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Sherlock Holmes and the Zombie Problem

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Holmes is just days away from bringing down the biggest criminal ringleader in London. But his quick and wicked foe is as cautious and intelligent as he. When Moriarty learns of Holmes' plans against him he releases an evil on England the likes of which no civilised man had ever seen. In a desperate attempt to save England and perhaps the known world, Holmes and his trusty friend Watson travel across Europe to find the source of Moriarty's new found power and end him and his wicked plan for good. With the aid of every friend and ally they can find, the two detectives make regular and efficient usage of their shared experience of boxing, fencing and firearms in a bloodthirsty adventure.

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2010

5 people are currently reading
90 people want to read

About the author

Nick S. Thomas

132 books72 followers
Nick S. Thomas, is a novelist, martial arts instructor and military history enthusiast. Author of the bestselling 'Battle Earth' series and is co-founder of the prestigious Academy of Historical Fencing.

Nick has worked full time as an author for over a decade and also still designs his own novel art, as well as that of his brothers, fellow novelist Michael G Thomas.

As well as the pursuit of historical materials to transcribe, translate and interpret, Nick enjoys writing works of historical fiction, fantasy, and science-fiction. He is also an avid military history enthusiast. A collector and restorer of WW2 military vehicles, as well as antique edged weaponry.

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5 stars
11 (14%)
4 stars
16 (21%)
3 stars
14 (18%)
2 stars
21 (27%)
1 star
14 (18%)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Anabel.
91 reviews7 followers
January 10, 2021
This is a zombie book, with an author who really loves describing zombie attacks and has a weaponry fetish. As others have said, Sherlock and Watson feel like an afterthought. I did love some of the side characters involved, but compared to other Sherlock spin-offs, this one left a bit to be desired. The amount of zombie violence became less shocking and more annoying as the book went on.

I did have fun with the narration, because it was done by a friend of mine! :)
Profile Image for Candy.
38 reviews
May 30, 2017
I really wanted to like this book, and it got off to a great start. Unfortunately it never went anywhere. Instead it became a big repeating circle, new town, another zombie attack ... and the band of heroes were terrible shots which really annoyed me. Finally I put this onto my small 'did not finish' shelf.
Profile Image for Melissa.
81 reviews27 followers
April 9, 2021
I bought the novel to support the narrator! (He's just neat.) I think he did very well. I loved the voice work.

The story was not as Holmesy as I'd have liked. More zombies and guns than mystery. If you like zombies and guns, this'll work for you!
Profile Image for Rachel MacNaught.
398 reviews43 followers
January 2, 2014
one of the more natural blendings of literature and zombies i've read yet. the language and some of the action fit the Sherlock realm well.
buttt the book itself was rather bad, and the zombie aspect was lackluster.
on the overall side of things, it felt like nothing happened. it was all so glossed over. entire battles summed up in a sentence or two leaving me, 100 pages in, wondering if anything had actually occurred. nothing left an impact, it was all a series of sentences.

the zombies were things, and the tale wasn't truly affected by them. you could have replaced them with a flood, or rabid rats.. anything, really, as it was missing part of the zombie genre i feel MAKES the zombie genre: the breakdown of society when your best friend may be suddenly trying to eat you, or worse, kill you for your supplies. it felt one note. it felt young and uninvolved.

the only thing that stuck with me was early in the book when Sherlock kills everyone bitten on a train, in what seems to be cold blood, and Watson describes Sherlock's internal strengths. it was the only real detail put into the book, and as a fan of the BBC Sherlock, i found myself seeing a layer to Cumberbatch's version right in time for the return of the show.


for some reason my brain won't brain right now. i give up writing. back to chocolate.
Profile Image for Kacie Quinn.
35 reviews
June 25, 2011
I absolutely love Sherlock Holmes, and up until this book, I've enjoyed every incarnation of him and his story. But I'm not really going to count this as a Sherlock Holmes story, just because, well, it wasn't.

