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The Adventures of Holloway Holmes #1
The Strangest Forms
Watson is dead. Holmes is alone. And Jack is desperate.
Sixteen-year-old Jack Moreno is managing to hold his life together. Barely. After a terrible car accident leaves his father unable to work, Jack makes ends meet by dropping out of school and covering his dad’s custodial shifts at a school for troubled teens, high in the Wasatch Mountains. Everything is going all right until the night Jack finds Sarah Watson—yes, descendant of that Watson—dead.
When the icy but intriguing Holloway Holmes—yes, descendant of that Holmes—learns of Watson’s death, he is determined to discover the killer on his own. But Jack and his father are the prime suspects in the official investigation, and Jack refuses to sit by and wait.
In an uneasy alliance with Holmes, Jack must hurry to learn what really happened to Sarah Watson, which means facing down a Moriarty, unearthing secrets and blackmail, and trying to solve the other murder at the Walker School, one that happened more than twenty years before. Working together is the only way Jack and Holmes might find the killer before he catches up with them, but both boys are keeping secrets of their own—secrets that threaten the fragile trust they’ve managed to build between them.
Sixteen-year-old Jack Moreno is managing to hold his life together. Barely. After a terrible car accident leaves his father unable to work, Jack makes ends meet by dropping out of school and covering his dad’s custodial shifts at a school for troubled teens, high in the Wasatch Mountains. Everything is going all right until the night Jack finds Sarah Watson—yes, descendant of that Watson—dead.
When the icy but intriguing Holloway Holmes—yes, descendant of that Holmes—learns of Watson’s death, he is determined to discover the killer on his own. But Jack and his father are the prime suspects in the official investigation, and Jack refuses to sit by and wait.
In an uneasy alliance with Holmes, Jack must hurry to learn what really happened to Sarah Watson, which means facing down a Moriarty, unearthing secrets and blackmail, and trying to solve the other murder at the Walker School, one that happened more than twenty years before. Working together is the only way Jack and Holmes might find the killer before he catches up with them, but both boys are keeping secrets of their own—secrets that threaten the fragile trust they’ve managed to build between them.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2023
67 people are currently reading
905 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Ashe
130 books1,765 followersI'm a long-time Midwesterner. I've lived in Chicago, Bloomington (IN), and Saint Louis, my current home. Aside from reading and writing (which take up a lot of my time), I'm an educator.
While I enjoy reading across many genres, my two main loves are mystery and speculative fiction. I used to keep a list of favorite books, but it changes so frequently that I've given up. I'm always looking for recommendations, though, so please drop me a line if you have something in mind!
My big goal right now is one day to be responsible enough to get a dog.
While I enjoy reading across many genres, my two main loves are mystery and speculative fiction. I used to keep a list of favorite books, but it changes so frequently that I've given up. I'm always looking for recommendations, though, so please drop me a line if you have something in mind!
My big goal right now is one day to be responsible enough to get a dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
May 12, 2023
✰ 5 stars ✰
“I’m not afraid of you,” I said.
“That’s strange,” Holmes said. “Because sometimes, Jack, I’m terrified of you, of what you could do to me.”
Nothing makes me happier than reading a book that is written well - and Gregory Ashe's The Strangest Forms was --- it was so damn perfect, it terrified me. Everything about it was - reading it was a three-hour experience of such contentment as a reader - a voracious reader, who just wants to read a good book that ticks all the boxes she looks for in a worthwhile read. And Jack Moreno and Holloway Holmes were exactly what I needed. I think the reason why I liked them even more was because they reminded me so much of my other fav boyfriend sleuths- James and Oliver from Dark is the Night series.
“No one—no one—had ever seen me the way Holloway Holmes was seeing me; in that moment, I was absolutely certain of it. It made my skin tighten. It turned my breath to a lump of ice in my chest, and at the same time, I felt like I was on fire.”
Jack Moreno is a great narrator - such a relatable down-to-earth protagonist - I loved being inside his head, felt his grief, shared his inside jokes, admired his resilience, appreciated every effort he did to just do what is right. I loved how he was with Holloway - I smiled at how special the nickname he had for Holloway became a part of their relationship. Their banter was so spot-on - how much he slowly began to rely on Holloway, trust him and vice versa. 🥰🥰
Their teamwork wasn't at the best when they first met, but when they just wormed their way into each other's lives, you could see how much trust they were gifting each other - to allow their vulnerabilities to come to light. How much they both comforted each other in their own way - in their time of need - even if Holloway shied away from it.
“In seventh-grade art, Ms. Prinze told us some Japanese artists included deliberate imperfections in their work. The Navajos, too. So the soul didn’t get trapped in perfection.
Sure, I thought, looking at him. I get it.”
I LOVED his inner turmoil over his attraction to Holloway - all his deepest desires, which he was terrified to voice - the softest of slow burns is *chef's kiss* here! How he was slowly falling for him - no matter how hard he resisted it, and still let down his walls for him, took the fall for him, worried about him, admired him from afar! 💕💕
“The rush made me dizzy, but in a good way. It made me think of Holloway Holmes and his pale, slender fingers spinning the dial on Watson’s safe. All the dials were spinning inside me now, the locks undoing themselves one by one. I hit the blunt again and knew I was going too fast.”
The hurt/comfort shown from both sides was immaculate and made full of so many feels! That conversation at InNOut, the hospital scene, the casual banter, and repertoire tossed back and forth was - I LOVED IT! You can sense that they're falling for each other, but it doesn't feel forced or unnatural - it's progressing at such a steady and believable pace, that I'm screaming into my pillow at how perfect they are together, but still too afraid to say it to each other. 😔😔
“Holmes looked like she’d slapped him.
“Your face,” she said. “I’m sorry, I am. Of course, I did think you’d have figured it out by now.”
“Don’t talk to him like that,” I said. The rawness of my voice surprised me. “In fact, don’t talk to him at all.”
