In current day Chicago, Dr. Simon Bell is an author who
writes Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and Gaelan Erceldoune is a dealer in antique
books. They’ve known each other a long time- a very long time. They were
acquainted during Victorian days, when Bell was a physician and Erceldoune an
apothecary. They owe their longevity –immortality- to potions made from an
ancient book of formulas that Erceldoune got from his father. Immortality was
an accident; the remedies were meant merely to cure diseases. The book has been
lost for decades, with them searching for it. Bell wants it so he can die and
join his long dead wife; Erceldoune because it’s family property. But
Erceldoune himself is being sought by a pharmaceutical company: they are aware
of a man who could survive any sort of injury and heal quickly. They want his
DNA to make a fortune with. But he’s warned by Anne Shawe, who works for the
company- and is connected to Erceloune in a way neither of them expects.
The story has lots of twists and turns. There is a mad
scientist (or at least a psychopathic one), a book that may predate even
alchemy, a ghost, a couple of love stories, modern industrial evil, and more.
It’s enough to keep the reader well engaged, and yet I didn’t get hooked into
the story until almost halfway through for some reason. After that point, I was
eager to keep reading, but found myself unhappy with the ending. I couldn’t
tell if the book was the beginning of a series, or a stand-alone with a quirky
ending. Near the end I found myself having to keep going back and re-reading
sections to figure out what was happening- you can’t skim through the ending of
this book! It was a worthwhile read and engaging read, but slow to start.
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I got this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
