Customer Reviews

The Shadow of Reichenbach Falls

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I'm really glad I got this book from the library. It starts out with excitement, the struggle at Reichenbach Falls, the rescue of a drowning man who turns out to have traumatic amnesia and turns out to be Holmes. Then there is the rescue from a doctor, blackmailed by Moriarity, who attempts to kill Holmes, and other rescues from Moriarity himself. Key actors are Anna, Moriarity's daughter, along with Carnacki, who is writing this letter to - Watson, I guess. The book then segues into Moriarity's biography, in which he recalls his history and why he turned to crime. He turned to crime when he tracked and killed Jack the Ripper who - oh horrors! - turns out to be demon-possessed, and the demon possesses Moriarity. Things plod along, Moriarity conducts his life of crime (using research created by his wife, who was killed by the Ripper), battles with Holmes, the events of this story occur, Moriarity is killed, and the demon possesses Holmes, who then turns to crime. In the end, Holmes is rescued by Carnacki dissipating the demon through an electricity driven pentacle.

This is so far from what writing about Holmes should be, I can't find enough derogatory words. If you want to read stories much closer to Holmes, postulating his post-retirement life and without supernatural beings, try Laurie King's novels. But don't, please don't waste your money on this book.

Proported to be the story of Sherlock Holmes right after his fall at Reichenbach Falls with Prof. Moriarty, it is disappointing.
Mr. King starts out with Moriarty chasing an amnesiac Holmes and deftly inserts Moriarty's life and his rise to be the king of crime that makes for a good story.
The whole thing then goes off the tracks when the book started to be the Exorcist.
Sherlock Holmes' fan will be as disappointed as I was.

In retrospect, I'd have gotten more enjoyment from setting my twenty bucks on fire, plus I'd only be out a few minutes time rather than the several hours trudging through this mess.

The iniital idea sounds exciting, but the writer pushes that over the falls, too, almost right from the beginning. Even given that Carnacki is a younger version of the one in the Hodgson stories, I never for a moment buy the protagonist of this story as the same character. Holmes spends most of the novel lost in amnesia, and King is at such great pains to not reveal who he or his nemesis is that it sets up the expectation of a twist. It never comes. Amnesia, I suppose, is an excuse for Holmes not acting in any way that you would recognize from Doyle's stories. Midway through, the narrative switches over to the diary of Moriarty -again, a totally new character stamped with a famous name. It's tedious and rambling, with the occult shoehorned in so forcefully near the end that my feet hurt.

A ludicrous book, replete with demonic possession, an amazing, all-purpose machine; is it an electro-shock therapy device or an exorcism gadget- (Why, it's both! ... or whatever the story needs it to be at any given time) - and a thoroughly un-Holmesian Holmes. It's as if the author couldn't be bothered to read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Laughable dialogue and clunky, farcical, amateurish writing complete the picture. A waste of time and money.

(SPOILER)

This story is set as three books that weave together to a conclusion. The first two books are good reads. The last one is almost a joke. I was very disappointed in how the author decided to complete the book. It defied reason how this ended and I can not recommend anyone buying this book. I recommend you get it a the library.

I give it two stars only for the first two parts.

This book presents a revised version of the events in "The Final Problem." It begins beside a rubbish heap in Meiringen with a young Thomas Carnacki, William Hope Hodgson's "Ghost Finder," negotiating with a fat old rat for a lump of moldy Gruyère cheese. Later in the day Thomas is piknicing near the Reichenbach Falls with one "Anna Schmidt" when they witness a struggle atop the Falls and rescue a fallen combatent.

The other combatent pursues them in an effort to shoot his rival and events take off from there. "Anna Schmidt" turns out to be "Anna Moriarty" and events move on to Bern and then to Paris. Dr. John Watson appears and saves Thomas from an assassination attempt and the truth about Professor Moriarty, his wife and their daughter is revealed. The end of Jack The Ripper is explained and the creation of the Professor's criminal empire is related along with some details of the struggle between Holmes and Moriarty.

The writing is very well done and the characters are clearly and precisely drawn. The action is intricate and complex and the story is engrossing. The reason for the inclusion of Thomas Carnacki becomes clear about halfway through the book. Events take a supernatural turn with the confrontation between the Professor and Jack The Ripper. From that point on, the action revolves around the cause of the Ripper murders and their effects on the Professor and his life and, ultimately, on Holmes through the Professor.

The events in the book are crafted with careful attention. For example, although Dr. Watson saves Thomas Carnacki from assassination by his prompt medical actions, Holmes and Watson are kept separate and the continuity of the events as known to Watson is maintained. The entire tale is revealed to the good Doctor in this manuscript, sent some twenty years later by Carnacki. For readers who follow the motto "No ghosts need apply," this tale will be a disppointment. Hodgson fans will, no doubt, be delighted.

Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones; October, 2008

I will usually give any book that relates to Sherlock Holmes a chance. When I read the dust cover, this seemed like a chance for a solid entry into the Holmes library. The book started out fine. Good character development and an interesting plot. Then it went into the history of Moriarity. Again, a little slow, but still slightly interesting. The final section of the book fell apart. It was if the author forgot his direction and decided to start again with a different story. Key elements of the final section just appear. It becomes ridiculous. I have to admit that I just scanned the final 50 pages. It was too painful to actually read.

I'm a fan of mixing pulp fiction. I loved all of Alan Moore's insanely delightful League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics, which actually feature all the principal characters here (with the exception of Moriarty's daughter), Kim Harris's books, and Neil Gaiman's great story "A Study In Emerald," which matched Holmes against the Great Old Ones of Lovecraft. I've also enjoyed Holmesian adaptations from Chabon's The Final Solution to House, MD.

This kind of fictional playground can be done well. Unfortunately, it isn't here. It's not the presence of Thomas Carnacki that ruins it. Gaiman and others have shown that Holmes can be inserted in supernatural settings. Its more that the author just can't write Holmes, even as an amnesiac. Not only that, judging by the dialog the author seems to forget that most of his principal characters are British from time to time.

But most egregious is Holmes. This is the great mind who famously said "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Yet he goes on to obstinately deny what happened to him in utter un-Holmsian fashion. Its abominable. His points of view passages are atrociously unlike the great detective.

The book has a few decent moments, but overall where is the mystery? We know right away who the characters are. The motivation behind Moriarty's life of crime was a sad imitation of the movie Fallen.

This book felt like a first draft. It had potential but this potential was never realized.

I found this to be a very entertaining story with an interesting view of the Moriarty character. I have read the Moriarty books by Michael Kurland and find this story to be their superior (particularly in originality).It is important to understand that Holmes is at best the fourth most important character in the book. This book also introduced me to Carnacki the ghost finder, for which I am grateful. If you are simply looking for a copy of Doyle's work, don't bother with this book. If an original view of the characters and settings with a supernatural twist interests you, pick it up!

I found this book to be a wonderful, page-turning read. It is well written and served as an excellent introduction to the Holmes canon. I am looking forward to more work from Mr. King.