The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Review

Sherlock Holmes had seen it all. One murder after another, you name it, he's seen it stolen (and returned). Hundreds of cases solved, but of them all, this may very well be the most unusual, and fortunately for the reader, the most entertaining.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third book that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote concerning the famous consulting detective, published several years after he killed off Holmes in "the Final Problem," though it takes place before that story.

This book shows Sherlock, Dr. Watson, and Doyle himself all at the top of their game. Within its pages, Doyle has decided to try something a little new. Not only does the story involve a potentially supernatural threat (a family is cursed to be haunted/hunted by an actual "Hellhound," and murders are starting to pile up), but Holmes himself is in a relatively small percentage of the book. Instead, we are treated to Dr. Watson on his own, using the skills he has cultivated over so many years at Holmes' side to solve the multitude of mysteries that plague the countryside.

The point-of-view changes several times, from the typical writings of Watson's recounting, to actual letters written to Holmes reporting on discoveries he has made in the course of his own investigations. This mix of styles keeps the story moving quickly, and always kept me interested. Also, the decision to actually exclude Holmes from such a large portion of the story kept the suspense high; we know that while Watson is an extremely intelligent man, he has no abilities that are nigh-supernatural, and thus no safety net.

Lastly, Doyle did a masterful job interweaving disparate mysteries into a cohesive whole. The plot dips and turns, dropping a clue large enough for the reader to notice, but not necessarily able to connect to the proper mystery. The red herrings and false leads are well done, and in the end everything ties together quite nicely.

As of this point, I've read three of the four Holmes novels, and two of the short story collections, and the Hound of the Baskervilles is by far my favorite. The atmosphere is thick with a feeling of dread, the plot is fast and entertaining, and the mystery itself keeps you guessing but rewards the hopeful detective with the payoff. If you haven't read any of Sherlock Holmes, make this the one you read. You can't go wrong with it.

Rating: 10/10

Note on Edition: I experienced the story as part of the "Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes" audio edition, purchased on Audible.com. The narrator was Charlton Griffin, who did an amazing job with this story. The production value involved here is phenomenal, and really brought the story to life.

Audiobook Rating: 9/10

the Return of Sherlock Holmes: Review

The Return of Sherlock Holmes, from the same audio collection that I had the pleasure of listening to for the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, was overall a much better collection of short stories featuring the legendary detective and his faithful companion. The book starts off with "The Adventure of the Empty House," a story that picks up three years after "the Final Problem," the story that Doyle had intended to complete his writings of Holmes once and for all. 

We discover that Holmes being the clever man that he is, faked his death and had been in hiding for several years, using the opportunity to work under the radar to rid England of the most dangerous men that remained at large from Moriarty's gang.

From then on few of the stories actually take place after "the Empty House," instead Watson returns to the archives and tells stories that take place at different chronological points in Holmes' career. The collection ends with "The Adventure of the Second Stain," which Watson describes as being Holmes' most important case (politically speaking), and the last story that Holmes will allow him to publish, as at the time of the writing he has decided to retire to bee-keeping in the countryside.

As I said before, this is a much better collection than Memoirs, and overall is very well done. There is the occasional story that has a rather obvious conclusion, but those are in the great minority.

If you're looking for a good collection of fast and entertaining Sherlockian fiction, this is a very good edition to read. The stories move at a brisk pace, are interesting and varied in their subject matter, and are, for the most part, classic Holmes. Again, for the simplicity of actual ratings, I will rate each story individually.

• "The Adventure of the Empty House"  Rating: 8/10
• "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder"  Rating: 5/10
• "The Adventure of the Dancing Men"  Rating: 7/10
• "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Priory School"  Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of Black Peter"  Rating: 8/10
• "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"  Rating: 9/10
• "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons"  Rating: 7/10
• "The Adventure of the Three Students"  Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez"  Rating: 7/10
• "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter"  Rating: 7/10
• "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange"  Rating: 7/10
• "The Adventure of the Second Stain"  Rating: 8/10

Further Note on Audio edition: since this is the same collection that I mentioned in my review of Memoirs, I will not expound on that any furhter here, suffice to say that it continues its excellent performance, and that I highly recommend it.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, the world's first and foremost consulting detective, is a legend. His adventures with his trusty sidekick Dr. Watson have enchanted readers for generations, and have inspired countless authors to take part in the craft and pen their own mystery novels. Holmes is in a league of his own, but in that case why are his Memoirs a little disappointing?

