Read the review here: BFS Review
Monday, November 13, 2017
British Fantasy Society Reviews The Winter Ghosts are Calling by Vaughn Entwistle
Another great review of my book of short ghosts and weird fantasy stories, this one from the very prestigious British Fantasy Society.
Read the review here: BFS Review
Read the review here: BFS Review
Friday, September 15, 2017
Rising Shadow's Five Star Review of The Winter Ghosts Are Calling
The first serious review of my collection of speculative fiction is in, and it's a doozy!
The book was reviewed by Serigil of Rhiminee, the pen name of one of the reviewers at Rising Shadow, a website that focuses on science fiction and fantasy books. Interestingly, Rising Shadow is a Finnish site, and there is a Finnish version as well as an English version.
You can read the full review on Rising Shadow's English language web site: Review
The review is long and very detailed with brief comments about all ten stories. The web site has previously published glowing reviews of my novels, including The Revenant of Thraxton Hall and The Angel of Highgate.
They are just as enthusiastic about this collection of short fiction.
I will let Serigil of Rhiminee have the final word:
"This collection is excellent, wonderfully fantastical, and satisfyingly creepy entertainment!"
The book was reviewed by Serigil of Rhiminee, the pen name of one of the reviewers at Rising Shadow, a website that focuses on science fiction and fantasy books. Interestingly, Rising Shadow is a Finnish site, and there is a Finnish version as well as an English version.
You can read the full review on Rising Shadow's English language web site: Review
The review is long and very detailed with brief comments about all ten stories. The web site has previously published glowing reviews of my novels, including The Revenant of Thraxton Hall and The Angel of Highgate.
They are just as enthusiastic about this collection of short fiction.
I will let Serigil of Rhiminee have the final word:
"This collection is excellent, wonderfully fantastical, and satisfyingly creepy entertainment!"
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Going Hybrid!
Many of you will have noticed a lengthy gap since the
publication of my last novel, The Angel
of Highgate. This is a result of the way traditional publishing works. My
publisher has been dithering about publishing the third novel in the Paranormal
Casebooks series.
In light of this, I have decided to become a hybrid author.
In other words, some of my books will be traditionally published, while I will
self-publish others. The initial
stigma that once accompanied self-publishing is finally eroding, helped by the
shock discovery that self-published books outsold traditionally published books
in 2015!
Self-publishing allows me much greater flexibility both in
what kinds of books I write and how frequently I publish them. No more year-long
lag between books! I am free to put out books as fast as I can write them. Thanks to that freedom, I am hoping to
publish three to four books over the next six months. The first up is my
collection of Speculative Fiction: The
Winter Ghosts are Calling, ten tales that range from horror, to weird
fiction, to science fiction. To better engage with my readers I am offering the
eBook for free to those who sign up for my newsletter. I love to hear from my
readers, and this will offer a channel for improved communication.
For those who fear being Spammed, rest easy: I would never
sell your details to Russian hackers, nor will I be cramming your inbox with endless
emails. I plan on putting out one email a month, or only when I have some news
worth sharing. I am also looking to create a Street Team of beta readers who
can sign up to receive ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) of my newest works in
exchange for posting honest, unbiased reviews on Amazon and other places.
(Pretty much the same thing that Netgalley and many traditional publishers
offer.)
I will also be sharing short stories and chapters from
novels in progress with members of the Street Team. I am looking for feedback
such as, do you like/hate the ending of the book? Did you find any parts
confusing, slow, etc.? I will also have the occasional giveaway (such as copies
of signed books) for Street Reader members. For those interested in taking
part, begin by clicking on my free ebook The
Winter Ghosts are Calling, which will add you to my newsletter. I will be
sending out details on how to sign up to become a Street Reader member in
future emails.
Find one of the signup boxes on any page and grab your free copy of The Winter Ghosts Are Calling!
Monday, January 16, 2017
Mary Shelley and the Ghost of Frankenstein
Just in case you wondered what I've been up to, this blog should give you a very strong hint:
Mary Shelley and the Ghost of Frankenstein's Monster
It is nearly two hundred years since the 1818 publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but the nameless creature that would make her name famous continues to haunt our dreams to this day. (In the novel, Victor Frankenstein is the doctor; his monster is never given a name.) It is as surprising to us as it was to the public back then that one of the most terrifying stories every penned sprang from the imagination of a eighteen year old girl. But although Frankenstein brought Mary Shelley a degree of wealth and fame, it also seemed to unleash a curse that haunted Mary throughout her life.
