Book Review: To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas

I've been down the better part of four days with the flu, and other than losing about five pounds, there's not much good that came out of the experience.  However, I did get a lot of reading done.  One of the several books I read over the past week was Will Thomas' second Barker/Llewelyn book.  I really enjoyed the first one, and I was hoping the second would be just as good.  I wasn't disappointed. 

For you Freemasons, there was an interesting "initiation" into a brotherhood of Irish loyalists that takes place during the story I think you may find a few parts of familiar. To date, there are five Will Thomas novels in this series, and I'll definitely get around to reading them all.  It's great escapist fiction set in Victorian London.  I'd highly recommend it. 

From the Publisher:

Victorian enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his young assistant Thomas Llewelyn first introduced in Will Thomas's critically acclaimed debut novel Some Danger Involved are back with a new mission in To Kingdom Come . When a bomb destroys the Special Irish Branch of Scotland Yard all fingers point to the increasingly brazen factions of Irish dissidents seeking liberation from English rule. Volunteering their services to the British government Barker and Llewelyn set out to infiltrate a secret cell of the Irish Republican Brotherhood known as the Invisibles. Posing as a reclusive German bomb maker and his anarchist apprentice they are recruited for the group's ultimate plan: to bring London to its knees and end the monarchy forever. Their adventures take them from an abandoned lighthouse on the craggy coast of Wales to the City of Light where Llewelyn goes undercover with Maire O'Casey the alluring sister of an Irish radical. Llewelyn again finds himself put to the test by his enigmatic employer as he is schooled in the deadly science of bomb making. Fraught with explosives secret initiations and vicious stick fights and featuring historical figures such as Charles Parnell and W. B. Yeats To Kingdom Come is a riveting sequel to Some Danger Involved .

TEC

Treat Yourself to a Good Read Over the Holidays

The nice thing about the holidays, is the quiet time, where you can sit down and enjoy a little time alone with a good book, and maybe a nice cup of cocoa in the front of the fireplace (or perhaps more realistically as you read at the kitchen table, sipping a beer as Spongebob Squarepants drones on in the background).  I read a lot more fiction this year than non-fiction--it's usually just the opposite.  In fact the last few years, I've read very little fiction, so I'm a little behind on my favorite authors.  Here's a few titles that stand out in my mind as being particularly good. 

Charles Finch is definitely on my favorites list--terrific author.  I've read two of his novels in the last few months (he has four at this point).  His first novel A Beautiful Blue Death was nearly impossible to put down.  His second book The September Society was a little different, and a bit slower paced, but well crafted.  They're just great reads, especially if you enjoy the era of Sherlock Holmes--the foggy gas-lit streets of London.  Finch weaves great stories.  I hope he continues with these.  Try him out.

You can hardly walk by a book rack without seeing Stieg Larsson's books.  It took me some time to finally get around to reading it.  So often books that receive that much hype are usually disappointing.  I'd have to admit, it took me some time to get into The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I'd nearly put it down before I finally got caught up in it.  It did wind up being a very good book.  It's a little longer than it needs to be, but it's worth the effort.  I haven't read the other two yet, but they're definitely on my future reading list. 

This is one of those cases where they made a pretty crappy movie out of an excellent book.  And if you actually thought that movie was good, then read the book, because it's way better.  Shutter Island is chilling, and impossible to put down from the first few pages.  Some of Lehane's books I like, and some don't do much for me, but this one was outstanding.  I just loved it, but it one of those books that's probably best to read over lunch rather than right before you go to bed.

This is a newer series by Michael Connelly.  I finally got around to it.  It's a great character, and a real departure from Harry Bosch--Mickey Haller is a defense attorney that truly believes in justice.  The Lincoln Lawyer offers up a great plot, interesting characters, and all the twists and turns Michael Connelly is known for.  A very quick read.  You may remember this new character's name if you've read Connelly's Harry Bosch series--they're half-brothers.  Harry and Mickey will eventually get together in a couple books as this series continues.   

And C.S. Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr novels are good too.  I was a little behind in the series, but I've caught up this year.  I'd read the first two when they were originally released.  I would have to say some of the books are better than others, but they are all well done and worth reading.  Like Charles Finch's books, they take place in 19th century London. 

This is the short list.  I actually discovered a lot of new writers this year (at least new to me).  I get stuck in a rut sometimes, but I did a pretty good job of expanding my horizons somewhat.  If you try and like C.S. Harris, and Charles Finch, be sure to check out  Will Thomas.  His books seem destined for Hollywood.  They are fast paced, action adventures.  They are a little less realistic 19th century, and a little more escapist, bordering on the edge of what might be called steam punk fiction.  It's a little bit like James Bond in Victorian England. 

Enjoy your quiet time if you get any this holiday season.

TEC

Famous Freemason: It's Elementary My Dear Watson . . .

I’d have to admit that one of my favorite writers has always been Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—coincidentally, he was also a Freemason, and if he’d been an American, he would have been one of the first Masons I would have profiled in one of my books. I’ve read and re-read the Sherlock Holmes stories since I was a kid. There are four novels and fifty-six short stories. What you may not know, is that if Doyle had been successful at his chosen profession, we probably wouldn’t have one of the most famous detectives of all time—the world’s first pop icon if you will.

Doyle, a Scotsman, studied to be a doctor at the University of Edinburgh, and then set up a small practice. It was hugely unsuccessful, and it gave him a lot of time to think. And he had a lot of time to write. Much like Sherlock Holmes biographer, it seems like Dr. Doyle, like Dr. Watson, was always working with Sherlock Holmes instead of seeing patients.

A lot of what Doyle wrote about fictionally in his stories have become fact today. He wrote about Sherlock Holmes using fingerprints long before that was actually done. Holmes had a remarkable ability to profile people and could tell a lot about them from their clothing and mannerisms, which is done today too. He was a master at trace evidence as well—studying everything from soil types, to various types of tobacco ash.

Writers still write new Sherlock Holmes stories today, but I haven’t found many I like. I don’t know what it is, but they just aren’t quite right. I’ve always felt maybe it’s just best to leave it alone rather than diminish Doyle’s remarkable work. I did stumble across a couple writers recently that write detective fiction in that same tradition, during that same early-Victorian period London that Doyle wrote about. I particularly like Charles Finch. His first book about detective Charles Lenox, A Beautiful Blue Death, was excellent. His knowledge of early-Victorian London is obvious—he captures that period perfectly. I’m working on his second novel now, The September Society, that is set at Oxford University. It’s kept me up late two nights this week.

Then there are Will Thomas’ novels about Cyrus Barker and his apprentice Thomas Llewelyn. Those books are really different from Doyle’s, but they are a blast to read. There are several novels starting with Some Danger Involved. They are action packed, and quickly paced—they are kind of like Sherlock Holmes meets Indiana Jones if you will. I'd be willing to bet it won’t be long before Barker & Llewelyn find their way to the big screen.