Despite my eager drooling, before I began reading I worried just a bit that the author might have bastardized the immortal duo of Holmes and Watson the way this movie did. (I still haven't recovered from that.) But I'm happy to report I shouldn't have bitten my nails over it. I was quite impressed by the way that Faye managed to replicate the tone and characters of Conan Doyle's stories.
Of course, you should take my pronouncement with a grain of salt (or perhaps a pinch of tobacco from the toe of a Persian slipper). I am no Sherlockian scholar. But (though it's been a while) I have read a few Holmes stories, and this one seemed to fall right in line with my memory of the original Sherlock.
I'm sure it's no shock that my astronomical expectations weren't quite satisfied. I was hoping for greatness and didn't find it, but I can handle the fact that what I got was, instead, a solidly good book. In fact, it rated high on my Agatha Christie scale. (Finally!) However, I must admit I anticipated a slightly greater degree of cleverness from Holmes. He wasn't stupid, of course, but he didn't blow my mind, either. So, nine points out of ten for conforming to the original standard, five out of ten for originality in resolution of the mystery, and fifty-three out of ten for such an enticing story idea!
I have a book at home that combines Ripper with Sherlock, but it's a completely different book... I can't remember the name right now, but I'm feeling a back-to-back read coming on with this one. :)
ReplyDeleteOooh, you're going to have to come back and tell me the name of that other book. And what you think of it when you read it. OR I guess I could just wait and read about it on your blog. This kind of makes me wonder, though, just exactly how many books there may be that combine the Ripper with Sherlock! And here I thought it was such an original idea . . .
ReplyDeleteI think I looked at this book when you first mentioned it, but worried about the same things you did. I'm glad it was at least a solid read, if not the book of your dreams :)
ReplyDeleteTi--Me too. Funny thing: This same book caught my eye again at Books-A-Million this week! There is just something about it that calls out to me!
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