Shadowblood
A Novel of Sherlock Holmes
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A sequel to Shadowfall, this novel continues the adventures of Holmes as a man of two worlds, gifted with both deductive and magical powers. The convalescing Watson's country holiday is brought to an abrupt end when an eccentric recluse named Edgar Telfair demands that Holmes investigate his daughter's disappearance. Holmes's refusal to take the case is followed by Telfair's sudden, horrific slaying. The act revives Watson's suppressed memories of the Shadows and reintroduces him to Holmes's double life. Together Holmes and Watson must find Alice Telfair, a witch whose shocking powers are obtained through blood magic, the vilest form of sorcery. Tracking her from Paris to Prague to America, they soon learn that she is traveling with a shadowy figure equally as dangerous. Old friends, including Lestrade and Mycroft, assist Holmes and Watson in their quest. In America the pair enlists new allies: a Pinkerton agent with a past, a Seminole showman, a blind photographer whose cameras capture the spirit world, and a strange little boy destined for a frightening future. But Holmes and Watson are being stalked, not only by Alice Telfair and her hideous assistant, but also by a mysterious interloper whose quest for justice stretches from beyond the grave.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Being able to digest Revels's reinterpretation of Holmes as a wizard with some elvish blood is essential for any enjoyment of his sequel to 2010's Shadowfall that unsuccessfully mixes disparate elements such as Lizzie Borden, Ponce de Leon, and H.P. Lovecraft. Watson has been stricken with a baffling illness that leaves him physically and spiritually wasted. To speed his recovery once he finally regains consciousness, Holmes arranges for him to convalesce at the country estate of a friend, Thomas Darby. Shortly after his arrival, Watson is visited by Edgar Telfair, an American millionaire, who, along with his daughter Alice, has led a reclusive existence nearby. Telfair demands that Watson summon Holmes for help, explaining that Alice has been kidnapped, adding that he and Alice had been regular consumers of water from the legendary Fountain of Youth in Florida, and he is actually about 200 years old. When a pastiche is as outr as this one, finding traces of Doyle's original creations becomes very hard, and Revels does nothing to make swallowing his riff either easy or desirable.
