1926. New York. The Roaring Twenties. Jazz. Flappers. Prohibition. Coal-powered cars. A cold war with a British Empire that still covers half of th...
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Dec 26, 2010
David
rated it: 
'Ghost of Manhattan' is George Mann's melding of the pulp genre with that of steampunk. Set in an America embroiled in a cold war with the British Empire, it is a world of coal-powered cars, bi-planes taking off from building tops on rockets, of mobsters and of....The Ghost.
The book centres on the vigilante 'The Ghost' and his attempts to thwart the schemes of the insidious mob boss known as 'The Roman'. Armed with a plethora of customised weaponry, he sets out each night to tackle the cri More...
The book centres on the vigilante 'The Ghost' and his attempts to thwart the schemes of the insidious mob boss known as 'The Roman'. Armed with a plethora of customised weaponry, he sets out each night to tackle the cri More...
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Dec 16, 2010
David
rated it:
Ghosts of Manhattan was a fairly short book I picked up based entirely on the cover art and short description on the back, and turned out pretty good. The story takes place in a re-imagined Steampunk style 20s, and is essentially a superhero / detective story. The story follows the jaded but dedicated Detective Donovan, and the vigilante "The Ghost" who acts as the sort of anti-hero with no problem massacring a whole room of people, so long as they are armed and trying to kill him back
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Mar 10, 2011
Marcus
rated it: 
At first I was not too impressed. The plot seemed too transparent, I thought it was obvious after about 50 pages who the eponymous Ghost was and who was most likely the villain, I was wrong about the latter. I also realized that I measured Ghosts of Manhattan along the wrong standards. Ghosts of Manhattan is not a mystery tale, it is straight forward pulp. After I got that, the novel suddenly became very enjoyable.
Ghosts of Manhattan is a dirty, gritty, action-packed noir tale. The hero, T More...
Ghosts of Manhattan is a dirty, gritty, action-packed noir tale. The hero, T More...
Feb 18, 2011
MB
rated it:
Finished reading The Ghosts of Manhattan (2010) by George Mann. It’s a pretty good book, if a bit odd. This is the second book by Mann that I’ve read, and I think I preferred his earlier book, The Affinity Bridge (2009).</big>
Both novels are steampunk, but where The Affinity Bridge takes place in the more usual Victorian London, Ghosts is set in a 1926 New York, which feels a bit strange. The basic premise of steampunk is advanced technology using the accoutrements of an earlie More...
Both novels are steampunk, but where The Affinity Bridge takes place in the more usual Victorian London, Ghosts is set in a 1926 New York, which feels a bit strange. The basic premise of steampunk is advanced technology using the accoutrements of an earlie More...
Mar 29, 2011
Charlotte (Buried in Books)
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 21, 2011
Michael
rated it:
I actually liked this book. It didn't blow me away but I liked it. It was a fairly quick read. The picture on the cover and title grabbed me because the hero obviously is derivative of some of my favorite heroes from the pulps..."The Shadow" and "The Spider" not to mention Batman and the Green Hornet. It takes place in 1926 New York City in an alternate world. This is Steampunk genre but I like the fact it takes place in NYC in the Jazz age rather than the usual Victorian Era
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Jun 05, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
Moving ahead several decades and continents in his steampunk universe serves George Mann well in this book which is a mix of superhero story (think Batman) and noir. The book is a pretty interesting read until the end. Mann has knack for writing crazy fight and chase sequences; in this book it's a bi-plane fight. The pace of most of the book is good, mixing the right amount of action and introspection.
Where the book lost me (and this is why I'm giving it 3 stars instead of 4) is i More...
Where the book lost me (and this is why I'm giving it 3 stars instead of 4) is i More...
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Sep 17, 2010
Hendel
rated it:
I enjoyed Mann's more traditional (?) Victorian steampunk "The Affinity Bridge" and had high hopes based on the described setting for this. Steam-powered superheroes? A Cold War with Britain? It sounded great!
Unfortunately, this fell pretty flat for me. Far too many clear Batman parallels, for a start. If you're going to do the well-worn filthy-rich playboy by day, tormented avenger by night thing, you'd better have a great twist no more than 2/3 of the way through, and there was none here (thou More...
Unfortunately, this fell pretty flat for me. Far too many clear Batman parallels, for a start. If you're going to do the well-worn filthy-rich playboy by day, tormented avenger by night thing, you'd better have a great twist no more than 2/3 of the way through, and there was none here (thou More...
