The Clockwork Scarab

A Stoker & Holmes Novel, Book 1

By: Colleen Gleason

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you're the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood. And so, when two society girls go missing, there's no one more qualified to investigate. Now, the fierce Evaline and the logical Mina must resolve their rivalry, in order to navigate the advances of not just one, but three mysterious gentlemen, and solve a murder with only one clue: the strange Egyptian scarab. The stakes are high. If Stoker and Holmes don't unravel why the belles of London society are in such danger, they'll become the next victims…

©2013 Colleen Gleason (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The mishmash of popular tropes (steampunk! vampires! Sherlock Holmes!) will bring readers in, but it's the friendship between the two girls that will keep them." (Kirkus Reviews)

Pleasant surprise

Came across this book as a way of testing the waters on audible. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book was exceptionally well done. Can’t wait to read the next one.

clever and appealing

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

i sometimes feel that a little steampunk goes a long way, but my first action when i finished this rollicking and suspenseful adventure was to log on to audible to purchase and listen to the sequel. (which isn't out until october 7th... guess what i'm doing that day?) i love that the characters seem true to their respective patrimonies as relations of sherlock holmes and bram stoker, while still being very much the original creations of connie gleason, AND seeming like authentic and realistic teenage girls. as for the vocal performance, i'm pretty sure jayne entwistle could read the london telephone directory and still be riveting; with this material she is clearly enjoying herself as much as we are.

Stoker and Holmes

Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes investigate the disappearances of young society girls. The main clues, invitations and clockwork scarabs.
This entertaining and gripping novel, set in a very different England of the past, is a well written and intelligent book with wonderful character who hold you in their thrall until the end.
Great read/listen!

Book falls short of its full potential

I really wanted to like this book. It’s about the niece of Sherlock Holmes, daughter of Mycroft Holmes and the sister of Bram Stocker, of Dracula fame, set in a steampunk book. It should be awesome, right? Wrong. The characters are whiny and have almost the same voice, the unimportant to the plot items, like clothing, are over described, while the steam powered machines and gadgets are hardly described. Sometimes this book is painful to get through, and honestly I skipped a few chapters.

The characters themselves should have been interesting as they come from a famous background. However, both girls are one-dimensional only really caring about themselves with no regard to anyone else. Mina Holmes is supposed to be logical, analytical, and blunt, but her logic is the logic of a young child and the “leaps” she takes are clearly spelled out. Evaline Stoker is the brawn in this book, with super strength, speed, and abilities that are needed as she is the first female vampire hunter in awhile, hello Buffy. However her complete disregard for sense and her ability to completely jump headlong into things without stopping to think is off-putting. This would be enough to dislike the characters, but as soon as a boy looks at either of the girls they goes all swoony and the next few paragraphs are flowery, where the girl is breathless and completely forgets the point of the plot.

The plot is easy to guess, and if either of the girls stopped to consult the other one, the mystery would have been solved in the first couple of chapters. This is not the case. The book ends with the mystery of the identity of the Ankh unsolved and my brain in mush on the ground.

Not that good

I purchased this audiobook based on the reviews. Well the book isn't that good. The storyline is good and it sounds interesting. But...it is 100% predictable from the start. I wish there was a way to rate the characters. They are 125% predictable. The narrator Jayne Entwistle does a good job with Stoker, Adler and most of the supporting voices. Holmes is another matter. Jayne Entwistle's voice becomes bland to the point of making the story boring and forgettable. I found my attention wandering. The story is told from alternating viewpoints of Stoker and Holmes. I became confused due to my mind wandering during Holmes then Stoker would be talking. I had to listen again to keep track of what was going on. I finally gave up and turned the story off. I do not recommend this book.

Brilliant Idea, but lacking

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The book was slow without much character development or connections made. Usually when I listen to an audible, I am done with it within a day or two, I make time to listen to the book. This one I had to force my self to finish it. I would not say it was a waste of time, my curiosity got the best of me, but don't expect thrilling dialogue or exciting scenes.