I fell in love with Holloway - he's so far from a robot - he's so full of emotion and care - so caring and concerning, so overwhelming with attention to just look out for Jack - I just wanted to wrap him in a blanket and hug his insecurities and fears away. Every instance where either of them comforted the other, reassured the other, supported one another and worked together to piece the clues together - I
ATE IT UP Yes, that hospital scene and the InNOut truck drive lives in my mind rent-free - it was my piece de resistance. ❤️🩹❤️🩹 How Jack held Holloway's hand - threatened him with so much affection - suffered the agony of Rivera's comment
“Quit talking about soup and how much he eats and whatever else you’re mumbling about and get your ass over there,”
and made my heart beat even faster at the slightest of confessions ---
“They deactivated my pain sensors.”
A laugh slipped out of me. It was that or sob.
“I like your laugh,” Holmes murmured. “I like your smile. I like you....”
When Jack was being tortured - my heart ached for Holloway's helplessness - when he shared his past with Jack, my heart wept for him - when he hugged Jack, my heart cried for him. I just - Holloway deserves all the love and best in the world - he came to Jack's aid so many times - saved him till the very end - I was a puddle of feels at the end, they are the most adorable sixteen-year-olds I have ever been blessed to read. 🫠🫠 And then to think he has that horrible creep of a father - he gave me the chills and I'm so worried about what's going to happen to him in the next part. 😟😟😟
“Leave him alone,” I said, directing the words past Shivers towards Vearl. “You hurt him, and you have no fucking idea what I’ll do to you.”
The pacing- immaculate - the writing - flawless. I am such a picky critic, but I ADORED this! I wish I could explain how much I loved his writing style, how it was so fluid and captured your attention at all the right points. I loved how Sherlock lore was integrated so seamlessly into the plot - the intrigue of the case was compelling - even if I again figured out who was the killer - I enjoyed following them on their trails as they unearthed deeper mysteries and fought tougher struggles that went beyond just the case at hand.
“What was the word for it? When you felt like you were falling, but someone was going to catch you. When you felt like your eyes were closed, but you were looking at the sun. When a wind moved through you and moved everything within you.”
I sense a new favorite author on the horizon and I am so excited to devour his other works, after reading the second part, of course! Ah, it was so good - such a perfect balance of humor and action, hurt and comfort, connection and understanding, the subtle pining and the softest of yearning - just such a wonderful joy reading this. It made me happy to be reader - does that make sense?
Does it make sense that I used LOVED so many times in this review, because it was just three hours of pure happiness reading this. 🩵🩵 Just to know that I can still find gems like this warmed my heart so very much and so very eager to see what awaits Jack and Holloway in their future.
“Whatever was in me was like that, like the last still moment before the aspens quaked, like hot breath on a cold night.
Say something, I thought. Say anything, and I’ll say yes.”
🥺🥺🥺
“I’m not afraid of you,” I said.
“That’s strange,” Holmes said. “Because sometimes, Jack, I’m terrified of you, of what you could do to me.”
Nothing makes me happier than reading a book that is written well - and Gregory Ashe's The Strangest Forms was --- it was so damn perfect, it terrified me. Everything about it was - reading it was a three-hour experience of such contentment as a reader - a voracious reader, who just wants to read a good book that ticks all the boxes she looks for in a worthwhile read. And Jack Moreno and Holloway Holmes were exactly what I needed. I think the reason why I liked them even more was because they reminded me so much of my other fav boyfriend sleuths- James and Oliver from Dark is the Night series.
“No one—no one—had ever seen me the way Holloway Holmes was seeing me; in that moment, I was absolutely certain of it. It made my skin tighten. It turned my breath to a lump of ice in my chest, and at the same time, I felt like I was on fire.”
Jack Moreno is a great narrator - such a relatable down-to-earth protagonist - I loved being inside his head, felt his grief, shared his inside jokes, admired his resilience, appreciated every effort he did to just do what is right. I loved how he was with Holloway - I smiled at how special the nickname he had for Holloway became a part of their relationship. Their banter was so spot-on - how much he slowly began to rely on Holloway, trust him and vice versa. 🥰🥰
Their teamwork wasn't at the best when they first met, but when they just wormed their way into each other's lives, you could see how much trust they were gifting each other - to allow their vulnerabilities to come to light. How much they both comforted each other in their own way - in their time of need - even if Holloway shied away from it.
“In seventh-grade art, Ms. Prinze told us some Japanese artists included deliberate imperfections in their work. The Navajos, too. So the soul didn’t get trapped in perfection.
Sure, I thought, looking at him. I get it.”
I LOVED his inner turmoil over his attraction to Holloway - all his deepest desires, which he was terrified to voice - the softest of slow burns is *chef's kiss* here! How he was slowly falling for him - no matter how hard he resisted it, and still let down his walls for him, took the fall for him, worried about him, admired him from afar! 💕💕
“The rush made me dizzy, but in a good way. It made me think of Holloway Holmes and his pale, slender fingers spinning the dial on Watson’s safe. All the dials were spinning inside me now, the locks undoing themselves one by one. I hit the blunt again and knew I was going too fast.”
The hurt/comfort shown from both sides was immaculate and made full of so many feels! That conversation at InNOut, the hospital scene, the casual banter, and repertoire tossed back and forth was - I LOVED IT! You can sense that they're falling for each other, but it doesn't feel forced or unnatural - it's progressing at such a steady and believable pace, that I'm screaming into my pillow at how perfect they are together, but still too afraid to say it to each other. 😔😔
“Holmes looked like she’d slapped him.
“Your face,” she said. “I’m sorry, I am. Of course, I did think you’d have figured it out by now.”
“Don’t talk to him like that,” I said. The rawness of my voice surprised me. “In fact, don’t talk to him at all.”
I fell in love with Holloway - he's so far from a robot - he's so full of emotion and care - so caring and concerning, so overwhelming with attention to just look out for Jack - I just wanted to wrap him in a blanket and hug his insecurities and fears away. Every instance where either of them comforted the other, reassured the other, supported one another and worked together to piece the clues together - I
ATE IT UP Yes, that hospital scene and the InNOut truck drive lives in my mind rent-free - it was my piece de resistance. ❤️🩹❤️🩹 How Jack held Holloway's hand - threatened him with so much affection - suffered the agony of Rivera's comment
“Quit talking about soup and how much he eats and whatever else you’re mumbling about and get your ass over there,”
and made my heart beat even faster at the slightest of confessions ---
“They deactivated my pain sensors.”