Aug 22, 2010
M.
rated it: 
If I wanted to read Batman fanfiction, I could probably find better fic on the Internet for free.
While the book is set in an old-tymey steampunk universe, everything else is straight from the DC/Batman universe, coated with a quick and slapdash coat of paint. I do not know whether this is 'merely' a steampunk-AU fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, or if it was an official Elseworlds script submission which DC turned down, but either way, it's still Batman, albeit in the Witness More...
While the book is set in an old-tymey steampunk universe, everything else is straight from the DC/Batman universe, coated with a quick and slapdash coat of paint. I do not know whether this is 'merely' a steampunk-AU fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, or if it was an official Elseworlds script submission which DC turned down, but either way, it's still Batman, albeit in the Witness More...
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Jun 26, 2011
Maureen
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The back copy sold me on this book: new york in the twenties, with a steampunk spin -- and a villain called "the Roman" leaving freshly minted ancient coins on his victims' eyes.
We are introduced to the hero, the vigilante named "the Ghost", as he overcomes a band of hoods who work for the Roman. Shortly thereafter we meet a Gatsby-like character named Gabriel Cross who seemed to be his alter ego, only the author seemed to be trying to make me think he wasn't the Gh More...
We are introduced to the hero, the vigilante named "the Ghost", as he overcomes a band of hoods who work for the Roman. Shortly thereafter we meet a Gatsby-like character named Gabriel Cross who seemed to be his alter ego, only the author seemed to be trying to make me think he wasn't the Gh More...
Feb 03, 2011
James
rated it:
A vigilante hero, gangster warfare, Jazz, Prohibition, flying machines and Golems - what's not to like?
And in truth there wasn't much to dislike about Ghosts of Manhattan. It's a fast read, but doesn't offer a lot in the way of originality with the superhero genre. Other than it's set in the same universe as his Newbury and Hobbes series (albeit a few years down the line), Mann, I feel, will improve on The Ghost with later books.
Don't get me wrong, it's great fun and some of More...
And in truth there wasn't much to dislike about Ghosts of Manhattan. It's a fast read, but doesn't offer a lot in the way of originality with the superhero genre. Other than it's set in the same universe as his Newbury and Hobbes series (albeit a few years down the line), Mann, I feel, will improve on The Ghost with later books.
Don't get me wrong, it's great fun and some of More...
Aug 08, 2011
Belinda
rated it:
I am still on the fence with this--it had enough in it for me to like it but it was not as good as I had hoped from the description. I love the details of the alt universe but would have loved more--the twist as to who the "ghost" is, is very lame and easy to figure out-maybe it was meant to be that way but I thought it was far too simple--he may as well have told you in the first few pages outright. I also thought the ending deserved a bit more explanation--I think that's my issue w
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May 22, 2010
Richard
rated it:
Taking a break from his previous creations Newbury & Hobbes, here Mann rolls his steampunk universe a couple of decades into its future, to Manhattan in the mid-twenties, instantly rejuvenating his own world. Genre-fusing pulp vigilantes into his steampunk world, he launches into an action-packed adventure dotted through with gangsters, molls, biplane battles, and the supernatural. It's a fun ride, though could have perhaps benefited from a more gradual denouement of the plot, rather than savi
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Mar 13, 2011
James
rated it:
Picked up for a pittance in a charity shop somewhere, so utterly awful that I may just bin it rather than have the possibility of someone else reading it sitting on my conscience.
Stylistically it nearly made me weep, for a book that steals so much from The Great Gatsby you'd hope the author would take more than a few characters and a setting and learn a little from his prose.
Also Alan Moore did the whole Cthulu erupts into high society thing a lot better in one of his League More...
Stylistically it nearly made me weep, for a book that steals so much from The Great Gatsby you'd hope the author would take more than a few characters and a setting and learn a little from his prose.
Also Alan Moore did the whole Cthulu erupts into high society thing a lot better in one of his League More...
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Mar 31, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
Ghosts of Manhattan was a lot of fun. Unlike a lot of pulp homages, Mann doesn't try to echo the clunky dialogue and purple prose of the originals. Instead, he makes his book feel the way we remember the pulps feeling, concentrating on reminding us of the best qualities (fast pacing, larger than life weird action) instead of the worst.
I did wonder if too much information was saved until the final chapters, but ultimately, I think he did just enough foreshadowing to set everything up. More...
I did wonder if too much information was saved until the final chapters, but ultimately, I think he did just enough foreshadowing to set everything up. More...
