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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sherlock Holmes & the Case of the Mysterious Housemaid,
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This review is from: Faction Paradox: Erasing Sherlock (Faction Paradox) (Paperback)
Kelly Hale's novel is an early Sherlock Holmes story, told from the point of view of his housemaid. At least at first, but the reader quickly realises the maid is a time-traveller, studying the great detective's early methodology. Except the people who offered her access to time travel have their own agenda: to erase Sherlock Holmes from history.
Holmesian apocrypha comes in all sorts of forms. This novel takes the starting premise of viewing Holmes not from the 'official' viewpoint of Watson but from the view of a modern woman transported into the past. By not pastishing Watson's style, Erasing Sherlock also allows us to see Holmes as the young man he was (he was in his late 20s during A Study in Scarlet - something which we tend to forget due to the ages of the actors used in most adaptations). Hale creates a convincing voice from a near future for her narrator and a plausible threat for the protagonists. We cannot know Holmes will survive because it is time travellers - and the time-traveller's paradox - which is threatening him. Don't be put off by the banner on the book: this is a standalone novel and the time travelling elements are explained within the prose. How does Holmes - the great rationalist - cope with anachronistic evidence is one of the question it raises. The first thing I did after reading this novel was to pick up my collected Holmes book and reread the canonical stories with new eyes. For the first time, I've fallen for Sherlock (and developed a real affection for Watson).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sequel NOW please! (mild spoiler alert),
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Faction Paradox: Erasing Sherlock (Faction Paradox) (Paperback)
I just finished this read - and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! LOL, have to confess, the other reviewer's scathing comments left me much more intrigued than terrified.
For me, I can take just about any stretching of the pastiche boundaries, so long as the writing is good, the dialogue intelligent, the characters true, the period details researched and if there is any sci-fi thrown in, it plays by the rules it establishes in the beginning. This novel has all that in spades. One measure for me of how engrossing a book is, is if I can get lost in it while I'm supposed to be running the show I stage manage. Well, this puppy nearly made me miss every cue! It's a great, sassy, rollicking read, with lots of danger, adventure and yes, sex. I bought into this last because the author handled it well, and set up the fact that this was a very unusual circumstance and woman - Holmes latches on quickly to the fact that she is not what she seems, and confesses later that he's afraid 90% of the attraction is due to her being such a puzzle. Their relationship is really quite dynamic, believable and rocky. Holmes is...well, HOLMES, and reacts to this unique circumstance the way you'd expect him to - alternately suspicious, cruel, passionate, gentle, insecure, nervous, courageous, furious and infuriatingly cold, but ultimately a champion. He's also pretty damn attractive! His deductions are really well done, and you can practically FEEL Gillian's trepidation as he gets closer and closer to finding out her secrets. Some folks may accuse Hale of writing a Mary Sue character with Gillian. How can an original female character written by a woman these days NOT be branded as a Mary Sue? You might as well as say Kinsey Millhone is a Mary Sue,or Kay Scarpetta or Mary Russell (ok bad example...;-) ) For me, Gillian was a scrappy, smart, contemporary character thrown into a situation that turned out to be much more dangerous and emotional than she'd bargained for. She makes BIG mistakes, she's no supergirl, and is never written as being superior to or smarter than the other characters. I really liked her, and laughed a LOT at her salty perspective on Victorian mores and one problematic detective in particular. Finally, Watson is written quite well, and very sympathetically. He's referred to by the heroine as 'the one true gentleman' she'd ever met. He's compassionate, heroic and yes, 'sexy as hell'. There are a few scenes that Gillian eavesdrops on in her role as maid that are quite ...illuminating...in regards as to how Victorian men view women and sex, but I bought into these as being something that Watson would of course never put into his OWN stories, but heck, in the privacy of his own sitting room... Another indicator for me as to how much I enjoyed a book is how sorry I was to finish it. I'm already wishing there was a sequel or that Hale would write more about the boys. So...guilty pleasure? Perhaps! But one I'd gladly indulge in again!
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a ripping yarn for everyone, not just sci-fi or mystery fans,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Faction Paradox: Erasing Sherlock (Faction Paradox) (Paperback)
This wonderful story has a little bit for everyone: time travel, romance, murder mysteries to be solved, fictional characters made real, action and adventure, historical, and lovely character-based drama.
You don't need to be a fan of any genre (science fiction, mystery, historical, etc.) to enjoy this story of a 20th-century woman sent back in time to study a younger Sherlock Holmes just on the cusp of becoming famous. Adjusting to the time period and to her thankless role (a maid in Holmes's house) with a great deal of trouble, the protagonist gets caught up in a series of murders, Holmes's efforts to solve them, and lots of nefarious doings by dodgy characters, culminating in an exotic travel adventure on the eve of the famous Krakatoa volcanic explosion. The writing sparkles and the dialog is delightful. One important point, as well -- you don't need to have read other books in the Faction Paradox series; this novel stands alone.
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