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Cherie Priest's "Clockwork Century" books are action-packed, steampunky fun set in Civil War-era USA. They're like cool B movies spelled out in the pages of a book.

In Clementine, pirate Croggon Hainey's dirigible, the Free Crow, has been stolen by another pirate and renamed the Clementine. Hainey hijacks another dirigible and chases down his old ship with the intention of getting it back. Meanwhile, Belle Boyd, a former Confederate spy, has been hired by the Pinkerton Agency to make sure that the Clementine arrives safely in Kentucky.

Clementine shares several of Boneshaker's qualities: the characters are two-dimensional, the dialogue has an over-the-top cinematic flair, and the quirky set up is what drives the story. Boneshaker had a zombie-infested compound in Seattle, Clementine has a country-wide dirigible chase. The thought of 5mph blimps chasing each other may sound as exciting as watching turtles race, but Priest makes it work because of the clash of personalities in Hainey and Boyd.

I can see where a lot of people wouldn't enjoy Clementine as much as Priest's other books, but I liked it. If you're looking for a philosophical treatise on the human condition, then don't bother picking it up. But if you enjoy something that is fun, fast-paced, and full of weird one-off characters, then this might be your bag.