Death Cloud: Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew LaneWhy did I read it?
Because Sherlock Holmes is awesome!! Whether its Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Arthur Conan Doyle's classics or Andrew Lane's clever prequels, the character is too awesome to pass up :)
What happened?
Fourteen year old Sherlock wasn't looking for trouble. He wasn't looking to put himself in danger's way. In fact, he was expecting a loathsome summer vacation living with his estranged relatives. But, that wasn't what he found. Near the Holmes Manor, two men die of mysterious symptoms reminiscent of the plague.
Assisted by a local street urchin named Matty, Sherlock begins investigating their strange deaths and realizes that they were not natural demises. But each time he gets closer to finding the truth, a strange man, referred to as the Baron, tries to stop him at any cost.
In order to survive, Sherlock will have to depend on the advice of his older brother, Mycroft, his resourceful American tutor Amyus Crowe, and his growing powers of deduction and logic.
What did I like or not like?
Because it felt like a feasible beginning to the Sherlock Holmes mythos. As Lane mentions in some interviews, Doyle didn't flesh out the childhood of his protagonist, but he did leave some clues. Lane uses these to write a compelling story of a Sherlock Holmes that is still discovering who he is and what he can do.
Apart from the clever and truthful adaptation, the story itself is solid, interesting, well-written, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes, or just a good action-filled mystery.
