Review: The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols

 Before we are very far into The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols we learn that
the protocols in question are the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And if you know that name, you’ll know from the outset that this is the tale of one of Holmes’s failures. You’ll know that Holmes could not possibly have won this fight. You’ll perhaps question whether it’s a completely Quixotic mission that he and Watson are embarked on. But you won’t question their desperate need to attempt the impossible.

     The story begins rather Jason Bourne-like. A British secret agent is found drowned, with a terrible document in her possession, which purports to be a plot by a cabal of Jews to take over the world. Holmes is tasked by brother Mycroft to find out whether it’s truth or fiction. Needless to say, they’re soon satisfied on that score. But Holmes wants to take things further, to trace the lie back to its source, to expose the perpetrators, to remove its potency forever. 

    This will involve our heroes in a dangerous journey to the heart of tsarist Russia, to the site of a deadly pogrom, dogged at every step by Russian secret police who will stop at nothing to protect the source of the protocols from exposure. And the journey back will prove eve more dangerous than the journey there. Journey with Holmes and Watson (and a lovely femme fatale) across Europe on the fabulous Orient Express, by milk train and hayrick and in coffins, tilting with windmills all the way. 

     If you’re familiar with the Protocols, you’ll want to read this. If you’re not, you must read this one.

A century ago

One hundred years ago today King Tut's tomb was discovered. In celebration here's
a nibble from my next Sherlock Holmes tale, 

The Strange Case of the Pharaoh's Heart. 

"I have read since that Carter describes it as having a 'sad but tranquil expression.' True enough, but it’s also unnerving, those large eyes staring up at you from centuries past, the oddly delicate, almost feminine features. I will never be quit of that unyielding goldeface, nor the unasked question that seems to hang upon his lips."

One hundred years ago

 

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Review: Unnatural Creatures

 Unnatural Creatures begs to be compared with Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, because there’s a huge hole in both: the main character. The mover of events. And focusing instead on peripheral characters,  in both points up the artificial nature of a plot’s unraveling.  The main characters (in this case Victor Frankenstein’s mother Caroline, his future bride Elizabeth, and her malformed maid, Justine) are  largely cut off from knowledge of what causes the mayhem which claims them all. This isn’t merely a shifting of perspective: Victor Frankenstein and his creation are rarely on stage, or even in the same geographic location as our three heroines. The sources of his genius and his madness are obscured. The monster himself is only glimpsed at first, and he and his creator never share the stage.

All this would seem to be insurmountable obstacles to the story development. But Waldherr has created (or extrapolated) such complex, breathing characters that the hole at the center of her story becomes a whirling maelstrom which seeks to drown its main characters. Her secret is in placing the blame for the horrifying events which occur on Caroline, Elizabeth, and Justine in turn—in their own minds. Which leads them to struggle with their fates—fates laid down two centuries ago by Mary Shelley. The struggle is fascinating, not least because Waldherr coaxes forth a wholly original story which cheats the original. 

Does the monster have his revenge on his creator? Or is he tracked down and destroyed? Like I’m going to tell you. Unnatural Creatures is at its heart a magic show. I’d never reveal the magician’s secrets. What are you waiting for? Read it.