Book "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

About the Book: "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It first appeared in The Strand Magazine in August 1891, with illustrations by Sidney Paget. Conan Doyle ranked "The Red-Headed League" second in his list of his twelve favorite Holmes stories. It is also the second of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in 1892.

About the Author: Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1876 to 1881, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, including a period working in the town of Aston (now a district of Birmingham) and in Sheffield, as well as in Shropshire at Ruyton-XI-Towns. While studying, Doyle began writing short stories. His earliest extant fiction, "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe", was unsuccessfully submitted to Blackwood's Magazine. His first published piece "The Mystery of Sasassa Valley", a story set in South Africa, was printed in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal on 6 September 1879. On 20 September 1879, he published his first non-fiction article, "Gelsemium as a Poison" in the British Medical Journal. In 1882 he joined former classmate George Turnavine Budd as his partner at a medical practice in Plymouth, but their relationship proved difficult, and Doyle soon left to set up an independent practice. Arriving in Portsmouth in June of that year with less than £10 (£900 today) to his name, he set up a medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea. The practice was initially not very successful. While waiting for patients, Doyle again began writing stories and composed his first novels, The Mystery of Cloomber, not published until 1888, and the unfinished Narrative of John Smith, which would go unpublished until 2011. He amassed a portfolio of short stories including "The Captain of the Pole-Star" and "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", both inspired by Doyle's time at sea, the latter of which popularized the mystery of the Mary Celeste and added fictional details such as the perfect condition of the ship (which had actually taken on water by the time it was discovered) and its boats remaining on board (the one boat was in fact missing) that have come to dominate popular accounts of the incident. Doyle struggled to find a publisher for his work. His first significant piece, A Study in Scarlet, was taken by Ward Lock Co. on 20 November 1886, giving Doyle £25 for all rights to the story. The piece appeared later that year in the Beeton's Christmas Annual and received good reviews in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald. The story featured the first appearance of Watson and Sherlock Holmes, partially modeled after his former university teacher Joseph Bell. Doyle wrote to him, "It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes ... Round the center of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man." Robert Louis Stevenson was able, even in faraway Samoa, to recognize the strong similarity between Joseph Bell and Sherlock Holmes: "My compliments on your very ingenious and very interesting adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... Can this be my old friend Joe Bell?" Other authors sometimes suggest additional influences—for instance, the famous Edgar Allan Poe character C. Auguste Dupin. A sequel to A Study in Scarlet was commissioned and The Sign of the Four appeared in Lippincott's Magazine in February 1890, under agreement with the Ward Lock company. Doyle felt grievously exploited by Ward Lock as an author new to the publishing world and he left them. Short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes were published in the Strand Magazine. Doyle first began to write for the 'Strand' from his home at 2 Upper Wimpole Street, now marked by a memorial plaque. In this period, however, Holmes was not his sole subject and in 1893, he collaborated with J.M. Barrie on the libretto of Jane Annie. Doyle was found clutching his chest in the hall of Windlesham Manor, his house in Crowborough, East Sussex, on 7 July 1930. He died of a heart attack at the age of 71. His last words were directed toward his wife: "You are wonderful." At the time of his death, there was some controversy concerning his burial place, as he was avowedly not a Christian, considering himself a Spiritualist. He was first buried on 11 July 1930 in Windlesham rose garden. He was later reinterred together with his wife in Minstead churchyard in the New Forest, Hampshire. Carved wooden tablets to his memory and to the memory of his wife are held privately and are inaccessible to the public. That inscription reads, "Blade straight / Steel true / Arthur Conan Doyle / Born May 22nd 1859 / Passed On 7th July 1930." The epitaph on his gravestone in the churchyard reads, in part: "Steel true/Blade straight/Arthur Conan Doyle/Knight/Patriot, Physician, and man of letters". Undershaw, the home near Hindhead, Haslemere, south of London, that Doyle had built and lived in between October 1897 and September 1907, was a hotel and restaurant from 1924 until 2004. It was then bought by a developer and stood empty while conservationists and Doyle fans fought to preserve it. In 2012 the High Court ruled that the redevelopment permission be quashed because proper procedure had not been followed. A statue honours Doyle at Crowborough Cross in Crowborough, where he lived for 23 years. There is also a statue of Sherlock Holmes in Picardy Place, Edinburgh, close to the house where Doyle was born.

My Review: This is another entertaining short story involving Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson. Wikipedia has a very nice summary on the plot: Jabez Wilson, a London pawnbroker, comes to consult Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. While studying his client, both Holmes and Watson notice his red hair, which has a distinct flame-like hue. Wilson tells them that some weeks before his young assistant, Vincent Spaulding, urged him to respond to a newspaper want-ad offering work to only red-headed male applicants. The next morning, Wilson had waited in a long line of fellow red-headed men, was interviewed and was the only applicant hired, because none of the other applicants qualified; their red hair was either too dark or too bright, and did not match Wilson's unique flame color.

