Snake Bite

This 5th adventure of a teen-aged Sherlock Holmes begins with him on a ship bound for China. He was abducted, drugged, and left on the ship before it sailed. Sherlock is adapting pretty well to his new life and learning lots of things. Through the efforts of the ship's cook Wu Cheng, Sherlock is learning both Cantonese and T'ai chi ch'uan - his first martial art. He misses his brother, his teacher and his friends Matty and Virginia but is making the best of his situation.

The action picks up when Mr. Arrhenius - a passenger with a weird skin condition - boards the ship and when the ship is attacked by pirates in the China Sea. Things get even more intense when they reach Shanghai and his friend Wu Cheng dies of an unexpected and show more mysterious snake bite. Sherlock has met and been befriended by a young American living with his parents in Shanghai. When his friend Cameron's father also dies from a mysterious snake bite, Sherlock, Cameron and Wu Cheng's son Wu Fung-Yi band together to solve the puzzle and stop an act that could lead to war between China and the United States.

I really enjoy this series because I like finding out how the Sherlock Holmes of the Conan Doyle series came to be. The one difference that I have noted in these novels is that the young Sherlock still knows how to make and keep friends. Somehow, he has lost that ability in the Conan Doyle novels. Maybe the disappointment at the end of this novel is a contributing factor in his disillusionment with other people.

Young readers will enjoy the adventure and should be eager to read the Sherlock Holmes novels by Conan Doyle to learn about what Sherlock did as an adult. show less

Snake Bite is the fifth book in the Young Sherlock Holmes series. Don't start here; go back and read Death Cloud. You will need the background in the rest of the series to make sense of this one. That said, Dnake Bite takes up after Fire Storm. If you haven't read that book, stop here and go read it. Spoilers abound below.

Sherlock's adventures start aboard the Gloria Scott (no, not *that* one), sailing to China. Kidnapped and hidden aboard, the young not-willingly-a-stowaway Sherlock has much to learn as he works off his passage. More of the story give a hint as to the development of Conan Doyle's adult Holmes. Along those lines is one of Sherlock's thoughts, "Maybe the best thing to do was to make friends with a doctor—that way you show more would always have treatment close at hand."

I loved the mystery. The author played fair with the readers, but the exact details of how the events transpired did escape me.

While written for young adults, I suggest Snake Bite is good reading for anyone who likes Sherlock Holmes or mysteries. The proof is in the pudding -- I have already bought the next book in the series. show less

This review first appeared on The Book Zone(For Boys) blog

Five books in and Andrew Lane's Young Sherlock Holmes books just seem to get better and better. I raced through the latest, Snake Bite, in a single sitting, and yet again I was left wanting more and more, and this may even be my favourite of the series so far.

Snake Bite is very different from the previous books in the series in that it hardly features any of the characters that have appeared in previous books. In fact, the only two that do make an appearance are Sherlock's brother Mycroft and his tutor Amyus Crowe, and this only in the book's prologue as they agonise over the disappearance of Sherlock. It would appear that he has been kidnapped, most likely by The Paradol show more Chamber, but for what reason we are left to speculate along with Mycroft and Crowe.

The first chapter proper opens with Sherlock at sea, on board the Gloria Scott, just off the southernmost tip of Africa. He still has little idea as to how he came to be on board the ship - he can remember falling asleep in his uncle's library, and the next thing he knew he was at sea, initially being treated as a stowaway. However, through hard work he has become accepted by the crew as almost one of them, and so begins his greatest adventure so far. An adventure that sees him travelling all the way to China, facing pirates along the way, and making new friends and, of course, new enemies along the way.

In previous books Andrew Lane has already done a considerable amount of fleshing out of his young Holmes, gradually giving him the skills, character traits and morals that Sherlockians the world over know and love. We have seen Sherlock learn to play the violin, we have seen the birth of his deductive powers and his desire to question, and we have seen Sherlock's very obvious sense of what is right and what is wrong. In this book Andrew Lane continues to give us the glimpses into how the adult Sherlock was 'made', as we see the young version learning Chinese, and also his first introduction to the martial arts of the Far East (and very useful these skills prove to be as well). We also see how Sherlock developed the ability to converse naturally with people who in those days would have seemed a long way below his station - a skill he puts to great use in Conan Doyle's stories.

Without wanting to spoil things for readers I will also mention that the ending of this book is not so cut-and-dried as in the previous stories. There were elements of it I was not so happy with (a certain letter rings a little false in my mind, but I am no historian and it may be very typical of society at that time, and it does explain a significant aspect of the adult Sherlock's character), but the author's note about the return of The Paradol Chamber in the next book was very welcome news.

