Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles

Enjoying the first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, I decided to read and review another of the Holmes novels. The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four Holmes novels authored by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It was originally serialized in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 until April of 1902. It was published by George Newness as a hardcover in March of 1902.

It's interesting to read the history of the character and novel and how it scopes the existence of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Initially Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes in the short 1893 story “The Final Problem”. After that story's publication, Doyle volunteered as a physician during the Second Boer War and abandoned writing about the character for eight years. The character's popularity led Doyle to write another Sherlock novel, setting this book two years prior to the character's death in “The Final Problem”. Later, Doyle brings the beloved sleuth back to life in “The Adventure of the Empty House” in a soap opera way that mandates readers suspend disbelief and just roll with it.

In The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Dr. James Mortimer visits Holmes and Watson and asks for their assistance in investigating a bizarre murder. He prefaces the details of the murder with the history of the Baskerville family. The most intriguing part of the lesson is that a Hugo Baskerville kidnapped a local farmer's daughter and then was apparently killed by a demonic hound when he attempted to retrieve the young woman after she escaped.

The central murder mystery concerns Charles Baskerville, who succumbed to death on the moors. Was it cardiac arrest? Frightened to death? The clue may lie in the mysterious hound prints found near Charles' corpse. Could this region truly be haunted by a demonic hound?

This third novel-length Holmes mystery is brimming over with atmosphere. The foggy moors, the black of night, and the pretense that something supernatural has draped itself over the small nestled community is simply riveting. Watson, void of Holmes for three-fourths of the novel, pours though the clues with an emphasis on brother and sister caretakers that have...an unusual relationship. An Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard becomes mixed up with the investigation along with an escaped convict from the local prison. 

While I haven't read many Holmes stories or novels, I can't imagine there is one better than this. The shades of Goth combined with the sensational chemistry between Watson and Holmes (later) is just an unbeatable combination. Whether there is, or will be, supernatural happenings in the series remains to be seen. I'm anxious to read more. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a mandatory read. 

Dragon Heart #01 - Viking Slave

I enjoyed my most recent reading experience of author Griff Hosker, East Indiaman, and wanted to try another of his books. Out of the many series titles, I decided to cool down with a frosty Viking saga. My pick was Viking Slave, the debut novel in the Dragon Heart series. The book was published in 2013 and kicked off the series that would include 22 additional installments. 

Viking Slave begins in 790 AD and introduces a young boy nicknamed Crow. He's shunned by his village and often bullied due to being the only dark-haired kid. He's not a true Saxon like his father. In the opening pages of the first chapter the Vikings (just called men from the north) invade the village and collar men, women, and children onto boats. 

In the Viking village, a leader named Butar takes Crow's wife as his slave woman and agrees to make Crow a slave of his household (slaves are called jarls). Harald renames the boy Gareth and places a responsibility on the young man to care for his elderly father, a once proud warrior named Ragnar. Gareth finds his new home and family a blessing compared to the harsh treatment he received from his former Saxon village. Because of his enthusiasm and work ethic, Butar takes a liking to the kid and quickly begins to think of him as his own son. 

In a traditional coming-of-age tale, Ragnar, now having only one arm, begins teaching Gareth life skills and sword-fighting. Gareth naturally takes to the sword and is able to prove himself at a young age by fighting off a pack of wolves. Eventually, Gareth rises in the ranks to become a viking warrior leading his own band of warriors on slave raids.

Without digging into the weeds of this 200-page book, the overall concept is Gareth proving himself in battle and separating from the original Viking village to carve his own path. His transition from young bullied kid to warrior, leader, husband, and father is such a pleasure to read. There are numerous genre tropes here – the power of the sword, rebellion, usurping leaders, revenge, loss, etc. - but that is really the basis of the historical adventure genre. It is to be expected. How the author navigates within the genre and story is key and I believe Hosker commands that ability and measures up quite nicely.

With my experience of East Indiaman and now Viking Slave, I am a Griff Hosker fan. Whether he proves to be a one-trick pony or is able to move beyond the coming-of-age narrative remains to be seen. But, based on small trial size Hosker can write his ass off and deliver a superb tale that filters out all of the fluff and padding. 200 pages is the perfect size and that is a real surprise considering bulky marketplace parameters on historical fiction. Viking Slave is a high recommendation. Buy a copy HERE.