A laugh slipped out of me. It was that or sob.
“I like your laugh,” Holmes murmured. “I like your smile. I like you....”
When Jack was being tortured - my heart ached for Holloway's helplessness - when he shared his past with Jack, my heart wept for him - when he hugged Jack, my heart cried for him. I just - Holloway deserves all the love and best in the world - he came to Jack's aid so many times - saved him till the very end - I was a puddle of feels at the end, they are the most adorable sixteen-year-olds I have ever been blessed to read. 🫠🫠 And then to think he has that horrible creep of a father - he gave me the chills and I'm so worried about what's going to happen to him in the next part. 😟😟😟
“Leave him alone,” I said, directing the words past Shivers towards Vearl. “You hurt him, and you have no fucking idea what I’ll do to you.”
The pacing- immaculate - the writing - flawless. I am such a picky critic, but I ADORED this! I wish I could explain how much I loved his writing style, how it was so fluid and captured your attention at all the right points. I loved how Sherlock lore was integrated so seamlessly into the plot - the intrigue of the case was compelling - even if I again figured out who was the killer - I enjoyed following them on their trails as they unearthed deeper mysteries and fought tougher struggles that went beyond just the case at hand.
“What was the word for it? When you felt like you were falling, but someone was going to catch you. When you felt like your eyes were closed, but you were looking at the sun. When a wind moved through you and moved everything within you.”
I sense a new favorite author on the horizon and I am so excited to devour his other works, after reading the second part, of course! Ah, it was so good - such a perfect balance of humor and action, hurt and comfort, connection and understanding, the subtle pining and the softest of yearning - just such a wonderful joy reading this. It made me happy to be reader - does that make sense?
Does it make sense that I used LOVED so many times in this review, because it was just three hours of pure happiness reading this. 🩵🩵 Just to know that I can still find gems like this warmed my heart so very much and so very eager to see what awaits Jack and Holloway in their future.
“Whatever was in me was like that, like the last still moment before the aspens quaked, like hot breath on a cold night.
Say something, I thought. Say anything, and I’ll say yes.”
🥺🥺🥺
June 13, 2023
Audiobook - 5+++++ stars
Story - 4 stars
This was such a nice surprise. Going in I didn't know it was YA and I thought it was going to be another Watson/Holmes retelling. It was something, something original?? More that what I expected.
The writing is amazing as always. Loved the narration. Greg has an amazing voice.
Great start to what I hope will be another amazing series from Greg.
Jack is such an adorable MC, and in Holmes and we got an adventure ahead of us.
A copy of the audiobook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Story - 4 stars
This was such a nice surprise. Going in I didn't know it was YA and I thought it was going to be another Watson/Holmes retelling. It was something, something original?? More that what I expected.
The writing is amazing as always. Loved the narration. Greg has an amazing voice.
Great start to what I hope will be another amazing series from Greg.
Jack is such an adorable MC, and in Holmes and we got an adventure ahead of us.
A copy of the audiobook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
February 24, 2023
**what day is it? release day!! 
don't forget to check out the short story "The Adventure of the First Day" included in yesterday's newsletter if you haven't already. happy reading, my fellow bibliosapiens!**
giddy. giddy and delirious. because once again, i am putty in GA’s hands.
a breathtaking five-star stunner of an intro to his new series, and ode to the Holmes universe in his interpretation of a modern-day descendant of Sherlock Holmes attending a school for troubled teens, complete with complex interfamilial layers waiting to be peeled back.
GA brings about his specialty of Cute Hot Messes with Trauma™ in a 19-course meal fit for royalty. this story is a charming goldilocks balance of one-liners meant to be voiced while strutting in shades against the backdrop of a wild explosion, interactions more tender than any meat consumed in the history of mankind, delicious tension that had me aching down to my toes, snarky & teasing fun inciting brays of laughter, shows of protectiveness taking me to orbit, bucketsful of hardship and delusions for that added kick, and to top it all off, the impulsive foolishness replicated in the dna of all amateur sleuths.
if any collection of my favorite stylistic inclusions (i’m talking dynamics, tropes, utterances) were ever to exist, this might be one of the closest ones i’ve found yet. i might as well have highlighted the entire book with how many golden lines there were. i loved the father-son dynamics and even the single pov, both a sweet homage to the originals as well as throwback to old school "The Sophistries of June"/"Hollow Folk" GA for multiple reasons. now if only Jack Moreno & Holloway Holmes happened to find themselves in an arranged marriage… *unsubtly emits signals GA’s way* 😂
future Alyssa will be cursing me tomorrow for eschewing adult responsibilities to indulge in some literary gluttony, but i had around 100 notes recorded on my kindle by the end of this adventure and 75% of them are just my nonsensical attempts at distinguishing between a heart attack and a case of the feels. findings of limb flailing and squealing taking place during those instances led to a diagnosis of the latter, but now that i’ve calmed down, the sporadic melting into puddles of goo on the ground should’ve been the biggest tell.
as to be expected, Jack and Holloway need some more time to get their act together, but i’m already buzzing with excitement for the day they carve their initials in the scrub oak tree of love 😍
*don't forget to keep an eye out for the subtle easter egg nods at the Hazardverse and the Sherlock Holmes universe - what a clever goose Greg is!
Thank you to the author for providing a complimentary copy of this book; this is my honest review :)
---- initial thoughts ----
“Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms” - “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Jack and Holmes are the cutest mofos in existence 😫
RTC once i come back from digesting this book and sushi 🍣
don't forget to check out the short story "The Adventure of the First Day" included in yesterday's newsletter if you haven't already. happy reading, my fellow bibliosapiens!**giddy. giddy and delirious. because once again, i am putty in GA’s hands.
a breathtaking five-star stunner of an intro to his new series, and ode to the Holmes universe in his interpretation of a modern-day descendant of Sherlock Holmes attending a school for troubled teens, complete with complex interfamilial layers waiting to be peeled back.
