This one started off feeling like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, but halfway through the mad science broke out. In a big way. Then we get to see a very dark and tragic tale of a man just trying to get home. All through the book, Hodder has taken famous people (mostly scientists) and transformed them into an alternate version of history that takes what they were known for and runs off on a very wild tangent. He does provide a short appendix at the end detailing the true accounts of most of these characters' lives. I loved the contraptions and the ideas of the genetically-enhanced animals. I also enjoyed that the repercussions of messing with nature were present and hinted at a counter-balancing force even as the enlightened scientists claim to be explaining away anything supernatural. It makes a nice juxtaposition. 
 Hodder did a great job of making the atmosphere of this alternate London believable in the context of the earlier advancements in technology his story requires. I do question if the long flashback in the third quarter of the book needed to be told like that or if it could have been handled differently. I know that it is supposed to come across as a tale for the benefit of those hearing it in the story, as well as for the reader, but it came off a bit like an info-dump to me instead. I did enjoy that a lot of the classic themes of man vs nature and internal motivation were present, but even more I loved that it all is wrapped with the question of what would happen if different choices had been made.