This is the second novel of the young Sherlock Holmes. His mother is dead, his father wants nothing to do with him, blaming Sherlock for his wife's death. Sherlock is forswearing personal connections as this puts others at risk who could be close to him, yet he craves relationships with people.
It is fascinating to observe Sherlock's journey as he accumulates knowledge, develops proficiency with weapons, and hones his uncanny knack at observation and recall. He is manipulative, skilled and yet still a young adult.
I found this book to be more interesting and better written than the first in the series. I enjoyed seeing Sherlock's young life, contrasting it with the character I know through BBC renditions of the detective and seeing how Peacock explains how Sherlock becomes the man he is known to be through film and Doyle's stories. What I cannot evaluate is how this story will stand on its own since I've read the first one and how someone unfamiliar with Holmes might take the story without the broader context of this famous literary character. The first volume, I deemed too young for our group, but this one has a greater mixture of gore, violence and suspense that it fits into our age category.
I need others to weigh in on this. MAYBE
1 comment:
I was a bit lost without having read the first in the series, but what swung my vote on this book was how badly it was in need of another edit. Too many sentences that weren't sentences. NAY.
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