Portrait of a young Mary Shelley
The Year Without a Summer
Mary’s early years were stained by scandal. At age 17, she eloped with the ethereal (and frequently histrionic) poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Accompanied by her sister, Claire Claremont, the three fled England for Europe trailing a comet’s tail of angry parents, public disapproval, and disgruntled creditors. The English public was outraged because Percy was a married man who had abandoned his young wife and child. Living like penniless vagabonds, the three traipsed across the Continent dodging bills and sleeping where they could. Sadly, it was a pattern that would be repeated for many years.
The three absconded to Switzerland, where they met up with Lord Byron, the most notorious romantic poet of the age. The publication of Byron’s first book of cantos Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, had brought the aristocrat instant fame and made him the toast of Regency London. With his good looks and scandalous reputation for love affairs (with both men and women, and his half-sister) Byron became the Regency equivalent of a rock star, most famously described by his one-time lover, Lady Caroline Lamb, as “Mad Bad, and Dangerous to know.”
And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny
go forth and prosper. I have an affection for it, for it was the offspring of
happy days, when death and grief were but words, which found no true echo in my
heart . . . Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley and the Ghost of Frankenstein's Monster
It is nearly two hundred years since the 1818 publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but the nameless creature that would make her name famous continues to haunt our dreams to this day. (In the novel, Victor Frankenstein is the doctor; his monster is never given a name.) It is as surprising to us as it was to the public back then that one of the most terrifying stories every penned sprang from the imagination of a eighteen year old girl. But although Frankenstein brought Mary Shelley a degree of wealth and fame, it also seemed to unleash a curse that haunted Mary throughout her life.
The Year Without a Summer
Mary’s early years were stained by scandal. At age 17, she eloped with the ethereal (and frequently histrionic) poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Accompanied by her sister, Claire Claremont, the three fled England for Europe trailing a comet’s tail of angry parents, public disapproval, and disgruntled creditors. The English public was outraged because Percy was a married man who had abandoned his young wife and child. Living like penniless vagabonds, the three traipsed across the Continent dodging bills and sleeping where they could. Sadly, it was a pattern that would be repeated for many years.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
The three absconded to Switzerland, where they met up with Lord Byron, the most notorious romantic poet of the age. The publication of Byron’s first book of cantos Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, had brought the aristocrat instant fame and made him the toast of Regency London. With his good looks and scandalous reputation for love affairs (with both men and women, and his half-sister) Byron became the Regency equivalent of a rock star, most famously described by his one-time lover, Lady Caroline Lamb, as “Mad Bad, and Dangerous to know.”
Lord Byron, "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know"
Accompanied by his personal
physician, Dr. John Polidori, Byron rented the Villa Diodati on the shores of
Lake Lucerne. Despite being in one of the most romantic and idyllic
landscapes in the world, 1816 was known as the “year without a summer,” as the
volcano at Mount Tambora erupted, hurling tons of dust into the atmosphere and
darkening the world’s skies to a degree that crops failed in Europe and North
America, causing famine. On the rare occasions of fine weather, Byron and
Shelley sailed together on the lake; however, on most days incessant rain and
violent storms confined the party to the villa’s gloomy rooms. Here, before a
roaring fire, they would talk long into the night, reading poetry and
indulging in deep philosophical discussions about social justice,
atheism and other forbidden topics.
The Villa Diodati
Lord Byron’s Challenge
It was on one such night that
marked the nativity of Mary Shelley’s undying monster. Byron was fond of reading
from a book of German ghost stories, and on this occasion he threw down a
challenge, suggesting that each member of their cadre (Shelley, Byron, Claire, and Polidori) should attempt to write a ghost tale. Percy Shelley was the first to
abandon the challenge, complaining that he was a poet and not a prose writer.
Byron also scribbled something but soon expressed dissatisfaction with his effort and
abandoned the project. Polidori wrote a story about a lady who peeked upon
something forbidden and was punished by having her head turned into a skull.
Although the others made fun of the story, Polidori’s second attempt, The
Vampyre, is generally acknowledged as the progenitor of the modern vampire
story.
Dr. John Polidori
Mary Shelley remained uninspired
for several days, but on an night of apocalyptic thunderstorms she awakened
from a dream in which she glimpsed a vision of a darkened garrette and a doctor
of medicine who had fashioned a man sewn together from corpses stolen from a
charnel house. Brought to life by the workings of “a dread engine” (although
the book is filled with electrical allusions, she was coy about the actual creative mechanism), the creature stirs, the yellow eyes peel open, and the doctor flees
in terror from is own creation. But abandoning his unnatural child invokes a
curse that will follow Victor Frankenstein so where he flees, bringing death,
destruction and tragedy. Given Mary Shelley’s tormented life, it could be
argued that the author of Frankenstein became a victim of the same curse.