Wilson tells Holmes that his business has been struggling. Since his pawn shop did most of its business in the evenings, he was able to vacate his shop for short periods in the afternoon, receiving £4 a week for several weeks (equal to £370/week today);[1] the work was obviously useless clerical work in a bare office, only performed for nominal compliance with a will, whereupon he was made to copy the Encyclopædia Britannica. Wilson learned much about the subjects starting with the "A" version and looked forward to getting into the "B" section. One morning, a sign on the locked office door inexplicably announced that "THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED."

Wilson went to the landlord, who said that he had never heard of Duncan Ross, the person who managed the league office. The landlord did remember the tenant with scarlet hair and gives him a card which directs Wilson to an artificial knee company. Wilson ends the story with how frustrated he is losing the £4 a week.

Holmes and Watson laugh at Wilson because of the ridiculous situation, but Holmes assures him that by Monday they will solve the case. Wilson leaves after having given the detective a description of Spaulding; Holmes decides to go and see Spaulding, whom Holmes notices has dirty trouser knees. Holmes then taps on the pavement in front of the pawnbroker's shop. With the case solved, he calls Police Inspector Jones and Mr. Merryweather, a director of the bank located next door.

The four hide themselves in the bank vault and confront the thieves when they show up. They are John Clay, who has a long history of criminal activity already, and his helper Archie. Under the alias of Spaulding and Ross, they had contrived the 'Red-Headed League' rigmarole to keep Wilson out of his shop while they dug in the basement, in order to break into the bank vault next door. Although paying Jabez Wilson four pounds a week was expensive, it was a pittance compared to the ill-gotten thousands they were looking to steal from the bank.

Back at Baker Street, Holmes explains to Watson how he solved the case.

I recommend this book to the permanent library of all readers who love a well written mystery story, and in particular a Sherlock Holmes case!

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment.

Book "Gameland - Episode 2 - Failsafe" by Saul W.Tanpepper

About the Book: 6 Hackers, 1 Game... and 10,000 Undead.

Everyone loves Survivalist, a live-action, virtual reality show based on Arc Entertainment's The Game, where cybernetically controlled zombies do battle in a video arcade in the middle of a Long Island wasteland. It's to die for.

If you're rich enough, you can buy your way in. If you're desperate enough, you can volunteer to become one of the Undead Players. Jessie Daniels and her gang of computer hackers plan to break their way in.

Welcome to GAMELAND. Access Restricted.

About the Author: Saul writes in several speculative fiction genres, including horror, cyberpunk, biopunk, and straight science fiction. A former Army medic and trauma specialist, he earned a PhD in molecular biology and genetics; his works are heavily informed by these past experiences.

Saul spent his formative years in a century-old house overlooking the Erie Canal in Upstate New York. He shared an attic room with all manner of creatures, not all, he is convinced, flesh and blood.

After several years spent overseas and working his way to executive positions in biotech, he returned to his true passion of storytelling.

He now writes full time from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. He continues to be haunted by a variety of creatures, including a wife, kids, three dogs, three cats, twenty chickens, a wayward rooster, and one very grumpy possum. They are all flesh and blood.

Except for the possum, which he's sure is the reincarnated spirit of Jack Torrance.

Visit him at tanpepperwrites.com

Subscribe to be notified of new releases and exclusive deals at tinyletter.com/SWTanpepper

My Review: This is a very well written book with a very intense story-line.  It is the sequel of "Deep into the Game", episode one of this series. This is supposed to be the second of an eight series book, so it does not stand by itself as a story. It starts where episode one ended and finishes with a hook to the next episode. The plot is interesting and will keep you reading on the edge of your chair for most of the book. The characters are well developed and the scenario is so richly described that you feel you are inside the story. In episode one we saw a group of game hackers deciding to break into Long Island's Gameland, a place where nobody lives, because of an outbreak that happened twelve years before. All population that survived the outbreak were evacuated. Now the only entities that inhabit that wasteland are the zombies. Their adventure starts with a poorly planed trip idea and tension escalates during preparation for the trip and execution of the trip. They soon figure out that it is easier to enter than to leave the Island... In this sequel, after trying to leave the Island, Jake is trapped and left behind, so Jessie wants to return to rescue him. Kelly anticipates her move and goes alone for the rescue. Then the whole group unite again, trying to bring them home. It fails badly and the whole original group plus a new member (added by accident) are back in the Island and facing some more mysteries. I can barely wait to read the third episode! 

This book was written by Saul W.Tanpepper in May 2012. I recommend this book to the permanent library of all thriller lovers, young adults or not. But be aware that you should read the first episode before reading this one, so you can understand what is going on and the interaction among the characters.

If you read my review, feel free to leave a comment!

