In 1893 a chance meeting with Sherlock Holmes for London based American author Henry James will turn his depressed life upside down and will never be the same. When paths cross, James finds himself the center piece of a complicated murder crime. Now he must assist the famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes on the greatest mystery of his rich, historical career. Mr. Holmes has discovered he is not a real person, but a literary character, an inked fictional creation. The reader is faced with the bewilderment of not knowing if the person standing before them is a true being residing at 221 B Baker Street or an escaped patient from a secured madhouse. His identity and true existence hangs in the balance as the suspenseful perplexity unfolds.
The Fifth Heart duplicates another home run for this talented author. His genius of clashing fiction with history once again comes to life in this most recent effort. As the reader follows Henry James and Sherlock Holmes through every adventure and calamity, clever motivations by not only secondary characters but by Holmes himself become center stage. In a genius move by creator Simmons, the reader moves from the eyes of Henry James to the eyes of Sherlock Holmes. The result determines the runaway speed in which the story takes, as if this ride of Dan's conception has no brakes.
American writer Dan Simmons is best known for his Hugo Award winning Science Fiction series "The Hyperion Cantos." His talent not only shines within the pages of The Fifth Heart, but is present among Historical Fiction reads like The Terror and Drood, a disturbing novel based on the last years of Charles Dickens life. Simmons has become a top five author of mine. If given the chance, the same will happen for you.
In the tradition of "Drood" comes a historical mystery in which Sherlock Holmes and Henry James team up to solve a literary puzzle.
In 1893, Sherlock Holmes and Henry James come to America together to solve the mystery of the 1885 death of Clover Adams, wife of the esteemed historian Henry Adams and member of the same family that has given the United States two presidents. Clover's suicide appears to be more than it at first seems, and the suspected foul play may involve matters of national importance.
Holmes is currently on his Great Hiatus his three-year absence after Reichenbach Falls during which time the people of London believe him to be deceased. Holmes has faked his own death because, through his powers of ratiocination, the great detective has come to the conclusion that he is a fictional character.
This leads to serious complications for James for if his esteemed fellow investigator is merely a work of fiction, what does that make "him?" And what can the master storyteller do to fight against the sinister power possibly named Moriarty that may or may not be controlling them from the shadows?
