Diane G. (icesk8tr) -
Helpful Score: 1
This is an adventure back in time to the fog-bound streets of London, where Sherlock Holmes and the faithful Dr. Watson stalk the minions of evil. And in Vienna where Dr. Sigmund Freud must try to cure Holmes of his shocking addiction to cocaine, and unlock the terrible secret hidden in the dark depths of his brilliant mind.
Alex T. (athompson362) reviewed The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. on + 45 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A good Sherlock Holmes adventure with some insight into Holmes' past. The author uses creative license to give us some insight into Holmes' early years and goes on to explain the back-story to many of Holmes' quirks. For me, I liked how Doyle left Holmes' quirks very ambiguous, but the book is a fine read either way.
Just for fun: The Tagline on the back of the book reads "Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud, together again for the first time!". How can they be together again, and still be a first time? Perhaps a Freudian slip?
Just for fun: The Tagline on the back of the book reads "Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud, together again for the first time!". How can they be together again, and still be a first time? Perhaps a Freudian slip?
Naiche A. (Naiche) reviewed The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. on + 91 more book reviews
An absolute blast for any Holmes' fans. Reads very much like real thing (which is completely different from a modern murder mystery, of course), and it's novel-length for more fun! For anyone who's bothered by the idea of the perfectest detective ever known falling prey to a mere drug addiction - don't be. He's still the same Sherlock you know and love.
sphinx reviewed The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. on + 97 more book reviews
This is not my favourite Sherlock Holmes pastiche so far (that title goes to The Last Sherlock Holmes Story), but it is an enjoyable one.
The initial portion of this book, in which Watson faces the problem of dragging a paranoid, drug-addled, and unwilling Holmes for help from the only cocaine addiction specialist then known in the world, is very compelling reading. I could not put the book down through this part of the story. The trouble comes when this plot point reaches its conclusion, where it begins to feel as if the author ran out of story and had to tack on an additional adventure to make the book novel-length.
The secondary characters here do not feel fully fleshed-out, especially because the woman whose case Holmes and company take on never speaks a word, and her personality remains a mystery.
That said, the author did an admirable job depicting Watson and Holmes and their friendship, which comes across wonderfully as loyal, mutual, and affectionate, despite the trying circumstances the characters face together, which strains their bonds.
The book makes an interesting speculation about Holmes's young life, though I thought the conclusions drawn from this would have been better left unsaid, being somewhat obvious.
As a Holmesian, you will certainly enjoy Part One of this book, and I recommend it for that alone, though Part Two may also entertain depending on your level of pickiness with your Sherlock stories. Good read! Three-and-a-half stars.
The initial portion of this book, in which Watson faces the problem of dragging a paranoid, drug-addled, and unwilling Holmes for help from the only cocaine addiction specialist then known in the world, is very compelling reading. I could not put the book down through this part of the story. The trouble comes when this plot point reaches its conclusion, where it begins to feel as if the author ran out of story and had to tack on an additional adventure to make the book novel-length.
The secondary characters here do not feel fully fleshed-out, especially because the woman whose case Holmes and company take on never speaks a word, and her personality remains a mystery.
That said, the author did an admirable job depicting Watson and Holmes and their friendship, which comes across wonderfully as loyal, mutual, and affectionate, despite the trying circumstances the characters face together, which strains their bonds.
The book makes an interesting speculation about Holmes's young life, though I thought the conclusions drawn from this would have been better left unsaid, being somewhat obvious.
As a Holmesian, you will certainly enjoy Part One of this book, and I recommend it for that alone, though Part Two may also entertain depending on your level of pickiness with your Sherlock stories. Good read! Three-and-a-half stars.