Later Portrait of Mary Shelley
A life of Turmoil
The author’s life began tragically,
with the loss of her own mother who died just three weeks after giving birth.
Over the years, the toll of tragedy would mount and Mary suffered from terrible depression at the loss of so many friends and family. Mary’s husband, Percy
Bysshe Shelley drowned after recklessly taking out a sailboat during a storm.
He would later be cremated on the beach and for the rest of her life Mary would carry around his heart in
a silk bag. (Percy Bysshe Shelley’s heart, calcified from an early bout with tuberculosis,
failed to burn.) Mary would suffer the loss of three children either in birth
or by disease in childhood. During one such pregnancy she haemorrhaged and only
Percy Shelley’s insistence that she staunch the bleeding by sitting in a bath
of ice water saved her life.
Shelley’s first wife, Harriet Westbrook, famously drowned herself in
Hyde Park’s Serpentine River. Mary’s maternal half-sister took an overdose of
laudanum. Byron would die of fever while fighting with the Greeks against the
Ottoman Turks, and Dr. John William Polidori, crushed by depression and gambling
debts, swallowed a fatal dose of Prussic Acid.
Benedict Cumberbatch as the monster
Even in later life, Mary was dogged
by scandal. On three occasions she was blackmailed by male acquaintances who
threatened to compromise her by publishing intimate letters she had sent to
them. As if that was not suffering enough, Mary’s final years were marred by
headaches and paralysis from a brain tumour that finally took her life at age 53.
Robert Deniro as the monster
The Ghost of Frankenstein
Despite her tragic life, Mary
Shelley is celebrated today as one of the great innovators in literature.
Frankenstein was arguably the first science fiction novel and has inspired countless
television and movie versions and left an indelible mark upon the human
psyche.
Boris Karloff, Arguably the most famous Frankenstein's monster of all
Friday, October 21, 2016
Night Owl Suspense Give Five Star Review to The Angel of Highgate
Does reading suspense novels keep you up late at night? Yes? Have we got a web site for you. Night Owl Suspense reads and reviews the latest and greatest titles in suspense/thriller genres.
Recently they gave The Angel of Highgate their highest rating, 5 Stars, and named the novel a "Top Pick."
You can read the very well review on their website by clicking the link below:
Night Owl Suspense Review
Recently they gave The Angel of Highgate their highest rating, 5 Stars, and named the novel a "Top Pick."
You can read the very well review on their website by clicking the link below:
Night Owl Suspense Review
Monday, July 11, 2016
The Angel of Highgate is one of six shortlisted titles for the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award
The London based Dracula Society recently released the shortlist for its Children of the Night Award, which is given each year for the best gothic novel.
I'm pleased and proud to announce that The Angel of Highgate is one of six nominated novels! Winner to be announced some time in September Yipppeeee! And as they say, "it's an honour just to be nominated."
Here below is the shortlist as published in the Dracula Society's monthly newsletter. Some very big names in there, such as David Mitchell, author of The Bone Clocks and Sky Atlas!
Monday, June 6, 2016
Dracula has shortlisted me!
Well, okay, not Dracula per se, but a very kind lady recently Tweeted to let me know that The Angel of Highgate has been shortlisted for The Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award.
The COFTN award is given annually to the previous years best novel employing aspects of the gothic. As they say at the Oscars, it's an honour just to be nominated, especially when you hear some of the names of authors who won the award or were shortlisted:
Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Sara Waters, Kim Newman, and so on. Talk about being in some stellar company!
Needless to say, I recently joined The Dracula Society and will be releasing updates as soon as I hear more. The shortlisted authors were announced in a recent copy of the society's journal and are not yet up on the website, but you can check out the London-based society and the COFTN award at their website:
The Dracula Society website:
The COFTN award is given annually to the previous years best novel employing aspects of the gothic. As they say at the Oscars, it's an honour just to be nominated, especially when you hear some of the names of authors who won the award or were shortlisted:
Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Sara Waters, Kim Newman, and so on. Talk about being in some stellar company!
Needless to say, I recently joined The Dracula Society and will be releasing updates as soon as I hear more. The shortlisted authors were announced in a recent copy of the society's journal and are not yet up on the website, but you can check out the London-based society and the COFTN award at their website:
The Dracula Society website:
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
What is your literary wisdom IQ? Five stars!
The website Literary Wisdom recently posted a review of The Angel of Highgate and it was an absolute five star corker!
Now and then you run into a review who absolutely "gets" what the book is about and that is the case in this instance book reviewer Lauren (a Scots lassie) was sucked into the book from the very opening.