I want to leave you with one short excerpt from the book that put a huge smile on my face. As in previous books, Andrew Lane likes to drop in the occasional huge nudge and a wink towards the future Holmes, and this is one I loved. Sherlock is on board the Gloria Scott, and is thinking to himself that Mycroft's policy of staying at home and therefore keeping safe might actually be a wise philosophy as working on board such a ship is a very dangerous occupation. However, he quickly dismisses this as it would mean missing out on all kinds of adventures. At this, he smiles to himself and thinks: "Maybe the thing to do was to make friends with a doctor - that way you could always ave treatment close at hand." show less

Another wonderful entry in the early life of Sherlock Holmes series. Sherlock has been kidnapped and placed on a ship going to China. In his adventures there he solves murders, prevents a war between China and England and learns martial arts. Lane is carefully weaving the skill of the adult Holmes into these stories. Great series for Holmes' fans.

Snake Bite is very different from the previous books in the series because in this story Sherlock has been separated from those he trusts and cares about. He is on his own on a ship heading halfway around the world.
The story begins with a prologue to the story proper. It is also the only time Sherlock's brother Mycroft and his tutor Amyus Crowe make an appearance. They are discussing the disappearance of Sherlock. It would appear that he has been kidnapped, probably by The Paradol Chamber, but for what reason they can only speculate. They are aware of the problem and they are trying to reach Sherlock.
The first chapter proper opens with Sherlock at sea, on board the Gloria Scott, just off the southernmost tip of Africa. He still has show more only a vague idea as to how he came to be on board the ship. He can remember falling asleep in his uncle's library, and the next thing he knew he was at sea. After being treated as stowaway initially he has become accepted by the crew as almost one of them through his hard work and a genuine interest about his surroundings.This adventure sees him travelling all the way to Shanghai, along the way meeting a unusual and sinister passenger, facing some pirates, making a couple of new friends and trying to solve three murders whilst preventing a plot to destroy an American war ship and start a war between America and China. show less

I wasn’t a big fan of books that didn’t seem very comic-booky like. But it was only this certain book that caught my attention and drew my head out from those “comic books.”
The book is called “Snakebite,” whose author’s name is Andrew Lane. It was originally published in September 27, 2012, and its genre is a mystery. Now I don’t mean as in vague or unclear; the book’s genre would be classified as a mystery book. Now… to clear up introductions, it’s time to see why “Snakebite” would be a great book to read, if you’re into mystery that is.

The book begins on a merchant ship called the Gloria Scott.The crew is what you’d expect from sailors back then. Among the crew of the Gloria Scott included Sherlock Holmes show more and his close friend, Wu Chang. While the trip from England to China was all well, one major event comes into play: A man by the name of Jacobus Arrhenius joins the Gloria Scott as a passenger to get to China. While his character doesn’t seem much, he plays a much bigger role in the story as it goes on (But I won’t spoil it!). Later, we arrive in the city of Shanghai. This is where the fun part of the plot really begins to start. We meet more characters like Cameron Mackenzie and his father, Malcolm Mackenzie. Cameron Mackenzie is a blonde boy, assuming about Sherlock’s age at the time, who saves him when Sherlock was being “mugged” by a group of greasy-hair Chinese. Cameron invites Sherlock to a dinner with him, his family, and the crew of the USS Monocracy. All was going well until one fateful day when Sherlock found Wu Chang and his wife. Wu Chang was on the ground, looking ill while his wife was begging for help. He eventually dies as Sherlock realizes Wu Chang was killed by a snake bite. Wu Chang wasn’t the only victim; Malcolm Mackenzie, Cameron’s father, also dies of the same cause. As a result from this, Sherlock, Cameron, and Wu Fung-yi, come together to find the culprit behind the murders.

The book is great and all, but there’s just some problems with it that seem to draw attention… The first flaw is that it doesn’t seem to capture the atmosphere of Shanghai well. But that’s probably because it somewhat explains the atmosphere as you go along instead of explaining it as we enter Shanghai. Another flaw is that the book is part of a series of young Sherlock. Snakebite is the 5th book in the series (Which I haven’t read), so if you jump into this book first, you might be lost. But since I’ve never read the previous books, this flaw is a little biased. Regardless of the flaws, there is a good chunk of characters, main character or not, that you remember.

I admire this book for being a captivating read. You just can’t stop reading this masterpiece of a mystery book. It doesn’t end there though. While I did say it may be a flaw for it being a series so you may get lost, you can get an opportunity to read the other books in the series to keep you occupied for a while. Well, what are you waiting for? Go read it! show less

I felt like there was an awful lot of build up, and then the ending seemed almost too easy. The plot didn't really seem to go anywhere and it doesn't seem to have much significance within the series. I'm hoping the next book, where Lane has said Sherlock returns older, wiser and sadder will be better.