Deathworld #02 - Deathworld 2 (aka The Ethical Engineer)

In Deathworld, readers were introduced to series star Jason dinAlt, a professional gambler who has psychic powers. By the book's end, Jason is living with his girlfriend on a mining planet called Pyrrus. Deathworld 2 begins on Pyrrus as Jason is watching a vehicle enter the planet's atmosphere and touch down. When he greets the ship he is captured by a crazed man named Mikah. Apparently Jason's casino winnings on the planet Cassylia (taking place in Deathworld) using psychic abilities has made him a wanted fugitive. Mikah's intention was to take Jason to Cassylia so he could pay for his crimes. But, in an attempt to escape, Jason smashes the ship's steering and the craft crashes on a barbarically neanderthal planet. 

Both Mikah and Jason are slaved by a warring clan and are forced to escape. However, their escape leads to another enslavement by a rival clan. Jason then tricks the clan and manages to escape only to be captured again by another rival clan. Do you see where this is going? Jason then manages to escape that clan, bring electricity to a rival clan and send a rescue beacon for a possible rescue. 

There are so many things wrong with Deathworld 2. I contemplate whether Harrison actually wrote this novel as a sequel to Deathworld. Perhaps he wrote the meat and potatoes of this novel and then carefully just changed the main character's name to Jason and added in a page or two at the beginning to bridge the books. This version of Jason doesn't seem to possess any psychic ability, but instead has an abundant knowledge of engineering – something that wasn't elaborated on in the series debut. Jason can create electricity and build spaceships while retooling complex engines and factory machines. If Jason was an engineer of this magnitude then there was really no reason for him to be a professional gambler/criminal in Deathworld. The characterization isn't uniform.  Additionally, Harrison just recycles the basic plot design – capture, trick, escape – repeatedly. There is also an injection of machismo and a philosophical debate on religion and faith. 

As much as I love Harry Harrison's writing style, Deathworld 2 is a real clunker. Skip this book. 

Dead White

The back cover of Alan Ryan's horror novel Dead White contains blurbs from fine authors like Peter Straub, Stephen King, and Whitley Strieber applauding the book. Here's news for you – they never read this book! It's not even remotely plausible that these talented wordsmiths read a single word of this lousy unedited poorly constructed excuse for a horror novel. If they read one chapter of this book they would have unanimously panned it as amateur nonsense. Somehow, Alan Ryan was able to get this novel through Tor's editing department, which clearly had no input as to the novel's structure, basic plot outline, or any pedestrian passerby say in what the cover should be. This book is absolutely horrible and somehow Tor allowed these 356 pages to escape a destiny of pulverized packing materials.

The book (using the term sparingly) is set in a rural upstate New York town called The Kill. Ironically, this is the same town featured in Ryan's first novel, the equally deadpan Hall of Shame-winner cleverly titled The Kill. A blizzard of epic proportions is hitting the town and most of the residents decide to seek shelter in the Centennial Hotel. The Kill haven't had a train in town for decades and the railroad station and tracks are abandoned now. But, a train of carnival clowns has just rolled up to create mayhem for The Kill. 

Anyone with any sense of storytelling talent can easily make this book work. It seems so simple. The town is sheltered in the Centennial Hotel. The carnival clowns show up and hunt the residents in the hotel's hallways and rooms. It would have been a wonderful survival horror novel with a handful of characters fighting the clowns while trapped in a blizzard. Would have. Could have. Should have. But, Alan Ryan doesn't do any of that. No, he completely circumvents this entire plot device to focus on day to day activities of the residents. Each chapter is the time of the day. For example, the chapter is 8:42 A.M. and a character that has no impact on the book's resolution or plot is making coffee and eating breakfast. That's it! Then the next time, a few minutes later, will be another character walking to the mailbox or tying their shoe. Nothing happens in the book until the last couple of pages – as senseless as they are.

I could make a half-hour video on how bad this book really is. I'm close to a comparison with Roadblaster, Swampmaster, or TNT as the epitome of negativity when it comes to vintage paperback fiction. Dead White is darn close to being one of the worst published books ever written. But, I'm propping it a few notches above the above-mentioned titles simply because the book would have worked in the hands of an actual author and an editor that didn't call in sick the week this pile of wood shavings somehow assembled into this disasterpiece of fiction. Alan Ryan – fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on you again. Damnit. Hall of Shame. Absolutely. If you want to purchase this drivel do it HERE so I can at least make a few cents off this hackjob. 

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 113

In this episode, Eric heads out west to examine the career of Bill Gulick, a prolific western writer that contributed to the pulp western, adventure magazine, and paperback original market. In addition, Eric provides an emotional farewell to his friend, the late great Stephen Mertz, looks at the upcoming Hard Case Crime publications, and reviews a brand new crime-noir paperback from Black Gat Books. Stream below or on YouTube HERE. Download HERE.