In fact, she was so taken with the novel we ended up doing an author interview together that you read directly after her review:
Literary Wisdom interview with Vaughn Entwistle
Now and then you run into a review who absolutely "gets" what the book is about and that is the case in this instance book reviewer Lauren (a Scots lassie) was sucked into the book from the very opening.
In fact, she was so taken with the novel we ended up doing an author interview together that you read directly after her review:
Literary Wisdom interview with Vaughn Entwistle
Sunday, May 1, 2016
A "Fun and intense book": Web Site SF Reader Reviews The Angel of Highgate
SF Reader review Jack Primus gave The Angel of Highgate a solid 4 1/2 star review. His only reservations were the lack of solid supernatural underpinnings to the novel. It is an observation I soundly agree with, for I wrote the novel to be open-ended (especially the ending) so that a reader could decided for his or her self whether the supernatural elements were real or imagined by the protagonist, the louche Lord Geoffrey Thraxton.
Mister Primus' excellent review can be in full at:
SF Reader review of The Angel of Highgate
Mister Primus' excellent review can be in full at:
SF Reader review of The Angel of Highgate
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Rising Shadows' Review of The Revenant of Thraxton Hall
Even though the Revenant of Thraxton Hall has been out for more than a year now, it is still managing to generate terrific reviews, including this one from the largest sic-fi and fantasy site, Rising Shadows. The reviewer, Sirgil of Rhiminee, had recently reviewed my latest now, The Angel of Highgate and pronounced it "one of the best Victorian novels of the year."
The reviewer expressed interest in seeing what else i had written, and then shortly after this killer review of the Revenant appeared on their site. It's a long and well-thought out review, which makes it all the more sweet for me.
You can read their terrific review here:
Rising Shadow's review of Vaughn Entwistle's The Revenant of Thraxton Hall
The reviewer expressed interest in seeing what else i had written, and then shortly after this killer review of the Revenant appeared on their site. It's a long and well-thought out review, which makes it all the more sweet for me.
You can read their terrific review here:
Rising Shadow's review of Vaughn Entwistle's The Revenant of Thraxton Hall
Friday, December 25, 2015
"Fun-tastic dialogue and more. Review of The Dead Assassin on the British Fantasy Society Web page
Newly-posted review of The Dead Assassin on the prestigious web site of the British Fantasy Society's web site.
Another fun review from the BFS's Phil Lunt. Phil reviewed the first book in the series, The Revenant of Thraxton Hall, and is a fan of the repartee between Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde:
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Read an excerpt from The Angel of Highate
Publication day! Yee-ha!
Click here to read an excerpt from the novel at Dread Central (love that name): The Angel of Highgate excerpt
Click here to read an excerpt from the novel at Dread Central (love that name): The Angel of Highgate excerpt
First Reviews Are In: The Angel of Highgate
First review of The Angel of Highgate is fabulous. Found this on the web site of Melanie, an Aussie-Book Blogger who now lives in the gothic splendour of Edinburgh.
Click to go to: Angel of Highgate Review
Click to go to: Angel of Highgate Review
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Last year I received a stellar review of The Revenan of Thraxton Hall from the quicky and wonderful web site, Fiction Reboot.
So this year I was a little nervous as to how the second book in the Paranormal Casebooks would be received--especially as I knew that it was being reviewed by a different reviewer.
Luckly, I need not have worried, as it received an even better review than the first book, thanks to the perspicacious reviewer with a very cool name: Hanna Clutterbuck-Cook! Thanks, Hanna!
Fiction Reboot Review: The Dead Assassin
So this year I was a little nervous as to how the second book in the Paranormal Casebooks would be received--especially as I knew that it was being reviewed by a different reviewer.
Luckly, I need not have worried, as it received an even better review than the first book, thanks to the perspicacious reviewer with a very cool name: Hanna Clutterbuck-Cook! Thanks, Hanna!
Fiction Reboot Review: The Dead Assassin
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Fantasy Book Review Rates The Dead Assassin by Vaughn Entwistle
Terrific review of The Dead Assassin on the prestigious Fantasy Book Review website. Review Sandra Banks gave the book 8.5 out of 10 and Tweeted me that she is looking forward to the next book in the series.
Read the full review here:
Fantasy Book Review
Read the full review here:
Fantasy Book Review
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Just In: Gorgeous Front and Back Cover Art for The Angel of Highgate
You might have seen the cover, but now I have both the front, back and spine of my Victorian suspense novel, The Angel of Highgate. I have to give a big shout out to the designer Julia Lloyd for producing the best cover imaginable.
