Clementine

Dust jacket by Jon Foster

Maria Isabella Boyd’s success as a Confederate spy has made her too famous for further espionage work, and now her employment options are slim. Exiled, widowed, and on the brink of poverty…she reluctantly goes to work for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in Chicago.

Adding insult to injury, her first big assignment is commissioned by the Union Army. In short, a federally sponsored transport dirigible is being violently pursued across the Rockies and Uncle Sam isn’t pleased. The Clementine is carrying a top secret load of military essentials—essentials which must be delivered to Louisville, Kentucky, without delay.

Intelligence suggests that the unrelenting pursuer is a runaway slave who’s been wanted by authorities on both sides of the Mason-Dixon for fifteen years. In that time, Captain Croggon Beauregard Hainey has felonied his way back and forth across the continent, leaving a trail of broken banks, stolen war machines, and illegally distributed weaponry from sea to shining sea.

And now it’s Maria’s job to go get him.

He’s dangerous quarry and she’s a dangerous woman, but when forces conspire against them both, they take a chance and form an alliance. She joins his crew, and he uses her connections. She follows his orders. He takes her advice.

And somebody, somewhere, is going to rue the day he crossed either one of them.

Trade: Fully cloth bound hardcover edition
Limited: 200 signed numbered copies, with the bonus chapbook, “Tanglefoot”

From Publishers Weekly:
“Explosive battle scenes, riveting action, and a sharp-eyed examination of the mistrust between Croggon's all-black crew and very white, very Southern Maria play out in a desperate race against the clock.”

From SciFi magazine:
“The latest in Priest’s steampunk series about an alternate Civil War that still rages in 1880, thanks in part to the wide availability of hydrogen airships, is an over-the-top romp driven by pirates, aerial battles, revenge, conspiracies, secret weapons, and a forced alliance between deadly enemies… Priest alternates chapters detailing [Croggon] Hainey’s quest to retake his stolen vessel and [Real-life Confederate spy Belle] Boyd’s mission to intercept him – until circumstances inevitably place them on the same side. There are cliffhangers aplenty, and the world Priest has set up is a promising one, but the book’s real attraction is the well-realized portrayal of Boyd, who is as resourceful, charming, and dangerous as she was in real life.”

From Tor.com:
“This book is a straight-up spy thriller, and it’s a blast to read… The characters, the actions, the settings, feel so real and tangible that at times I wanted to do some research about Civil War era airships.”

From SF Site:
“…the moral complexity of the novel elevates it above pure escapism, and adds depth to the chase adventure. The stakes are high for everyone, and this tension is continually tightened all the way to the end. Priest has once again constructed a fascinating and fun-as-hell narrative, a worthy addition to her Clockwork Century.”

From Bookslut:
“Effective on all counts, smart and strong and written at a breakneck pace, Clementine is the best kind of fun reading. Priest gives her readers an excellent time, and adds more layers to the world she so carefully created with Boneshaker...steampunk has been waiting for Cherie Priest to arrive and take the genre by storm. How lucky for us that the wait is finally over.”

From SFRevu:
“Clementine, by Cherie Priest, returns to the steampunk alternate history civil war setting as 2009s Boneshaker, which is nominated for the Hugo. This follow-up chases down a loose plot thread from the novel, and manages to pack in all the steampunk goodness you could ask for. In its 200 action packed pages it manages to cram in airships, pirates, Gatling guns, and an improbable super weapon.”

From The Mad Hatter's Book Review:
“Priest is gives us glimpses of a world that is wide and wild in a story that hardly touches the ground. Clementine shows off the southern flair that Cherie has become famous for, but will please even hardened Steampunk fans with her ingenuity at keeping everything fresh and yet historically stylized.”

From Fantasy Literature:
“...a nearly non-stop barrage of crowd-pleasing entertainment rivaling anything currently produced by Hollywood....”

From San Francisco Book Review:
“Her decision to feature protagonists from marginalized groups strengthens the story by adding an interesting layer to the conflict.”