I normally steer clear off books about vampires because they just don't interest me. But when I saw this book on sale - via Dear Author - along with a glowing review, I decided to purchase it. Yeah, no. Mistake. The story was just not that good. 
 For starters, 
 The Echelon 
 is a stupid name. It really is, no matter how you cut it. I cringed every time I read it on the page. Every single time. I kid you not. It is stupid. And Honoria is an ugly name too (apologies to anyone called Honoria). 
 Additionally, the whole story was just so melodramatic, mehn. M.E.L.O.D.R.A.M.A.T.I.C. (See what I did there? lol). From Honoria going "oh I have this great big secret,woe is me...woe is me I carry the weight of my brother's condition and my sister too.." to Blade and his 'people'/rookeries/whatever to the final showdown - my goodness what a storm in a teacup! 
 I did feel that Ms. McMaster tried too hard. The whole 'vampirism as a result of a chemical experiment/something that can be scientifically explained' shebang fell flat. Dead-on-arrival flat. It felt like the author was maiming for a highly complex scientifico-magic explanation for the phenomenon of vampirism... and failed. To be fair, very few people can pull this off flawlessly. Ilona Andrews is one of the only ones who come to mind. 
 And there was the thorny issue of The Echelon (*cringe*) not making any sense at all. Vampirism as it's described in the book, as far as I can tell, puts one at a disadvantage. Seriously. I couldn't see any advantage it gave one. An advanced sense of smell? - We can train dogs for that. Sxtra-human speed? - What for? An that's why wisdom and strategy will always compensate for and overcome brawn. And then there was the matter of drinking blood to stay sane. As I understood it, the vampirism was a progressive disease, which intake of blood slowed but did not halt. And did I mention becoming a full-fledged vampire meant a summary execution (because vampires were mindless beasts filled with bloodlust). So where is the advantage in all of this? Why was elite society so enamored of becoming vampires? I just didn't get it. 
 As for the characters, they were all annoying in some way, shape, or form. There was Honoria, with her annoying savior complex, ugly name and unsympathetic character, Lena with her annoying self, Blade and his nondescript, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill bunch.... yeah. 
 As for the steampunk bit, I still don't quite know what metaljackets are. 
 Meh.