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Reviewed by:
  • The Friday Society
  • Kate Quealy-Gainer
Kress, Adrienne . The Friday Society. Dial, 2012. [448p]. ISBN 978-0-8037-3761-7$16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 8-10.

In a steampunk version of Edwardian London, three young female assistants to the powerful try to make a name for themselves as the city's most efficient crime fighters. Science-minded Cora, lab assistant to inventor and Parliament member Lord White, can rig an impressive explosion and handle an electric pistol with ease; Nellie, magician's assistant to the Great Raheem, is a knockout blonde who can flirt her way into or out of any situation; Michiko, a samurai in training, has obvious fighting skills that are enhanced by her ability to be virtually invisible. The three girls meet on a densely foggy night when they stumble across a dead body; from there, the corpses begin to pile up around London, and only Michiko, Nellie, and Cora see the connection between the murders of high-ranked scientists and lowly flower girls and the recent robberies at London's museums and laboratories. There's a breezy, wink-at-the-reader tone as the story seamlessly transitions from altercations in dark alleys and narrow escapes in creepy graveyards to giggling fits at sleepovers and abundant costume changes. Unfortunately, this blitheness begins to feel a out of place the body count rises, and the girls themselves fail to develop beyond a [End Page 251]superficial level. Additionally, the tangential plot pieces are forced together in an obvious and unfinished fashion at the book's close. The charms of the three heroines are nonetheless considerable, and when they form the guardian Friday Society (taking on the pseudonyms of Hyde, Lady Sparkle, and Silver Heart), readers will recognize that this alternative London is in good hands.

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