GA brings about his specialty of Cute Hot Messes with Trauma™ in a 19-course meal fit for royalty. this story is a charming goldilocks balance of one-liners meant to be voiced while strutting in shades against the backdrop of a wild explosion, interactions more tender than any meat consumed in the history of mankind, delicious tension that had me aching down to my toes, snarky & teasing fun inciting brays of laughter, shows of protectiveness taking me to orbit, bucketsful of hardship and delusions for that added kick, and to top it all off, the impulsive foolishness replicated in the dna of all amateur sleuths.
if any collection of my favorite stylistic inclusions (i’m talking dynamics, tropes, utterances) were ever to exist, this might be one of the closest ones i’ve found yet. i might as well have highlighted the entire book with how many golden lines there were. i loved the father-son dynamics and even the single pov, both a sweet homage to the originals as well as throwback to old school "The Sophistries of June"/"Hollow Folk" GA for multiple reasons. now if only Jack Moreno & Holloway Holmes happened to find themselves in an arranged marriage… *unsubtly emits signals GA’s way* 😂
future Alyssa will be cursing me tomorrow for eschewing adult responsibilities to indulge in some literary gluttony, but i had around 100 notes recorded on my kindle by the end of this adventure and 75% of them are just my nonsensical attempts at distinguishing between a heart attack and a case of the feels. findings of limb flailing and squealing taking place during those instances led to a diagnosis of the latter, but now that i’ve calmed down, the sporadic melting into puddles of goo on the ground should’ve been the biggest tell.
as to be expected, Jack and Holloway need some more time to get their act together, but i’m already buzzing with excitement for the day they carve their initials in the scrub oak tree of love 😍
*don't forget to keep an eye out for the subtle easter egg nods at the Hazardverse and the Sherlock Holmes universe - what a clever goose Greg is!
Thank you to the author for providing a complimentary copy of this book; this is my honest review :)
---- initial thoughts ----
“Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms” - “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Jack and Holmes are the cutest mofos in existence 😫
RTC once i come back from digesting this book and sushi 🍣
April 28, 2023
If I could give this one 10 stars I would.
Ok, let me put this out here : Gregory Ashe is one of the best writers out there (and I don’t mean best MM authors, no, I mean best writers) and I hate him and love him in equal measure because he always delivers such interesting, complex, beautiful and fucked up characters but he never gives them that satisfying HEA we all expect from a romance book. He gets close , so close but they’re always feel like HFN at the best of times and sometimes barely even that. And then I always vow “As God is my witness I will NEVER EVER read another of his books” (I can be dramatic if I want to!) Fortunately (or unfortunately? 🤪)I have a friend who is a big fan and she keeps baiting me with bits of information from the the books and of course it works and I read them . She’s usually the one who bears my ranting after but serves her right , right? 😁
And ok, I know what you think and yeah H&S had their HEA but he then proceeded to pile shit on top of shit in their life that I had to abandon the series , it was way too long and I don’t really like so many books with an established couple and it felt like they hadn’t made any progress at all, they were still fucked up , so I kind if felt the series was going nowhere) .
Then we have Tean and Jem .. What was that????? I kind of hated that series because it wasn’t even a romance,let’s be serious. I LOVED those guys so much but he made a mess out of that romance.
Almost the same (though a bit better) were Auggie and Theo. And that brings us here and I must say I had to double check it was written by Gregory Ashe because oh my freaking God, the tenderness in this book, the emotions, the beauty of those boys (yeah boys, you remember I usually avoid YA books, no?)the writing, the intensity , oh my heart!!!! I loved everything about this book, everything, and even if it ends on a HFN note (it’s kind of logical, they’re 16-17) I’d still love these series/ guys forever and ever. I know Gregory Ashe will break my heart , I KNOW some pain will come in the next books and he already started to over complicate the shit but I’m willing to go to war for these boys. It really is the most romantic of his books .
10⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ok, let me put this out here : Gregory Ashe is one of the best writers out there (and I don’t mean best MM authors, no, I mean best writers) and I hate him and love him in equal measure because he always delivers such interesting, complex, beautiful and fucked up characters but he never gives them that satisfying HEA we all expect from a romance book. He gets close , so close but they’re always feel like HFN at the best of times and sometimes barely even that. And then I always vow “As God is my witness I will NEVER EVER read another of his books” (I can be dramatic if I want to!) Fortunately (or unfortunately? 🤪)I have a friend who is a big fan and she keeps baiting me with bits of information from the the books and of course it works and I read them . She’s usually the one who bears my ranting after but serves her right , right? 😁
And ok, I know what you think and yeah H&S had their HEA but he then proceeded to pile shit on top of shit in their life that I had to abandon the series , it was way too long and I don’t really like so many books with an established couple and it felt like they hadn’t made any progress at all, they were still fucked up , so I kind if felt the series was going nowhere) .
Then we have Tean and Jem .. What was that????? I kind of hated that series because it wasn’t even a romance,let’s be serious. I LOVED those guys so much but he made a mess out of that romance.
Almost the same (though a bit better) were Auggie and Theo. And that brings us here and I must say I had to double check it was written by Gregory Ashe because oh my freaking God, the tenderness in this book, the emotions, the beauty of those boys (yeah boys, you remember I usually avoid YA books, no?)the writing, the intensity , oh my heart!!!! I loved everything about this book, everything, and even if it ends on a HFN note (it’s kind of logical, they’re 16-17) I’d still love these series/ guys forever and ever. I know Gregory Ashe will break my heart , I KNOW some pain will come in the next books and he already started to over complicate the shit but I’m willing to go to war for these boys. It really is the most romantic of his books .
10⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 2, 2024
This was just such a fun and unique reimagining of a Holmes and Watson inspired story. I really loved this a lot and it’s one of those books that makes me so excited that there’s more in the series.
Although this is a YA story it still deals with some serious content and adult themes (including sex, violence, trauma, drug use and mental health issues) and is the sort of YA read that treats its audience seriously and doesn’t condescend to them. I really think this story has good universal appeal.
Jack is my absolute favourite flavour of toxic bisexual fuck boy who is a complete mess and who self medicates his trauma with drugs, sex and alcohol but who is also so charming, caring and sacrifices his own needs to look after those important to him that you can’t help but love him despite being a mess.
Holloway is also very autistic coded and unapologetically kicks ass but he also has a side that is so vulnerable and lacking in self confidence and is looking for safe human connection that you just want to wrap him up and keep him safe. I’m already excited to see him grow in confidence and come into his own sense of self in future books.
