In Unhallowed Rest

A Sherlock Holmes Adventure

By: John Sutton

Narrated by: Steve White

Holmes being away for the day, Watson receives an anonymous request for a meeting at Waterloo station. More for interest's sake than any other reason, he attends the railway station and is confronted by a man whom appears in the last vestiges of physical and mental stress. According to Brinton he has but little time before both his imminent death, and worse, his immortal soul will be cast forever into eternal damnation.

Detective Inspector Lestrade joins Holmes and Watson in their quest to tackle a series of grisly murders that point to a Satanic cult of vampirism.

©2017 John Sutton (P)2017 MX Publishing

Vampire Hunters

Sort of a cross between Hammer Vampire movies and Sherlock Holmes Stories, works for the most part, but could use a little more magic.

No ghosts needs to apply. Vampires though...

I'm no purist when it comes to Holmesiana, so I'll gladly venture beyond the traditional pastiches. Occasionally, such a foray can be incredibly rewarding. This time... ummm... honestly, it was bad in an enjoyable way.

I've seen this described as a cross between a Sherlock Holmes story and a Hammer Film Production, which is apt. (Although I'd say it's more Hammer Monster Movie with the character who may be Sherlock Holmes thrown in.) Not a bad combo, but I personally lean more towards a different style, and overall, I expected something a little bit different from this. Still, lacklustre characterisations aside, it was a decent vampire story, reminiscent of Dracula in certain ways, though lacking the delightful, eerie atmosphere.

Speaking of characterisation... I've had worse, certainly a lot worse, but I wasn't entirely sold on these people being Holmes and Watson either. Oddly enough, the fact that the one with the initial knowledge of the paranatural, who had to persuade other characters that they are facing something beyond their comprehension, was Holmes - now, that was rather refreshing, but somehow, sadly, underdeveloped. A missed opportunity for interesting storybuilding, I'd say.

I still chuckled out loud several times, so that's a plus.

The audiobook narrator did a pretty good job, both pronunciation-wise and in differentiating between characters. Yet, his interpretation of Holmes' voice grated on me a bit; I cannot exactly tell why. I don't think it was just because the author leaned more into Holmes' acerbic and waspish character traits.