The Turncoat's Gambit

THE TURNCOAT’S GAMBIT by Andrea Cremer is the conclusion of an alt-history trilogy that examines the what-ifs of a failure of the American Revolution. Without having read the first two books in the series, I was able to dive into TURNCOAT without too much trouble—and reading it made me wish I’d read the first two mainly because it was SO good.

The series focuses on the adventures of various members of the Resistance—a group continuing to fight the British after the Revolutionary War has been decided—while the British are determined to make all participants in the rebellion pay for their part in the war and its aftermath.

The characters in the novel are wonderful. The male and female protagonists are equally strong, smart, and resourceful—and they manage a bit of romance here and there too. The action is non-stop, but the author still manages to develop the characters and their relationships incredibly well. TURNCOAT looks at friendships, romances, and families in equal measures, and it doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulties of war while doing it. In fact, Andrea Cremer proves herself to be as adept at writing action sequences as she is at drawing characters, and THE TURNCOAT’S GAMBIT doesn’t have a single slow moment. Adding another level of interest to a book that grabs you from the start is the steampunk and cinematic feel of the setting—it’s really easy to imagine this series as a movie.

I’m not usually inclined to read a series out of order, but I loved this final book in The Inventor’s Secret series so much that I think I’ll have to find time to check out the first two at my earliest convenience.