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The Dead Gentleman

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The Dead Gentleman is a wild ride between parallel New York City timestreams—1901 and today. Eleven-year-old Tommy Learner is a street orphan and an unlikely protege to the Explorers, a secret group dedicated to exploring portals—the hidden doorways to other worlds. But while investigating an attercop (man-eating spider) in the basement of an old hotel, Tommy is betrayed—and trapped. And it's then that his world collides with that of modern-day Jezebel Lemon, who, until the day she decides to explore her building's basement, had no bigger worries than homework and boys. Now, Jezebel and Tommy must thwart the Dead Gentleman, a legendary villain whose last unconquered world is our own planet Earth, a realm where the dead stay dead. Until now. Can two kids put an end to this ancient evil and his legions of Gravewalkers?

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 8, 2011

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About the author

Matthew Cody

37 books134 followers
Originally from the Midwest, Matthew Cody now lives in New York City with his wife and son. When not writing books or goofing off with his family, he teaches creative writing to kids of all ages.

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5 stars
108 (27%)
4 stars
125 (32%)
3 stars
114 (29%)
2 stars
23 (5%)
1 star
18 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
Profile Image for Shanshad Whelan.
649 reviews35 followers
February 9, 2012
A middle grade steampunk time-travel adventure! I read Cody's Powerless a few years ago and loved it. He hasn't lost his touch, that much is evident. The subject matter of this book may be less familiar to young readers than the superhero realm of the last book, but I think any middle grade reader looking for some wild adventure may find this a good read. Lots of fun!

And there's room for more stories with our heroes in the future!
Profile Image for Betsy.
Author 9 books3,009 followers
January 3, 2012
Steampunk will never supplant some of the better known genres out there in the hearts and minds of children. Kids walk into my library every day asking for fantasy, mysteries, funny books, scary books, and what have you. They don't tend to ask for science fiction unless it's part of a school assignment, and if you ask them if they'd like some Steampunk they look at you like you've started speaking in tongues. The word means nothing to them (and very little to quite a few adults as well). Nonetheless, while a kid might not be able to identify what Steampunk is (Quickie Definition: Futuristic elements mixed with old-fashioned gears and clockwork) but once they find a book they love they'll read it up, steam-powered ray guns or no. Steampunk is generally found in works for adults and teens, so Matthew Cody's The Dead Gentleman is a rarity in its field. Part early 20th century orphan scamp material, part present day end-of-the-world epic, and part Land of the Lost (trust me), Cody's book may not always entirely consistent but the characters are compelling, the settings fun, the storytelling's upbeat action is hard to match.

Tommy was just your average everyday 20th century street kid and cutpurse at first. There is such a thing as trying to pick the pocket of the wrong guy, though. When a routine pocket grab ends up involving a well dressed, walking corpse, Tommy ends up stealing a mechanical bird and, inadvertently, saving the world. Seems he's wrangled with a villain going by the name of The Dead Gentleman and in doing so ends up joining with an organization of explorers who travel all over the universe through space and time. When Tommy is trapped in a strange sunless world he manages to join forces with a present day girl named Jezebel. Together with the mechanical canary Merlin the three must try to defeat this singular villain before he conquers not just the earth but the universe as well.

Fans of Cody's previous middle grade novel Powerless, a story of superhero kids and their disappearing powers, are aware that as an author Mr. Cody is pretty good at creating fantastical stories packed with action. Fight scenes, chase sequences, all that good stuff. In this book he gives himself a much wider world to play with than he did in his previous novel. The skies the limit when it comes to exploring different worlds and Cody has fun with that. Mind you, there's a lot of death here. Not to the main characters, necessarily (well... not all of them), but in the interest of the plot a whole city pretty much gets wiped out in the course of the tale. FYI. This book is very much the first in a series but that doesn't mean that this first novel doesn't stand on its own. All the plotlines get wrapped up and the book doesn't end with some cheap cliffhanger. You can see that there are more tales yet to be told but if this is the only book a kid gets their hands on, they won't be disappointed.