My editor, Miranda Jewess, also said that Titan is planning to use "soft-touch matte lamination and spot UV, so it'll be a stroke-able book."
Hmmn, sounds like a full-on sensual experience. Not entirely sure what a "stroke-able" book is. Think I'll leave that last comment as is. Here then, are the covers in all their glory. Love the colour palette:
My editor, Miranda Jewess, also said that Titan is planning to use "soft-touch matte lamination and spot UV, so it'll be a stroke-able book."
Hmmn, sounds like a full-on sensual experience. Not entirely sure what a "stroke-able" book is. Think I'll leave that last comment as is. Here then, are the covers in all their glory. Love the colour palette:
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Another great review. This time from the Manhattan Book Review, which somewhat confusingly, is based in California.
Manhattan Book Review
Manhattan Book Review
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
A Shout Out from "The Crow's Nest!"
I never know when my books will be reviewed. Few reviewers send me an email to let me know. I have to resort to 'Google Advanced Search' to find them.
I've been busy lately, so I haven't been checking. But then I finally did and I'm glad I did.
The first was this very nice review on a UK science fiction site called 'SF Crows Nest.'
Check it out at: /SF Crow's Nest Review of The Dead Assassin
You might notice that the reviewer spelled my first name wrong. It should be Vaughn not Vaughan, but that's okay, so long as you give me a good review you can spell it how you like!
I've been busy lately, so I haven't been checking. But then I finally did and I'm glad I did.
The first was this very nice review on a UK science fiction site called 'SF Crows Nest.'
Check it out at: /SF Crow's Nest Review of The Dead Assassin
You might notice that the reviewer spelled my first name wrong. It should be Vaughn not Vaughan, but that's okay, so long as you give me a good review you can spell it how you like!
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Amazing Amazon Review from Mystery "Connoisseur" and critic, Laurence J. Coven
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
on June 11, 2015
With the 2nd book in this Doyle (Holmes) series just coming out, (The Dead Assassin) I'm reminded of how much the first one surprised and delighted me. The Revenant of Thraxton Hall is to be the first book in a series called The Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and that is excellent news indeed. Entwistle has set the bar high with this auspicious series debut.
It is 1893 London, and Arthur Conan Doyle (no “Sir” as yet), in his early thirties, experiences two of his life’s most profound and shocking moments. The first is by his own hand. He has just killed off Sherlock Holmes, the most beloved character in all literature. The second comes completely unsolicited and unexpectedly. An anonymous note imploring “the author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries” to come to her on a matter of utmost gravity and urgency” arrives on his desk. The address given is unknown to Doyle. The summoner is unnamed. Doyle is only too used to people equating him with his creation and supposing that he has the same deductive and investigative skills as Holmes. Doyle hates all that. But it is a lady, so he goes.
The following day he is driven by his cabbie and left in front of a stunning, Mayfair mansion. The cab leaves before Doyle can bid him to wait. He approaches the door and sees the huge knocker, ornately decorated with a brass phoenix. He employs it and is greeted by a footman—a red-turbaned Sikh. Inside the mansion, it is cold and gloomy, with the odd “lingering tang of fish heads”. Entwistle proves he is a master of description and evocative ambience with many such turns of phrase.
The Sikh conducts Doyle into another room where he is told to wait. Suddenly, with no explanation, the door is slammed shut and locked behind him, and he is left in pitch dark. He must draw on all his strength and courage not to panic, and finally the lady, preceded by a haunting, seductive scent enters.
She is a psychic, a medium, and has foreseen her own murder at a future séance where she will be shot to death. The only other person in the vision is Doyle. She wants Doyle to find out who the murderer will be and save her. Doyle has perceived that she is a beautiful, very young woman. She even has a logical reason for the darkness. She suffers from porphyria, a rare, genetic affliction that causes any light to feel as daggers in the eyes. And although, at this point in his life, he is skeptical, but open-minded about the paranormal, still he gives no credence to her story. He tells her murder is for the police, not he. She importunes him. He is resolute. She leaves him, literally in the dark.
In one early scene Entwistle sets his stage for a most curious, singular, funny, and frightening tale. It expands constantly, but never flags or ceases to intrigue.
Doyle’s life is already in turmoil. Touie, his beloved wife is bed-ridden and dying of consumption. When the story “The Final Problem” hits the streets he instantly becomes the most hated man in London for killing Holmes. Insults, garbage, and rocks are hurled at him. His friend Oscar Wilde meets him for dinner and commiserates with Doyle in his own flamboyant manner. Wilde himself is getting in more and more trouble for his libertine ways. And all this is historically true, including the unlikely friendship of Wilde and Doyle. Their personalities couldn’t be more different, but they were the greatest and most celebrated literary geniuses of their time in England, and they respect each other’s work and talent and were genuinely fond of each other.
