Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780380720194
ISBN: 0380720191
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: 1994-09-01
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: 2005-04-26
Studio: Avon

Out of the mists of Victoria's England, a Diabolocal Evil Has Emerged with Only One Purpose -- Vengeance

Following a bloody London seance and in the aftermath of a terrifying supernatural contact, a good doctor finds himself the target of a malevolence born of the darkest nightmares. But with stalwart companions by his side -- including an extraordinary intrepid investigator -- he seeks to expose a dastardly band of nefarious criminals and a chilling conspiracy aimed at the heart of England's future . . . and instead unearths a crime far more horrible than murder and experiences an adventure beyond the limits of imagination.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Sorry, folks,
Comment: I can't agree with the majority vote.

Although the final twist is ingenious, the getting there was, for me, unbearably heavy. Oh, to have to wade through the unending inanity-filled chatter of one of the hero's handymen! And the sound of leathery wings! Would you recognise one such if you heard it?

This book qualifies neither as a satire, nor a thriller, nor an accurate depiction of Victorian England (though perhaps it comes closer to that aim, if it is one, than to the other two). The style? Well, I'll grant you maybe there's something positive there.

And, as I said at the beginning, the twist at the end (perhaps guessable? It wasn't for me) almost redeems the book and makes its faults seem retospectively lesser. In fact, if Amazon allowed it, I would have given the novel 2 ½ stars. They would have been three, even four, if the end justified the means of getting there (for literal readers of this review, if any -everybody dislikes a nonideological negative review, did you notice?-, of course I'm joking).

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrific book, a little slow in the middle
Comment: "List of 7" is a terrific book. It's a fun read, and a real page-turner for most of the book. It should be especially interesting for fans of Sherlock Holmes, since it weaves some elements of Arthur Conan Doyle's life and imagined inspirations for his great detective, as well as for Dr. Watson. It also weaves in another real famous writer from the same era, as well as a cameo appearance by Queen Victoria and her grandson.

My only complaint is that the book starts off with a bang, and finishes with a real flourish, but it slowed down dramatically in the middle, and got slightly tedious for a couple of chapters. But it's definitely worth the read, and is one of the best novels I've read in quite some time.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Comment: This is a truly excellent book! I just couldn't put it down and the story just gets better and better.... a must-read!!!!!!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Victoriana at its best
Comment: Mark Frost is best known as the writer on Twin Peaks, and he brings a similarly twisted vision to this wonderful neovel set in a slightly skewed Victorian England.

The protagonist is Arthur Conan Doyle, still a doctor, and with no inkling of his creation of the worlds greatest detective.

That's before he gets involved with a secret service agent with amazing deductive skills, a penchant for morphine, and a twisted, brilliant older brother.

This may sound like a Holmes pastiche, but Frost's imagination takes it way beyond that. We get a flight through the British Museum vaults, chased by the undead. We get a visit to Whitby abbey in the dead of night alongside an Irish writer named Bram Stoker who gets the idea of his life on the trip, and we get a glimpse of what might have happened if Victorian ingenuity had taken a slightly different turn into Zombie armies and vast, impersonal factories.

All that, and more literary references than you can shake a stick at, alongside pathos, friendship, betrayal and loss.

Frost is a fine, intelligent writer, with a unique vision, and this is his best work.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great - Couldn't put it down
Comment: Mark Frost grabs your attention and gives you a thrill ride mixing historical events and figures. Think Sherlock Holmes hopped up on Red Bull meets Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde while riding a roller coaster.

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