Of course there's such a thing as over enthusiasm. Cody is dead set on throwing every last cool element into this book that he can think of that as a reader you're left feeling more than a little out of breath. So it is that you encounter in the course of this book a clockwork canary, time travel, monsters, a kraken, zombies, dinosaurs, zombie dinosaurs, multiple worlds, a near toothless vampire, interplanetary travel, and the Land of the Lost. At least it looks like The Land of the Lost. It's underground, contains portals to other worlds, ape-like inhabitants, and dinosaurs. It also slows the novel down more than it should. Once it's left behind, things pick up again. There's also the mild problem that Cody has to use a bit of a plot contrivance to keep his characters in line. Routinely Tommy and Jezebel are trapped in a situation with the means of escape at their fingertips. Jezebel, you see, accidentally steps through time when she interferes with a Cycloidotrope. Tommy uses it to simply see into the future, and is told never to try to travel that way because it's a million to one shot that you won't be torn to pieces. A million to one shot if you're a bad guy that is. Good guys use the warning to keep themselves in peril, but when the going gets tough they can apparently use it with impunity.

That said, it's a great romp and the kind of book you can hand to a kid intent on action. I know that librarians are constantly on the lookout for "boy books", which is to say books that don't look pink and sparkly and might actually attract a reluctant male reader. The Dead Gentleman certainly fits the bill if that's what you seek. And if you're looking for something comparable to this you may be out of luck. The best you can probably hope for in the Steampunk middle grade genre is to read books like Matthew Kirby's The Clockwork Three. Even then, you won't find the same sheer conglomeration of beasties and epic battles at work here. There may be a couple hiccups along the way but for simple enjoyment don't hesitate to pick this one up.

For ages 9-12
January 13, 2017
This story was very interesting and had a lot of action. It was interesting how the twists and turns kept you wondering what would happen. I also enjoyed that there were two different endings the way the story was written.
Profile Image for Jen Miller.
15 reviews1 follower
September 7, 2023
So I’ll start by saying I read this book as a homeschool mom…not as an interested reader.
My son chose this book as his first library book and book report of the school year and naturally I had to read it to make sure he did.

I know he chose the book because the artwork on the cover is “cool” —his words. That being said, as a homeschool mom I am so elated by his love for books and reading but working hard on improving his reading comprehension…this book made that impossible.

I am an adult reader that reads large books in one sitting and I struggled to get trough this book in days. There is just way too much going on for a young reader to begin to comprehend.

You have a modern day girl with mental illness and separated parents, an orphan boy from 1900 the reflects on his skills as a thief, a dead skeleton bad guy, a mechanical bird with a soul, zombies, a vampire, a submarine, a dirigible, yellow monkeys with 3 arms, time travel, space travel, a multiverse, dinosaurs, zombies, portals, an all mighty “father”…I had trouble keeping it all straight so there was no way I could expect my 10 year old to follow the story accurately.


This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tirzah.
986 reviews18 followers
November 29, 2017
I've enjoyed Matthew Cody's Will in Scarlet and first book in the Secret of the Piped Piper trilogy, so I decided to give this one a try. I had a hard time getting into it, but I know that is because I started it on and off two times since I had other books that needed to be read first (library books, due dates, non-renewable items...serious readers understand these plights). It was also hard for me to keep track of whose voice I was reading and what time period I was in as the book alternates between 1900, 1902, present time and is told among three different characters. When I was actually engaged in the book, it was fun to read and I liked the protagonists, especially Merlin the mechanical bird. Gentleman contains non-stop adventure, confusing time travel stuff, and some friendly and not so friendly creatures. The ending kind of left you hanging, which I didn't like but oh well. I recommend to readers - especially grades 3rd-6thish - who enjoy fantasy, science fiction, and adventure.

2 star rounded to 2.5 stars
Profile Image for Marsha.
Author 2 books34 followers
March 28, 2020
Two foolhardy children meddle with things they're not meant to and find themselves on the adventure of a lifetime...or several lifetimes.

This is a novel of rollicking derring-do, hair-raising escapes, alien races, clanky devices and prehistoric beasts. Borrowing gleefully from Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Louis Stevenson, H. G. Wells and H. P. Lovecraft, this novel is a fine tribute to those old stories of stalwart heroes pitted against unspeakable horrors from the pit.

