Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell - Paul Kane

[Kenneth]

I have a confession. Before reading this book, I had no clue who Paul Kane was. Apparently, to the people in the know, he is the leading guru on Clive Barker's Hellraiser films and mythos (outside of Barker, of course). So you'll have to excuse me for being late to the party. What I do know is that I love Clive Barker's Hellraiser films and I enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories. So when I stumbled across the title of this book, I was instantly intrigued. In what seems upon first glance as a farce, started sounding pretty damn full of possibilities the more I thought about it. After jumping head first into Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell, I am pleased to announce that the possibilities were right on the money and Kane delivered one hell of a fun read.

Sherlock Holmes is moping around since he defeated his archenemy, Moriaty. Cases don't seem to be that intriguing or challenging and Holmes is apparently a ball of irritiibility if his mind isn't challenged. Dr. Watson is worried about his dear friend, especially since he's had a tangle with opium demon from time to time. Then a missing person case comes in. Apparently, a Francis Cotton went inside his attic room, locked the door, and never came out. Disappeared. Holmes and Watson take the case and are stumped. Other missing person cases come trickling in with the same descriptions. Holmes is convinced that they are tied together. But how? When investigating one of the other disappearances, the duo discover a secret society that focuses on the forbidden pleasures of the flesh and a pillar that contained a small box. Sound familiar?

Kane's tale weaves in and out of tie-ins with previous Sherlock Holmes stories and the Hellraiser films. And it works. Very well, I might add. The story is told Arthur Conan Doyle-style through a re-telling by Dr Watson. We also get a nice perspective from it rotating back and forth from Watson to Holmes POV and back again. Who would've thought that the marriage of Sherlock Holmes and Clive Barker would work so well? You know what? Don't question a good thing and Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell is a good thing.

5 Elementary, My Dear Watsons out of 5


This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



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