The Great Detective at the Crucible of Life

Book excerpt: Across Ethiopia and beyond, Sherlock Holmes encounters both the hideous and the divine, ripping asunder the fragile veil separating us from worlds unknown-all while in the company of the renowned Allan Quatermain. The last of Allan Quatermain's true African adventures to appear, The Treasure of the Lake, was published nearly a century ago in 1926. Those who lusted to vicariously accompany Quatermain on new perilous treks into the vast reaches of the "Dark Continent" (as they had done to King Solomon's Mines) had no choice but to remain disappointed. UNTIL NOW! Recently found amongst some obscure papers at Brown University, this new manuscript chronicles a complex and inspired quest headed by Quatermain deep into the earthquake- and volcano-ripped Danakil Desert of Ethiopia in 1872 accompanied by his devoted aide-de-camp Hans and a host of the nineteenth century's most prodigious luminaries, including astronomer Maria Mitchell, volcanologist Axel Lindenbrock, and Gunnery Sergeants Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan. Along the way, this ragtag troop is brutally attacked in the desert by its trophy-hunting denizens, and then they discover a 2,000-year-old lost city. Yet Holmes' and Quatermain’s quest is not merely one of surviving in Ethiopia’s beautiful yet tortuous landscapes; they must confront horror and overcome it. As the tale unfolds, readers will be swallowed by a maelstrom of concepts, relentlessly pulled headlong, descending into a scholarly labyrinth of interwoven writings. In point of fact, Quatermain encounters no less than the very essence of the meaning of life, which he then discounts as a wizard's trick!