Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Paper Journal

It is nearing the turn of the 22nd century, and Sherlock Holmes isn't having much luck trying to be a detective. Social networking has morphed into a single, centralized, government-linked platform called The Archive. Every citizen has a Personal Archive File, which records all the significant (and most of the insignificant) moments of their lives and is open to everyone else. Birth records, school records, medical and financial records (virtually everything anyone could want to know about a person) are readily accessible to anyone who takes the time to look someone up.  In a world that is ostensibly without secrets, what use are the keen deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes when they rarely reveal anything about a person a quick Archive search wouldn't? Add to that the recent development of a new crime-solving computer program, and human detectives are on the cusp of extinction. Unable to make a living at his chosen profession, Sherlock often falls into despair and abuses cocaine and morphine to quiet his mind.

Sherlock takes on a case involving a prolific blackmailer, and the lengths to which he goes to resolve the matter reveal a dark, incredibly manipulative side of him that leaves John Watson doubting whether he ever knew his dear friend at all. Sherlock's actions set in motion a catastrophic sequence of events that threaten to destroy his relationship with John, which both men are coming to realize is deeply felt romantic love. 

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Paper Journal is a clever re-imagining of some of the classic Sherlock Holmes stories that expertly balances an action-packed adventure set in an eerily familiar dystopian future with a delicate love story.