The Hangman's Revolution

Returning from her jaunt to Victorian London in The Reluctant Assassin, Chevie Savano finds that fellow time-traveler Colonel Box must have succeeded in his conquest, since she's now a cadet in the repressive Boxite Empire's military academy. Going back to the past, Chevie reunites with magician and good friend Riley to change history in this funny, high-octane adventure with thought-provoking time-travel insights.

Fast-paced action and psychological tension combine to create a mind- and genre-bending thriller that is difficult to put down. Readers will relate to the novel’s protagonists. Teenaged FBI agent Chevie is resourceful, courageous, and devoted. Meanwhile, her friend Riley must fend for himself in the hazardous world of old London, using only his wits and the skills he learned from a famed illusionist. Eoin Colfer’s prose effectively integrates nineteenth-century details into contemporary situations to establish an utterly convincing time-travel world. For example, when Chevie tasks Riley with building a bomb from plastique: “Though he was the junior, Riley was entrusted with the explosives work. After all he was a magician, trained by the West End’s best, well-versed in the handling and manipulation of potions and volatiles, powder bombs, flash bangs, and other such delicates.” A good deal of comic relief is provided by the self-important thieves in the Rams gang, especially “King” Otto Malarkey, with his disguises, schemes, and constant goading of his underling, Michael Figary.