A fabulous thriller/mystery with some fun flirtiness on the side. The only reason I didn’t read this in one sitting was the unfortunate need to sleep.
The Adventures of Holloway Holmes
The Old Wheel 5⭐️
Where All Paths Meet 4.5⭐️
Although this is a YA story it still deals with some serious content and adult themes (including sex, violence, trauma, drug use and mental health issues) and is the sort of YA read that treats its audience seriously and doesn’t condescend to them. I really think this story has good universal appeal.
Jack is my absolute favourite flavour of toxic bisexual fuck boy who is a complete mess and who self medicates his trauma with drugs, sex and alcohol but who is also so charming, caring and sacrifices his own needs to look after those important to him that you can’t help but love him despite being a mess.
Holloway is also very autistic coded and unapologetically kicks ass but he also has a side that is so vulnerable and lacking in self confidence and is looking for safe human connection that you just want to wrap him up and keep him safe. I’m already excited to see him grow in confidence and come into his own sense of self in future books.
A fabulous thriller/mystery with some fun flirtiness on the side. The only reason I didn’t read this in one sitting was the unfortunate need to sleep.
The Adventures of Holloway Holmes
The Old Wheel 5⭐️
Where All Paths Meet 4.5⭐️
May 22, 2023
AUDIOBOOK May 2023: Fabulous performance by Nick J Russo!
Ebook March 2023:
Mystery Fun & a side of angst!
Modern day Holmes (descendant of famous Holmes)
A murder
Wrongful accusations
A private school
Utah
UST
YA
A worthy read!
I only wish I could listen to this in audiobook!
Ebook March 2023:
Mystery Fun & a side of angst!
Modern day Holmes (descendant of famous Holmes)
A murder
Wrongful accusations
A private school
Utah
UST
YA
A worthy read!
I only wish I could listen to this in audiobook!
May 30, 2025
I haven't read YA for a while and I forgot how much I enjoyed it!!
I know basically nothing about Sherlock Holmes except that he was a detective? Maybe? And he was BFFs with Watson? Not really sure, but there weren't many times that my lack of knowledge tripped me up. I don't understand the links between the Holmes, Watson and Moriarty families, so I'm a little in the dark when those things were being talked about, but overall I really enjoyed this.
I loved Jack and I feel like if this book were part of the hazardverse, he would totally be friends with Ash and Colt 😂 Holloway was interesting and I hope we get to learn more about him in the next book.
I really liked the awkwardness between Jack and Holloway but I wish Ariana would just disappear 😂😂 I'm sure she's super nice but I've already decided I'm team Jack and Holloway!
The crime was also really interesting and way more detailed than anything I've read in a YA before, but then I really enjoy the way Gregory Ashe writes crime mysteries, so I'm not surprised that his YA books are just as detailed as his adult books.
Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
I know basically nothing about Sherlock Holmes except that he was a detective? Maybe? And he was BFFs with Watson? Not really sure, but there weren't many times that my lack of knowledge tripped me up. I don't understand the links between the Holmes, Watson and Moriarty families, so I'm a little in the dark when those things were being talked about, but overall I really enjoyed this.
I loved Jack and I feel like if this book were part of the hazardverse, he would totally be friends with Ash and Colt 😂 Holloway was interesting and I hope we get to learn more about him in the next book.
I really liked the awkwardness between Jack and Holloway but I wish Ariana would just disappear 😂😂 I'm sure she's super nice but I've already decided I'm team Jack and Holloway!
The crime was also really interesting and way more detailed than anything I've read in a YA before, but then I really enjoy the way Gregory Ashe writes crime mysteries, so I'm not surprised that his YA books are just as detailed as his adult books.
Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
March 30, 2023
I've given this an A- at AAR, so that's 4.5 stars rounded up.
Having a number of established and ongoing series on the go for the last couple of years means it’s been a while since we’ve had any new characters and situations from Gregory Ashe, but he’s starting 2023 with a bang and a new mystery series featuring a descendant of literature’s most famous detective. The Strangest Forms, book one of The Adventures of Holloway Holmes , is angsty, it’s funny, it’s poignant, it’s clever and it’s compelling – and despite the age of its protagonists, it’s a Gregory Ashe novel in every respect, featuring complex, flawed characters with trauma in their pasts and messy, difficult lives, and an intriguing, twisty mystery that doesn’t pull any punches.
Jack Moreno’s life was upended just over a year earlier, when a terrible car accident killed his mother and left his father with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) which causes mobility and memory issues, migranes and seizures. With his dad often unable to work, Jack dropped out of school so he could cover his custodial shifts at the Walker School for “troubled teens” in the Wasach Mountains of Utah, basically somewhere the wealthy elite dump their rebellious kids and then pretty much forget about them. With bills continually mounting up – a custodian’s salary doesn’t go far - Jack very quickly learned that there’s money to be made by someone who knows how to procure things, from booze, drugs and condoms to manga and gum – and when the book begins, he’s waiting for Sarah Watson to show so he can hand over the five hundred bucks worth of Xanax he’s sourced for her – on credit – and get paid, which is the most important thing if he wants to remain in one piece. Jack’s night goes downhill really fast when he finds Watson’s dead body laid out on top of the black garbage bags in a dumpster.
Jack’s thoughts are a mess – worrying about how he’s going to pay his dealer is, he realises, a shitty thing to do given the dead girl in front of him – but self-preservation is understandably high on Jack’s agenda; he extracts the money she owes him from Watson’s purse, reasoning that he needs it more than she does now. While doing this, Watson’s phone rings and the initials MM light up on the screen, but Jack doesn’t have much time to think about that; making sure he’s left no traces, he makes his way to the custodial office and calls the police.
That may not have been the best idea, it turns out, because the lead detective seems to have it in for Jack, big time. Realising – with shock and a sense of inevitability – that he and his dad are their prime suspects, Jack realises the only way to prove them innocent is to find out who really killed Watson, and for that, he’s going to need help.
Thus is Jack’s uneasy alliance with the icy and aloof Holloway Holmes born. Jack has never had anything to do with Holmes – he knows he’s gorgeous as a Greek statue and scary as hell, and that’s about it – but he hadn’t expected to find him quite so intriguing, and, in spite of himself, wanting to get to know him better.
