Crazy good, rollicking good fun! This very creative Sherlock Holmes adventure has a strong Steampunk additive with a dash of Jules Verne and a Batman-like superhero. I know that sounds over-the-top insane, and to be honest it was, and in addition not a lot was plausible. But...It is a super fun read! I liked it! ( )

Characterization of Holmes, Watson and Mycroft was rather wobbly, but it was a fun, fast moving, comicbook-like, steampunk sort of romp. An enjoyable breezy read. ( )

** I am grateful to Nudge for providing me with a free copy in exchange for a review. **

It is 1890, and Dr John Watson is returning from Ramsgate to London Waterloo when a bomb goes off in the station building, causing terrible injuries and loss of life. Yet this is no isolated incident: the Waterloo bomb is already the third in a series of terrorist attacks that has the city in its terrifying grip. Tensions run high, with rioters blaming the Fenians, an Irish revolutionary nationalist organisation. At the same time Holmes sees a connection between the bomb attacks and the mysterious Baron Cauchemar, who has quickly become the scourge of the East End criminals. With the life of Queen Victoria in danger, can Holmes and Watson find the culprit on time before the country descends into anarchy?

This novel is a stand-alone adventure for Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr Watson which cleverly draws on some references in the original series by Arthur Conan Doyle, yet also introduces the reader to some rather unconventional steampunk elements. James Lovegrove manages to capture the tone and style of Watson’s narration perfectly, and the memorable set pieces at the London docks, the London sewers and an abandoned church and the descriptions of a city gripped by fear, as well as of a London divided between the respectable West End and the dangerous, crime-ridden East End, resonate strongly. This is a society which has rather ambivalent feelings towards technology: on the one hand embracing its progress and all the benefits it brings, on the other being afraid and suspicious towards something that is beyond the ordinary citizen’s understanding. Into this setting explodes the figure of the masked vigilante Baron Cauchemar, who seems to appear straight out of a novel by Jules Verne, is seemingly invulnerable and more machine than a mortal human being, and who strikes fear into anyone who has the misfortune to come across him – apart from Sherlock Holmes, that is. And yet while there are plenty of mysteries and intellectual challenges for Sherlock Holmes, along with a real battle of wits against the villain of the piece, I felt that in the showdown he was reduced to a mere side figure, having to rely on his physical strength rather than his singular intellect and reasoning to keep the terrorist at bay. The SF elements in my opinion work up to a point, with the ending I’m afraid to say too over the top for me to be truly credible. In the end I decided that this adventure was a little too unorthodox for me, with the latter part relying too much on fast-paced action than a good old-fashioned intellectual sparring match, which I think Sherlock Holmes is all about. But if you like your pastiches slightly more unconventional, you will find plenty to engage with here. ( )

I’ve been a Sherlockian for a very long time. Of course the canonical works are great, but I also enjoy the wealth of pastiches that are available. Some authors have genuinely refreshing takes on the classic characters and tropes (Nicholas Meyer and Laurie King come to mind) while some fall well short of the mark, often by ether rehashing old ground pointlessly or diverging too far from the canonical stories until Watson and Holmes are almost unrecognizable. Titan Books is publishing (and in some cases, republishing) a line of Holmes novels that include some fantastical elements, this one among them. I wasn’t sure how I’d like James Lovegrove penning a new Sherlock Holmes tale. I have nothing against Lovegrove at all – he’s an accomplished and prolific writer – but I know him as a writer of science fiction. Would he diverge too far from the canon to present an entertaining and recognizable Holmes? The answer is a resounding no: James Lovegroves’ SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES is a very well done and enjoyable read while introducing some delightful SF elements that don’t get in the way of a good story.

The opening premise is a very solid one: London is beset by a series of terrorist bombings that kill dozens of innocents. Watson himself is nearly killed when Waterloo Station is blown up. Holmes believes that his old foe Professor Moriarty may be involved in some way, but there’s clearly a wide-reaching nefarious plot at work that threatens the very foundations of the British Empire (and Queen Victoria herself). Meanwhile, a vigilante calling himself Baron Cauchemar (“Nightmare,” en français), clad in armor and wielding strange weapons, is likewise terrorizing criminals in London’s seedy underworld. Are the bombings and this new crimefighter related? Holmes certainly thinks so. He and Watson are brought in to see what they can do, ultimately running afoul of a truly despicable villain (whose identity I won’t spoil, though you won’t have any trouble figuring it out).

I should note that this is a very cinematic, over-the-top steampunk action thriller, particularly in the finale. Again, I don’t want to spoil key plot points, but while this begins with a more or less standard kind of Holmes mystery, it very quickly becomes a mash-up with some of the wildest imaginings of Jules Verne mixed in liberally. If you’re looking for a staid piece of detective work, you won’t find that here. While I enjoyed all the science fictional elements included, I should reiterate that because they are truly over-the-top they might not suit all readers.

In the second half of the novel some of the diction doesn’t sit quite right with me – at times, Holmes doesn’t really sound like Holmes – but in general, I think that Lovegrove has done an admirable job of capturing the spirit and flavor of Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, at several points Lovegrove goes out of his way to provide nods to several of the iconic characters and offer his take on several of the inconsistencies that readers have identified in the original Holmes canon.

Lovegrove is a darn good writer who demonstrates his skills here. This is a quick read and a fast-paced, engaging story. I heartily recommend THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES to fans of steampunk – you won’t be disappointed – as well as fans of Sherlock Holmes who don’t mind mixing a heavy dose of Vernian steam-powered craziness in with their detective work.

Review copyright © 2014 J. Andrew Byers ( )

Book Review & Giveaway: I’ve long been a fan of classic Sherlock Holmes tales but I’m not always a fan of more modern attempts to capture this iconic figure. I was, therefore, a bit hesitant when the publisher emailed me about Sherlock Holmes – The Stuff of Nightmares by bestselling author James Lovegrove. Still, it sounded like there might be steampunk elements to this novel and that really intrigued me. How fun would it be to combine Sherlock Holmes with steampunk? Luckily, steampunk does not overwhelm what Holmes fans expect to find in such a story. This is a combo sci-fi/Holmsian tale so it isn’t classic Holmes yet, as in all classic Holmes tales, it’s still the little grey cells that matter in the end. Thanks to the publisher’s generosity, one of you will win a copy in our giveaway at http://popcornreads.com/?p=6597. ( )