The action scenes crackle, the shifts in time and space are firmly formed without confusion and I found myself equally captivated by Tommy Learner and Jezebel Lemon (which doesn't always happen). Older readers will appreciate the homages to the aforementioned literary legends. Yet younger readers who've never heard of these authors will get a kick out of this novel about two smart, tough children pitted against a seemingly unbeatable foe and his army of the walking dead.
Profile Image for Theresa.
1,141 reviews19 followers
March 8, 2020
Time travel, the walking dead and imminent threat to two children form the basis of this story. It had some exciting parts but overall it did not hold my interest. A young urchin from the turn of the 20th century is tasked with saving the world from the Dead Gentleman who wants to destroy earth. With the help of a modern girl, street kid travels through time to stop him. Some of the time travel was confusing and violated some of the tenets of time travel fiction (you can't change the past). It also ends without a clear sense of what happened.
Profile Image for Fabian Duran.
25 reviews1 follower
May 24, 2017
I really liked this book. It was very interesting reading about these people that explore portals. This book was very amazing and I couldn't put it down. This book made science fiction my favorite genre
Profile Image for Katie.
545 reviews12 followers
July 25, 2018
This book has a little of everything: drama, action, steamppunk, horror, dinosaurs, aliens. It's an entertaining read. However, older readers won't be particularly surprised at the plot twists or the ending.
Profile Image for Melissa Le Roux.
68 reviews1 follower
November 3, 2022
I enjoyed this read. Read it as a book club between myself and my daughter. I though it was very imaginative and held my attention. She felt less then thrilled reading it, but I think it was because of the complexity of the story and how it wove two tales together.
14 reviews
May 4, 2017
i want there to be another book and maybe in the second book the Gentleman lives. i liked it and i am happy he staid with her and i hope they go on adventures together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3 reviews
April 26, 2018
I think this is my favorite book because its has action.This demonstrates to me that good friends are never going to lets you down or they would go down with you.
Profile Image for Logan Bonswor.
1 review1 follower
September 20, 2018
It was good. Many steampunk and fantasy elements, so if you like those kinds of books you will really like it.
13 reviews
November 1, 2018
Great read.

Fun, filled with adventures. I truly enjoyed reading this book. Great mix of science fiction, fantasy, time travel, and more. Well written.
Profile Image for Jeff Thomas.
663 reviews2 followers
February 12, 2019
interesting and fun, but a bit immature. clever concept, but sometimes the plot points and twists-and-turns are more jarring than smooth and smart.
Profile Image for Anna.
425 reviews19 followers
July 24, 2019
Amazing adventure story with great characters, especially the two main kids and the mechanical bird. I can't wait to share this with kids I know.
Profile Image for Crystal.
401 reviews
May 28, 2022
This book was quite an adventure, however it just never quite hit the mark of being scary enough or exciting enough or emotional enough or anything it was trying to be.
Profile Image for Becky B.
8,111 reviews125 followers
April 8, 2014
Tommy Learner is an apprentice Explorer. Which means he travels between various worlds through portals and explores. It also means he has extended experience fighting the monsters that live in closets and under beds and in basements (all of which are seriously nasty beasties and deserve the fear kids give them). Tommy was originally a street thief in the Bowery of New York City in the 1800s, until he stumbled across a handoff in a back alley involving a peculiar mechanical bird (which Tommy snatches, like any respectable street thief would). This small action gets Tommy the undivided and very undesirable attention of the Dead Gentleman. He is soon rescued from the host of weird pursuers by Captain Scott, an Explorer, and Tommy is soon his apprentice as they try to save the worlds by keeping the mechanical bird out of the reach of the Dead Gentleman. (Oh, by the way, the Dead Gentleman is technically dead. He likes to spread death and kill off entire worlds. He has an army of zombies and his right hand man is a vampire.) Jezebel Lemon would probably never know that Tommy or the Dead Gentleman exist, since she lives in present day New York, except that the Dead Gentleman somehow gets the idea that she has the mechanical bird in her time and that's the handiest time to get his undead hands on it. So Tommy has to do some playing with time to warn Jez what's coming her way, which only succeeds in thoroughly freaking her out until she accidentally gets zapped back to Tommy's time. Then the two of them have to figure out how to save all the Earth (and other worlds) in the past and the future from the Dead Gentleman's machinations.

