Decisive Devices

"The richest and most fascinating steampunk retelling of Cinderella I've ever read." Author Kevin C. Davison Halloran Frost lives a nearly non-existent life after the death of her beloved father, and her stepmother assumes control of the Willoughby household and estate.Relinquished to living in the summer kitchen of the grand estate that once belonged to her family, Halloran's only happiness in life is the gaslight company her father founded at which is a controlling shareholder. But as time passes, she quickly discovers that her father left her much more than just the gaslight company and that living as a cinderwench to her stepmother and stepsisters is far from what her father would have wanted. Is the key to what Halloran's father wanted her to decipher locked away inside the vault at Carnaby Bank or is it just a final farewell to a daughter greatly adored? Halloran must find the strength to follow her destiny while staying one step ahead of those who would take it from her and destroy her life forever. In a world filled with fantastic machines, steamhorses, and the power of gaslight, Halloran embarks on a dangerous quest that could change not only her life but the lives of all she loves in the process, if she can stay alive long enough to share it.

Emma Alice Peterson lives a very sensible life in turn of the century New York procuring rare objects for her employer, Bradley Livingston. When Emma is placed on a steamer bound for London, in search of the famed looking glass and original manuscript of Alice in Wonderland, she discovers that the novel was not a nonsensical fairy-tale at all. She is confronted by a strange man named Mordecai Hatter who appears obsessed with the lot at the auction house, a man who then later offers his business card after losing the auction with a cryptic warning. Emma's life quickly spirals out of control as her existence is put in danger shortly after the auction ends, and she discovers Mordecai Hatter might just be her only hope of survival, and that her entire life might have been an elaborate lie to save the place once known as Wonderland from a perilous end. Filled with steam powered horses, strange machines, and magic, Emma Alice discovers the Shadowlands, the place once known as Wonderland, a haunting shell of what so many knew and loved as her destiny slowly unfolds. Will Emma regain her memories before the Baroness Red and the Shadowcaster destroy what remains of Wonderland? Can she return to the life once known as Alice?