Book "A Scandal in Bohemia" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

About the Book: "A Scandal in Bohemia" was the first of Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories to be published in The Strand Magazine and the first Sherlock Holmes story illustrated by Sidney Paget. (Two of the four Sherlock Holmes novels – A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four – preceded the short story cycle). Doyle ranked A Scandal in Bohemia fifth in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories.

It was first published on 25 June 1891 in the issue of the magazine dated July, and was the first of the stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 1892.

About the Author: Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1876 to 1881, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, including a period working in the town of Aston (now a district of Birmingham) and in Sheffield, as well as in Shropshire at Ruyton-XI-Towns. While studying, Doyle began writing short stories. His earliest extant fiction, "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe", was unsuccessfully submitted to Blackwood's Magazine. His first published piece "The Mystery of Sasassa Valley", a story set in South Africa, was printed in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal on 6 September 1879. On 20 September 1879, he published his first non-fiction article, "Gelsemium as a Poison" in the British Medical Journal. In 1882 he joined former classmate George Turnavine Budd as his partner at a medical practice in Plymouth, but their relationship proved difficult, and Doyle soon left to set up an independent practice. Arriving in Portsmouth in June of that year with less than £10 (£900 today) to his name, he set up a medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea. The practice was initially not very successful. While waiting for patients, Doyle again began writing stories and composed his first novels, The Mystery of Cloomber, not published until 1888, and the unfinished Narrative of John Smith, which would go unpublished until 2011. He amassed a portfolio of short stories including "The Captain of the Pole-Star" and "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", both inspired by Doyle's time at sea, the latter of which popularized the mystery of the Mary Celeste and added fictional details such as the perfect condition of the ship (which had actually taken on water by the time it was discovered) and its boats remaining on board (the one boat was in fact missing) that have come to dominate popular accounts of the incident. Doyle struggled to find a publisher for his work. His first significant piece, A Study in Scarlet, was taken by Ward Lock Co. on 20 November 1886, giving Doyle £25 for all rights to the story. The piece appeared later that year in the Beeton's Christmas Annual and received good reviews in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald. The story featured the first appearance of Watson and Sherlock Holmes, partially modeled after his former university teacher Joseph Bell. Doyle wrote to him, "It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes ... Round the center of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man." Robert Louis Stevenson was able, even in faraway Samoa, to recognize the strong similarity between Joseph Bell and Sherlock Holmes: "My compliments on your very ingenious and very interesting adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... Can this be my old friend Joe Bell?" Other authors sometimes suggest additional influences—for instance, the famous Edgar Allan Poe character C. Auguste Dupin. A sequel to A Study in Scarlet was commissioned and The Sign of the Four appeared in Lippincott's Magazine in February 1890, under agreement with the Ward Lock company. Doyle felt grievously exploited by Ward Lock as an author new to the publishing world and he left them. Short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes were published in the Strand Magazine. Doyle first began to write for the 'Strand' from his home at 2 Upper Wimpole Street, now marked by a memorial plaque. In this period, however, Holmes was not his sole subject and in 1893, he collaborated with J.M. Barrie on the libretto of Jane Annie. Doyle was found clutching his chest in the hall of Windlesham Manor, his house in Crowborough, East Sussex, on 7 July 1930. He died of a heart attack at the age of 71. His last words were directed toward his wife: "You are wonderful." At the time of his death, there was some controversy concerning his burial place, as he was avowedly not a Christian, considering himself a Spiritualist. He was first buried on 11 July 1930 in Windlesham rose garden. He was later reinterred together with his wife in Minstead churchyard in the New Forest, Hampshire. Carved wooden tablets to his memory and to the memory of his wife are held privately and are inaccessible to the public. That inscription reads, "Blade straight / Steel true / Arthur Conan Doyle / Born May 22nd 1859 / Passed On 7th July 1930." The epitaph on his gravestone in the churchyard reads, in part: "Steel true/Blade straight/Arthur Conan Doyle/Knight/Patriot, Physician, and man of letters". Undershaw, the home near Hindhead, Haslemere, south of London, that Doyle had built and lived in between October 1897 and September 1907, was a hotel and restaurant from 1924 until 2004. It was then bought by a developer and stood empty while conservationists and Doyle fans fought to preserve it. In 2012 the High Court ruled that the redevelopment permission be quashed because proper procedure had not been followed. A statue honours Doyle at Crowborough Cross in Crowborough, where he lived for 23 years. There is also a statue of Sherlock Holmes in Picardy Place, Edinburgh, close to the house where Doyle was born.

My Review: If you enjoy mystery stories and Sherlock Holmes in particular, you will love this short story. The plot is quite interesting: While the currently married Dr. Watson is paying Holmes a visit, a visitor arrives, introducing himself as Count Von Kramm, an agent for a wealthy client. However, Holmes quickly deduces that he is in fact Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein and the hereditary King of Bohemia. Realizing Holmes has seen through his guise, the King admits this and tears off his mask.

