Summer doesn't officially start until Saturday but, if you ask me, it's too hot already. And we may get our first 90 degree day tomorrow. There's only 3 things you need to remember - sun screen, water, and a good book - to varying degrees, depending on where you are. Here are the books that have occupied my time since last month.
Miscellaneous
The Anatomists - Hal McDonald ($9.99/$.50, copyright 2008, 306 pages, Paperback)
According to the blurb on the cover, this book won truTV's "Search for the Next Great Crime Writer" contest. It's premise is that 2 medical students in 1824 Victorian England arrange to buy a body from a grave robber which was a common practice at the time. The grave that's robbed belongs to a recently deceased, upper-class woman but the body they get is of a man who's been murdered. The 2 students must figure out what happened. For a contest winner, I found it very derivative. The one student - Jean-Claude Legard - is a Frenchman who dabbles in acting and seems to be a combination of Holmes and Poirot. The other - Edward Montague - is the narrator and wannabe Watson, whose name isn't even mentioned until half-way through the book. There's some well-written stuff here and some of the extra characters are interesting, but it feels padded and could have been done in about 200 pages. It was OK.
Zoo - James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge ($10.00/$$.50, copyright 2012, 372 pages, Paperback)
Here's another of Patterson's collaborations. As I've said before, I'm a fan of his but have found his collaborations iffy. This one revolves around a scientist, Jackson Oz, and his unorthodox theory about why animal behavior around the world is changing. No one believes him, of course, until the animals start to attack. I found the beginning slow but the episodes of animal violence around the world are interesting. The lead up to the ending was exciting but I thought that the solution was kind of slapped together and the actual ending I found to be pat. It was OK.
Sherlock Holmes
It's no secret that I'm a Holmes fan so you can imagine my surprise when I came across these 3 in a library rubber-banded and priced together at $1.00. I've allocated the price based on the size of the books.
The Last Sherlock Holmes Story - Michael Dibdin ($10.00/$.50, copyright 1978, 190 pages, Trade Paperback)
Dibdin has set this book in 1888, and it's his contribution to the Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper body of stories. All of the traditional Holmes elements are present. The characters (real and fictional) and the London atmosphere and scenarios feel like Doyle's. In fact, I felt that a lot of the narrative was lifted almost word-for-word from "The Canon" . Also, it starts well after the 3rd murder which seemed strange to me and, I have to admit, I didn't care for the direction that the ending took. It was OK.
Sherlock Holmes and the Egyptian Hall Adventure - Val Andrews ($9.00/$.25, copyright 1993, 112 pages, Trade Paperback)
Andrews has set his story in 1898, after what is called "The Great Hiatus" when Holmes has returned from his "death" and seems more relaxed. Here, he's hired by a magician performing at the Egyptian Hall, a theater for magicians and other similar entertainers. He needs help in recovering a valuable ring he'd borrowed from an audience member during a performance and then lost. Holmes and Watson go to see the act and the magician winds up dead. Andrews gives us contortionists, midgets, locked rooms and Lestrade. It's all great fun. I enjoyed it.
Sherlock Holmes and the Houdini Birthright - Val Andrews ($9.00/$.25, copyright 1995, 160 pages, Trade Paperback)
This one starts in 1922, when Holmes comes out of retirement to help Harry Houdini "rescue" their
mutual friend Arthur Conan Doyle from a crooked spiritualist. (What's interesting here is that Doyle and Houdini were great friends until Doyle's interest in spiritualism drove them apart.) Then, the story jumps ahead to 1927. Houdini is dead but Holmes is asked by the widow Bess to prove that it was murder. It's an interesting problem and there are some great Holmes/Watson moments in England, America, and Europe but the solution is a bit far-fetched. Still, I enjoyed it.
That's it for now. Stay cool, seriously. I think we're in for a long, hot summer. Until next month ...
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