I love Sherlock Holmes stories, though for some reason up until very recently I have never actually read the source material. I've seen many adaptations, and for years now I've loved getting in my car at 1 pm (sharp!) to listen to the Jim French Production's "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," a series of radio plays that adapted the multitude of Holmes short stories into half-hour dramas. If you ever have a chance to listen to them, please do, they're extremely well done.

Lately, I've enjoyed the Robert Downey, Jr. depictions on the big screen, and far more I have enjoyed the BBC's "Sherlock" series starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the modern day consulting detective. This series is one of my favorite things on any television right now, and I highly, highly recommend tracking that down at your first opportunity.

Excuse me, I am veering from the point. As I was saying, it is not until recently that I decided to go and read the source material for myself. Last year I read a Study in Scarlet, which I hugely enjoyed, and the Sign of the Four, which I enjoyed despite the fact that it took me several months to actually finish. Now, after I finished reading Thirteen, I found The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes on Audible, and grabbed up the first two volumes.

So far, the narration is well done (even if I do wish they had gotten the exceptional actor who plays him in the Jim French versions), and the stories are entertaining. Comparing the audio and book versions that I've read, so far the stories are actually more enjoyable in the audio format. You can almost see the mysteries play out in front of you.

My biggest complaint with Memoirs is that for the most part, Sherlock does very little in them. In several stories he is either a narrator recalling an early case, or an observer as someone else spins a tale for him to then comment on. A desperate client will come to the fabled detective, spin his own tale, and things will have already been settled.

Needless to say, for the most part Sherlock is not at his most exciting. The exception here is in "The Final Problem," one of the most famous of the Sherlock canon, wherein we are introduced to one of the most famous villains in literature, Professor Moriarty. This story somewhat makes up for the rest; it is well written, exciting, and seeing the duo of Holmes & Watson on the run from Moriarty and his vicious gang of miscreants is a nice change of pace.

Unfortunately, these seem to be the least interesting of the Holmes canon that I've read so far, the stories just acting as backdrops for completely different stories that don't involve Holmes or Watson at all. Doyle's desire to write something other than Holmes seems to become rather obvious over the course of these stories, culminating in his attempt to end the series once and for all.

Instead of rating the book with a single score, here is a rating for each of the stories contained within:

• "Silver Blaze" Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Yellow Face" Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk" Rating: 5/10
• "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire" Rating: 7/10
• "The Adventure of the Crooked Man" Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Resident Patient" Rating: 6/10
• "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" Rating: 7/10
• "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" Rating: 7/10
• "The Final Problem" Rating: 8/10

Audible Edition Rating: 8/10

the Black Dahlia: Review

"Cherchez La Femme, Bucky. Remember that." The Black Dahlia, by James Ellroy was written in 1987, forty years after the gruesome crime known by the same name. I'll do my best to review the book without spoilers, but since it's based on an actual event, I won't worry too much about that end of it for the intrepid reader.

If you're not familiar with the story, I'll try to briefly run down the plot: the Black Dahlia follows detectives and ex-boxers Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert (our protagonist and narrator) and his partner Lee Blanchard. Together, they are caught up in the mystery of the Black Dahlia, the most notorious and gruesome murder in Californian history, revolving around the horrifying murder of Elizabeth Short, who's corpse was found on January 15, 1947, nude and severed in two with her internal organs removed. She had obviously been tortured, and with this mystery the lives f Bleichert and Blanchard are forever changed. 

James Ellroy is a legend in the field of crime fiction, a giant among boys. His prose is exceptional, and his plot building wonderful. Recently I had read (and reviewed here) Raymond Chandler's the Long Goodbye, what is typically known as his seminal work. Before that, and before I had begun writing reviews here, I read Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest, which I personally preferred. Both of these books were written by the masters of the genre, but in my personal opinion they pale in comparison to the work that Ellroy has accomplished in the Black Dahlia.