This book took me so very long to get into. Partly because I felt like the author couldn't decide on one flavor for the book, so different chapters and sections feel almost like different books. Some feel like realistic fiction with a touch of horror, others feel like classic Verne-style sci-fi, and others feel like fantasy. Mostly, though, I think I had a hard time getting into this because of the time jumps back and forth making it hardly clear at all what's going on for a while. It's hard to get into the plot when you aren't sure what the plot is. Eventually, you have enough information to know what's going on and to know how to cheer for the heroes. (If you aren't sure whether you'll like the book or not, flip to Chapter Eleven, read it and see if that interests you. If so, go back and start from the beginning. There's so much other jumping around in time I don't think reading that chapter out of order will spoil much, and it was the first one I found really gripping and asking me to keep reading.) I tagged this as horror because I think the middle grade crowd it is aimed at will find it creepy (It does play on all the typical fears of childhood) and may feel compelled to leave the light on at night after reading this. Also, the bad guys are seriously, totally evil and most are literally out for blood. It wasn't my favorite middle grade read, and I'm not sure how the kids will react to this one. I have a feeling that it will get more readers as soon as I add the horror genre sticker under the timetravel sticker, but even so, I think kids will struggle to get into the story as much as I did and may just give up. We shall see.

Notes on content: No language issues that I remember. No sexual content. There's a couple battles between the Dead Gentleman's minions and various groups. Attacks by monsters in the dark, zots by electric shock sticks, zombies just tearing at people, a vampire trying to suck people's blood (and sometimes successful), a troll punches several, a dinosaur fight (yes, you read that right), a couple bombs go off and several are killed by the shrapnel. After a zombie attack, Tommie goes through a world and describes bodies all over and he gets thrown on top of a bunch of dead bodies at one point. These events are described enough to get this book in a horror category, but not so much that it I'd classify it as gratuitous gore. There's not that much blood described or any dwelling on specific wounds.
39 reviews1 follower
March 14, 2017
Yes, it is young adult, but it was still a lot of fun!
Profile Image for Snapdragon.
411 reviews10 followers
February 3, 2023
.More reviews like this one on my blog Snapdragon Alcove


“The closet in the dark room-there are monsters in there. The space under the stairs is bigger than the space above it and people do disappear at home and feel eyes watching you-those are real, too. An overgrown garden’s never just an overgrown garden and an old basement’s never just an old basement.”

-THE DEAD GENTLEMAN, PG. 26
The writing doesn’t go too deeply in world building but, still leaves you awestruck of the idea of a secret society of explores going through portals and exploring strange worlds. It gets straight to the point of the plot.

I know writers can get sidetracked when writing a stylized world such as steampunk. They get so detail in the world that the characters and plot crumble apart. The Dead Gentlemen doesn’t fall into that trap. However it feel like there should be more.

everything steampunk. It subtle and doesn’t go overbroad with the stylized. At first, I wasn’t too knee on the idea of the Nautilus being in the book. It been in way too many books then it needs to be. I soon warm up to the idea when they went to the hollow world. I realize this is a well done tip of the hat to Jules Verne.

Characters:

Tommy: Left on the streets to defend for himself. Has the mind set of actin now, think later. It what kept him alive for so long.

Johnathan Scott: An old Captain of the Nautilus. Yes, that Nautilus. Keeps to his nonsensical ways of shouting at a crew that not there.

Jezebel (Jez): Lives in modern day New York. Jez would continue live her life as if strange events didn’t happen at the wrong time. She will often think thing through but in the line of defense act quickly.

I like how each character complement off one another. Their strength and weakness go well with each other coinventing me that they can work together as a team.

The villain is portrayed as menacing and it is delivers well. The Dead Gentleman doesn’t make a full appearance for most of the book. He only briefly decrepit and talk about him are in hush whispers. Basely he the boogie man. The monster under the bed. That way when sleeping you don’t hang your hand over the side of the bed, for he might reach out with those cold hands and grab you.

