Mycroft Holmes

By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anna Waterhouse

Narrated by: Damian Lynch

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

"When I say, therefore, that [my brother] has better powers of observation than I...I am speaking the exact and literal truth." (Sherlock Holmes)

This story occurs when Mycroft, an athletic Cambridge graduate, assists the secretary of State. He becomes embroiled in a mystery in Trinidad based on actual history.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a huge Holmesian, seven-foot-two tall, basketball's all-time leading scorer, and a US cultural ambassador. Anna Waterhouse is a professional screenwriter and script consultant.

©2015 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Narrator Damian Lynch is a master of voices.... Lynch captures every voice and accent perfectly, making this an exceptional audio experience." ( AudioFile)

Finally a good Mycroft story!

Loved this young Mycroft and his first adventure afar that help develop him into the character he will be in the Sherlock Canon. Highly recommend to and Holmes fan. Reader is awsome and couldn't stop listening to the story.

He's ALIVE...

Bravo...Bravo Karem! I was disappointed that the book ended...I need more, please. Well written and very descriptive. I, like many, had not read a lot sbout Sherlock Holmes older brother, Mycroft Holmes...thank you for giving him breath...He's ALIVE...at least in my head and heart. Thanks again for such a great read. Looking forward to THEIR next great adventure.

Bravo Damian Lynch your narrative was outstanding. ..you brought the characters ALIVE.

A very good book

This story was fantastic . At first I thought it was crazy for this book to have been written by Jabbar .
However , once started I listened at every opportunity .
I am just simply impressed

A surprising take on the classics

I enjoyed this story. A bit unbelievable in parts but it was an easy listen.

Should not have used Holmes name.

It's hard to criticize Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA legend, Jeet Kun Do student under Bruce Lee, and a Holmes fanatic. Unfortunately I felt like the character in this story was as far from canon as possible and the story offered very little mystery. The story tried to sound eloquent but often came off as desperate and some sections were so hard to tolerate I had to stop listening for an hour or two. I made it to the last 30 minutes of the book before I called it quits entirely.

It may not have been terrible if it didn't also tear down established personality and character traits.

The voice actor did a good job I thought.

The other Holmes brother

Nice to see a story about Mycroft! This was an excellent adventure and does a lot to bring in some back story for Mycroft- I'm looking forward to another installment!

Has All the Hallmarks of a First Book

Mycroft Holmes is a book made up of tropes, and poorly executed ones at that. I have two theories about how this book came to be. The first is that it's a marketing driven book; find someone famous to write it (Kareem Abdul Jabar), have them write a well known, public domain character (Holmes), and put a twist on it to make it new (write about Mycroft instead of Sherlock). The second is that Mr. Jabar wanted to write a book about Mycroft Holmes and his co-writer and editor were unwilling, unable or didn't care enough to fix all of the mistakes and clunky writing he produced.

Mycroft Holmes is a public domain character, and as such, anybody can write about him. However, there is some established canon around him, and an author would do well to pay attention to the most pertinent details of such. While I'm not sure this book would actually be improved by changing the main character's name, it would at least make expectations more manageable.

The writing is clunky, the characters' motivations are nonsensical, the deductions are crude and often tenuous, and the tropes are clichéd. The only thing that is any good is the narration, and even that gets muddled up sometimes when the narrator uses the wrong voice when a character is saying something.

All in all, a disappointment.

A Little Bit Disappointed

Don't get me wrong, there were aspects of the book that I really liked. The portrayal of Mycroft as a young man was enjoyable and believable, and much information about the locations and history (especially about slavery) was very interesting. And, although they never fully came to life for me, I found many of the secondary characters intriguing.

Yet I could not for the life of me get really involved in the story. So much information and background happened before anything really "happened" in the plot (if you know what I mean!) that I kept losing track of who people were and how they were fitting into the whole business.

Not sorry I invested a credit, but this was not one of my favorite listens.

More wild Wild West movie than Holmes

The first part of book is good, has a flavor of Holmes even including a 'Watson'. But the story starts having characters act unrealistically. No adequate reason is provided, worse Holmes goes through adventures that he becomes a pawn rather than prime mover. Almost stopped listening which is how bad the climax was. Being constantly beat up is not enough to carry the book.

Wow! What? Wow! Awesome.

I loved this novel. So much fun! What a great story-twists, turns, history, and an excellent view of the times we've come from and how there is a solid line to the times we're in. I hope this is the first of several! Or even a Cyrus Douglass spin off! I'm all in!

so much better than I expected

I loved this book I only thought to read it to pass the time on a long drive but became so engrossed I turned it off so I could listen to properly it is well worth a read

Mycroft Holmes

This book I really enjoyed! I felt the ghost of Conan Doyle weaving through it. I hope there will be many more from this new writer who I think will rise to the top with Mycroft, good luck, I will be watching for the next one🌟

it's a great story but...

it's a great story but Mycroft energetic and in love? nope just not right and Sherlock is to cold and unlikable, the story however is very enjoyable but not as clever as Doyle's work sadly.

A great story...

....but what a shame the author is so patronising before you even begin to listen to it. The plot is a good one but doesn’t require any great mental agility to follow or understand. It put me off considerably to be treated like a half wit. I would hesitate before purchasing another.

Slightly disappointed

The story was mostly fine, though I found some of the language early on to be a bit coarse against language from the numerous Sherlock stories I've read.

The narration was not great. Sometimes it felt that it was delivered with as much passion as the football scores.

Great ending

Good story with steady narration. Could have been s bit shorter, but the ending was the best. Not too sure what ACD would have thought of it though

Boring.

I have read most of the Sherlock related books and this is the worst. The constant racial theme begins to jar very quickly.

A really great listen

I liked the story, it flowed well. I do think there were similarities between this and Sherlock Holmes stories, but different enough to be distinct. The interplay between the two main characters, the forced relationship due to the difference in the colour of their skin, but their true friendship despite that, were intriguing. I'd definitely recommend this.

Painful

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

This is not the worse book I've ever listened to but it is close and I can not see why its got an even reasonable rating. It just sounds so forced and contrived .

Would you ever listen to anything by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse again?

For enough money I would do many things.