KING OF THE CRACKSMEN

A New York safecracker forcibly turned secret agent takes on his corrupt bosses in this broad and brawling debut.

Part alternate history, part Gangs of New York, the tale opens with unwilling “Pilkington” (i.e., Pinkerton) agent Liam McCool infiltrating the violent Molly Magees in Pennsylvania’s coal fields. He teams up with intrepid journalist Becky Fox (plainly modeled on Nellie Bly), and from there, it’s on to the stews of 1877 Manhattan and over the Mississippi into Little Russia for clandestine meetings with European-educated freedom fighter Crazy Horse and his associate Laughing Wolf (formerly known as George Armstrong Custer). It seems that ruthless Secretary of War Edwin Stanton has hidden away the not-quite-assassinated Lincoln and placed the United States in a “temporary” state of emergency. Now he is using fear and flag-waving to bolster public support for a war to reclaim the western part of the continent—and worse. For good measure, O’Flaherty tucks in encounters with the likes of Mark Twain and genius “Predictive Engine” designer Ada Lovelace as well as plagues of weirdly oversized rats and other colorful details. His doughty duo plunges through frequent hails of gunfire and massive explosions into battles, gang-led riots and flights in speedy dirigible Black Deltas. Yet more demolition at the end leaves the door open for sequels.

As Liam remarks: “That ought to ginger them up.” He could be referring to readers of this rousingly violent, funny, sometimes shockingly profane opener.