Lovecraftian steampunk–urban faerie mashup from an adult paranormal author. Orphaned Aoife Grayson lives in Lovecraft, Mass., where the necrovirus transforms humans to nightmare creatures and reason rules so supreme that believers in magic are called heretics and killed. At the bidding of her mad brother, Aoife, best friend Cal and bad-boy guide Dean flee the safety and rules of Lovecraft for Aoife’s father’s mansion in Arkham. There she learns she has latent magical power relating to machines and a longstanding family connection to the dark fairy Land of Thorn. Detailed descriptions overwhelm (do readers care about every outfit?), characters don’t behave consistently (in one case this eventually proves deliberate, but the twist seems even more implausible than the earlier behavior) and the pieces don’t come together until the very end, rather abruptly despite the novel’s heft. If readers could put on Aoife’s blue-glass goggles to see the bones beneath the overwriting, this would be a winner; sadly, it’s hard to imagine most making it through the bloat. Better editing could have saved this. (Steampunk fantasy. YA)
