The Map of Time

Nothing is as it appears to be in Félix J. Palma's The Map of Time!

Just when you think you have an idea of where this unique novel is going, it changes directions.  There are more twists and turns in this 600+ page novel (though it does not read like a long novel) than there are in a garden maze.  Palma mixes in a little bit of everything in his first novel: love, sex, adventure, mystery, science fiction, historical and imaginary characters, murder, time travel and much more.  Set in Victorian London, you will encounter Jack the Ripper, Joseph Merrick the Elephant Man, Bram Stoker, Henry James and H.G. Wells.  Palma weaves a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting.  He will have you questioning what is real and what isn't.  So buckle your seat belts.  You don't want to develop whiplash.  AND Enjoy the ride!!!

Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd

 

Venice: Pure City
by Peter Ackroyd

Venice is perhaps one of the most fascinating and mysterious cities in the world.  Having been fortunate enough to have visited this city on the lagoon, I have been eagerly looking for a book that would tell me the history of this magical and mystical place.  So when I discovered this book at B&N, I could not pass it up.  This floating city was the center of trade for more than a thousand years. Venice once housed the largest shipbuilding facility in the world, dominated the sea trade throughout the Mediterranean . This book will provide you a unique view of Venice from various perspectives.  Noted author and biographer, Peter Ackroyd, interweaves history with impressions on a host of topics about living in Venice: the light and color, Carnival, prisons, prostitutes, death, the Venetian republic's extraordinarily long existence, its artists, and the claustrophobic life of the city.  He covers the basics of Venetian geography, hydrology, and climate before turning to its history and architecture.

If you are planning to visit Venice anytime soon, this would be a great book to pick up and read before you travel.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Angel of the Opera

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Angel of the Opera by Sam Siciliano

As a Sherlockian, I naturally gravitate to the wide range of Conan Doyle spin offs.  This particular series, "The further adventures of Sherlock Holmes", does not do too bad of a job of recreating the world's most famous consulting detective.  However, this particular case does not illustrate or describe Holmes' keen sense of observation and deductive reasoning.  That element of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories is what always grabbed my attention.  As Holmes would, somewhat arrogantly, explain how he reached certain conclusions, it always helped the reader, as well as his supporting characters, to understand how he ends up solving the crime.
 
Siciliano in this rendition, replaces Doctor Watson with a cousin to Sherlock Holmes, who also happens to be a doctor.  I love the tie in with the Phantom of the Opera, which just so happens to be one of my favorite musicals.  The author does a great job of recreating the intricate and labyrinthine design and structure of the Paris Opera House. 

Sherlock Holmes is summoned across the English Channel to the famous Opera House. Once there, he is challenged to discover the true motivations and secrets of the notorious phantom, who rules its depths with passion and defiance. The author does a nice job of connecting the opening of the novel to how Holmes resolves the phantom's escape.  Suffice to say that Holmes does have a soft spot for beautiful women.