It transpires that the King is to become engaged to Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meiningen, a young Scandinavian princess. However, five years previous to the events of the story he had a liaison with an American opera singer, Irene Adler, while she was serving a term as prima donna of the Imperial Opera of Warsaw, who has since then retired to London. Fearful that should the strictly principled family of his fiancée learn of this impropriety, the marriage would be called off, he had sought to regain letters and a photograph of Adler and himself together, which he had sent to her during their relationship as a token. The King's agents have tried to recover the photograph through sometimes forceful means, burglary, stealing her luggage, and waylaying her. An offer to pay for the photograph and letters was also refused. With Adler threatening to send them to his future in-laws, which Von Ormstein presumes is to prevent him marrying any other woman, he makes the incognito visit to Holmes to request his help in locating and obtaining the photograph.

The photograph is described to Holmes as a cabinet (5½ by 4 inches) and therefore too bulky for a lady to carry upon her person. The King gives Holmes £1,000 (£94,300 today[1]) to cover any expenses, while saying that he "would give one of [his] provinces" to have the photograph back. Holmes asks Dr. Watson to join him at 221B Baker Street at 3 o'clock the following afternoon.

The next morning, Holmes goes out to Adler's house, disguised as a drunken out-of-work groom. He discovers from the local stable workers that Adler has a gentleman friend, the lawyer Godfrey Norton of the Inner Temple, who calls at least once a day. On this particular day, Norton comes to visit Adler, and soon afterwards, takes a cab to the Church of St. Monica in Edgware Road. Minutes later, the lady herself gets in her landau, bound for the same place. Holmes follows in a cab and, upon arriving, finds himself dragged into the church to be a witness to Norton and Adler's wedding. Curiously, they go their separate ways after the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Watson has been waiting for Sherlock to arrive, and when Sherlock Holmes finally arrives, he starts laughing. Watson is confused and asks what is so funny, Sherlock then recounts his tale and comments he thought the situation and position he was in at the wedding was amusing. He also asks whether or not Watson is willing to participate in a scheme to figure out where the picture is hidden in Adler's house. Watson agrees, and Holmes changes into another disguise as a clergyman. The duo depart Baker Street for Adler's house.

When Holmes and Watson arrive, a group of jobless men meander throughout the street. When Adler's coach pulls up, Holmes enacts his plan. A fight breaks out between the men on the street over who gets to help Adler. Holmes rushes into the fight to protect Adler, and is seemingly struck and injured. Adler takes him into her sitting room, where Holmes motions for her to have the window opened. As Holmes lifts his hand, Watson recognizes a pre-arranged signal and tosses in a plumber's smoke rocket. While smoke billows out of the building, Watson shouts "FIRE!" and the cry is echoed up and down the street.

Holmes slips out of Adler's house and tells Watson what he saw. As Holmes expected, Adler rushed to get her most precious possession at the cry of "fire"—the photograph of herself and the King. Holmes was able to see that the picture was kept in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the right bell pull. He was unable to steal it at that moment, however, because the coachman was watching him. He explains all this to Watson before being bid good-night by a familiar-sounding youth, who promptly manages to get lost in the crowd.

The following morning, Holmes explains his findings to the King. When Holmes, Watson, and the King arrive at Adler's house, her elderly maidservant informs them that she has hastily departed for the Charing Cross railway station. Holmes quickly goes to the photograph's hiding spot, finding a photo of Irene Adler in an evening dress and a letter dated midnight and addressed to him. In the letter, Adler tells Holmes that he did very well in finding the photograph and fooling her with his disguises. She also reveals that she posed as the youth who bid Holmes good-night. Adler and Norton have fled England, but Adler has promised she keeps the photograph only as protection and not to use it against the King.

The King gushes over how amazing Adler is, saying "Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity she was not on my level?" Holmes replies scathingly that Miss Adler is indeed on a much different level from the King (by which he means higher — an implication lost on the King). When he asks Holmes how he wants to be paid, Holmes asks for the photograph of Adler. Holmes keeps it as a souvenir of the cleverness of Irene Adler, and how he was beaten by a woman's wit.

I highly recommend this book to the permanent library of all mystery book lovers. You will not regret reading it!

Book "Hook - Why Websites Fail to Make Money" by Andrew McDermott and Rachel McDermott

About the Book: Most websites will struggle (and fail) to make money.

Your website is a digital lighthouse for your business. It's meant to attract and guide customers to you. Naturally, it impacts the success of your marketing efforts and dictates whether people will actually buy from you.

The problem? Most websites are getting it wrong.

It's not your fault. But the fact remains, most of us have been lied to. We were trained to give customers the direct opposite of what they need.

