Following the first book "List of 7", 10 years after his presumed death, a greatly changed Jack Sparks reappears-just in time to save Doyle from assassins during a steamship crossing of the Atlantic. Bound for America on a celebrity author tour, Doyle has accidentally become involved in a terrifying scheme, which centers around the theft of great holy books from all over the world and the birth of an unspeakable menace in the Arizona desert. Several others are drawn to a new city outside Phoenix, where an old enemy awaits: Eileen Temple, Doyle's lover from the first book; as do an embittered Native American woman, a Chinese assassin, and a gentle and inquisitive rabbi. Several historical figures, too, make cameo appearances; a chance meeting with Teddy Roosevelt is pure delight, and a visit with Thomas Edison reveals an important plot point. Holmes devotees will be delighted by the way Frost alludes to familiar tales from the Sherlockian canon, and all readers should appreciate the wry contemporary touches that spice up this classical-style, slam-bang adventure.
Don't miss this book and the "List of 7".
This is the sequel to The List of Seven and takes place ten years later. Doyle is now a world-famous author who is about to embark on a book tour of the US. His fictional Holmes recently went over Reichenbach Falls with Professor Moriarty and the public is not afraid to express their disappointment at the loss of Holmes...
While I found this book to be entertaining, it is not on par with The List of Seven. Jack Sparks is such an interesting character, yet I found him almost completely unlikeable for 95% of this book.
The List of Seven was a very tightly written book with good character development. The Six Messiahs introduces a whole cast of new characters that you know only in the present. You get very little background information on them, they simply appear. And then the book ends and they promptly disappear.
Because of that, I believe that the main thing lacking in this book is an epilogue. The ending is a fast-paced conclusion that builds a lot of momentum. As the final events in the book occur, your momentum carries you straight into the blank last page of the inside cover and it leaves you a little wounded. It was like running full speed and then suddenly hitting a wall.
For me, it's not enough to know simply what happened in the very end. I want to know what happens immediately after that. I have become invested in these characters...it would be nice to hear some little whisper of what happened to them next. Perhaps it is a credit to the author that I want to know so much more about the world he created, but at the same time it feels like he just got too tired to carry on for a few more pages. The book simply ends.
In all, it is still very much worth reading as long as you remind yourself that this book is not The List of Seven and you temper your expectations accordingly. Just like fans of Doyle pestered him about a possible resurrection for Holmes, I have the urge to write Mark Frost and ask him if any more books with these characters are ever going to appear again.