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Aug 10, 2011
Great fun, but hardly a masterpiece. The writing is solid, but fairly uninspiring, and it essentially plays out like a Steampunk 30's Batman, but with less of a moral code. The random introduction of a supernatural element in the last 100 pages or so is underdeveloped. On the other hand, there's a neat plot hook laid for the sequel; having read the author's other work, I'm happy to put the above problems down to teething troubles for a new series. Recommended; just don't expect to read something
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Nov 28, 2011
Magpie
rated it:
Ghosts of Manhattan is a little disappointing. The concept is good, a steampunk vigilante hero, and the writing style is actually quite enjoyable. However, there are some pacing issues (it takes a while to find its feet with chapters alternating between characters that all seem to consist of chase and fight scenes) and, honestly, it's all been done to death. The self-consciously noir-style plot mixed with the steampunk and more fantastical elements is well-pastiched, but also a little uninspired
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Mar 30, 2011
Dave
rated it:
Say hello to the new pulp adventure novel. This is billed as steampunk by the back cover, but anyone who goes into it expecting a big, elaborate world of alternate history and coal-fueled grotesqueries is going to be sorely disappointed. Ghosts of Manhattan builds on a steampunk foundation; there are a few genre nods, but the back jacket had more history of the world than the entire 270 pages of the novel. What this should really be billed as is pulp.
Taken in that context, Ghosts of Man More...
Taken in that context, Ghosts of Man More...
Jul 08, 2011
Kristin
rated it:
You may also read my review here:http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/07/reviewghosts-of-manhattan-by-george.html
Detective Felix Donovan is having a bad time of it. High profile men are being murdered in gruesome ways, and he has no leads, other than he’s sure that a violent gangster that calls himself The Roman has to have something to do with it. A vigilante that calls himself the Ghost is taking crime solving into his own hands, and a rich playboy is fighting the ghosts of his own v More...
Detective Felix Donovan is having a bad time of it. High profile men are being murdered in gruesome ways, and he has no leads, other than he’s sure that a violent gangster that calls himself The Roman has to have something to do with it. A vigilante that calls himself the Ghost is taking crime solving into his own hands, and a rich playboy is fighting the ghosts of his own v More...
Jan 08, 2012
Chompa
rated it:
Let me start by saying, I wish more people would attempt to bring back pulps and update them like George Mann has done.
Characters: The Ghost is a great pulp hero concept. Kind of like The Shadow, but uses gadgets. Detective Donovan is also a solid character. Celeste is a much needed femme fatale.
The Setting: 1920's Steampunk. Coal powered cars. Plans on rooftops with rockets to launch them. A cold war with the British Empire in post WWI.
The good: It's pulp More...
Characters: The Ghost is a great pulp hero concept. Kind of like The Shadow, but uses gadgets. Detective Donovan is also a solid character. Celeste is a much needed femme fatale.
The Setting: 1920's Steampunk. Coal powered cars. Plans on rooftops with rockets to launch them. A cold war with the British Empire in post WWI.
The good: It's pulp More...
Sep 20, 2010
Jason
rated it:
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
This latest title by our buddies at Pyr has a killer concept, one that's almost impossible to pass up -- basically, imagine "The Shadow" of 1920s pulp fiction, but if his secret identity happened to be Jay Gatsby, the whole story taking place in a steampunk (noirpunk?) alt-history New More...
This latest title by our buddies at Pyr has a killer concept, one that's almost impossible to pass up -- basically, imagine "The Shadow" of 1920s pulp fiction, but if his secret identity happened to be Jay Gatsby, the whole story taking place in a steampunk (noirpunk?) alt-history New More...
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Jul 19, 2010
David
rated it:
3.5 stars
George Mann bring together steampunk and superheroes in a 1920’s New York city that reflects our own but is from a distinctly unique history. Mann has seemingly moved his steampunk world of Newbury and Hobbs ahead a few decades and across the Atlantic.
The story follows the tale of The Ghost and his escapades against a gangster/bad guy called “The Roman”. The tale is more dark and noir compared to the Newbury and Hobbs stories, and more pulpy. Neither is a bad thin More...
George Mann bring together steampunk and superheroes in a 1920’s New York city that reflects our own but is from a distinctly unique history. Mann has seemingly moved his steampunk world of Newbury and Hobbs ahead a few decades and across the Atlantic.
The story follows the tale of The Ghost and his escapades against a gangster/bad guy called “The Roman”. The tale is more dark and noir compared to the Newbury and Hobbs stories, and more pulpy. Neither is a bad thin More...