In Hook Why Websites fail to make money, you'll learn:

• Why customers don't seem to care about your solution to their problems
• Why they always seem to resist - even when they need your help
• How to fascinate and attract the type of customers you want
• The inevitable part of selling that gets worse when you avoid it
• Why it's a struggle to "seal the deal" and close the sale
• Presentation conflicts that prevent customers from buying
• How to move customers through the buying process naturally, without coercion or manipulation.

Hook shares answers to these problems in two parts, Story and Method. Each part offers different, yet complimentary lessons on why websites fail, how customers buy and ultimately, how to change things for the better.

About the Authors: Andrew McDermott is the co-founder and Marketing Director at WiseToWeb. He has extensive experience building brands, developing strategy and attracting customers. He's worked closely with CEOs, executives and startups as well as mom and pop organizations. He believes what you say is important, but how you say it - that's what sticks.

Rachel McDermott is the Managing Director at WiseToWeb, a development and marketing company located in Milwaukee Wisconsin. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She believes every interaction that takes place between people depends on the ability to communicate effectively.
Most businesses communicate accidentally. The message they send isn't always the one customers hear. She shows businesses how to communicate so customers will listen.

My Review: This is a very interesting reading for those who do not have a background in marketing and want to know why they are not hooking new customer for their business, being the business in the Internet or not. I believe that the high level concepts discussed in this book are general and apply to any circumstances.

All the discussions here are wrapped around a nice story, to make it more readable, but the importance of what is said here cannot be underestimated. The authors talk about target audience, triggers, problems, solutions, objections, testimonials, risk reversals, uniqueness of the business and presentation, all topics divided into chapters very well organized. This is a very useful book if you really want to improve your knowledge and want to apply it into your business in the hope of improving your results.

I bought this book from amazon.com in its electronic format.

If you read this review, fell free to leave a comment!

Book "The Valley of Fear" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

About the Book: Only Holmes and Watson can get to the bottom of this baffling murder mystery. John Douglas is found in his study, blasted faceless by a sawed-off shotgun. There is no obvious motive or suspect. Douglas and his wife, Ivy, a rich and locally popular couple, have lived for years in the ancient, moated Birlstone Manor House. Despite Douglas' nightly ritual of raising the drawbridge, the perpetrator had somehow concealed himself, shot Douglas, and made a clean getaway.

Does the mystery have something to do with the "interesting" relationship between Cecil Baker, Douglas' only friend from his obscure past, and the surprisingly merry widow? There are plenty of clues, including a brand mark on the deceased's arm and the fact that his wedding ring is missing, but not the ring that he always wore above it.

About the Author: Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1876 to 1881, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, including a period working in the town of Aston (now a district of Birmingham) and in Sheffield, as well as in Shropshire at Ruyton-XI-Towns. While studying, Doyle began writing short stories. His earliest extant fiction, "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe", was unsuccessfully submitted to Blackwood's Magazine. His first published piece "The Mystery of Sasassa Valley", a story set in South Africa, was printed in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal on 6 September 1879. On 20 September 1879, he published his first non-fiction article, "Gelsemium as a Poison" in the British Medical Journal. In 1882 he joined former classmate George Turnavine Budd as his partner at a medical practice in Plymouth, but their relationship proved difficult, and Doyle soon left to set up an independent practice. Arriving in Portsmouth in June of that year with less than £10 (£900 today) to his name, he set up a medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea. The practice was initially not very successful. While waiting for patients, Doyle again began writing stories and composed his first novels, The Mystery of Cloomber, not published until 1888, and the unfinished Narrative of John Smith, which would go unpublished until 2011. He amassed a portfolio of short stories including "The Captain of the Pole-Star" and "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", both inspired by Doyle's time at sea, the latter of which popularized the mystery of the Mary Celeste and added fictional details such as the perfect condition of the ship (which had actually taken on water by the time it was discovered) and its boats remaining on board (the one boat was in fact missing) that have come to dominate popular accounts of the incident. Doyle struggled to find a publisher for his work. His first significant piece, A Study in Scarlet, was taken by Ward Lock Co. on 20 November 1886, giving Doyle £25 for all rights to the story. The piece appeared later that year in the Beeton's Christmas Annual and received good reviews in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald. The story featured the first appearance of Watson and Sherlock Holmes, partially modeled after his former university teacher Joseph Bell. Doyle wrote to him, "It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes ... Round the center of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man." Robert Louis Stevenson was able, even in faraway Samoa, to recognize the strong similarity between Joseph Bell and Sherlock Holmes: "My compliments on your very ingenious and very interesting adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... Can this be my old friend Joe Bell?" Other authors sometimes suggest additional influences—for instance, the famous Edgar Allan Poe character C. Auguste Dupin. A sequel to A Study in Scarlet was commissioned and The Sign of the Four appeared in Lippincott's Magazine in February 1890, under agreement with the Ward Lock company. Doyle felt grievously exploited by Ward Lock as an author new to the publishing world and he left them. Short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes were published in the Strand Magazine. Doyle first began to write for the 'Strand' from his home at 2 Upper Wimpole Street, now marked by a memorial plaque. In this period, however, Holmes was not his sole subject and in 1893, he collaborated with J.M. Barrie on the libretto of Jane Annie. Doyle was found clutching his chest in the hall of Windlesham Manor, his house in Crowborough, East Sussex, on 7 July 1930. He died of a heart attack at the age of 71. His last words were directed toward his wife: "You are wonderful." At the time of his death, there was some controversy concerning his burial place, as he was avowedly not a Christian, considering himself a Spiritualist. He was first buried on 11 July 1930 in Windlesham rose garden. He was later reinterred together with his wife in Minstead churchyard in the New Forest, Hampshire. Carved wooden tablets to his memory and to the memory of his wife are held privately and are inaccessible to the public. That inscription reads, "Blade straight / Steel true / Arthur Conan Doyle / Born May 22nd 1859 / Passed On 7th July 1930." The epitaph on his gravestone in the churchyard reads, in part: "Steel true/Blade straight/Arthur Conan Doyle/Knight/Patriot, Physician, and man of letters". Undershaw, the home near Hindhead, Haslemere, south of London, that Doyle had built and lived in between October 1897 and September 1907, was a hotel and restaurant from 1924 until 2004. It was then bought by a developer and stood empty while conservationists and Doyle fans fought to preserve it. In 2012 the High Court ruled that the redevelopment permission be quashed because proper procedure had not been followed. A statue honours Doyle at Crowborough Cross in Crowborough, where he lived for 23 years. There is also a statue of Sherlock Holmes in Picardy Place, Edinburgh, close to the house where Doyle was born.

