Review for Secrets of Baker Street by Perry Wyatt

As a person who grew up watching the Wishbone series, Sherlock Holmes and unique takes on the character have long been something I find joy in. So to read Secrets of Baker Street: The Curious Adventures Of The Real Holmes and Watson and experience another fresh take on the original story and characters had me very excited. While I ultimately did enjoy parts of the novel, there were a few rough spots that kept pulling me out.

The portrayal of the titular characters is by far the strongest part of the novel, playing up Sherlock’s existing eccentricities by adding this one more on top. And having this shared secret between the partners makes that relationship feel even more significant and real as well. The change in gender worked even better than I expected it to, and I think most readers would find this iteration to still be respectful to the original. It could be argued that the flamboyant theatrics of the detective might even make more sense like this because they were already playing a part.

There are enormous amounts of potential in this novel, but I had to rate the state of it currently and not what it could be. From the information given, I hadn’t realized going in that the novel was more a series of short stories each dealing with a separate case than a continuous narrative. While this wouldn’t normally be an issue, it detracts quite a bit from some of the better parts of the story, particularly in the ongoing interactions between Holmes and Watson themselves or with other characters.

The formatting and typos though are what ultimately garnered the lower rating. There are quite a few missing line breaks, particularly in dialogue that make things a needless struggle to read. The styling of line breaks or paragraphs is also inconsistent and draws attention away from the story. As for errors, there were multiple issues with words either being left out or misused. Even a character’s name had a mistake at one point.

Overall, the current execution of this story had me feeling a little disappointed. But with better formatting and proofreading, this could easily be a must-read for me. As it is, fans of Sherlock and Holmes will still find some enjoyment in this fresh take though. The character voices are just that strong!

Secrets of Baker Street: The Curious Adventures of The Real Holmes and Watson is available to buy on Amazon or you can visit the publisher’s website to find out more about this and their other works.

I admit the title is what first drew me toward wanting to read this novel. Provocative but simple, a book named Adapt or Die definitely deserved at least a look at the blurb. That it was near-future science fiction with an LGBTQ+ protagonist only made me more excited at that point. For the most part, author Peter Vernerac did deliver on that initial reaction.

Despite the rating, there is quite a lot to love about this novel. A thriller revolving around technology and the relationship humans have with it, the premise is more believable than farfetched. Rooting motivations in very real and tangible concepts such as survival plays a huge part in why. Corey Smalls, or Cosmo as he’s called, is the point of view character for most of the story, and one of its brightest points. Both likable and competent while not being inhumanly so in either area, I couldn’t help but cheer for the character as the plot progressed.

The content of the book is largely very sound, and if it wasn’t for other issues, this could have possibly been one of my must-reads for science fiction. The dialogue was a bit of a hit or a miss at points, particularly between certain characters or when more than two characters were talking in a scene. I think a large part of this was it could be so strong at some points that the points where it wasn’t stood out more.

What the novel had to say was amazing, how it was said is the main reason for the lower rating. There are quite a few skips in time throughout Adapt or Die. Forward, back, forward, further back, etc. Some were time-stamped, some weren’t. And while most of the book is written in 1st person from Cosmo’s view, quite a few parts are from 3rd person with the spotlight on different characters, also moving between omniscient and limited at various points. This could get very confusing to read because there could be inner thoughts not attributed to specific characters. There’s also an early concept introduced that doesn’t really ever get picked up on, and I wish it had.

Errors though were the biggest issue for me. There are quite a few missing words or other problems that kept drawing me out of the story because I had to reread for clarity. I don’t want to make it seem like the writing is bad because the author did craft a rather wonderful story. But there were enough errors throughout that I feel another round of editing would be beneficial.

I would still recommend Adapt or Die to fans of science fiction despite the rating. Particularly if you are a reader who enjoys speculation and exploration into the increasing dependence on technology.

The Linchpin Writer is available to buy on Amazon, or you can find out more about the author and their other works at their website.