blog and her books.

Her most recent book is titled Boneshaker and I think it’s her best one yet.

Boneshaker is set in an alternate-history setting of the United States, around 1880. Cherie explains it best herself on her Web page for the series (Yes! There are more coming set in this universe!):

Here, it is 1880 (or thereabouts). The Civil War is still underway, drawn out by English interference, a different transportation infrastructure, and a powerful Republic of Texas that discovered oil at Spindletop some fifty years sooner than real life allowed.

The competition of war has led to technological progress and horrors unimaginable, and many people have fled the combating states, hoping for an easier life out west.

Some of them have found it.
Some have found something else.

Now clearly, any opinions I give are ridiculously biased, given that I’m her brother. But at the same time, I know a good book when I see one, and Boneshaker is damn good fun to read. It’s got steampunk galore, zombies, hardcore characters, and plenty of action to keep you hooked. It’s paced well enough that it hits that perfect balance at the end where you’re satisfied with the ending, yet dying for more.

The premise is this: Briar Wilkes is a controversial enough figure in the alternate world Cherie has created, but when her son ventures into the walled-off, poisonous-gas-filled Seattle in seek of information about his dubious family’s history, she gets dragged into an adventure she’d never expected.

It’s got plenty of nice twists and turns, and enough detail to let you feel immersed but without dragging down the pace (I’m looking at you, J.R.R. Tolkien). And although the end is a little bit predictable, the details make it lots of fun. In fact, when reading the book I’d turned out the lights with about 30 pages to go. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I turned the lights back on and finished the book before I could fall asleep. Yea man, it’s that good.

Anyway, enough of my blathering. Go read it! You can get it on Amazon.com or if you want a signed copy, Cherie’s put instructions on her Web site on how to get your hands on one of those.