The Return Of Nicholas Meyer!

Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure Of The Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer

Hello again to my readers! So things have gone back to normal for the end of the year. The Halloween celebrations are over, bonfires have yet to be lit and the sky is getting darker earlier in the evening. I thought it might be fun to take a small trip back to 221B Baker Street and Holmes and Watson but something a bit different this time. Unlike last time when I relished the official Holmes canon in the company of Stephen Fry I will discuss two separate original creations.

The first discussed in this article is a story by Nicholas Meyer, author of the famous Holmes pastiche The Seven Percent Solution (1974) which was adapted into a film in 1976 by Meyer himself and its resultant sequels of sorts. Meyer is also famous outside of the world of Holmes for being the director and screenwriter of several films in the Star Trek series namely The Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country, all of which are considered among the best works of Star Trek to date. Although personally I also have to mention his involvement with the animated musical The Prince of Egypt which I have to confess I am quite the fan of.

The story of the Peculiar Protocols is as follows: The time is January 1905. Holmes and Watson are summoned just as Holmes begins to tire of London’s current criminal element by Holmes’s brother Mycroft. Their services are required by ‘the establishment’ for an unofficial investigation. An agent of the Secret Service has been found floating in the Thames with the minutes of a certain meeting on her person. A secret group claims to be planning nothing less than the complete takeover of the modern world. Holmes is deservedly skeptical of such a notion but nonetheless has been tasked with one simple problem: Find out if these documents are authentic and if at all possible prevent their further spread throughout the world.

As you may have noticed, I haven’t named the documents. That is because...although I greatly enjoyed the story itself and thought it well written I don’t know how to feel about the focus of the story. To put it mildly Holmes and his Boswell are out of their depth and they will have to face the realities of the 20th (and 21st) Century in this particular case. When the ‘reveal’ of the documents first occurs the reader or listener may well find themselves caught in the flow and desperate to turn the page.

On a lighter note, Meyer’s writing style does feel appropriately Holmesian. There are some elements that seem ‘off’ here and there but on the whole he catches you in the rhythm of the tale and Watson as the storyteller does sound appropriately like the Watson of Doyle’s original stories with some character additions here and there. Meyer also has a Holmes who is particularly incensed and rightly so. Some readers may complain but I feel that in this ‘newly discovered’ case the tone is appropriately suitable. Meyer also includes some footnotes throughout the text regarding references to either previous Meyer cases or certain individuals involved who had quite the impact in our history.

Changing the topic of discussion to the narration the story has two narrators throughout. The main narrator who admirably takes the parts of Homes, Watson and our other principal players and performs them with appropriate skill and enthusiasm is Downton Abbey actor David Robb. His Watson is better than several narrators I’ve heard over the years. Some attempts at accents across the story can be questionable however this is due to plot related reasoning rather than a failed accent on the narrator’s part. I would be keen to hear him again in some other audios Holmes related or otherwise. The second narrator? Meyer himself who acts as the voice of the footnotes as well as the beginning explanation for how the manuscript was discovered. He also narrates a history of sorts at the end of the novel as well as taking part in an interview after the story is complete.

Overall I must say I find the story worth the read. It is very much an engaging story, well written, with the best of intentions. However despite this it can be a hard read or listen depending on the person. As I say the realities of the documents could make their inclusion somewhat tasteless in a Holmes story depending on individual viewpoints. Give Meyer’s fourth Holmes escapade a chance and you just might find a new favourite author. If an audio version of The Seven Percent Solution or a fifth Holmes story by Meyer were to appear, I would happily give both a listen.

My next review will be the second Holmesian adventure I mentioned earlier. In this case...further adventures by the pen of Bert Coules and the BBC’s radio dramatisation division.

After all, The Game’s Afoot!

Nephrite

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7 people found this helpful

"Holmes!" I ejaculated...

The Great Detective and Doctor Watson ride again in this new adventure from Seven-Per-Cent celebre, Nicholas Meyer. Crossing paths with a selection of real historical people and events, the dynamic duo Young Indiana Jones their way out of Edwardian London and into the heart of Tsarist Russia in pursuit of a slightly-built but heavy-handed plot concerning the notorious Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Too weighty for mere metaphorical gloves, those polemic plot digits point accusingly from the past into our own age of propaganda and fake news; off-stage, a villainous moustache is twirled in anticipation of the atrocity-filled century to come.
As might be expected, Meyer presents a reasonable approximation of Holmes and Watson's voices, adds the Secret Service Diogenes Club for good measure, and throws in some interesting research along the journey. Purists may blanche at Holmes' dalliance with the opposite sex and much of the atypical hot-headedness he displays here, but these elements serve the story Meyer spins well enough. The plot structure is entirely unlike a Doyle construction (not necessarily a bad thing, of course); linear to a fault, our heroes trot out following a breadcrumb trail of clues and then trot back, pursued by Russian Bear. There are some good story beats along the way, but the dark legacy of the Protocols casts a shadow over the adventure that stops it from ever shining.
Narrator David Robb does good work; he has a pleasant voice and his Holmes is on point. Happily, considering this is the one we hear most, his best vocalisation is for the urbane but manly Doctor Watson; less so, his Mrs Hudson...

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1 person found this helpful

An average story with interesting historical detail

I found this story explored aspects of history i was not familiar with and which interested me however as a novel I just found it a bit bland re characterisations and the sense of adventure slightly lacking - it will not stick with me longterm as one of my top reads. Perhaps if you like me half dabble in extra canonical Holmes stories it might be worth reading to see if you get on with the series: if yes then great you have more to read - i don’t think i will bother with the rest of the series given my massive to read list.

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1 person found this helpful

Bland and confusing

The story is too historical for my taste and the narrator narrates as John Watson, but with the voice of Sherlock Holmes.

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Holmes shoehorned into a fanciful historical plot

I wanted to like this book, but it became clear quite early on that it was, in reality, primarily a book about The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, with Holmes, Watson and Mycroft shoe-horned in around it. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, crudely forged documents implicating Jews in a plot for world domination, present obvious parallels with the fake news and "alternative facts" that plague our society today, but this is dealt with in a fairly heavy-handed way.

I also have problems with the depiction of Holmes, who has a vulgar and inappropriate liaison with a woman, for no readily apparent reason. It also grates that he is frequently referred to by Watson as "the detective", which isn't how Watson wrote. Perhaps I'm being too hard on the book, but it really didn't do much to me. It lacked the fun of the canon, it lacked any compelling mystery, and the story itself tried so hard to employ real historical characters that it muddies the water considerably as to which parts are true and which are part of the fictional narrative.

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4 people found this helpful

Waste of a good narrator

i bought this becauseI I very much like David Robb’s voice as an actor and as a narrator. Sadly i couldn’t get interested in the story, and gave up.

I didn’t like the style of the presentation with unexpected interpolations by Nicholas Meyer giving voice to what I can only assume appear as explanatory footnotes in the original printed book, designed to give verisimilitude to the notion that the book is based on a real diary by a real Watson.

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