[(The Angel of Darkness)] [By (author) Caleb Carr] published on (August

This author's career is a puzzle worthy of sherlock holmes. From the alienist all the way down to here... I must admit I think something is wrong. This little novel has good things, and is worth reading for the atmosphere and the way Carr plays around a victorian styling, but I still wonder why can't Mr.Carr bring us back to the good days when he was writing the alienist and single-handedly reviving the genre? I believe it is in him. Maybe it was hollywood, or some other thing that pulled him from the hinges, but I hope he gets back to being caleb carr once again.

I am an enormous fan of all things Sherlock Holmes, so I had high hopes for this story. Unfortunately, so much time was taken "fixin' to start to begin" as my Texan brothers say, that my mind went numb, and as I fell into a coma my head hit the stop button on my iPod, thus stopping this incessant drivel, waking me from oblivion. 'nuf said...

A fair story, but the author seemed too preoccupied with semantics rather than actual plot; in other words, too wordy and unfocused sentence structure that overshadowed the actual moments of action. Doyle could have made this a short story.

Is this the same man that wrote The Alienist, Killing time, etc? Unbelievable! What a waste of time and paper. This book is not a pastiche, it is a disgrace. Tedious, boring, infantile, with absolutely nothing in common with the image of Sherlock Holmes and/or Dr. Watson. What a pity Mr. Carr decided to turn away from the stories he writes so wonderfully. He should be ashamed of this .... thing out of his pen. In Spanish, we have a saying: Shoemaker, to your shoes. Enough said.

I love Caleb Carr's books. I am reasonably attracted to Sherlock Holmes. Why do I find this book plodding, top heavy and a general all around snooze? Carr got the flavor right; the language and tone are impeccable. But he seems to have spent all his energy developing his dialogue facsimile and forgotten that detective stories were supposed to be exciting (sometimes even Conan Doyle's). On the merits alone of creating such an able carbon copy I give Carr points, but this book is almost unreadable for any other reason.

Okay, so this isn't the greatest Holmes pastiche currently floating around, check Cullin, King, Chabon, but it isn't so bad either. Those who seem to hate this book are just being prickly because of their love for Carr's previous novels, and those who are over-rating it are being knee-jerk because they have issues with the "revisionist" take on Sherlock from the other two C authors: better not confuse the personal agenda of these readers with the reality of these great-to-okay books. "The Italian Secretary" doesn't claim to offer anything more than a further Sherlock Holmes adventure, and that it does. So not great, but not bad either. And if you can set your own personal issues aside, it's rather enjoyable if not all that puzzling.

Carr knows victorian mysteries. Now he tackles the most famous victorian mysteries of all...Sherlock Holmes. Imaginative plot written in Doyle's style, Carr evokes the feel of a true Holmes mystery. The addition of Holmes' brother is uncharacteristic of Holmes mysteries, but does move the plot along. A good read. Carr fans shouldn't miss this one.

Something of a disappointment, but readable. The writing is polished enough, mostly -- MOSTLY -- with the exception of numerous instances of weak sentences such as the oft-repeated "I pulled the gun from my pocket quickly," which rings as very amateurish to me. How about "I jerked the gun from my pocket" or "I whipped out my gun," or have Holmes say something afterwards like "I perceive you have ripped the seam of your pocket - at least you pull out your Webley like you mean to use it." However, the author fails at pacing and relevance and, in some, instances, at characterization. Also, he is a military history nerd and as such he invests the ending with such a totally absurd foray into historical military weapons that he completely ruins it. The premise is so ridiculous that I can't believe the author could have failed to see it. In a town with a significant presence of soldiers, and heightened security for the queen's summer palace, a criminal manages to get a necessarily large team of men and perhaps draft horses to haul a giant trebuchet (siege catapult) up to within range of the palace and start hurling flaming human bodies (whose they were is never even mentioned) at the walls!!! Derrrr . . . AS IF. Then the ghost makes a sudden, never-explained but apparently corporeal appearance and then this thread is pretty much dropped. Well, was it a ghost or an impersonator? You get no idea as to whether the author even had a clue about what he intended it to be. Also, it's pretty clear that Mr. Carr actually went to this castle on a holiday-tour, as he is very annoyingly insistent on proving how well he understood the physical layout and floor-plan and history of the place, somewhat to the detriment of the story-telling. Also, the characterization of Mycroft is noticeably skewed, as is the dynamic between him and Holmes, and the train ride section at the beginning is ENDLESS and quite boring. Otherwise, it is an acceptable S. H. pastiche, but not at all highly recommended.

And I enjoyed Mr. Carr's 'The Alienist' & 'Angel of Darkness'. My joy at being presented with a new Carr offering, one featuring Sherlock Holmes no less, was mitigated by his over the top attempt at what I call "The Victorian Style" of writing. Dickens & Conan Doyle did it so well....Mr. Carr does not. I gave up on the story about a third of the way in. If you've never read Caleb Carr before then skip this book and pick up 'The Alienist'. You'll be glad you did.

Caleb Carr writes a believable story of Holmes in Scotland saving the queen--or at least people who work for the queen. Excellent story with several side plots to keep you guessing. A ghost story is at the center of the suspense and profit-making runs the whole show.