I’ve been a fan of Kat Ross for a while, and in fact it was her Gaslamp Gothic series which got me interested in supernatural mysteries in the first place. She’s the type of author whom I could read whatever genre she writes.
I finally got around to reading The Thirteenth Gate, the second Gaslamp Gothic book. The first third or so of the book switches pov from Harry and John from the first book to focus on two new characters. This wasn’t terrible as I did end up loving Vivienne and Alec and their dynamic was interesting to read, but I do find it off-putting. When I’ve read a book about certain characters and developed a fondness for them, I find it jarring if the next book in the series is about a new set of characters. It’s a risk as you have no way of knowing if readers will love the new characters as much as the old ones. Apparently this book contains characters from Kat Ross’ Fourth Element series which is great for fans of those books, but is rather jarring for readers like me who haven’t read them.
Thankfully, Harry and John do return later in the novel and meet up with Vivienne and Alec later for their narratives to combine, but I still wish that the book had opened with the familiar characters.
This is the only real nit-pick I have with the book, as I loved everything else about it. Kat Ross does a great job of building an alternative history version of both New York City and London and is excellent at building up a mystery and delivering on it.
I’d recommend this series to anyone who loves supernatural mysteries with a darker twist, and I’ll gladly be reading the next book in the series, if only to find out if John will finally admit his feelings for Harry!
My rating – 4/5
J.A. Arundel 