The Strangest Forms gets The Adventures of Holloway Holmes off to a fantastic start. If you’re familiar with the author’s other books, you’ll recognise the hallmarks of his work here – a clever, mystery that throws up lots of unexpected twists and turns, plenty of snarky humour and banter, a couple of superbly characterised leads whose personalities we’ve only begun to scrape the surface of, and a terrific central relationship that oozes chemistry and develops into a strong friendship with the potential for more. As someone who won’t see twenty-one again (!), I’m not sure how I feel about rooting for a romantic relationship between two sixteen/seventeen-year-old boys, but there’s no doubt that there’s attraction there on both sides – although neither of them really knows how to handle it. Jack is bisexual – he has an on/off girlfriend in this book and there is mention of his having had physical relationships with boys, too – but he’s hooked up rather than had anything emotional with any of the people he’s been with, so the confusing feelings he’s starting to experience for Holmes are very new. Holmes has clearly never had anything approaching a normal relationship – romantic or familial – so he’s equally at a loss, burying his bewilderment behind what Jack calls “Holmes bot” – all cold logic and no emotion.
The books I’ve read so far by this author have all featured a dual PoV narrative, but here we only hear from Jack. Single PoV can be difficult to pull off but of course, Mr. Ashe does it with aplomb and makes it work really well; not only does it keep Holmes at a slight remove and help maintain his enigmatic persona, it is, of course, the time-honoured method of Holmes’ chroniclers. It’s a nice little nod to the originals – of which there are several; I had to smile at finding out that Holmes lives in room 221 in Baker House ;)
I loved Jack’s narrative voice. He’s funny, kind and honest, flawed and complicated and loyal, and the more we learn about him and his situation, the easier it is to understand that he’s had to grow up really quickly, and is kind of stuck on that cusp between childhood and manhood – and he hasn’t quite left the former behind yet. He’s tough and pragmatic, but has a penchant for indulging in high-risk behaviour (as a response to trauma); he hasn’t had the time or space to complete his adolescence and is struggling to make sense of life through an incomplete and underdeveloped lens.
The picture we get of Holmes through Jack’s eyes is of a young man similarly poised between childhood and adulthood and just as adrift, albeit for different reasons. Holmes is an odd mix of confidence, innocence and vulnerability; he struggles with human interatction, doesn’t seem to have had much affection or kindness in his life and often retreats behind a wall of blankness in an attempt to hide what he sees as his deficiencies. Mostly it works, because he’s got a repuation for being a cold, standoffish arsehole, but Jack is the first person to really see Holmes, to see how much he’s hurting and how lonely he is. To see that he needs… someone. Just as Jack does.
Their burgeoning friendship, trust and admiration are really well written, and their off-the-charts chemistry underpins the awkward attraction blooming between them that neither knows what to do with. There are so many wonderful moments of connection – the way they bounce ideas off each other, Jack managing to get a genuine laugh out of Holmes, Holmes’ dry humour breaking through, their teenaged awkwardness, their protectiveness of each other – it tugs at the heartstrings and is ridiculously cute at the same time.
I enjoyed the book very much, but I did have a couple of small niggles. One is maybe a ‘me’ thing in that I had to remind myself every so often that these guys are only sixteen because they feel older than that; and the other is the whole Holmeses-Watsons-and-Moriartys-gravitate-towards-each-other-across-the-generations thing. I know Moriarty kinda comes with the territory, but I was hoping this Holmes might have had a different nemesis. Too often in Sherlockian stories, Moriarty is the Bad Guy because he’s always the Bad Guy and doesn’t appear to have any real purpose or motivation other than to just be the Bad Guy. But I trust Gregory Ashe to convince me that his Moriarty presents more of a real threat to Holmes – and Jack.
The Strangest Forms is a great series opener, and I’m hooked. I can’t wait to read Jack and Holmes’ next adventure!
NOTE: Jack and Holmes are sixteen, but I wouldn’t categorize this as YA because there is on-page violence, drug and alcohol use and sexual situations.
Having a number of established and ongoing series on the go for the last couple of years means it’s been a while since we’ve had any new characters and situations from Gregory Ashe, but he’s starting 2023 with a bang and a new mystery series featuring a descendant of literature’s most famous detective. The Strangest Forms, book one of The Adventures of Holloway Holmes , is angsty, it’s funny, it’s poignant, it’s clever and it’s compelling – and despite the age of its protagonists, it’s a Gregory Ashe novel in every respect, featuring complex, flawed characters with trauma in their pasts and messy, difficult lives, and an intriguing, twisty mystery that doesn’t pull any punches.
Jack Moreno’s life was upended just over a year earlier, when a terrible car accident killed his mother and left his father with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) which causes mobility and memory issues, migranes and seizures. With his dad often unable to work, Jack dropped out of school so he could cover his custodial shifts at the Walker School for “troubled teens” in the Wasach Mountains of Utah, basically somewhere the wealthy elite dump their rebellious kids and then pretty much forget about them. With bills continually mounting up – a custodian’s salary doesn’t go far - Jack very quickly learned that there’s money to be made by someone who knows how to procure things, from booze, drugs and condoms to manga and gum – and when the book begins, he’s waiting for Sarah Watson to show so he can hand over the five hundred bucks worth of Xanax he’s sourced for her – on credit – and get paid, which is the most important thing if he wants to remain in one piece. Jack’s night goes downhill really fast when he finds Watson’s dead body laid out on top of the black garbage bags in a dumpster.
Jack’s thoughts are a mess – worrying about how he’s going to pay his dealer is, he realises, a shitty thing to do given the dead girl in front of him – but self-preservation is understandably high on Jack’s agenda; he extracts the money she owes him from Watson’s purse, reasoning that he needs it more than she does now. While doing this, Watson’s phone rings and the initials MM light up on the screen, but Jack doesn’t have much time to think about that; making sure he’s left no traces, he makes his way to the custodial office and calls the police.
That may not have been the best idea, it turns out, because the lead detective seems to have it in for Jack, big time. Realising – with shock and a sense of inevitability – that he and his dad are their prime suspects, Jack realises the only way to prove them innocent is to find out who really killed Watson, and for that, he’s going to need help.