The names "Holmes" and "Watson" could've been replaced and I wouldn't have seen any similarities between them and the canon characters. As far as I can remember, Sherlock made no deductions whatsoever. And what about lady's man Watson? I think he mentioned his wife, who could possibly be turned into a zombie at this point, maybe twice.

Even looking past the fact that it wasn't a Sherlock Holmes story, the whole zombie-adventure aspect wasn't really that captivating either. I love a good thriller as much as the next girl, and zombies are a plus, but I found myself actually yawning as I read it. There were very few points when I was actually interested in finding out what happened.
Profile Image for Melissa Lee.
8 reviews4 followers
June 5, 2013
Many authors and popular media have been trying to take advantage of Sherlock Holmes' popularity for many years, especially so in the last decade. Some have been more successful than others. Unfortunately, Thomas' work lies closer to the unsuccessful end of the spectrum. Like another reviewer mentioned, the story would not have made a difference if you replaced Sherlock Holmes and John Watson with say, Sam and Barry running away from zombies. As a book that was based upon one of the world's most famous detectives, this was truly disappointing.

If you are a fan of zombie literature however, this may be an entertaining read if you are not looking for a literary work of art. This was essentially a book about running away from, and killing zombies. That's it. If this is what you are looking for, its a great read. Otherwise, move on.
Profile Image for Wendy.
543 reviews
January 13, 2011
I read this Kindle edition and it was full of mistakes. Words ran together and sentences ended with commas. They used "meat" instead of "meet" at one point. Other than that, it was quite violent and directed towards men who like guns. Every gun was precious and described in detail over and over. One battle with zombies led to another battle with zombies. There are only so many ways you can describe blowing a zombie's head off.
Profile Image for Ashley.
196 reviews
May 8, 2011
I couldn't get past page 30 of this book. It sounded like it was written by a fifth grader, what with all the excessive commas and generally awful grammar. Plus, it butchered one of the best Holmes stories ("The Final Problem") by throwing in random zombie fight scenes: that is truly the only thing that makes this story different from the original. Ug.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kourosh Keshavarz.
54 reviews3 followers
February 22, 2014
I just gave up half way. This book was a zombie book with a character called Sherlock Holmes in it. There was none of the Holmes style detection and the language had an element modern English thrown in. A thirteen year old may have found the zombie fight in every chapter interesting so I wont throw this book out but rather save it for when my son is a little older.
Profile Image for Melinda.
163 reviews
February 21, 2011
Sorry folks this book is NOT a Sherlock story - this is Zombie, kill'em and destroy them book. Not for the fan of Doyle. As a bookstore owner, will recc to YA's looking for something fun to read with mentioning of Holmes/Watson. Overall I could see this made into a movie a 30 min special at best.
Profile Image for Mike.
298 reviews14 followers
July 31, 2013
I am a huge Holmes fan and I enjoy a good zombie mashup so this looked like a fun read. It is the Holmes story "The Final Problem", rewritten with Zombies. The idea had more potential but in the end I really just thought it was ok.
Profile Image for Jessica.
231 reviews
March 6, 2014
it's trash literature, So I'm not expecting much, but it's boring trash literature. Holmes is boring and the zombies are boring. I want more zombies and more ridiculousness, So it can be enjoyable schlocky fiction. Still better than Twilight and the last few Mary Russell novels though.
Profile Image for Heather.
150 reviews28 followers
June 24, 2016
I liked "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." I liked the Abraham-Lincoln-as-a-zombie-killer book, too. So I thought this one might be fun.

It was not fun. It was tedious and poorly written. I skimmed the last half just to get through it.

Don't waste your time or money on this one.
Profile Image for Henrik Rostoft.
262 reviews1 follower
July 16, 2012
It's been a long time since a read a Sherlock Holmes novel, but this mashup gets the feeling of a Sherlock Holmes story quite weel.
Profile Image for Sonny.
348 reviews8 followers
January 1, 2013
Could not read more than 20 pages. Very boring start.
Profile Image for Sean C.
173 reviews
May 23, 2013
Pretty lame. The same scene over and over again with no closure or explanations. Weak.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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