What could Colleen Gleason have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Gleason had the amazing idea to feature female versions of two great literary geniuses.. Unfortunately in making them related to Holmes and Lord Byron, their characters were pale comparisons to their family members. They were trying so hard to compare to their uncle and brother that they had failed to become their own person, there was no twist that really made them stand out as characters. I fell like there was a lot of potential not met.

The girls' characters were so different, I thought it would be fun to see their interactions with each other. One is action first think later, while the other deduces and plans 3 steps ahead of everyone else. Sadly, these girls only really met abut 3 times, even then it was a short time before they were separated. They butted heads, and showed clear disdain for each other, we really didn't see how they were going to get along. But, by the end they become great friends. the story didn't give proof of trust on either part. I would have liked to see more interaction and growth of the characters.

What three words best describe Jayne Entwistle’s voice?

teenager (moody in the voice), well-casted, good job giving each character their own voice.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I think it would be a great visual idea. I would rent before buying though.

Any additional comments?

I think that if the book was read instead of listened to, the reader might get more out of it. Listening did not give great pleasure or answers to many questions. For those who intend to read the second book, hopefully you will receive you answers.

This is defiantly a teen book. The majority of the book was given to lovesick girls who are trying to claim they are too smart to fall for an improper boy. It got annoying, the story goes from solving the case of this Scarab, to lovesick teens for majority of the book. There was a definite set up for the second book, but my curiosity is not quelled to a point that I will get it.

I need Book 2 NOW!

What made the experience of listening to The Clockwork Scarab the most enjoyable?

Other reviewers complained about this book being for teens only. Trash! A good story is a good story… and one that's smart and fun, even better! I am not ready to leave Steampuke London, or Mina & Evaline just yet… so I guess I'll be listening to this again, soon!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Clockwork Scarab?

Not wanting to give anything away, I just loved the way Mina & Evaline butted heads in their efforts to work together. I loved the way the author let us be in both their heads, seeing through their eyes.

What does Jayne Entwhistle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

EVERYTHING!!! I've listened to Jayne before, as Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce (amazing books!) I have never read this author before, and gave it a try mostly because of Jayne Entwhistle! Great narration, great story!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If only I could, but I am sure that would be grounds for divorce.

Any additional comments?

What great characters Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker are, and putting them in a Steampunk version of 1890's London, inspired! Now, where is Book 2!!!!!

Great in every way

The story and production value of this story is great in every way. I can not wait to listen to the next book in the series.

Too Much Steam, Not Enough Substance

What a promising premise to Colleen Gleason's first "Stoker and Holmes" novel, The Clockwork Scarab (2013)! Irene Adler, AKA "the woman," the American opera singer who got the best of Sherlock Holmes in "A Scandal in Bohemia" and is now the keeper of British Museum antiquities, recruits Alvermina (Mina) Holmes, the great detective's niece, and Evaline Stoker, Bram Stoker's younger sister, to be secret agent/detectives discretely risking "life and limb for their queen, their countrymen, and the Empire," just as many young men but no other young women do. And the girls quickly find themselves investigating a deadly scheme to bring the Egyptian goddess of death Sekhmet back to life. The story is set in a steampunk 1889 London, for Parliament has passed an act banning electricity and promoting steam power. Thus the city hisses with myriad "cognoggin" gadgets of every size and purpose, including self-propelled Refuse-Agitators and Night-Illuminators, steam-powered lifts and trolleys, mechanized Tome-Selectors and corset removers, Steam-Stream guns and finger-sized steam throwers, and clockwork hairclips and dragonfly pins. Steam-London is a city of sky-scrapers, the tops of the swaying buildings held in place by helium-filled balloon-like sky-anchors. Did I forget the airships? As if all that weren't enough, Gleason tosses in time travel and alternate worlds in the person of Dylan Eckhert, an American from 2016 who believes that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character and asserts that electricity has never been illegal. This leads to some amusing culture shock, as Mina encounters iPhones, Nikes, and slang like "cool" and "hot."