My Review: This is another classic from the author, describing a mystery story happening in two stages, but both stories intertwining at the end with all explanations provided. Our detective Sherlock Homes and his friend Dr. Watson are presented with a very challenging encrypted note and after reasoning about the meaning of the note they are visited by a Scotland Yard detective seeking for their help in a murder that just happened in the country, at Birlstone Manor House.  And the murder is related to the note they just deciphered! Things get even more interesting when they arrive at the place and talk to the wife of the murdered and his best friend. The wife seems not to be grieving that much for her husband and the friend looks even happy when talking to the wife... But then, another love story is presented, with its origin on the wild America and the connection between the two stories is soon to be unveiled. Superb narrative and a great mystery story, with a interesting end. I am sure it will delight all the readers that appreciate a very well written tale and want to spend some hours entertained with good reading.

I bought the electronic version of this book from amazon.com, and it took me around seven hours to read the whole book.

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment!

Book "Way Out" by Arthur Thomas Morton

About the Book: You’re homeless, living on the street, fighting to keep body and soul intact. Not so long ago, you were successful, competent, and liked, and your future was assured.

But the unimaginable happens.

Aliens begin watching you through their super-evolved technology. No one is aware of them except you. Then they begin speaking to you.

After that, things get crazy.

Approximately one in a hundred people suffer from schizophrenia, a disorder characterized by delusions and/or hallucinations. For Eugene Uttley, the delusions are profound and kaleidoscopic, involving spirits and extraterrestrials, celebrities and spies. In his extended period of psychosis, Eugene also hears voices nearly constantly, and believes himself to be in telepathic communication with the objects of his delusions.

Albert Morton examines Eugene's life and illness in great detail, bringing us fully into Eugene's world, revealing the fascinating workings of the schizophrenic mind. Joining Eugene on a mad journey spanning decades and continents, the author captures the essence of the illness and the bizarre, desperate behavior it can cause. From a good job and comfortable lifestyle, Eugene is reduced to raving in the streets. Struggling for survival in Asia, on the road in America, and even in jail, Eugene weathers a turbulent storm of thoughts from which he can find no shelter. Morton painstakingly tracks his progress in this raw and gripping chronicle, which includes unflinching accounts of drug abuse, homelessness, and despair, as well as true friendship, love, and hope.

My Review: This is a very well written book where the author tells the story of Eugene, a well educated person who teaches at a college and start dealing with schizophrenia. Initially he does not think that there is anything wrong with him and does not look for professional help. But as time goes by, after suffering a lot and seen his life almost go to the drain, he notices that something is not correct. The book describes in a very realistic way all his struggles with relationships and the ways he tries to deal with the fact that he is hearing voices and having hallucinations. The thought of extraterrestrials trying to contact him and spirits, celebrities, spies and telepathic contacts, all contributes to the plot. In his journey through schizophrenia he finds friends, love, and people who really care about him. He goes from America to Asia and back, always using his credit cards to the limit. In this realistic description of an schizophrenic mind, we learn how a person can suffer and go from success to losing everything, without realizing what is affecting his/her mind in time to search for a professional help. I recommend this book to all readers that enjoy a well written book and want to improve their knowledge in this journey through an ill mind.