Thus is Jack’s uneasy alliance with the icy and aloof Holloway Holmes born. Jack has never had anything to do with Holmes – he knows he’s gorgeous as a Greek statue and scary as hell, and that’s about it – but he hadn’t expected to find him quite so intriguing, and, in spite of himself, wanting to get to know him better.
The Strangest Forms gets The Adventures of Holloway Holmes off to a fantastic start. If you’re familiar with the author’s other books, you’ll recognise the hallmarks of his work here – a clever, mystery that throws up lots of unexpected twists and turns, plenty of snarky humour and banter, a couple of superbly characterised leads whose personalities we’ve only begun to scrape the surface of, and a terrific central relationship that oozes chemistry and develops into a strong friendship with the potential for more. As someone who won’t see twenty-one again (!), I’m not sure how I feel about rooting for a romantic relationship between two sixteen/seventeen-year-old boys, but there’s no doubt that there’s attraction there on both sides – although neither of them really knows how to handle it. Jack is bisexual – he has an on/off girlfriend in this book and there is mention of his having had physical relationships with boys, too – but he’s hooked up rather than had anything emotional with any of the people he’s been with, so the confusing feelings he’s starting to experience for Holmes are very new. Holmes has clearly never had anything approaching a normal relationship – romantic or familial – so he’s equally at a loss, burying his bewilderment behind what Jack calls “Holmes bot” – all cold logic and no emotion.
The books I’ve read so far by this author have all featured a dual PoV narrative, but here we only hear from Jack. Single PoV can be difficult to pull off but of course, Mr. Ashe does it with aplomb and makes it work really well; not only does it keep Holmes at a slight remove and help maintain his enigmatic persona, it is, of course, the time-honoured method of Holmes’ chroniclers. It’s a nice little nod to the originals – of which there are several; I had to smile at finding out that Holmes lives in room 221 in Baker House ;)
I loved Jack’s narrative voice. He’s funny, kind and honest, flawed and complicated and loyal, and the more we learn about him and his situation, the easier it is to understand that he’s had to grow up really quickly, and is kind of stuck on that cusp between childhood and manhood – and he hasn’t quite left the former behind yet. He’s tough and pragmatic, but has a penchant for indulging in high-risk behaviour (as a response to trauma); he hasn’t had the time or space to complete his adolescence and is struggling to make sense of life through an incomplete and underdeveloped lens.
The picture we get of Holmes through Jack’s eyes is of a young man similarly poised between childhood and adulthood and just as adrift, albeit for different reasons. Holmes is an odd mix of confidence, innocence and vulnerability; he struggles with human interatction, doesn’t seem to have had much affection or kindness in his life and often retreats behind a wall of blankness in an attempt to hide what he sees as his deficiencies. Mostly it works, because he’s got a repuation for being a cold, standoffish arsehole, but Jack is the first person to really see Holmes, to see how much he’s hurting and how lonely he is. To see that he needs… someone. Just as Jack does.
Their burgeoning friendship, trust and admiration are really well written, and their off-the-charts chemistry underpins the awkward attraction blooming between them that neither knows what to do with. There are so many wonderful moments of connection – the way they bounce ideas off each other, Jack managing to get a genuine laugh out of Holmes, Holmes’ dry humour breaking through, their teenaged awkwardness, their protectiveness of each other – it tugs at the heartstrings and is ridiculously cute at the same time.
I enjoyed the book very much, but I did have a couple of small niggles. One is maybe a ‘me’ thing in that I had to remind myself every so often that these guys are only sixteen because they feel older than that; and the other is the whole Holmeses-Watsons-and-Moriartys-gravitate-towards-each-other-across-the-generations thing. I know Moriarty kinda comes with the territory, but I was hoping this Holmes might have had a different nemesis. Too often in Sherlockian stories, Moriarty is the Bad Guy because he’s always the Bad Guy and doesn’t appear to have any real purpose or motivation other than to just be the Bad Guy. But I trust Gregory Ashe to convince me that his Moriarty presents more of a real threat to Holmes – and Jack.
The Strangest Forms is a great series opener, and I’m hooked. I can’t wait to read Jack and Holmes’ next adventure!
NOTE: Jack and Holmes are sixteen, but I wouldn’t categorize this as YA because there is on-page violence, drug and alcohol use and sexual situations.
February 15, 2023
I’m just going to lay this out here first -
If any harm comes to my newly anointed prickly cinnamon roll supercreep-cutebutt (if you know , you know!) I will not hesitate to cut a ****
This was so much fun to read!
I always try and give myself a pep talk before heading into one of Gregory Ashes new books in preparation for the emotional turmoil I’m about to experience and yes, I’m glad I did it again here.
This story felt simultaneously new but also familiar. Greg just has a way of writing that makes you feel like you’re sitting down with an old friend that is telling you a new story in a very familiar way. That is to say there are elements of “sameness”? (Did I just make that word up?) to his stories and characters yet still never a predictable or dull moment within them.
I loves the little tidbits of the Sherlock history strewn throughout this book. I’m a big Sherlock Holmes fan so reading little clues like ‘Baker House’ or ‘221’ just made me really giddy 😄
This story is single POV, from Jacks perspective which I found a little surprising, as we usually get both main characters perspectives. However I didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything and we’re introduced to Jack with approximately 5 pages worth of bitching in chapter 1, so you know you’re on to a winner…right? ? …😆
The whole story has great pacing , there’s never really a dull moment. The mystery elements definitely keep you on your toes and I was very pleased with myself that I managed to figure out the whodunnit before the end of the story because that’s not a common occurrence for me!
Cannot wait for book 2. I am super excited to see what’s on the cards for both Holloway and Jack now that circumstances are a little different to book 1.
PS: Did anyone else notice Greg breaking the 4th wall?..
If any harm comes to my newly anointed prickly cinnamon roll supercreep-cutebutt (if you know , you know!) I will not hesitate to cut a ****
This was so much fun to read!
I always try and give myself a pep talk before heading into one of Gregory Ashes new books in preparation for the emotional turmoil I’m about to experience and yes, I’m glad I did it again here.
