Thursday 15 July 2010

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Seance for a Vampire - Fred Saberhagen, The 7th Bullet - Daniel D Victor

BOOK BLURB:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's timeless creation returns in a new series of handsomely designed, long out-of-print detective stories. From the earliest days of Holmes' career to his astonishing encounters with Martian invaders, the "Further Adventures" series encapsulates the most varied and thrilling cases of the world's greatest detective. When two suspect psychics offer Ambrose Altamont and his wife the opportunity to contact their recently deceased daughter, the wealthy British aristocrat wastes no time in hiring Sherlock Holmes to expose their hoax. He arranges for the celebrated detective and Dr Watson to attend the family's next seance, confident in Holmes' rationalist outlook on the situation. But what starts as cruel mockery becomes deadly reality when young, beautiful Louisa Altamont appears to her parents in the flesh as one of the nosferatu - a vampire! The resulting chaos leaves one of the fraudulent spiritualists dead, Sherlock Holmes missing and Dr Watson alone and mystified. With time running out, Watson has no choice but to summon the only one who might be able to help - Holmes' vampire cousin, Prince Dracula. Alternately narrated by Watson and the charismatic Dracula himself, Seance for a Vampire demonstrates that heroes are sometimes found in the most unlikely places. Saberhagen has recast Bram Stoker's paragon of evil into a noble, witty and chillingly powerful character.


REVIEW:

Titan, whilst famed for their graphic novels, is definitely one to watch for a number of their fiction titles, in this case the new adventures of Sherlock Holmes that have an urban fantasy twist. Within this offering is a tale worthy of the great detective and his sidekick Watson, as they embark on a tale full of blood curdling terror and revenge. Well written with a story arc that beautifully bounces along with the reader as the tale is told from two points of view. A great offering and one that will bring the detective to a new generation, especially with the imagination of this author. Outstanding.



BOOK BLURB:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's timeless creation returns in a new series of handsomely designed, long out-of-print detective stories. From the earliest days of Holmes' career to his astonishing encounters with Martian invaders, the Further Adventures series encapsulates the most varied and thrilling cases of the worlds' greatest detective. Sherlock Holmes' desire for a peaceful life in the Sussex countryside is dashed when true-life muckraker and author David Graham Phillips is assassinated, leaving behind little clues as to why he was murdered. The pleas of his sister draws Holmes and Watson to the far side of the Atlantic, where a web of deceit, violence and intrigue unravels as they embark on one of their most challenging cases.


REVIEW:

As a fan of Holmes from his modern movie expeditions alongside the classical novels of Doyle, I’ve always had a weakness for a well told crime tale and that’s exactly what is presented to the modern reader here. Taking Holmes and Watson across the pond, this mystery is one that feels to me, as a reader, that it could be something that could happen in modern times (and possibly already has.) Its well executed, the characters similar to the ones in the previous title that I read in this latest series and above all the dialogue along with problem solving is consitant. However my major gripe with this is that I predicted the end before it happened which to be honest upset me quite a bit as I felt a little cheated. It is a fun title, its quite short and would make a reasonable travel companion for a few days. Great stuff.

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