Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Book Review # 10: Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau

***Note:  This book is not in the public domain.  --Tim

Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau by Guy Adams is a book that I checked out from the library. In this book Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are investigating some mysterious deaths where the bodies show up in the Thames river or in a rough part of London that is along the Thames. Each of the bodies appeared to be mauled by some sort of animal. They discover that these deaths are related to creatures created by Dr. Moreau which are from the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau which was written in the same time period as some of the earlier Sherlock Holmes stories. In this story Dr. Moreau has been dead for several years before these bodies appear. Sherlock and Dr. Watson are trying to figure out who knows the details of Dr. Moreau's work and are experimenting with them and beyond.

This story is interesting, but I'd prefer to have more original characters. In this book the author borrows characters from not only H.G. Wells novels, but also from books written by Jules Verne, other books that are not Sherlock Holmes related by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edgar Rice Burroughs and he even states it at the end of the book. I also don't like that he is turning Sherlock into science fiction by him chasing monsters that did not exist in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century which is the time setting of most of the Sherlock Homes books are set.

Purchase Links:

This book can be purchased as either an ebook or paperback at the following sites:

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Army-Doctor-Moreau-ebook/dp/B005UFBXEM/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1475095778&sr=1-3&keywords=guy+adams

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sherlock-holmes-adams-guy/1112180651?ean=9780857689344

Tim's Rating:  ***
(Three out of five stars)

I'm off to read another book. Check back here periodically for more reviews.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Book Review # 9: The Golden Skull

To start out, I need to apologize for not posting anything here for over a month.  A combination of being busy and my health problems caused a big portion of that.  I started going through treatment for some of my health problems earlier this week that should help out.

The Golden Skull is the tenth book in the Rick Brant series by John Blaine.  In this book Rick and Scotty accompany Dr. Tony Briotti, an archaeologist with the Spindrift Foundation, to a mountainous area with aborigines to find some lost sacred relics, the largest of which  is a golden skull.  The problem is that there are others trying to find the same items through them, some of them for monetary reasons, others for religious.  Like the other books in the series that I've reviewed there are many adventures encountered along the way.

Yes, this a boys series book from the 1950's, but as I said in an earlier review, I like reading some of these boys and girls series books because they have adventures in them that keep you riveted throughout the book.  Just like the other ones in the series I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Download Links:

Project Gutenberg:  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32270

Many Books:  http://manybooks.net/titles/goodwinh3227032270-8.html

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Skull-Brant-Science-Adventure-Story-ebook/dp/B01B7QKD66/ref=sr_1_11?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1473992793&sr=1-11&keywords=rick+brant

Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-golden-skull-john-blaine/1113564572?ean=2940011950162

Tim's Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)