Entwistle’s sharp sense of the comic is manifested when Doyle meets with his editor, H.G. Smith, at The Strand, which has become fabulously successful largely because of the Holmes stories. When Doyle opines that he has become the most reviled and hated man in London, Wells replies, “I think you underestimate public sentiment, Arthur. You would have been more popular if you had beaten the prime minister to death with a puppy…”
Doyle determines to return to the psychic’s home, and Wilde wheedles his way into an adventure which he finds delightfully bizarre.
But the house is empty. Apparently the lady and the Sikh have gone away. Perhaps, Wilde suggests, to some estate in the country, but when Doyle points out that the huge ornate door-knocker is gone, Wilde’s riposte is “That does seem like excessive over packing.” Entwistle continually supplies Wilde with raucously humorous bon-mots, and although he completely peppers Wilde’s dialogue with them, and some may be just sort of ok-mots, still they are very clever, and often wildly funny (OK—pun intended.) But Wilde is far from just a witticism on legs. Entwistle has given him character, heart and intelligence.
Doyle receives another somewhat mysterious note inviting him to the inaugural meeting of the Society for Psychical Research, which is being held at Thraxton Hall, whose mistress is Lady Hope Thraxton, the very lady who had enlisted Doyle’s help to prevent her future but foreseen murder.
Doyle’s unsure about going. Touie is very unwell, and he has just given her laudanum, and for once, taken some himself. In a state of muddled mind and deep sadness, a figure suddenly bursts out of a Paget illustration on the wall. That figure is, of course, Sherlock Holmes who takes a seat in a comfy armchair, lights his pipe and proceeds to tell his creator to drop his self-pity and that “the game’s afoot.”
But Doyle has just taken laudanum, so is Holmes really there or is he hallucinating. Entwistle keeps the reader off balance all the time. Are seemingly inexplicable things really explainable in a rational way?
At the psychic convention there are bizarre characters everywhere—I mean serious loons—but loons which may or may not have credibility. Levitators, palm-readers, teletransporters, and mesmerists litter the landscape. An inexplicable Count who always wears a mask, a dapper debonair, arrogant Lord who is not what he seems, if only we at least were sure what it was he seems to be, an ancient Russian crone, Madame Zhozhovsky, who has seen past the vale, travelled through the Himalayas, and apparently ran a biscuit shop somewhere in Manchester. She also always carries around with her a most unpleasant monkey. And then there’s the much, much older butler, Greaves, who is blind and has serves the Thraxtons for generations. He could be anywhere from exceedingly evil to the most generous and kind fellow at this gathering. At one point he pulls off an Irene Adler moment to perfection. Just trust me, he does it. And the cast list goes on from there.
But the most overpowering presence is Thraxton Hall itself. A crumbling monstrosity that has more curses than Hostess has cupcakes. It also appears to be a tesseract—larger on the inside than on the outside. It is more haunted than Manderley from Rebecca and twice as menacing as anything they every built in Amityville.
But then there’s Lady Hope, herself, a beautiful, young, sensitive woman who Doyle is there to save. Surely he can keep his eye on that prize. Except suddenly she becomes a siren, tempting Doyle into unfaithfulness, and leading him on tours of horror around the house—the crypt which houses all the coffins of all the generations of Thraxtons, some so old they have decayed and spilled their unholy detritus over the unwelcoming ground. And she takes him to the secret mirror room where uncounted numbers of them restlessly abide and reflect. But there are no mirrors anywhere else in the house. Don’t worry. No vampires. But we do learn that reflections live forever, especially if one has a “scrying” mirror, which Hope Thraxton’s ancestor, Mariah, holds in her hand in her huge dusty portrait in the hall. And Mariah is the spirit guide that possesses Hope during the séances. And these séances are very powerfully described. They are scary and wonderfully creepy. And she doesn’t even need to spin her head all the way around and spew out pea soup.
Through all these chilling and dizzying convolutions, Doyle and Wilde must somehow solve a murder before it happens. Wilde at one point reminds Doyle he is a man of the theater, and that’s what he sees here—incredible theater. But as things become more inexplicable and frightening they drive Wilde to his absinthe and Doyle back to his visions of Holmes.
But Wilde in one of his not uncommon perceptive moments, when Doyle is compiling a list of the most likely suspects, points out, that Arthur should put himself on the list. Doyle emphatically denies that possibility; he is here to save the lady. But Doyle is taken aback when Wilde cogently observes that one person they know for sure who carries a hidden gun is Arthur himself, for Conan Doyle has indeed brought his service revolver with him. (Good Old Watson!)
