The Supernatural Element

The Famous Author introduced me long ago to his favorite novel, a real classic, The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The narrator and thus main character is a guy named John Watson, a doctor, who likes to hook up solving crimes with this nutjob of a private eye, Sherlock Holmes.

I think Dr. John's a stuffy twit, personally. And I've told him so to his face. But he's a Brooklyn rapper compared to Sherlock, the world's first "consulting detective."

Anyway, what TFA and I love about The Hound of the Baskervilles is the element of the supernatural. For the first time, Holmes is baffled. There seems no earthly explanation for the eerie howling, the gigantic dog footprints, the reliable witnesses who have seen the ghostly creature racing about the lonely moors, glowing in the dark like some hound from hell. And then the beast is chasing Sherlock...

Gives me the shivers just writing that.

Finally, to the point: I just heard about a new mystery/suspense book TFA has to buy me, although when I show it to him, he'll probably want one anyway. The new novel, just out today, is BAD THOUGHTS by Dave Zeltserman.

“This is definitely a horror story,” writes critic James R. Winter in his JANUARY MAGAZINE online review, and “leaves the reader questioning whether there are elements of the supernatural involved. Through (Boston Police Detective Bill) Shannon’s memory, we see (a character) killed in such a way that leaves no question as to his fate. Yet here he is, years later, tormenting Shannon, threatening his wife and his partner, and giving detailed information to Shannon about the grisly murders...”

Oh, boy. Doesn't that sound cool!

Thanks to The Rap Sheet for tipping me off. BAD THOUGHTS is from Five Star Publications. $25.95 in hardcover.