The Tangled Skein: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure

Let's face it: this premise (Holmes meets Van Helsing and Dracula) could have gone seriously, seriously awry. And portrayals of Van Helsing and others in recent movies have been nothing short of cringeworthy. Add to that the cottage industry of churning out 'further adventures' of Holmes, most of which, if I may be frank, are either fraught with Mary Sue-isms or hamhanded in execution. I've been disappointed by many of these before, so it was with some hesitation I even persuaded myself to open this short little novel. Davies's story reads very closely, even to the rhythms of the language, to Stoker. Holmes is a disbelieving man of science, confronted with the ultimate superstition--the existence of vampires. Watson is still faithful, still a step or two behind Holmes. And while we do get the usual hallmarks of Holmes, including Watson being completely duped by Holmes's 'brilliant' disguise, and some of that almost impenetrable deduction from physical appearance, they aren't obligatory 'look, here I'm doing a Holmes story', but are actually integrated into the plot. It's got a double plot--Stapleton from the Baskerville case is out for revenge, and that story gets folded into the vampire plot, which keeps things cooking along nicely. Holmes does seem a bit more...ebullient than Doyle wrote him, but Doyle, to my recollection, pitched Holmes off a cliff so he wouldn't have to write about him any more. Davies clearly doesn't have that ambivalence: he loves Holmes and Watson, and loves Stoker as well, and it shows. This is homage in the best sense. My only criticism is that I think Holmes should come to some greated level of acknowledgement, or at least expansion of his ideas of 'science' and the unknown, by his experiences. Then again, Doyle himself didn't do much 'character development' with Holmes, so I can't really hold Davies's feet to the fire on this. The introduction to my copy of _Dracula_ calls the Dracula story that of man's "struggle to recover his deepest sense of himself as male," and most impressively of all, Davies's novel continues that 'struggle.' This is a must-read for Holmes fans and Dracula fans alike. However, keep away from anyone connected with Hollywood or filmmaking. Please!

David Stuart Davies has added another chapter into the growing wealth of the work about Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson. I have been reading the book (not audio book) and have found much to capture my attention, and hold me almost spell bound . The way in which Mr. Davies weaves his plot lines into and out of the Canon stories is most marvellous. Thrilling is the word which comes to my mind to describe how I feel while reading this story; as the words seem to leap from the page. This book adds another diminison to the already complex character which is Sherlock Holmes.

I found this work to be magnificent--- After listening to Sherlock Holmes audio for many years I was enthralled by the magic of this dramatic production... This is not a full cast attempted by one person but a full cast achieved by one person -- To listen is to believe only this... Listen and be carried away by the genius of this narrator..