At first I liked the independent and spunky 17-year-old Mina and Evaline, trying to solve a macabre mystery while chafing at the restrictions, dismissals, and ignominies of their patriarchal culture. Tall and gawky Mina is a true Holmes, a girl of observation, deduction, and planning, while petite and pretty Evaline is her family's vampire hunter, a girl of action endowed with superhuman strength, speed, and healing ability. While Mina becomes winded during strenuous action and feels abandoned by her parents, Evaline becomes paralyzed before spilled blood and has to deal with Bram's wife wanting to marry her to some man who will take care of her. Mina is a willing recluse, Evaline an unwilling socialite. They complement each other.

Alas, the more I read, the more flaws I found. Like so many YA novels, Gleason's is narrated in the first person, the girls taking turns, but despite Mina's more intellectual vocabulary, their narrative voices are too similar, both using the same exclamations (drat, blast, blooming, etc.) and both tending to over-describe people, clothes, and devices. Here is Evaline on her older brother Bram: "I'm petite and elegant, and he's rather stocky. . . He has a full beard and a moustache, with an auburn tint in the growth nearest the lips." Mina on her outfit: "My skirt was a sunny yellow flowered polonaise, pulled back up into a bustle that exposed a cheerful gold, blue, and green ruffled underskirt. The tight fitting basque bodice I wore over it was pale blue, trimmed with yellow, green, and white ribbons, making the ensemble bright and summer-like and complimenting my golden brown hair and hazel eyes." And Mina on the "large bubble-like reservoir of ink" (1st time) and the "bulbous reservoir" (2nd time) atop Inspector Grayling's "fancy" phallic "self-inking pen." Such descriptions too often convey details that have nothing to do with the plot and make the girls seem oddly superficial. Both girls also use the same words to describe the several tall, broad-shouldered, sleek-muscled, warm-bodied, thick-haired, square jawed, minty/spicy/smoky/sandalwoody/lemony-scented young hunks they repeatedly run into and their febrile reactions to them: sweaty palms, dry mouths, flushed/warm/heated/burning cheeks, fluttering insides, flipping hearts, frozen brains, and discombobulated minds. As a result of all this, I often found myself thinking, "That's Gleason, not Mina/Evaline!"

For that matter, too often Gleason writes overwrought romance: "My whole body was hot and trembly. My knees shook, and I could do nothing but stare at him for a moment, my lips moist and throbbing, my heart thundering like a runaway horse." Given the many moments in the novel criticizing male-dominated Victorian society and Mina and Evaline's brains and bravery, before young men they steam too easily.

Finally, to increase suspense Gleason has the girls do some stunningly stupid things (which I'll avoid spoiling) and undergo some stunningly rapid changes in morale, Mina going in three pages from "I realized I wasn't enough of a Holmes" to "The game was afoot," and Evaline in two from "I had no right to call myself a Venator, a vampire hunter" to "You're a Venator. You're strong. Fight." And the climax is absurd and the resolution incomplete (Gleason cheating to make us read the sequel?).

Despite its neat premise, then, The Clockwork Scarab disappointed rather than fulfilled me. I even realized that the steampunk setting is superfluous, for the scarab need not be clockwork, Grayling's steam-cycle could be a motorcycle, and the villain's main devices are electrical or supernatural. As interesting as it is for steam to be the lifeblood of Victorian London and as nifty as the cognoggin devices are, I wish the novel explored the ramifications and meanings of such a society. Laurie R. King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994), about the relationship between fifteen-year-old Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, is much more convincing.

Jane Entwistle capably reads the novel, deftly handling the American and British and Scottish accents and male and female speakers, though I found her Evaline a bit grating.

An exciting adventure

I enjoyed reading this but only convinced my husband to give it a try because of Ms. Entwistle being the narrator. We will get book 2 next week & anxiously await the release of book 3 in October. Hoping the audiobook gets a simultaneous release.