The plot isn't action packed, but unlike much of Hammett and Chandler's works, it is still maintains a brisk pace despite the long time frame that it takes place over. Things happen, one after another. Some are obviously connected to the overarching plot, while others seem like side adventures. Ellroy does a masterful job of interweaving these disparate events and plots, seeding both "vital and incidental" (as Holmes would put it) points of data along the way. Unlike the Long Goodbye, you're given all of the information that is required of solving the crime at the same time that our Detective is given it, and as such are able to actually solve the mystery at hand at the same pace that he does.

As I said before, the prose is exceptional, and always left me wanting to read on. That said, this book is absolutely not for everyone. It is graphic in the extreme, both detailing the mutilations that Short had been dealt, and the many sexual acts depicted throughout the narrative. Ellroy explores the very worst of human nature as Bleichert explores the dark corners of Los Angeles in the late 40s in search of the murderer, and for his own purpose. Needless to say, this is not a book for children or the squeamish. Though, perhaps somewhat strangely I found this to be less depressing and a much more fun read than Mockingjay.

Despite this, I found it to be an exciting and fascinating read that took one of the greatest crimes of the century and, while fictionalizing it quite a bit, did so in a way that kept me from really caring that none of this happened. I believed in the ending, and plausibility, in the end, is really one of the most important things to have in a mystery novel. Ellroy, in my mind, has absolutely established himself as one of the preeminent authors of crime and noir fiction, and I am really looking forward to reading the rest of his "L.A. Quartet."

Rating: 8/10

Thirteen: Review

Thirteen by Richard K. Morgan Audible Edition Narrated by Simon Vance

Cover of Thirteen

One hundred years from now, the world has changed. The United States is no more, Mars has been colonized, and China is the preeminent super power. Genetic enhancement is the cutting edge tech of the day, and the Variant Thirteen is the ultimate in enhanced soldier. But they're nothing new, no, they're the complete opposite. They're men with genes that have been reverse engineered to be more like humans were twenty-thousand years ago. Back when they ruled by sheer, individual power. They're the men who refused to settle and become farmers; they're the men who roamed the world and slew and savaged their way to glory and gold.

But then the rest of humanity decided there was more profit in an agrarian lifestyle, that cities and civilization were more important. So these men of power were bred out of the population. Then Genetic Variant Thirteen is created, bred and raised to be the best soldier there could be, the last cry of patriarchal society before it is ground to dust by the wave of "feminization" that is sweeping the world.

The story follows Carl Marsalis, by and large, a British black Thirteen(as the UK edition is named) who somehow made it back from Mars and became a bounty hunter, making money off of hunting his fellow thirteens, who have been exiled to prison camps after being deemed too dangerous to live freely in human society.

If you've never read Richard K. Morgan, then you may not be prepared for some of the savagery that is on display in Thirteen. His style is a hardboiled neo-noir, through and through, and he does not shy away from the rough stuff. Explicit sex scenes, gruesome gun battles, men who don't give a damn about the moral implications of an action and women who can't give it away fast enough are all par for the course for Morgan. Generally, it's pretty entertaining.

I really like noir, and I really, really like science fiction. So when the two overlap, I'm more than eager to read it. Thirteen wasn't the first book of Morgan's that I've read. Before that was the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy, beginning with Altered Carbon (which is fantastic). So when I started this, I knew that it would be slow going at first, and I was absolutely right on that count. The first dozen chapters (give or take) are a bit of a slog to get through, but once you're done and the mystery actually gets going you're in for a treat.

Morgan is absolutely not for everyone, and Thirteen isn't his best work, though that is a matter of opinion (as one longtime friend vehemently disagrees with me on). It's absolutely worth reading if you like the style, or if you were a fan of his Kovacs books, which it could be argued this is a precursor to. If you're at all squeamish, by violence, rough language, or sexual depictions (which are the most graphic, I think), then Morgan and Thirteen are not for you.

Rating: 7/10

Audio Edition Rating: 5/10

Note on Edition: I listened to this after purchasing it on Audible.com, as I'm a pretty avid listener to audio books. This was a huge mistake, as this book is a little more complex than I generally like my audio books, and the narrator (Simon Vance), while excellent at his role, was too similar to other audio books of the same genre that kept making them blend together in my head as I listened. If you hadn't listened to other Simon Vance narrations, then this might be better for you. Personally, this seems like a book that is better read than listened to.