Rating:  Summary: Intriguing! Review: I am an apt fan of anything to do with Sherlock Holmes, and was not displeased with this novel. I am also particularly interested in the "Titanic," so I got the "best of both worlds." The plot was exciting, drawing you through the pages with interest, and the appearance of some relatives of older aquantences of Holmes, along with the real characters on board the "Titanic," made the book excellent. My only regret was that the side plot was much like some of the otheres I've read in the wave of "Titanic" mysteries that has appeared in the last couple of years. But, all in all, it is a good novel and well worth your time. ^._.^
Rating:  Summary: Adequate-but nothing more. Review: I bought this book because of an interest in Holmes and the Titanic and also because it received 5 stars from the previous four reviewers. On the whole, however, I was very disappointed with this book. There are a number of areas for concern. Firstly, the author has decided to add various little "cute" touches which really detracted from the story. Having Irene Adler's daughter, Miss Norton, as a secret agent whose first mission is to deliver some incredibly important government papers on her own, was completely unrealistic. Her character was nothing more than a silly inexperienced girl totally out of her depth. The British secret service clearly did not have very good recruitment policies in those days! Also disappointing were the suspects on the Titanic. All of them come across as one dimensional cardboard cut outs, and no charachter is looked into with detail at all. As a result, when the guilty parties are "exposed" it is a complete anticlimax. However, the main problem with this book, as with most Holmes pastiches, is the complete failure to get the character of Sherlock Holmes right. Holmes wishes to travel to America in disguise so he can start an undercover operation over there. So what does he do? He invites Watson to join him. With Watson being so well known on the ship, Holmes' disguise lasts about as long as this book's credibility. Holmes doesn't do one thing right in this entire book. He makes constant mistakes, wastes a lot of everyone's time, and the only "deduction" he manages to make was so simple a five year old could have managed it. This Sherlock Holmes was not even a shadow of Conan Doyle's, and as a result this book cannot even begin to compete with the originals. This is Mr Seil's first book and I'm afraid it shows. He clearly has some talent, but if he wishes to be successful with this particular genre, he will have to learn from his many mistakes in this book and make sure he does NOT repeat them.
Rating:  Summary: Avery readable book. Review: I found this book to be very readable. It has Holmes (coming out of retirement) and Watson boarding the Titanic on a mission to help out Irene (Adler) Nortn's daughter on a mission to the United States. There are several interesting sub-plots along the way
Rating:  Summary: Great Pastiche Review: I love Holmes and Watson, so I have read many of the pastiche. I believe this was the best of all. Contrary to a few of the other reviews, I thought this Holmes was very true to form, and that the author absolutely nailed Watson. I also thought he did a good job capturing the Titanic scene. I recommend this highly to anyone who likes Holmes or the lore of the Titanic.
Rating:  Summary: Excellent Review: I think that if I were to give this book a subtitle, it would be: Sherlock Holmes Meets Murphy's law. It seemed like from the beginning, everything that could go wrong in this case did go wrong. Of the non-Doyle written Holmes books, this is one of my favorites. I would recommend it to any Holmes enthusiast.
Rating:  Summary: Brisk and enjoyable slice of Sherlockiana Review: In my view , by far the best non Doyle tales of Holmes are those written by Laurie R King and featuring Mary Russell partnering the great man in retirement.Indeed I am unable to resist the somewhat heretical notion that in many respects they are not merely good and worthwhile novels in their own right but-and here many will flinch and possibly question my parentage as well as my judgement--they strike me as at least the equal of all the Doyle Holmes novels,Baskerville alone excepted.The meat of Holmes was the short stories and I ado not feel the rest of his Holmes novels were all that good. William Seil does not approach the quality of either Ms King or other of the better pastiche Holmesians like Boyer and Meyer but he does give us a brisk and sprightly novel that bubbles along quite nicely and entertains the reader well enough.# Part of a series from Breese Books of London , in which various authors re-imagine Holmes in a multiplicity of situations this one --narrated of course by the stalwart Watson--sees him on board the Titanic acting in concert with Irene Adlers daughter ,now a British agent to see the safe delivery to New York of British plans for a new submarine.There are plenty os fuspects when the plans vanish--a grim Teutonic couple;an American adventuress ;the brother of the late Professor Moriarty etc.Stir in a Marxist plot to blow up the vessel as an Anti-Capitalist statement and the plot buils and bubbles nicely. The book does sag from time to time and the mass of technical detail about the ship's engines etc gets a tad wearisome .Another problem is the knowledge we are burdened with as readers about the fate of the vessel which tends to make us less responsive to the foreground plot than we need to be for maximum involvement. I was pleased to note the captain and crew escape the disgraceful character assassination that was so marked a feature of the despicable movie and was impressed by the power of the scenes depicting the sinking of the ship. Holmes is not drawn especially well but Watson comes across in a strong light and the author draws an interesting parallel between Watson and his passion for writing historical novels with Conan Doyle who had similar enthusiasms, Good lightweight entertainment that will keep Holmesians happy enough for a few hours.