Since the writing is to the point it leaves out some plot details. Like when Tommy goes looking for Scott at the explorer’s academy, how did they get pass the grave walkers? I know they get out fine but, how do they make it to the Nautilus?

I would like to know more about this world and the Explorers Society. To be flush out more in greater detail. Maybe this can get turn into a series.

I know most MG end in a hopeful tone. To me what stand out is that the ending is open to being hopeful. Jezebel and Tommy are going off on an adventure that made or made not end well.

Books similar to this:
Cog and the Steel Tower – A lesser known book much like the DG only heavy on the steampunk world building. One of the few books that balances character, plot, and world build really well.

Smudge’s Mark by Claudia Osmond – This book can take place in the same world as the Dead Gentleman.

The Imaginarium Geographica series by James A. Owen – Gives the idea that all fictional works come from one place.
Profile Image for Kater Cheek.
Author 34 books272 followers
September 9, 2016
I really enjoyed Matthew Cody's first book, POWERLESS, so I was delighted when a copy of Cody's latest MG fantasy THE UNDEAD GENTLEMAN arrived in the mail.

Unabashedly steampunk, this novel throws steampunk elements at the reader like a magician flinging cards. Submarines! Goggles! Mechanical birds! Time travel! One of the two protagonists, Tommy Lerner, even comes from the right time period. Tommy's an Explorer, last of a secret society devoted to exploring the hidden mysteries of the world. Jezebel Lemon, fellow New Yorker (albiet of a modern century) meets him when he appears in her room to warn her that the monsters in her closet are real.

As the title implies, the events of the novel revolve around the undead gentleman, an evil lich who wants to take possession of Merlin, the mechanical bird that is the unofficial mascot of the Explorer's academy. Tommy and Jez don't know why the dead gentleman wants the bird, but they do know that if he gets it, he will destroy the world.

This book is written to appeal to preteen readers, and I suspect it will do so admirably. How can it not? It's got adventure! Dinosaurs! Monsters! Airships! I couldn't help but put exclamation points after them, because it felt like that's how the elements were introduced. I rarely say this about anything (plodding dense novels being anathema to me) but this book was actually too fast-paced for my taste. In one scene we're near the bottom of the ocean, and then we're in the land of the lost, and then we're in the Academy, and then it's a hidden city, and then it's back in New York again, and it all went so fast I felt I never quite got my bearings. I never figured out how things worked. How did they go to other dimensions? Why was Tommy chosen as an Explorer? What, exactly, did the trogs think about him? Where was Jez's father this whole time? I'm sure somewhere there's a 10-year-old who has read this book eighteen times already, and can sit me down and explain the whole manifesto, but I want to be able to figure things out on the first read.

I have mixed feelings about the characters. I liked Jezebel Lemon well enough, but Tommy Lerner grated my nerves from the first sentence to the last. I think he was supposed to be a swashbuckling brave street kid, but he came off as a smug brat who thought he knew everything and didn't listen very well. The other characters weren't involved enough for me to get to know any of them. Even Captain Scott had what felt like a small cameo. I liked what little I saw of Jez's father, but he wasn't around very much. The action-packed plot pretty much dominated the novel, leaving little room for character development or world-building.

Some books written for younger readers transcend their age group and appeal to everyone. Harry Potter was one of these. I wouldn't classify THE DEAD GENTLEMAN as one that parents will be snatching out of their kids' grasps. This book was written for middle-grade readers, and as I said before, I think it will appeal to both boys and girls. If you have a child or a young friend with a voracious appetite for books, slip this on their plate. They'll likely find it to their taste.
216 reviews2 followers
June 8, 2016
There are many exceptional elements to The Dead Gentleman. These include an extraordinarily terrifying villain, a society of interdimensional explorers, an awesome steampunk submarine, a snarky, sensible heroine, a breathtaking climax, and an inventive mythology surrounding the backstory. It is therefore a profound disappointment that Matthew Cody does not possess the requisite skill to weave all of these elements into a good story. He tries, and you can tell that he tries, which makes his failure all the more tragic. But in the end, his lack of skill and the disorganized nature of this book doom it to painful, stifling mediocrity.

