This is a Sherlock Holmes meets Indiana Jones meets Christopher Doyle kind of book.
The book creates a fictional account of Sherlock Holmes having travelled to Tibet in the years after The Last Adventure.
In the book, he encounters Moriarty again.
The book is based in India and Tibet and originally came out in 1999.
The author has done a phenomenal job of reproducing the style of company briefs – the style in which this book is written.
What works for the book
Sherlock Holmes fans will find that the style of writing is not too far from the original. It is easy to sense that this is not Arthur Conan Doyle, but the writing does not stray so far as to be distracting or irritating.
If you like history, this book has plenty of historically relevant information sprinkled in as a part of the narrative.
The imagery in the book is so good that by the climax scene, its as if one is reading the screenplay of the book.
What does not work
For one, the book is rather lengthy. It would benefit from a re-release with some editing.
The second thing that does not work for the book is that the narrative is only subtly so, but certainly is, one sided. It forwards an agenda. After reading the book, I read about the author (Jamyang Norbu) and understood why that may be so. The author is an activist for the Tibet state.
Who is it for
It is ideal for people who are so desperate for a new Holmes story that they would like to read anything available on the subject.
Our recommendation is that there are other, better pastiches of Holmes available. They may be a better fit.
Also, people who want to read a mixture of Holmes and the Tibetan conflict will love this book. We think that this is the only story that combines these two factors. The story has been told only from the Tibetan side.