Review: Rebel Fire

Rebel Fire (Young Sherlock Holmes, book two)
By Andrew Lane
Published 2012 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Read my review of book one here.

Young Sherlock Holmes knows that his American tutor's past is a mystery to him, but even he is surprised to find Amyus Crowe mixed up in a plot that also involves John Wilkes Booth. Being who he is, Sherlock sets out to find some answers.

I downloaded the audio version of book one on a whim, but I liked it well enough to pick up book two a couple of months later. I switched formats this time, picking up a physical copy of book two instead of listening. I don't think it really impacted how I felt about the book.

So far, I think this series is a great one to recommend to fans of adventure stories. The action is pretty much non-stop once it gets started, as Sherlock seems to find himself in sticky situations quite frequently. As I admitted in my review of the first, my exposure to Sherlock Holmes is extremely limited, so I'm still not sure how the character Lane has developed fits with the character that Holmes created. From what I know of Sherlock, so far his teenaged version doesn't seem quite as peculiar as the grown-up version. He seems to socialize fine with others and doesn't seem to have that savant level of case-solving that likely develops over time. I enjoy Amyus Crowe as a character, as well as his daughter, though Lane has started to develop a bit of a romantic entanglement for Virginia and Sherlock that I'm not sure I believe. I think my favorite character is Matty - he's just fun so far.

I found the plot of this one a bit more intriguing than the first - the idea of a conspiracy that spirited John Wilkes Booth away to save him for another purpose is pretty fascinating. I'm not sure it historically makes a lot of sense, but it's interesting.

I'll be interested to see how this series continues and I'll be recommending it to readers looking for some action and adventure or mystery.