Part of the problem with this book is Cody’s attempt to cram two stories with two protagonists that truly deserve full books of their own into one singular book. Of course, there are authors who can make this work, but Cody isn’t one of them – his constant switching of perspectives and stories makes the book’s prose awkward and disjointed. For some inexplicable reason, Tommy’s story is narrated in the first person, and Jezebel’s story in the third person. There seemed to be little point to this, especially since Jezebel was such a delightfully sensible character that I dearly wanted to get her first person perspective.

Cody created a truly intriguing mythology to serve as the backstory to this novel. I simply love stories about parallel universes, enough to look past the steampunk elements to this story that usually make me want to run and hide. When he tunes into this mythology, the story runs smoothly and elegantly. Tommy’s time aboard the advanced submarine that inspired the Nautilus is one of the best parts of the book, but it comes to an end almost as soon as it begins. It’s frustrating to see so much potential squandered so quickly.

Of course, as previous iterated, there are some good parts to this book, one of the most notable of which is its villain, the titular Dead Gentleman, who might rank among the most terrifying antagonists I’ve ever encountered. An undead horror, the Dead Gentleman seeks to rid the universes of all life and make himself the only free willed being in all existence. Making him even more terrifying is the fact that he actually gets a POV. A great many authors would use this as an attempt to make the antagonist more sympathetic. The Dead Gentleman is just infinitely more horrific the more we see the story through his eyes.

While The Dead Gentleman is a failure of storytelling and a testament to the lack of skill of its author, there are enough fragments of excellence in this novel for it to barely amass a two star rating by the skin of its teeth. This book had what it took to be a fabulous novel. It is therefore a horrible tragedy that we got this mess of a novel instead. Perhaps Cody can improve in the fullness of time. I doubt it, but I’ve seen more impressive comebacks before.
Profile Image for Sara.
136 reviews14 followers
September 14, 2011
Steampunk, time travel, and, dare I say it… zombies? Matthew Cody delivers all of the above with aplomb in his forthcoming book “The Dead Gentleman.” The story centers on two children, excuse me, young persons. Tommy is a street thief in the New York at the dawn of the 20th century, and Jezebel, is an average young lady of today. Tommy’s adventures start when he steals a clockwork bird from a rather dead looking gentleman, who nevertheless, resents the loss of his property. The flight from the Dead Gentleman and his minions leads Tommy to Captain Scott, Explorer. Explorers travel through portals to worlds beyond imagining and now Tommy finds himself an apprentice explorer.

Jezebel’s life is dull and just a bit uncomfortable. Her parents have divorced, but that hasn’t stopped the fighting. Her best friend has grown apart from her because of some guy. With nothing better to do with her time she takes to exploring the basement in her apartment building. She sees a strange boy, wearing goggles of all things. He gives her a dire warning and then just vanishes. She would really like to think that she just hallucinated him, but that night, strange monsters try to come out of her closet. They whisper something about a clockwork bird…

Soon Jez and Tommy are lost in space and time; working together to survive. They have a narrow window to find the bird and stop the Dead Gentleman from making Earth into an extension of his realm where everything is quiet, and still, and dead.

Profile Image for Erica.
707 reviews35 followers
August 11, 2016
When Jezebel first sees Tommy, she thinks he's a ghost. When she finds out the truth, it's even stranger. Tommy is a member of the Explorers' Society, a group that knows how to unlock hidden portals to other worlds. But sometimes when they go to these other worlds, something dark follows them back to Earth. The Dead Gentleman is building an army and preparing to take over. After he attacks the headquarters of the Explorers' Society, Tommy and Jezebel are all that stand between humanity and the apocalypse. This book was great fun with references to many of my favorite things: Tesla, Lemuria, H.G. Wells...the list goes on. Despite being about a Dead Gentleman that destroys everything in his path, there aren't many gory details making it solid middle-grade fiction fare. However the plot doesn't hold up to close scrutiny and there were many cliched elements that left me with a sense of déjà lu. Many of the characters were two dimensional and the villains were evil incarnate putting considerable energy into destroying worlds for no discernible reason other than to cause suffering. It was a quick and entertaining read though. If you're looking for a fast-paced fantastical adventure, this is a solid choice.