That Hell-Bound Train

Robert Bloch (1917-1994) authored crime-fiction, horror, and fantasy over a writing career that lasted 60 years. Best known for Psycho, Bloch authored hundreds of short stories. I recently stumbled upon a collection of his work titled The Early Fears. The story I chose to read and review is “That Hell-Bound Train”, originally published in 1958 in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science-Fiction. 

The story's title comes from an old song that Martin, the main character, could remember his drunk father singing after returning home from his job at the railroad. Martin's childhood veered off course when his mother ran away with a traveling salesman and his father died on the rails. Martin hits the road to live life as a drifter, stumbling from town to town for years. But, his only consistent fixture in life was the railroad work – wherever he drifted he always worked the railroad jobs.

One evening a long black train appeared in the night and the Devil, working as The Conductor, welcomes Martin to board the train. It's implied that Martin's life of bad and unwholesome ventures has led to a one-way trip to a hot spot down south. But, Martin, in a last ditch effort to avoid an eternity of fire, asks for one of those special deals with the Devil. At first The Conductor isn't that interested in any more bargains. But, Martin comes up with an intriguing request that Old Scratch hadn't heard before.

Martin asks if he can have a watch that will allow him to stop time. The deal will allow him to stop time once, a timepiece that Martin will only use when he finds a place in his life when he is content and happy. When he finds that place in life, he will stop time and then enjoy happiness forever. The Devil provides him a railroad watch in a silver case and then agrees to get Martin later in life. There's no stopping Hell, just delaying it.

“That Hell-Bound Train” is just terrific and teaches a life lesson that no one will ever be truly satisfied. It's a flaw in the human condition. The need to always seek the next best thing. The notion that the newest and greatest thing can still be found if we don't stay content and keep working, buying, clawing our way to more and infinite more. It's the proverbial “the grass is always greener on the other side” cautionary tale. At 13 pages Bloch accomplishes more than some authors strive for their entire career. This one is a recommended read.

The Island of Doctor Moreau

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) is widely considered the father of science-fiction. He authored over fifty novels, some of which are still being adapted today into mixed media formats. Sci-fi, fantasy, and even horror writers often cite Wells as an influence on their work. His most popular novels include The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), War of the Worlds (1898), and the subject of this review, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896). 

In the novel's beginning, Edward Prendick and two other passengers board a lifeboat as their passenger ship sinks into the southern Pacific Ocean. Eventually Prendick, a dehydrated starving husk, is the only survivor. A ship spots Prendick and rescues him, but in a wild turn of events Prendick is forced from the vessel and placed in a dinghy where he must face the very real possibility that his terrifying ordeal is recycling. Thankfully, a passenger on the ship named Montgomery takes pity on Prendick and allows him a stay on a very strange island. 

Prendick, who possesses a scientific education, learns that this eight-mile island is a type of laboratory owned by Dr. Moreau. Prendick remembers that he had read about Moreau's macabre experiments in vivisection and his subsequent banishment from England. Here on the island Moreau continues his work with the assistance of Montgomery and a surgically altered manservant named M'ling. 

Wells' narrative submerges Prendick into the Hellish world of a mad scientist with delusions of Godhood. Prendick learns that Moreau is surgically combining humans and animals. Disgusted and frightened he escapes Moreau's compound only to discover that the island hosts Moreau's terrifying lab result – beast folk. These beasts include humans merged with bears, dogs, sloths, hyenas, wolves, and ape. These beast folk have a bestial lust for Moreau which plays havoc on Prendick's escape.

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a horror novel like no other. Wells ignites a sense of terror as Prendick slowly pulls the curtains from Moreau's freakish lab and discovers the nightmarish prison that he has now joined. There's panic and then a heightened frenzy as Prendick attempts to disable Moreau and Montgomery while also becoming a new “god” for the Beast Folk. Wells easily transforms the mood from moments of somber solitude into grueling action and gun play. The finale is a type of role reversal that was fitting for the nature of the story. 

In a time when humans are now receiving animal organs to survive (ex. Towana Looney), The Island of Doctor Moreau is a grotesque vision of the future. Wells was ahead of his time in predicting favorable medical revolutions through painful trial and error. Gene edits and lab-created organs were a thing of the future but Wells was mired in the wonder. The author presents some trigger-points on Darwin's evolution, animal cruelty, and mankind's pursuit of an animal-state of freedom and survival – no gods, no masters. 

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a classic for a reason. Get your copy HERE.