Well what to believe and what not to? Is it spooks or charlatans who rule the day, or some combination thereof? Holmes once said “The world is wide enough. No ghosts need apply”. But then Doyle is not Holmes, as he keeps trying to convince the world and himself.
And there is a murder to be solved here, and a culprit to be brought to justice, or so we are foretold. Doyle and Wilde must bring all their considerable intelligence, powers of observation, common sense, and courage to this pretty little problem. And they complement each other’s strengths perfectly, each filling in what the other lacks. They must prepare themselves for the worst, whatever it maybe.
Fortunately all the reader has to do is snuggle down in the comforter, turn on his reading light, and have one hell of a good time.
It is 1893 London, and Arthur Conan Doyle (no “Sir” as yet), in his early thirties, experiences two of his life’s most profound and shocking moments. The first is by his own hand. He has just killed off Sherlock Holmes, the most beloved character in all literature. The second comes completely unsolicited and unexpectedly. An anonymous note imploring “the author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries” to come to her on a matter of utmost gravity and urgency” arrives on his desk. The address given is unknown to Doyle. The summoner is unnamed. Doyle is only too used to people equating him with his creation and supposing that he has the same deductive and investigative skills as Holmes. Doyle hates all that. But it is a lady, so he goes.
The following day he is driven by his cabbie and left in front of a stunning, Mayfair mansion. The cab leaves before Doyle can bid him to wait. He approaches the door and sees the huge knocker, ornately decorated with a brass phoenix. He employs it and is greeted by a footman—a red-turbaned Sikh. Inside the mansion, it is cold and gloomy, with the odd “lingering tang of fish heads”. Entwistle proves he is a master of description and evocative ambience with many such turns of phrase.
The Sikh conducts Doyle into another room where he is told to wait. Suddenly, with no explanation, the door is slammed shut and locked behind him, and he is left in pitch dark. He must draw on all his strength and courage not to panic, and finally the lady, preceded by a haunting, seductive scent enters.
She is a psychic, a medium, and has foreseen her own murder at a future séance where she will be shot to death. The only other person in the vision is Doyle. She wants Doyle to find out who the murderer will be and save her. Doyle has perceived that she is a beautiful, very young woman. She even has a logical reason for the darkness. She suffers from porphyria, a rare, genetic affliction that causes any light to feel as daggers in the eyes. And although, at this point in his life, he is skeptical, but open-minded about the paranormal, still he gives no credence to her story. He tells her murder is for the police, not he. She importunes him. He is resolute. She leaves him, literally in the dark.
In one early scene Entwistle sets his stage for a most curious, singular, funny, and frightening tale. It expands constantly, but never flags or ceases to intrigue.
Doyle’s life is already in turmoil. Touie, his beloved wife is bed-ridden and dying of consumption. When the story “The Final Problem” hits the streets he instantly becomes the most hated man in London for killing Holmes. Insults, garbage, and rocks are hurled at him. His friend Oscar Wilde meets him for dinner and commiserates with Doyle in his own flamboyant manner. Wilde himself is getting in more and more trouble for his libertine ways. And all this is historically true, including the unlikely friendship of Wilde and Doyle. Their personalities couldn’t be more different, but they were the greatest and most celebrated literary geniuses of their time in England, and they respect each other’s work and talent and were genuinely fond of each other.
Entwistle’s sharp sense of the comic is manifested when Doyle meets with his editor, H.G. Smith, at The Strand, which has become fabulously successful largely because of the Holmes stories. When Doyle opines that he has become the most reviled and hated man in London, Wells replies, “I think you underestimate public sentiment, Arthur. You would have been more popular if you had beaten the prime minister to death with a puppy…”
Doyle determines to return to the psychic’s home, and Wilde wheedles his way into an adventure which he finds delightfully bizarre.
But the house is empty. Apparently the lady and the Sikh have gone away. Perhaps, Wilde suggests, to some estate in the country, but when Doyle points out that the huge ornate door-knocker is gone, Wilde’s riposte is “That does seem like excessive over packing.” Entwistle continually supplies Wilde with raucously humorous bon-mots, and although he completely peppers Wilde’s dialogue with them, and some may be just sort of ok-mots, still they are very clever, and often wildly funny (OK—pun intended.) But Wilde is far from just a witticism on legs. Entwistle has given him character, heart and intelligence.