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Aug 09, 2010
Dan
rated it:
The year is 1926 and the USA is in a Cold War with Britan. Masked vigilante The Ghost is on the trail of a crime boss called The Roman. Can he evade police long enough to catch The Roman and put a stop to his reign of terror?
The easiest way to sum up Ghosts of Manhattan is to say "Steampunk Batman." That's what it is. It's very much a Batman story with steampunk trappings. And the trappings are minimal. If minor details were changed, it could have easily taken place in More...
The easiest way to sum up Ghosts of Manhattan is to say "Steampunk Batman." That's what it is. It's very much a Batman story with steampunk trappings. And the trappings are minimal. If minor details were changed, it could have easily taken place in More...
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Jan 11, 2011
Brian
rated it:
Picked this book up to read while on a lunch break from work. Within the first few pages I am hooked! Very Noir-ish feel. It's labeled as Steampunk by the publisher, but i see it more as a Diesel Punk. Sure the cars run on steam, but the level of gadgetry and technology lend this more to remind me of "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" movie. I could SO see this on TV. It has an early Batman/ The Shadow feel to it. If this is what George Mann has to offer, I need to read more of
Jun 11, 2010
Amber
rated it:
Steampunk, alternate history, a hero who hides in the shadows of the world's most famous city... This had all the elements of what could have been a great book, but it just sort of fell flat.
None of the characters were really fleshed out enough to care about, and the reveal of the Ghost's true identity just didn't work for me. It was too sudden and didn't make sense as presented.
Everything wrapped up too easily, and the main love interest's involvement in the whole plot More...
None of the characters were really fleshed out enough to care about, and the reveal of the Ghost's true identity just didn't work for me. It was too sudden and didn't make sense as presented.
Everything wrapped up too easily, and the main love interest's involvement in the whole plot More...
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May 11, 2010
King Dinösaur
rated it:
Nicely done pastiche of noir and steampunk genres and an updating of the pulp adventure hero. Our protagonist, The Ghost, blends Batman and the Shadow with enough originality and steampunk convention to create a great new character. Set in an alternate history Manhattan, circa 1926, where holograms exist and England is America's greatest political concern, The Ghost prowls the night, fighting mobsters and golems (yes, golems) in his quest for Justice. Fun and quirky - I'd definitely like to s
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Jun 23, 2010
James
rated it:
I'll admit, I was torn between 3.5 and 4.5 stars, though I suppose that's dependent on what you want from the book. Four stars works. Deep philosophical insights? Not really. A nifty mash-up of noir and early superhero with a smattering of Lovecraft? It's there. There were a few parts where some key plot points seemed telegraphed, but his may have been me.
Either way, I do recommend it if you're after something gritty and action-packed.
Either way, I do recommend it if you're after something gritty and action-packed.
Apr 08, 2010
aaron
rated it:
another steampunk novel by george mann...and now i think he might love the genre! he certainly has a talent for writing in this genre. this novel takes place in the 20's in an alternate timeline where steampunk rules the day. the ghost is the hero of the day. he is a trench coat clad hero with clever weapons a la batman. he is attempting to find a criminal known as the roman with some help from a cop named donovan. it is a great ride with a solid ending which leaves room for more if mann s
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Oct 24, 2010
Rich
rated it:
Some of the dialogue is atrocious, and Mann seems to rely on the thesaurus a bit much. It reads fast - very pulp-y/noir-y/comic book-y, almost to the point of high camp, much like those serialized thrillers from the olden days of cinema. I think. I could see Frank Miller trying to wash The Spirit out his hair with this.
The backcover promises "the first steampunk superhero" and I guess he delivers - just don't tell The Rocketeer.
The backcover promises "the first steampunk superhero" and I guess he delivers - just don't tell The Rocketeer.
Aug 17, 2011
Robert
rated it:
BTW they live forever because of sucking juice from a belly gland? surely, there was a writerly way around this!
Other than that baffling bit of explication (PM me if you think it's a spoiler) this is a decent vigilante/superhero thing. New York between the wars, but I didn't get a great feel for the city. Almost Mo Hayder quality kills, if you like that sort of thing.
It's a fast read.
Other than that baffling bit of explication (PM me if you think it's a spoiler) this is a decent vigilante/superhero thing. New York between the wars, but I didn't get a great feel for the city. Almost Mo Hayder quality kills, if you like that sort of thing.
It's a fast read.
