I'm going to borrow a phrase from my previous posting: "I don't read a lot of", in this case, thrillers. If I could find more thrillers like Charlie Huston's Skinner, I would read a lot more of them. Huston is a successful writer of edgie mysteries. His most recent novel, Skinner, is a post-9/11 thriller based in the world of the international security industry. It is a compelling story filled with exceptionally well developed characters. The story and the characters are all believable, which adds to the hook. Huston builds a complex story of a credible threat and the response by a large security firm and three ex-employees. Yes, there are good guys who are not so good, lots of double crosses, mixed alliances and a possible loose nuke. Skinner is an infamous agent with a strange resume. He is assigned an "asset" to protect, Jae, a gifted data analyst and robotics expert who is a bit fried. She has been hired to investigate a cyber attack on the U.S. power grid, which leads her to another plot involving what might be a nuke. Or...she is led to the other plot, by another former colleague from the grave. It's quite a  ride.

I don't read a lot of speculative fiction, or should I say "Victorian, historic, speculative, fantasy, steampunk" fiction. But, I am glad I read Natasha Pulley's The Watchmaker on Filigree Street. It is nicely plotted and filled with well drawn characters who orbit a mysterious Japanese watchmaker, Mori, in London of 1884. Mori is clairvoyant and might or might not be manipulative, evil, or dangerous. The workings of his clairvoyance is cleverly developed by Pulley. It brings him under suspicion for bombings by Clan na gael, a radical Irish nationalist group,and ties him to Nathaniel, a young telegraph clerk in the British government. Nathaniel is required to spy on Mori, a difficult position given his growing feelings for the watchmaker. Nathaniel becomes involved with a young physics student who does not trust Mori. Complications ensue.  There are some broad brush analogies developed between Clan na gael and the ultra nationalists of late 19th century Japan. The fantastical mechanical creatures that Mori makes, give the story a dash of steampunk. It is all quite an enjoyable and well written mix. I was easily drawn in despite my misgivings about the genre. Watchmaker is Pulley's first novel, she a is writer to key an eye on.