Finding a new author whose writing wows is always a bit of a double-edged sword. The next book is either going to set you on the path of a long-term reader, or kick you in the teeth. The more you like the first book, the bigger the fall can be for the second. But with Kady Cross, I didn’t have to worry. The Girl in the Clockwork Collar was both wonderful, and offered a good balance between the familiar comfort of the first book’s characters and a whole new circumstance.

The second book in The Steampunk Chronicles takes our group of enhanced young people across the water to New York City in a determined attempt to rescue their friend Jasper, who has been taken on a charge of murder. The twist is that he went willingly and without explanation. Finley, Griffin, Emily, and Sam don’t know for sure whether he’s guilty, but they know the manner of person Jasper is and so hold to the idea that even if he is guilty, there must be some explanation.

That right there speaks to the character of this book. Like The Girl in the Steel Corset, The Girl in the Clockwork Collar focuses on questions of loyalty and trust between friends, and how there needs to be room for all parties to have independence. Basically, that trust comes with the price of letting go. Holding someone close to your side is not a sign of trust but doubt.

What I love about this series is the return to the punkish aspects of steampunk in the sense of exploring, and exploding, social boundaries and conventions.

Griffin takes them over the ocean in his private airship, marches into the jail where Jasper should have been, and expects every courtesy. He finds that reaction among the upper echelon of New York City, mainly from mothers hoping to win a title for their daughters, but the common folk give little weight to his title or his fancy British accent. It’s a slap in the face, and a clear statement that he’s out of his element. At the same time, he sees Finley balanced between her dark and light selves (a true Jekyll and Hyde) while she tries to integrate the two, and he can do nothing to aid the process.

There are hints to be had about how things will unfold, and side trips that come to have greater meaning though they’re begun because of curiosity. The question of who Jasper was before he came to England and what is his responsibility go unanswered (at least for the rest of the group, though the reader gets more), but it doesn’t stop them from doing everything they can to figure this out, especially once they learn the law was not responsible for his abduction from England. Rather, an unsavory fellow Dalton has taken Jasper, using his former girlfriend as a lever to make Jasper undo the act that sent him fleeing to England in the first place, dismantling and hiding the pieces of a machine whose danger is only evident in how much Dalton wants it.

Once again, we’re swept away into an adventure of major proportions that never fails to incorporate a personal element. We get to watch characters we’ve grown to love mature and find their way. It’s not without suffering and danger, but there are light points to ease the dark, and new characters I hope to meet again…along with some I hope will never show up, but only because I know the consequences will be horrible for Finley’s new family.

I’ve tried to be obscure where I could and avoid where I couldn’t, but I hope this has given you some taste of the tale you’ll get on these pages, electronic or paper. Kady Cross has a real skill with storytelling, and I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series.