I received this book from the author for reviewing and I was not requested to write a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own.

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment!

Book "I'm not Talking About You, of Course..." by Barbara Venkataraman

About the Book: Winner of the "Indie Book of the Day" award for June 7, 2014.

At 7,600 words, this work is a collection of humorous insights into important topics ranging from annoying pet people (“I’m Not Talking About You, Of Course”), to analyzing your inner child (“Irrational Fears”), to living like the Amish in the aftermath of a hurricane (“A Jolt of Electricity”). Other essays examine just how much damage can be caused by a sneeze (“It All Started with a Loud Sneeze”), why it is so complicated to buy a tube of toothpaste (“Ask Me No Questions”), how not to prepare dinner ("Martha, I Let You Down"), making new friends ("Friends in Low Places"), how a parent’s obsessive hobbies can become an inescapable vortex (“Crazy Hobbies”), and why spending the night in a sleep clinic is like being abducted by probing aliens (“Nightmare at the Sleep Clinic”). If you don’t see yourself in each of these entertaining essays, then I’m not talking about you, of course.

About the Author: Barbara Venkataraman is an attorney and mediator specializing in family law and debt collection.

She is the author of "The Fight for Magicallus," a children's fantasy; a humorous short story entitled, "If You'd Just Listened to Me in the First Place"; and two books of humorous essays: "I'm Not Talking about You, Of Course" and "A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities," which are part of the "Quirky Essays for Quirky People" series. Both books of humorous essays won the prestigious "Indie Book of the Day" award.

Her latest works are "Death by Didgeridoo," first in the Jamie Quinn series, "The Case of the Killer Divorce," the second Jamie Quinn mystery, and, just out, "Peril in the Park," the latest in the popular Jamie Quinn series. Coming soon, "Engaged in Danger"--the next Jamie Quinn mystery!

My Review: This author is a natural story teller. Her style is so soft that makes reading a pleasure, very light experience, that will really bright your day. This collection of small chronicles or essays is a description of everyday's life situation like crossing paths with pet people and how annoying they can be, living without electricity, collecting everything that is in front of you etc...,  and you will be able to identify yourself with most of them. A Jolt of Electricity and Crazy Hobbies are my favorites!

I recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader who loves a good laugh and enjoys a very well written collection of short stories.

I received this book from the author and I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own.

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment!

Book "The Metal Black" by Gary Ballard

About the Book: When forensic psychologist Dr. Jack Carter returned to consciousness, he and his wife, Sarah, had been missing for over a year. With no memory of their last days together, Jack became the prime suspect in her disappearance. Vowing to search for her to the ends of the earth, he is drawn to the site of a gruesome double murder in small-town Mississippi. Two normal teenage boys with no history of violence slaughtered two girls named Sarah in an occult ritual and their jailhouse confession idolizes the lyrics of a song by doom metal band The Metal Black. Blaming the teen’s violence on the song’s macabre lyrics, their grieving mother brings a lawsuit against the band. Brought on to the case as an impartial psychological consultant, Jack finds eerie similarities between the song’s descriptions of the violent death of a woman named Sarah, his wife’s disappearance and the teen murders. When Jack meets the songwriter, he discovers a mystery beneath the sleepy town that causes him to question his own fragile sanity.

About the Author: At the age of eleven, Mr. Ballard began creating his own fictional worlds and inhabiting those worlds with eccentric characters. As an artist, graphic designer, musician and author, he has spent decades enumerating a unique evolving vision of an absurd universe. His first four novels comprise a cyberpunk series called The Bridge Chronicles starring the amoral fixer of future Los Angeles, Artemis Bridge. The Bridge Chronicles in turn is one slice of cohesive universe that began as a pen-and-paper roleplaying game. Gary has recently begun a new series of novellas based on the Cthulhu Mythos made famous by H.P. Lovecraft called The Stepping Stone Cycle.

My Review: This is the second episode of the Stepping Stone Series. In the first episode we learnt that Dr. Jack Carter was in catatonic state for over a year when he recovers conscience just to find out that he is the primary suspect in his wife disappearance. As there is no body he is not charged with the murder, so he resume his work as a forensic psychologist and continues investigating the disappearance of his wife. A double murder in a small town in Mississippi brings him into contact with a young rock music writer from a band named Metal Black. His lyrics are very dark an in one lyric he describes the death of a woman named Sarah (Jack's wife name). Two young boy's were charged with the murder of two girls named Sarah and their mother sues the band blaming that their lyrics influenced the boys to commit the crimes. When Jack starts to investigate the case, he came across some quite strange situation that changes his view on the power of the stepping stones.
This is a very interesting sequence to the original story, very well written and entertaining, that will keep the reader hooked until the turn of the last page. I still want to read more episodes from this series.
I recommend this book to any reader who loves mystery books. You will not be disappointed.

