To Purchase

Summary

A diver and a scientist seek a cure for an airborne bacteria that turns people into zombies.

Stats

Genre: Adult Steampunk

Series length: Two books

Violence: Moderate violence, including attacks by people and zombies, characters being hurt and dying, etc. Some light gore both in attacks and descriptions of zombies.

Magic/Supernatural: Technically none, with all phenomena attributed to science. 

Romance/Sex: One attack with the implied intention of rape, with early strands of romance in book 1, and more in 2.

Christian/spiritual element: Light allegorical, with a few references to God, a couple of spiritual conversations, and reference to "church." 

Recommendation: Excellent for readers who like steampunk, zombies, and/or are fans of Victorian gothic fiction.

You might like this book if you liked... 
early classic science-fiction/horror like Frankenstein or the work of H.G. Wells.

---

Opening Lines:

Time went by, minute after minute, until finally a deathly silence consumed the streets outside and darkness filled the dingy window. Cass was alone now, with nothing but the locket her mother had given her and her life. 

Secrets in the Mist (Skyworld, Book 1)
by Morgan L. Busse

What’s lurking in the Mist is the least of their worries…

In a world where humanity lives in the sky to escape a deadly mist below, Cass’s only goal is survival. That is, until she finds a job on the airship Daedalus as a diver. Now she explores ruined cities, looking for treasure and people’s lost heirlooms until a young man hires her to find the impossible: a way to eradicate the Mist.

Theodore Winchester is a member of one of the Five Families that rule the skies. Following in his father’s footsteps, he searches for the source of the Mist and hopes to stop the purges used to control overpopulation. But what he finds are horrifying secrets and lethal ambition. If he continues his quest, it could mean his own death.

The Mist is rising and soon the world will be enveloped in its deadly embrace, turning what's left of humanity into the undead.

---

Opening Lines:

Theo drifted along the currents of the wind with Cass tied to the front of him. She would move and groan, but she never woke up. Perhaps that was a good thing. He didn't want to be the one to tell her the Daedalus had burned and that they were all alone, drifting along the western mountain range with nothing but Theo's memories of the puzzle box and the papers he had found. The price for that knowledge seemed too high. 

Blood Secrets (Skyworld, Book 2)
by Morgan L. Busse

Not everyone wants to see the world saved . . .

Time is running out. Cities are being engulfed in the Mist and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Theo believes he has found a way to stop mankind from Turning, but he doesn’t know how to alter Cass’s unique blood into a cure. Or if it can even be done.

Meanwhile, Cass struggles with the idea that she is possibly the savior of the world—a world she is not sure is worth saving.

From the Winchester manse to the steel city of Decadenn, there is something more chasing Cass than the House of Lords or the masked man who can walk in the Mist. Soon she must decide if she will use her blood to save mankind or let those who only care about themselves perish.

---