Rating:  Summary: Great Pastiche Review: No one would be surprised to find that this book features Sherlock Holmes in an adventure set on board the Titanic. And it will also be no surprise for me to say that the ship sinks towards the end of the book.William Seil sets out to set up an intriguing group of passengers, many of who have ulterior motives, as Holmes and Watson form part of a party protecting secret submarine plans being transported to America on the Titanic's maiden voyage. The cast includes relatives of better-known Holmesian mainstays - we have Christine Norton, daughter of Irene Adler, and Colonel James Moriarty, brother to the more famous professor. As well as fictional characters, actual members of the crew and passengers of the Titanic play their roles. I was well pleased to see mystery writer Jacques Futrelle given a significant role in the novel. Sadly, Futrelle's stories of Professor Van Dusen, the Thinking Machine, have been allowed to fall out of print, but it is particularly good to see Watson and Futrelle make reference to the Thinking Machine's exploits and to contrast them to Holmes' own during the novel. I'd suggest that his role is a due tribute to one of the many victims of the Titanic's fatal voyage. As the novel progresses, a number of stories are played out as the reader sees the different suspects duly investigated. The characters are driven by a perceived deadline in the ship's arrival in New York, but we readers know that the iceberg is waiting to cut short the events of the book. This is Seil's first book (and only to date...), and does show some of the weaknesses of first books - such as a desire to pack too much in. However, his writing style is pleasing and characters fairly well-defined. While not breaking new ground (hardly a requirement in a Holmes' book) is a decent if unchallenging read.
Rating:  Summary: Enjoyable read that doesn't go down with the ship Review: No one would be surprised to find that this book features Sherlock Holmes in an adventure set on board the Titanic. And it will also be no surprise for me to say that the ship sinks towards the end of the book. William Seil sets out to set up an intriguing group of passengers, many of who have ulterior motives, as Holmes and Watson form part of a party protecting secret submarine plans being transported to America on the Titanic's maiden voyage. The cast includes relatives of better-known Holmesian mainstays - we have Christine Norton, daughter of Irene Adler, and Colonel James Moriarty, brother to the more famous professor. As well as fictional characters, actual members of the crew and passengers of the Titanic play their roles. I was well pleased to see mystery writer Jacques Futrelle given a significant role in the novel. Sadly, Futrelle's stories of Professor Van Dusen, the Thinking Machine, have been allowed to fall out of print, but it is particularly good to see Watson and Futrelle make reference to the Thinking Machine's exploits and to contrast them to Holmes' own during the novel. I'd suggest that his role is a due tribute to one of the many victims of the Titanic's fatal voyage. As the novel progresses, a number of stories are played out as the reader sees the different suspects duly investigated. The characters are driven by a perceived deadline in the ship's arrival in New York, but we readers know that the iceberg is waiting to cut short the events of the book. This is Seil's first book (and only to date...), and does show some of the weaknesses of first books - such as a desire to pack too much in. However, his writing style is pleasing and characters fairly well-defined. While not breaking new ground (hardly a requirement in a Holmes' book) is a decent if unchallenging read.
Rating:  Summary: Not bad at all! Review: Ok, this is not the best Sherlock Holmes book I have read but it was actually quite enjoyable! Actually it should be titled "Dr Watson and the Titanic Tragedy." Holmes is in it but Watson is certainly in the forefront. Despite this I highly recommend this book!
Rating:  Summary: Not bad at all! Review: Ok, this is not the best Sherlock Holmes book I have read but it was actually quite enjoyable! Actually it should be titled "Dr Watson and the Titanic Tragedy." Holmes is in it but Watson is certainly in the forefront. Despite this I highly recommend this book!
|