Doyle receives another somewhat mysterious note inviting him to the inaugural meeting of the Society for Psychical Research, which is being held at Thraxton Hall, whose mistress is Lady Hope Thraxton, the very lady who had enlisted Doyle’s help to prevent her future but foreseen murder.
Doyle’s unsure about going. Touie is very unwell, and he has just given her laudanum, and for once, taken some himself. In a state of muddled mind and deep sadness, a figure suddenly bursts out of a Paget illustration on the wall. That figure is, of course, Sherlock Holmes who takes a seat in a comfy armchair, lights his pipe and proceeds to tell his creator to drop his self-pity and that “the game’s afoot.”
But Doyle has just taken laudanum, so is Holmes really there or is he hallucinating. Entwistle keeps the reader off balance all the time. Are seemingly inexplicable things really explainable in a rational way?
At the psychic convention there are bizarre characters everywhere—I mean serious loons—but loons which may or may not have credibility. Levitators, palm-readers, teletransporters, and mesmerists litter the landscape. An inexplicable Count who always wears a mask, a dapper debonair, arrogant Lord who is not what he seems, if only we at least were sure what it was he seems to be, an ancient Russian crone, Madame Zhozhovsky, who has seen past the vale, travelled through the Himalayas, and apparently ran a biscuit shop somewhere in Manchester. She also always carries around with her a most unpleasant monkey. And then there’s the much, much older butler, Greaves, who is blind and has serves the Thraxtons for generations. He could be anywhere from exceedingly evil to the most generous and kind fellow at this gathering. At one point he pulls off an Irene Adler moment to perfection. Just trust me, he does it. And the cast list goes on from there.
But the most overpowering presence is Thraxton Hall itself. A crumbling monstrosity that has more curses than Hostess has cupcakes. It also appears to be a tesseract—larger on the inside than on the outside. It is more haunted than Manderley from Rebecca and twice as menacing as anything they every built in Amityville.
But then there’s Lady Hope, herself, a beautiful, young, sensitive woman who Doyle is there to save. Surely he can keep his eye on that prize. Except suddenly she becomes a siren, tempting Doyle into unfaithfulness, and leading him on tours of horror around the house—the crypt which houses all the coffins of all the generations of Thraxtons, some so old they have decayed and spilled their unholy detritus over the unwelcoming ground. And she takes him to the secret mirror room where uncounted numbers of them restlessly abide and reflect. But there are no mirrors anywhere else in the house. Don’t worry. No vampires. But we do learn that reflections live forever, especially if one has a “scrying” mirror, which Hope Thraxton’s ancestor, Mariah, holds in her hand in her huge dusty portrait in the hall. And Mariah is the spirit guide that possesses Hope during the séances. And these séances are very powerfully described. They are scary and wonderfully creepy. And she doesn’t even need to spin her head all the way around and spew out pea soup.
Through all these chilling and dizzying convolutions, Doyle and Wilde must somehow solve a murder before it happens. Wilde at one point reminds Doyle he is a man of the theater, and that’s what he sees here—incredible theater. But as things become more inexplicable and frightening they drive Wilde to his absinthe and Doyle back to his visions of Holmes.
But Wilde in one of his not uncommon perceptive moments, when Doyle is compiling a list of the most likely suspects, points out, that Arthur should put himself on the list. Doyle emphatically denies that possibility; he is here to save the lady. But Doyle is taken aback when Wilde cogently observes that one person they know for sure who carries a hidden gun is Arthur himself, for Conan Doyle has indeed brought his service revolver with him. (Good Old Watson!)
Well what to believe and what not to? Is it spooks or charlatans who rule the day, or some combination thereof? Holmes once said “The world is wide enough. No ghosts need apply”. But then Doyle is not Holmes, as he keeps trying to convince the world and himself.
And there is a murder to be solved here, and a culprit to be brought to justice, or so we are foretold. Doyle and Wilde must bring all their considerable intelligence, powers of observation, common sense, and courage to this pretty little problem. And they complement each other’s strengths perfectly, each filling in what the other lacks. They must prepare themselves for the worst, whatever it maybe.
Fortunately all the reader has to do is snuggle down in the comforter, turn on his reading light, and have one hell of a good time.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
The Dead Assassin refuses to lie down and die. Reviews on GoodReads vary enormously. A few haters hate it. Most readers like or at least love it and many fans think it's better than the first novel.
Most professional reviewers give it consistently high marks. Here is the latest good review from TheBookbag.co.uk. Again, a reviewer who really "gets it."
The Book Bag Review
Most professional reviewers give it consistently high marks. Here is the latest good review from TheBookbag.co.uk. Again, a reviewer who really "gets it."
The Book Bag Review
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