Blurb
It is the autumn of 1880, and Dr John Watson has just returned from Afghanistan. Badly injured and desperate to forget a nightmarish expedition that left him doubting his sanity, Watson is close to destitution when he meets the extraordinary Sherlock Holmes, who is investigating a series of deaths in the Shadwell district of London. Several bodies have been found, the victims appearing to have starved to death over the course of several weeks, and yet they were reported alive and well mere days before. Moreover, there are disturbing reports of creeping shadows that inspire dread in any who stray too close.
Holmes deduces a connection between the deaths and a sinister drug lord who is seeking to expand his criminal empire. Yet both he and Watson are soon forced to accept that there are forces at work far more powerful than they could ever have imagined. Forces that can be summoned, if one is brave – or mad – enough to dare…
My Review
John Watson is a gambling man and after a card game in a shabby tavern, he spots an old friend, Stamford trying to procure a young girl for the whole night. Though Stamford leaves, Watson is confronted by an old sea salt, who eventually turns out to be Sherlock Holmes who was chasing Stamford. Catching up with Stamford, seeing the madness in which he dies is only the first step into a deeper and darker world for our two heroes. A world from which they will not emerge the same as they were.
As you might have guessed already, these characters are in essentials the Holmes or Watson we are used to, but not entirely, they couldn’t be with what these tales put them through. The narration of Watson in this volume explains the differences and explains away the cannon of the original tales. The language used evokes the tone of the original Holmes stories, but in a way that is accessible to the modern reader. As that last might indicate, I am not a great fan of the original Holmes stories. They kind of grate, I find Holmes and incredibly unlikable individual who I don’t want to share headspace with. To me Conan Doyle is like Agatha Christie, I know they were trail blazers, and greats in their time and this. I will watch adaptations of their stories and enjoy them. I just don’t want to read them.
As an introduction to the Cthulhu Mythos this is as good as any. It’s a complicated Mythos that it’s probably best to keep on the edges of. I’ve been reading (and writing) Cthulhu for a few years now, and can say that again James Lovegrove does a great job of evoking the sense of darkness and threat which lay at the heart of those tales.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I will be reading more of them. Recommend this book, but am aware that some will find it hard to get into.
GB Williams Crime Blog 