Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Neural Psychoses

By: Lois H. Gresh

Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

The second novel in Lois H. Gresh’s Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu series

Amelia Scarcliffe’s monstrous brood, harbingers of Cthulhu, will soon spawn. Her songs spell insanity, death...and illimitable wealth. And Moriarty will do anything to get his hands on gold, even if it means tearing down the walls between this world and a realm of horrors. 

Meanwhile, after Sherlock Holmes’s last tangle with the Order of Dagon, horrifying monsters haunt the Thames, and madness stalks the streets of Whitechapel. Gang war between Moriarty’s thugs and the powerful cult can only bring more terror - unless Holmes and Dr. Watson can prevent it. But can they find the cause of the neural psychoses before Watson himself succumbs?

©2020 Lois H. Gresh (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Recommended to those with strong stomaches

Sherlock Holmes vs Cthulhu
Book two
The Adventure of the Neural Psychoses
By Lois H. Gresh

I wouldn’t have thought a woman would write such a disgusting H P Lovecraft Mythos book, but here it is.
It’s good.
It’s smartly written.
Perhaps Lois H. Gresh is a "Splatter-Punk / Steam-Punk" authoress?
It's extremely well narrated by Dennis Kleinman - a perfect English accent, and subdued acting for all characters. Excellent.
However, it dwells on some of the most disgusting traits of demented & diseased human beings being taken over by DAGON, or some other Lovecraftian alien-gods.

A character is dementedly & constantly picking his nose . In every scene he is in the authoress finds it necessary to describe in gross detail the bloody scabby depths to which his nose picking goes.

She goes into detailed descriptions on the violent cruelty of the baser characters’ actions until you are nauseous.

Puss squirting, purple neck flaps oozing, extra body parts wiggling, slime on slime, whale sperm saturating eggs, pregnant swollen bellies bulging N’ being clenched, bulbous lips breathing fish breath, blood spurting, cleaver chopping, gross action after action. Your head spins with a feeling of stomach churning sickness surrounding this Cthulhu incursion into the human world.

YES, this book is written well.
YES, this book is read by an excellent narrator.
YES, this book details all the gross actions involved in Cthulhu invading into our reality.
YES, this book swims WAY up-stream to a detailed female-view-point on all the sexual-spawning involved if DAGON invaded the human race.

So, grab your ticket & get your Cthulhu-Air-Sick bag ready - then fish-frog-hop onto this flight into fantasy.

I recommend this book (to those with strong stomachs).

Way too gory

I enjoyed the other stories in this series more than this one, though all are heavy in gore. However, this one is just so gross that I cannot recommend it to the casual reader. Every chapter is full of gory, disgusting descriptions and I wish I had not listened to it.

Highly enjoyable

Entertaining story. Wonderful performance. Will definitely be listening again and to other works narrated by Kleinman.

good crossover

Nice blend of Sherlock & Lovecraft. I did enjoy the various POVs, not overwhelming, but building the story further.

The second is superior to the first...

I liked this installment of the series so much better than the first book. It was compelling and the ending makes me want to start the third book RIGHT NOW! The narrator (same as for the first book) was great this time, and I enjoyed the performance thoroughly. Not sure why I had my doubts after the first book, but as I mentioned in that review, I guess I just wasn't feeling the book at the time I read it. Weird. for certain. Regardless, this sequel allayed all doubts, and I will be continuing post haste.

Couldn't finish!

I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes stories and found myself utterly confused by the lack of Sophistication in the story. The writing is very long winded and repetitive.

Very we’ll done

This book is very well written, and narrated. The narrator was excellent. Looking forward to the next book.

Not so good, narrator saves the audiobook

The author replaces grossness for storytelling. Some parts of the novel have promise, but the author loses focus and with her the audience. The biggest problem I had with these series is that I first listened to James Lovegrove's Cthulu Casebooks prior to this series. And while the Cthulu Casebooks are excellently written, and do a very good job of character and world building, this series is lacking on both accounts. There is also the minor issue with the character variation between the two series. Lovegrove's Holmes and Watson were entertaining; Gresh's Holmes and Watson are irritating. Lovegrove's Moriarty is nefarious and one-step ahead; Gresh's Moriarty is petty and greedy.

The narration is perfect though.

Worse book ever

It is the worst book ever
Slow to the point of stop. The narrator has this monotonous voice that never ends.
I couldn’t finish listening to the book, I fast forward it to the end and wrote this

not the best

I have listened to a number of Holmes supernatural stories. this one just didn't work for me. I like the narrator and his slow somewhat exacting style but felt the narrative was flimsy and disconnected. She has written better in the genre

Awful

This is really bad. It’s a ripoff of the James Lovegrove books, even the same author. But it’s so bad

Good read but lacks the Lovecraft feel

It lacks the mythos mystery feel. More of an action movie than mysterious horror. The asylum stuff is brutal, but again, after all it doesn't work much with the mysterious lovecraftian atmosphere, rather a sad sad story about how sick can people be (the ones that aren't actually ill). Nice listen nevertheless.

Unsubtle and rambling, it's no Conan Doyle

I love James Lovegrove's interpretations of Sherlock Holmes and Dennis Kline's narration, even if his pronunciation is s bit random. Unfortunately this book lacks the wit and style needed to carry the slow narration that typifies a Homes novel.

The terminology is not Victorian (e.g. "e-shockers") and the gratuitous violence and gore does not fit. I'm a long way into it but I realised today I wasn't enjoying listening, I'm just trying to get to the end. Now I have seen in another review that the story is not resolved I think I shall move on to something more rewarding and shan't trouble this author again.

Good Story

Not as good as some Sherlock stories but I enjoyed it. This is a more supernatural series which I don't mind.

wonderful tale, fantastic narrator

This story kept me listening so I finished it in two days rather than the week i take for most of audible books to enjoy.

poorly written

Never felt like a Sherlock Holmes story. Too much repetition of events and character thoughts.

Only part of the story

A well written and narrated story but it continues in the next book. I thought this was a complete story so a bit disappointing.