Book: Moriarty
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Reviewed by: Marcus Fernandez
Genre: Crime Fiction
Rating: *****

Author Introduction:
I love reading, writing, listening to music and watching movies. I especially like reading novels like these. I currently am in 9th grade and I enjoy school.

Sherlock Holmes is dead and darkness falls

'Moriarty' by Anthony Horowitz is a Sherlock Holmes novel with no Sherlock or Watson, in fact Moriarty too is supposedly dead during the events of this novel so how could this book possibly be any good? Well it is, in fact it is fantastic and one of Horowitz's most sophisticated and thoughtful novels.

The main characters are the narrator, Fredrick Chase an American investigator and Athelney Jones a British investigator from Scotland Yard. Chase is a timid yet determined American who forms a quick alliance and friendship Jones to track and hunt down a new ruthless criminal mastermind, Clarence Devereaux following in the evil footsteps of the great Moriarty.

This novel is written almost like a spin-off from the classic Sherlock Holmes, however, Horowitz has retained the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle so skillfully I sometimes completely forgot this book was written in 2014. Fredrick Chase is our main character in this novel written in first person through his eyes and I was transported into his shoes throughout the story feeling his pain, confusion, anger and fear. Athelney Jones our second character, is a man who looked up to Sherlock Holmes so mush so he became obsessed. Jones is portrayed as a crippled detective who strives to be greater then Holmes but is afraid he never will be, and this conflict of feelings and desires is artfully expressed by Horowitz who makes the reader empathize with this torn character both physically and mentally.

The novel is set during Great Hiatus which is the period between Sherlock Holmes' supposed death and his reappearance three years later. Horowitz used this period of mystery to produce a sophisticated yet believable story involving both new and old characters. The complexity of the plot in fact baffled me, Anthony Horowitz is accustomed with simple plots which he piles with layers of perfect character development and description, however, in this novel he brings an unusually deep plot which grows in complexity as the story progresses which I believe is a fantastic variation to his normal writing style. The plot also progresses very slowly, there is a lot of build up for an absolutely mind blowing  finale, some readers may find flaws with this and tag it boring, however, in my opinion the slow pace helped me savour novel till it left me drooling in the end.

My only issue with this book is its lack of humour. I understand Horowitz does this to stick with style yet even the original Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was full of fun. I found this surprising as Horowitz is an author who can produce some of the most hilarious books namely the 'Diamond Brothers' series. This small issue by no means ruined any aspect of the book it just gave the novel a very dark gritty tone that Horowitz usually doesn't write. This point only became an issue in certain parts where I felt some humor could liven up the mood and keep dialogues from feeling dry.

Overall this book in my opinion is a fantastic crime novel with a gut wrenching twist which is always expected from Anthony Horowitz. This book retains a solid style which I give Anthony Horowitz full credit for. I recommend this book for anyone thirsty for a good, solid and convincing crime novel. I can also say in full confidence that is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were alive today, he would be proud of this masterpiece of a novel.