I received a copy from the author for reviewing and I was not requested to write a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own.

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment! 

Book "Death by Didgeridoo" by Barbara Venkataraman

About the Book: Reluctant lawyer, Jamie Quinn, still reeling from the death of her mother, is pulled into a game of deception, jealousy, and vengeance when her cousin, Adam, is wrongfully accused of murder. It's up to Jamie to find the real murderer before it's too late. It doesn't help that the victim is a former rock star with more enemies than friends, or that Adam confessed to a murder he didn't commit.

About the Author: Barbara Venkataraman is an attorney and mediator specializing in family law and debt collection.

She is the author of "The Fight for Magicallus," a children's fantasy; a humorous short story entitled, "If You'd Just Listened to Me in the First Place"; and two books of humorous essays: "I'm Not Talking about You, Of Course" and "A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities," which are part of the "Quirky Essays for Quirky People" series. Both books of humorous essays won the prestigious "Indie Book of the Day" award.

Her latest works are "Death by Didgeridoo," first in the Jamie Quinn series, "The Case of the Killer Divorce," the second Jamie Quinn mystery, and, just out, "Peril in the Park," the latest in the popular Jamie Quinn series. Coming soon, "Engaged in Danger"--the next Jamie Quinn mystery!

My Review: This book has all the ingredients a good mystery book needs to have to succeed. A murder was committed, an innocent is accused of the murder, the plot can have many different ways out and it is not evident for the reader what might have happened until everything is explained at the end. 

The task at hand is for a young lawyer named Jamie Quinn to figure out what happened to the victim, a former rock star named Spike that has plenty of enemies. The accused of the murder is her cousin Adam, whom she knows is incapable of hurting anybody. The only problem is that Adam confessed that he committed the crime. Aunt Peg is the sister of her late mother and ask her to represent Adam. Jamie works with family law and she needs to use the help of her best friend Grace (that works with criminal law) in order to represent her cousin, which by the way has a kind of autism. And another help comes from Duke, a character she helped getting divorced. She hires him as a private investigator. The author makes those characters come to live and you laugh out loud on the dialog between Jamie and Duke.

Very entertaining reading, it took me around four hours to read the whole book. I can barely wait to put my hands in the next Jamie Quinn's episode!

I received this book from the author for reviewing and I was not requested to write a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own.

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment! 

Book "Siege of Providence by Michael Kaiser

About the Book: A deep darkness has covered the world, causing humans and vampires alike to quake in their uneasy sleep. Monsters odd, bizarre, and gruesome stalk the countryside. Out of desperation, the vampires decide to rally to save the world, a rare gesture on their part, but needed because as humans perished, so too would vampires from lack of nourishment.

A vampire army under the leadership of the great Krossos is raised to lay siege to Providence, a massive fortress with walls towering into the clouds and the stronghold of the horrible Nine-Faced God, who torments the world with his demonic creations. After months of bloodied passage through deserts and inhospitable landscape, Krossos’ army arrive battered. After the loss of their second in command, Mazahem, Krossos’ biggest battle will be in keeping the troops together. If Krossos rallies the troops at the final battle, it will take more than brute vampire force to save the world.

About the Author: Mike. There are four words to describe him. Irresistibly charming, handsome, witty and above all else, modest. He believes in three things. To live life as he encounters it, to take advantage of opportunities as he sees it, and to always give more than he takes. Growing up in Washington state he has lived an adventurous life and considers himself a jack of all trades, starting his working career in fast food, rising through the ranks and becoming a manager for various companies, to working on a tugboat through and all around Alaska as a deckhand and cook, to working as a technician in telecommunications and home alarm security systems. At the age of 31, Mike was inspired and became very passionate and obtained a deep appreciation and respect for the art of entertainment in today’s society and how it comes to be. He started ‘Mikes Stories & Scripts’ to share with everybody the creative process that goes into entertainment, from the written story to the storyboard to the full fledged movie (with a lot of steps in between). His current goal is to motivate and inspire artists from all over the world and to help take and give a part in the creative efforts with the help of his staff and wonderful project coordinators, and to bring some amazing collaborations to peoples attentions.

My Review: This is a very well written story. The main character that acts as narrator is a vampire, general of an army of vampires, named Krossos, that has the task of saving the world. But his main interest is preserving humankind to nourish the vampires. In order to do that he needs to destroy the so called Nine-Faced god, that torments humans with his creatures. The description of the battles is superb and the environment is richly described. There are not that many characters on the story and the whole action is narrated by Krossos himself. The story is short and potentially might be continued in future episodes, but we have to wait to see which are the author's intention.
I recommend this book to any reader who loves a quick and smooth reading, that will keep him/her entertained for some hours.
I received this book from the author for reviewing and I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own.

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment.