The Arcanum

by Thomas Wheeler

It is 1919 and the Great War has come to a close. But in the shadows of the world’s major cities, the killing has just begun. In this perilous time, as the division between order and chaos grows increasingly slim, a select group of visionaries have taken it upon themselves to ensure the safety of humanity. They are known as the Arcanum.

In London’s stormy Hyde Park, Konstantin Duvall, the Arcanum’s founder, has been killed in a suspicious accident. Dismayed, the group’s longest-lived member, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, determines to avenge Duvall’s death—and uncover the secret left in his wake. For the dead man possessed the world’s most powerful—now missing— the Book of Enoch, the chronicle of God’s mistakes, within whose pages lie the seeds for the end of everything.

From the scene of the crime, Conan Doyle embarks on a path that leads him to the sleazy underworld of New York City’s Bowery and a series of deceptively disparate—but decidedly connected—murders. And as he calls upon the scattered members of the Arcanum for aid, he also finds himself embroiled in a story of war as old as time itself. Not of a struggle between countries, but between darkness and light.
Peopled with the twentieth century’s most famous—and infamous—figures, here is an extraordinary tale in which the stakes go beyond the realm of humankind—into the divine.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Historical

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Thomas "Tom" Wheeler is an American screenwriter and producer. He sold his first screenplay at age twenty-two, to Twentieth Century Fox. He has continued to work on major Hollywood features for the last several years. He served as the executive producer and show runner for the NBC superhero series The Cape.

Wheeler began his television career writing and executive producing the ABC mini-series Empire in 2005. He then wrote two television pilots, The World According to Barnes and Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas, neither of which were taken to series. His series The Cape, about a police officer framed for a crime he did not commit who takes on the guise of his son's favorite comic book hero in order to clear his name, premiered on NBC on January 9, 2011.

Film work
Wheeler co-wrote the screenplay for Puss in Boots (2011), a spin-off from the Shrek franchise about the eponymous character.

He is currently writing the screenplay for the 2015 DreamWorks Animation's animated film B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations. But that film was quietly canceled. He was also co-writing another DWA's animated film Trollhunters together with film's co-director Guillermo del Toro, but the movie was then converted into a television series instead. Wheeler also wrote the 2017 live-action/animated film, The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Other writing
As of 2018, Wheeler is working with Frank Miller on a project called Cursed, which is an illustrated YA book reimagining the King Arthur legend from the point of view of the Lady of the Lake. Wheeler will write the prose, while Miller will provide original full-color and black-and-white illustrations. Miller and Wheeler will also simultaneously adapt the book into a TV series, which has already received a 10-episode order from Netflix. They will also both be executive producers on the project.

Wheeler lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Christina, and his son, Luca. The Arcanum is his first novel.

Reviews

[Clare Richardson · Rating 1 out of 5]

If Stephenie Meyer and Dan Brown had a baby, that baby would have grown up into Thomas Wheeler and it would have written this book. The writing is clunky and in places it's absolutely nonsensical. The plot is difficult to follow, which is a shame, because I think it could have been fantastic. The whole time I was reading it, I just kept thinking it was so close, yet so unbelievably far away.

My chief issue with the novel was the treatment of the female characters. Each time a woman is introduced to the novel or even to a scene, her breasts are mentioned. (I'm not kidding, it's got to be 99% of the time.) Instead of using her legendary skills to distract hospital guards, Marie uses her body and pretends to be a prostitute. Naturally, Marie was the love interest of more than one member of the Arcanum. Not one female character escaped being sexualized, not even Houdini's wife (who was probably my favorite). Every time Marie was sassy or took initiative, it felt completely pasted on. It was pretty damn disgusting.

That on top of flat characters and ridiculous circumstances (seriously? Houdini and Lovecraft escape by tightrope walking across the power lines? what the hell?), I was totally disappointed.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

How do you mess up a story about Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft, and Houdini attempting to avert the end of the world by recovering a lost volume of arcane lore and dubious provenance? Just ask Thomas Wheeler.

Start by failing to do any kind of historical or biographical research whatsoever. Lovecraft was social guy with a wide correspondence and a fairly excellent sense of humor, which makes him a far more complex personality than the Reclusive Necromancer Wheeler paint-by-numbers here. Doyle based his most famous character on Dr. Joseph Bell, not himself, and wrote eerie tales of supernatural horror, which seems like the kind of thing that would have merited a little attention here. I'll admit I don't know much about Houdini, but I'm fairly certain he and the other gentlemen of his era didn't speak in anachronistic metaphors the way Wheeler has them doing.

Once you've completely sucked the joy out of your novel by inaccurately depicting the main characters, try to recoup your losses by stacking set piece upon set piece, with little regard to sense or plot progression. Got Houdini? Let's put in an escape with a high-wire act! Got Doyle? Let's make him randomly deduce things in some situations but not others! Got Lovecraft? Let's throw in a little shittily-written steampunk confrontation with a demon (or something)! Not done yet? Let's insert Marie Laveau into the narrative, despite her having been dead for a few decades by this time, and then HAVE HER RAISE SOME DAMN ZOMBIES! Because, well, why not, right?

This should have been precisely the kind of thing I adore, a brilliant mash-up of history and literature tinged with supernatural horror. Instead, it's nothing but a rather painfully epic disappointment, with cardboard cut-outs standing in for beloved characters and random episodes standing in for plot and a completely inaccurate rendering of HPL's Cthulhu Mythos added on top just as a final kick in the teeth. I suppose I can say that at least it was good for a laugh, though I highly doubt that's what the author intended.

[Jeremiah Genest · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this cheap at the bookstore at the airport. Not a lot of choice. And it waasn't that good. First of all, the depicitions of Laveau, Houdini, Lovecraft and Doyle seemed wrong. Tim Powers has a quote somewhere that when writing historical fantasy its important to fill in the gaps. This one just uses names and doesn't care about the characters. It read like a poor screenplay turned into a book. Blah

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually bought this book a couple of years ago on the recommedation of a co-worker back when I worked for a book store.

I'm sorry it took me so long to read it. It was surprisingly good. After "Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl, I honestly didn't think I'd find any author able to fuse well known historical literary figures into a story and not have it come across as cheesey or cheap. Thomas Wheeler did a great job. Not only did I believe that I was reading the interactions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, HP Lovecraft, and Harry Houdini, but their pursuit of the mystery and personal limits and demons felt right on. The basis of the story was exciting and the strings of the mystery were satisfactorily tied. I even loved the ending...redemption comes in so many forms, and this story we have each character finding their own redemption.

It's a great mystery and historical account of attitudes and feelings from turn of the century New York and one that I highly recommend to any mystery/literary fan.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was AWESOME. it had everything. Lost tribes of Angels, gonstic gospel knowledge, historical fiction, H.P. Lovecraft as a character in the book, a twisted plot I didn't see all the way through until it came about at the end. Uber-rich Satanists... you name it. WOW!

I mean sure, not high-brow fiction but one HELL of a joyride through the occult and early American.

[Robyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tries to be the Last Templar meets Rule of Four meets Da Vinci Code meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen... And it just fails miserably.

[Angie Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! A perfectly wonderful way to spend an afternoon if you love Sherlock Holme, Houdini and Doyle, supernatural mysteries and turn of the century settings. The author is obviously a great scriptwriter; this read vividly and deliciously like a great movie. So much fun. I think I loved every page.

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but soon it become evident that that wouldn't be the case.

So many real persons here, and really? Marie Laveau? In New York? With Lovecraft? I'm sorry, but I don't buy it *laughs* Conan Doyle and Houdini? Yeah, they were friends for a time, so I could see them teaming to solve a mystery. But bringing Lovecraft and Laveau to the mix makes it look like the only point of the story was to bring all these people together and that will be all.

And the story itself, although had potential, it never took flight. It was slow and, at times, downright boring. I don't think I'll be reading more by this author.

Ralph Lister's narration was good.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kill me now. On the surface, Wheeler had a pretty intriguing idea: Form a supergroup of icons all of whom were around at about the same time period; Conan-Doyle, Lovecraft, Houdini and Lavaeu (with a cameo by Aleister Crowley)- and team them together to use their unique abilities to solve a gruesome murder in 1919 New York City that has something to do with the apochryphal Book of Enoch. Unfortunately, these towering figures would have to be handled by far defter literary talents than Wheeler is capable of. To cite a part of Publisher's Weekly's review: "All the supernatural shenanigans, however, can't disguise that these characters, with their contemporary sensibilities, are crude caricatures of their real-life originals." I personally gave up about 2/3 the way through after reading a scene in which Doyle meets a Catholic priest friend and has a conversation about the Rite of exorcism in which the priest gets every solitary detail surrounding the Church's teachings on the subject totally wrong. I know the internet in 2004 wasn't what it is now, but this lack of research on such a widely written and discussed topic is inexcusable. This one's a safe pass.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book begins with a silly, but fairly entertaining, premise: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft and voodoo priestess Marie Laveau form a group and use their skills to track down supernatural events and right the world. Turning historical personages into 21st century-styled action heroes is hardly necessary, but is harmless enough. At first. Unfortunately, somewhere near the middle of the story, the plot moves rapidly from silly to preposterous to ridiculous. Anytime Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini require assistance from levitating magicians or trained mice who carry messages on their collar through downtown Manhattan, you know your gimmick has gone out of control. Where is an editor when you need one?

[Brent Merrill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is essentially League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with real historical figures instead of literary ones. I would watch the TV show in a heartbeat but getting through the book itself was a bit of a drag. There are odd moments were you look at this detail or that and go oh, well the author did some research. The next page however will have some random bit of anachronism that leaves you confused. Read it if you like comics and don't expect much.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK - This one was a guilty pleasure. An occult thriller in which a team consists of Harry Houdini, Marie Laveau, H.P. Lovecraft, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? It's like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but with real people (yet equally far-fetched).

[Jannelies (living between hope and fear) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Om het even kort samen te vatten: dit boek is speciaal voor de liefhebbers van bijvoorbeeld Christopher Fowler, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft en Dan Brown en aanverwanten. Dat geeft dus gelijk al aan dat het niet 'zomaar' een spannend boek is. 'The Arcanum' is de naam voor het uiterst geheime genootschap dat bestaat uit al eerder genoemde Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft, Marie Laveau (een voodoo priesteres) en Harry Houdini. Onwaarschijnlijk? Jawel, hoogst onwaarschijnlijk, maar schrijvers hebben nu eenmaal alle vrijheid en Wheeler heeft die vrijheid ten volle benut!

Dit boek is het eerste van Wheeler, maar heel leuk laat hij in het verhaal zelf af en toe doorschemeren dat The Arcanum al heel lang bestaat, en dat het viertal samen al de meest vreselijke dingen heeft meegemaakt. Die zaken worden niet met namen genoemd maar ze spelen toch een rol in dit boek, omdat ze van invloed zijn op de verhouding tussen het viertal. Het verhaal speelt zich af in 1919 en begint als de Rus Konstantin Duvall wordt doodgereden door een dronken automobilist. Hoewel auto's in die tijd nog geen gemeengoed waren, waren dronken automobilisten dat al wel.

Arthur Conan Doyle krijgt een telefoontje van Winston Churchill, die hem het vreselijke nieuws brengt. De dood van Duvall heeft namelijk geleid tot het verdwijnen van 'Het boek van Enoch', niets meer of minder dan het derde bijbelboek, het boek waarin beschreven staat hoe Lucifer de Duivel werd en wat er gebeurde met de engelen. Nu blijkt dat de laatste overlevenden van de engelen gevonden zijn, en nog wel in New York. Doyle reist naar New York om de andere drie leden van The Arcanum bij elkaar te roepen, maar hij wordt gehinderd door een dikke domme politieman die het bestaat om eerst H.P. Lovecraft in een gesticht op te laten sluiten en vervolgens Harry Houdini te arresteren voor diverse nare moorden die de laatste tijd in New York hebben plaatsgevonden.

Uiteindelijk, na vele omzwervingen en complicaties, kan Abigail, de laatste engel, gered worden, maar daarmee is er nog geen einde gekomen aan de ellende. Het boek is nog niet terug en de snoodaard die achter alle plannen zit leeft nog. Alleen met hulp van heel veel magie – en een flinke stoet illusionisten en ander 'vreemd volk' lijkt het te moeten lukken.

Qua sfeer deed dit boek mij, zoals gezegd, nogal denken aan Christopher Fowler en dat is een compliment. In dit verhaal rol je als lezer van de ene in de andere verrassing, en dat het allemaal heerlijk bij elkaar geraapte onzin is merk je na een paar hoofdstukken niet meer. Ondanks het hoge tempo en de onwaarschijnlijkheid van het geheel weet Wheeler de lezer mee te slepen in het verhaal en ziet hij ook nog kans om de karakters naar behoren uit te diepen. Zelfs humor wordt niet vergeten, alsmede een klein, heel klein vleugje vage erotiek. Kanttekening hierbij is wel dat als je nog nooit gehoord hebt van de vier hoofdpersonen, je een hoop mist in dit verhaal. Mocht je er echter drie van de vier - min of meer - kennen, zoek dan informatie over de vierde en begin beslist aan dit boek! Ik bofte, want H.P. Lovecraft is een favoriete auteur van mij en natuurlijk heb ik Conan Doyle gelezen en over Houdini en Laveau gelezen. Dat maakte het allemaal nog leuker! Aan de andere kant: je kunt je natuurlijk ook laten verrassen. Als een auteur zelf zijn hoofdpersonen verzint, kan je tenslotte ook geen achtergrondinformatie vinden.

Volgens een bekende site met recensies (www.allscifi.com) zijn de boeken die je ook nog kunt lezen als je The Arcanum leuk vindt: The Buried Pyramid van Jane Linskold, Seraphim van Michelle Hauf, Kiss of the Night van Sherrilyn Kenyon en Arena van Karen Hancock.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really 2 1/2...

It wasn't bad - but it just didn't ever get great. Someone mentioned that the portrayals of the historical characters seemed off, and I have to agree - with the caveat that I don't actually know much about the historical figures portrayed in this story. They just seemed sort of like charicatures.

The mystery element was ok, but didn't really have the suspense that I like in these sorts of books. I wasn't on the proverbial edge of my seat... and I didn't HAVE to finish it to find out who was behind what... It was an entertaining enough read, but it wasn't really gripping... *shrugs*

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun mystery romp with literary giants Doyle and Lovecraft. Pastiche, but no less fun. Lots of action and scrapes with danger. Writers are action heroes, when not penning pulp fictions.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good adventure/horror book. This book has tons of historical characters in it. Houdini, HP Lovecraft, Alister Crawley. A fantastic read, very recommended

[João Jorge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well Thomas Wheeler is mostly a script writer and it shows. What we have here is a cool idea and very well though out action set-pieces. It might work in a movie, with a huge budget and the charisma of the actors carrying the flawed script. But this is a book. It needs well written characters, with arcs, a plot that makes sense and a developed villain. Basic elements that no matter how “light reading” the author is producing, must be in the book. They are sorely lacking here. There's a lot of action sequences, some disturbing gory moments and not much else. There's a decent idea and perhaps a decent book beneath this mess but the author could not rise from mediocrity. Its always about moving the plot forward to the next cool scene and provide the minimum plot for the action. Its an easy read, fast and even entertaining at times. But unlikable characters, a weak plot and almost an absence of a villain until the last third of the book, make this hard to recommend. Even the ending is painfully disappointing. Only fit for a lazy summer reading.

[Mahay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a secret society in early 20th century New York called the Arcanum. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, H. P. Lovecraft, and voodoo queen Marie Laveau join forces for one last Arcanum mission: to stop winged demons from murdering the last Angel of the tribe of Enoch. The demons have been attacking angels across the city — tearing out their spines and stealing their wings. The last angel, Abigail, discovers herself protected by the Arcanum as they form a plan to rid the city of demons. The novel is masterfully written with a powerful control of the English language. Every sentence was pictured in my head like a grand movie. Delightful characters, raw violence, and an exciting plot. I wish it were a film in the style of Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.).

[Nicole Costa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Arcanum is a book that I feel had really good potential but fell flat due to the author's writing style. Thomas Wheeler began his career with screenwriting and it shows in this book, which suffers from the flaw of having too many characters and not enough characterization. The plot was fine, but I found myself losing interest because I couldn't care about or connect to any of the characters. It's almost like Wheeler relied on these characters' historical significance to bring them to life for the reader instead of being able to do so via his writing. Overall still a fairly entertaining read, but it wasn't one that I felt lived up to its premise.

[Μάριος Μητσόπουλος · Rating 3 out of 5]

Πολύ ωραία ιδέα να χρησιμοποιηθούν αυτές οι ιστορικές προσωπικότητες για πρωταγωνιστές. Επίσης πίσω από την ενσωμάτωσή τους φαίνεται να έχει γίνει και ιστορική έρευνα, κάτι που ανεβάζει ακόμη περισσότερο την προσπάθεια. Παρ'όλα αυτά είναι στιγμές που η αφήγηση γίνεται αρκετά περιγραφική και λίγο κουραστική. Όπως το κατάλαβα υπάρχει μία τάση (από τη μέση και μετά περισσότερο) να υπάρξουν σκηνές δράσης ανάλογες μίας ταινίας και εκεί το όλο πράγμα χαλάει. Προς το τέλος θα έλεγα ότι και η πλοκή χωλαίνει αν και η ιστορία σαν σύνολο ήταν καλή ιδέα.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the early 1900s, the leader of a powerful Spiritualist group turns up dead on one side of the Pond, while brutal murders begin occurring in New York City. With a cast including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Houdini, HP Lovecraft, and others, a fantastical, historical, Biblical story unfolds.

Despite a few errors regarding the actual characters’ personalities in real life, this book was fantastic. It’s not every day an author attempts to—and successfully—throws together some of the biggest names in mystery, science fiction, fantasy, Voodoo, magic, magick, and oh so much more.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing cast of characters! It just got better and better with each new introduction. Right from the beginning I was hooked and wanted to know everyhting about everyone. What was also very nice was the pacing. It was fast and high energy when necessary, but the author knew exactly when to tone it down and give the reader a break. I wish whole heartedly that this was part of a series because I want so much more of this world.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Arcanum: Arthur Conan Doyle, Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft, voodoo queen Marie Laveau. Defenders against the demonic. Their mentor is killed and the Book of Enoch is stolen. Demons are walking the earth; angels are being killed--all in an elaborate plot to get Lucifer back into Heaven. Enemies human and non-human assail the Arcanum--as well as inside squabbling. But they do rally to save the last member of the Tribe of Enoch, an angel known as Abigail, who lives as a street urchin. They help her find her way home, get the book back, and destroy the demons swarming through NYC

[Amy K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the concept and famous characters are intriguing, the plot itself is uneven, and some of the description is clunky and overly prescriptive (like we're watching a film rather than reading a novel). I suspect this has something to do with Wheeler's experience as a screenwriter. Still, it's worth reading for the aforementioned concepts and characters.

[Cyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting amalgam of history, theology, demonology, mythology, literature, fantasy, and thriller in this novel. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the great Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft, and others team up to fight evil and save the last surviving angel-on-earth. A fun read.

[Γιάννης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ! Πολύ όμορφο γράψιμο από τον Wheeler, χωρίς να ωραιοποιεί κάθε σκηνή μάχης (όπως γίνεται συνήθως) και υπέροχη επιλογή χαρακτήρων! Ελαφρώς λυπηρό τελείωμα αλλά δεν μπορώ να σκεφτώ κάποιο πιο ταιριαστό. Μια ωραία ιστορία φαντασίας της οποίας τη συνέχεια θα διάβαζα ασυζητητί!

[Christine_v · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read. I really liked Lovecraft and Houdini.
It was written like a movie. Would recommend.

[Jessie Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish he had another book. I highly highly recommend this!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο, καλές ιδέες θα μπορούσε να ναι και καλύτερο

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really cool premise with a really average execution.