Read more of my reviews at http://auldschoollibrarian.blogspot.com/
Profile Image for Sherrie.
1,546 reviews
March 15, 2015
The Dead Gentleman is middle grade steampunk with plenty of action and a rapid fire pace that will keep Tweens engaged. Tommy Learner who prior to becoming an Explorer, was a street kid getting by on his wits and his penchant for thievery. When Jezebel Lemon discovers her bedroom closet is a portal she and Tommy end up meeting and joining forces against the Dead Gentleman. The Dead Gentleman is more undead than dead and is in search of a rare artifact that will help you conquer Earth. This book was engaging although at times, as other reviewers have mentioned , it feels as though it switches gears a bit too quickly and throws too many plot elements at the reader. The book included everything from time travel to dinosaurs which at times made the book seem disjointed and not thoroughly fleshed out. However, even with those hiccups in the writing I enjoyed the book and the dark and horrifying villain the author has created. The ending left me hoping for a sequel as I would like to take another adventure with these characters.
654 reviews1 follower
February 4, 2014
The second half of this book is terrific. Having enough patience to get to the second half is a problem. The narrative style is confusing. The story cuts between Tommy, a child explorer in roughly 1900, apparently being betrayed by a friend and killed, to Tommy in present times sort of appearing in a hotel basement, to Jezebel in present times encountering the sort of Tommy in said basement and trying to figure out what's happening. Once the stories meet up, about half way though the book, the story becomes more straightforward and gets interesting. Tommy and Jez have to use all their skills (plus time travel) to defeat the Dead Gentleman, a zombie like character whose goal is to create dead planets, most especially Earth, by killing everyone and everything living.

Clearly the first book of a series.

Middle school an up, I think, because of the choppiness of the first half of the book.
Profile Image for Susie.
1,741 reviews22 followers
June 21, 2012
This was recommended when Child-Lit listserv members were sharing time travel titles. My rating is partly colored by the fact that I don't like lots of description with numerous inventive machines/creatures/landscapes. This one seemed to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. It was a bit confusing at times (I had to re-read the year on the chapter titles more than once, and the "rules" sometimes seemed to morph), and got much more exciting when the Dead Gentleman finally met Jezebel. Not my style, but I will purchase it for our library, as I am sure there are students who will enjoy it. "The future is not set", but then you get in trouble if you change it? I had a lot of fun visualizing Manhattan under siege! Just imagine the TV and twitter coverage!
1 review1 follower
December 3, 2015
This book is amazing. It is full of adventure and suspense. You never can make a prediction that is correct! I like the imagination that Matthew Cody has. For it is full of it! It is just like a little kids nightmare, like there really is a monster under your bed! I like the names of all of the characters, and Matthew Cody even made up new monsters, like the harvesters and attercrops! This book is just very mysterious when you get into it. I like the whole format of it. It is just a really great book to read!
Central Idea: 2 kids named Tommy and Jezebel have to stop the dead gentleman from taking over earth.
Profile Image for Sarah.
812 reviews4 followers
January 20, 2016
Tommy is a street urchin-turned-Explorer in 1900; Jezebel, an ordinary girl in modern New York City. Their paths cross because the basement of her apartment building contains a portal to an abominable evil that he has vowed to stop. Although separated by a century, the two must work together to keep the dreadful Dead Gentleman from extinguishing all life on Earth, and off it, too. Tommy's steampunk world, Jezebel's monster-ridden Manhattan, and the other realms they visit are all vividly-imagined, and the enemy is nicely terrifying. Beginning in medias res and jumping around chronologically does make the plot take a while to click.
Profile Image for Josh.
14 reviews
August 15, 2012
Contrary to what other reviewers have said, I enjoyed the beginning of this book. I think Cody respects the reader and does not quickly lay out the world in which the story takes places. I enjoyed the book and found the characters to be interesting although somewhat predictable. Overall the story was entertaining and engaging, but I felt that it wrapped up too quickly. I think I would give this book 3.5 stars if possible, but given the choice between 3 and 4 I selected three. Although I enjoyed reading, I'm not sure that I'm committed to reading the next in the series.
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