This story felt simultaneously new but also familiar. Greg just has a way of writing that makes you feel like you’re sitting down with an old friend that is telling you a new story in a very familiar way. That is to say there are elements of “sameness”? (Did I just make that word up?) to his stories and characters yet still never a predictable or dull moment within them.
I loves the little tidbits of the Sherlock history strewn throughout this book. I’m a big Sherlock Holmes fan so reading little clues like ‘Baker House’ or ‘221’ just made me really giddy 😄
This story is single POV, from Jacks perspective which I found a little surprising, as we usually get both main characters perspectives. However I didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything and we’re introduced to Jack with approximately 5 pages worth of bitching in chapter 1, so you know you’re on to a winner…right? ? …😆
The whole story has great pacing , there’s never really a dull moment. The mystery elements definitely keep you on your toes and I was very pleased with myself that I managed to figure out the whodunnit before the end of the story because that’s not a common occurrence for me!
Cannot wait for book 2. I am super excited to see what’s on the cards for both Holloway and Jack now that circumstances are a little different to book 1.
PS: Did anyone else notice Greg breaking the 4th wall?..
March 14, 2023
Going to sleep till April 21st, see you all then
June 11, 2023
He did not have pretty hands, I realized. The rest of him, sure, pretty as an ice sculpture. He was white everywhere, but his knuckles were pink. His middle finger on his left hand was wonky. The closest thing to pretty was the tracing of blue veins on the undersides of his wrists. In seventh-grade art, Ms. Prinze told us some Japanese artists included deliberate imperfections in their work. The Navajos, too. So the soul didn’t get trapped in perfection. Sure, I thought, looking at him. I get it.
Finally some good food 😩😩 I honestly was so close to becoming a Book Hater but as always Gregory Ashe came in as my savior with his writing and characters that are always a cut above his contemporaries. I LOOOVED these boys.
This is the first time I'm reading younger protagonists from Gregory Ashe and the first time I'm reading first person narration but neither of that makes this read younger. However, it reads more youthful. I honestly don't know how to explain it exactly but the way Jack processes and reacts to things going on with his life, his and Holloway's instant connection, the way they talk (yes, even Holloway's brand of Holmes-talk) all feel young and new and fresh to me.
None of this to say these boys don't have the approved and patented Gregory Ashe CharacterizationTM, though. Because, oh boy, do they both have a lot going on (and a lot yet to be explored.) Even with just this first installment, Holloway is a greatly drawn character. Despite Jack being our only narrator, the moment Holloway is on page, you can't help but feel so endeared by and curious about him. Every little moment his mask is alllowed to slip a little and his vulnerable and soft parts are shown on page awakens severe I Need To Protect You feelings in the reader and Jack alike. Jack similarly, as one 16-year-old smartass with so much on his plate and so much caring in his heart, is hard to dislike and - while a little clumsily at first - they find the sweetest spot of caretaking and friendship and tender moments and light touches and all my favorite things rolled into this one set of kids (Do Not Separate).
All of that, of course, comes with approved and patented Gregory Ashe Slow BurnTM, though. Which is great, amazing, brilliant, my favorite thing but I also already feel the need to see them do their soft things while being openly in love with each other. 🥺🥺 This is the first time I'm waiting for a second book in a Gregory Ashe series and now I see why people described this as hell. 😥😢
July 16, 2023
I've given this A/A at AudioGals
I’ve been hoping for years that my two favourite Gregs would, someday, collaborate on a project – and at long last, here it is! Greg Tremblay is narrating Gregory Ashe’s latest series, The Adventures of Holloway Holmes – a trilogy of romantic suspense novels featuring a descendent of that Holmes who has, through a series of unfortunate events, wound up being sent to a school for ‘troubled teens’ in remote Utah. (For ‘troubled teens’ read – kids whose parents want to stash them somewhere and forget about them).
First off, I have to say that although the two protagonists in the story are sixteen-going-on-seventeen, this isn’t a Young Adult book. It’s a Gregory Ashe book, complete with all that entails – clever, twisty plotting, some dark themes, characters who are royally messed up, a degree of violence, swearing and sexual situations.
Jack Moreno’s life was upended a year before this story begins, when a car accident killed his mother and left his dad with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) and unable to work. Jack dropped out of school so that he could cover his dad’s custodial shifts at the elite Walker School in the Wasatch Mountains, but the small salary doesn’t go very far and their debts are mounting. Jack very quickly earned himself a name around the school for being able to get stuff – condoms, chewing gum, manga, drugs and whatever else a bunch of highly-strung, hormonal teens might want – and is supplementing the family income by supplying them, but even then, it’s not enough.
The story begins with Jack anxiously waiting for Sarah Watson (yes, a descendant of that Watson) to show up so she can pay him for the five hundred dollars worth of Xanax he’s got for her. When it’s already way past the time they agreed and there’s still no sign of her, Jack really starts to worry; because of the large sum involved, he had to buy the pills on credit and if he can’t pay the dealer back, he’ll be in some serious trouble. His night goes from bad to worse when he finds Watson’s dead body laid out on top of the plastic garbage bags in a dumpster.
Jack knows it’s a really shitty thing to do, but he carefully extracts the money she owes him from her purse – it’s no use to her now, after all, and he’d kind of like to keep breathing – makes sure he leaves no traces and then heads back to the office to call the police. But this may have not been the best idea, because the lead detective assigned to the case seems to have already decided that Jack and his dad are involved somehow, and he’s like a dog with a bone. The only way to prove their innocence is to find the real killer – but Jack isn’t going to be able to do that alone, and the one person who can help him is Supercreep – otherwise known as the icily-aloof, scary-as-hell, gorgeous-as-a-Greek-statue, Holloway Holmes.
As in any Gregory Ashe novel, there are lots of moving parts here, but – also true to form – the central relationship is the glue holding everything together, and it’s utterly compelling. Jack has had very little to do with Holmes, and given the rumours flying around about him, would have been happy to keep it that way, but somehow, the more time Jack spends with the uptight and very literal Holmes, the more fascinated he becomes. Jack’s is the sole PoV in the books, and I love his snarky, cocky narrative voice; he’s a beautifully drawn character, a boy on the cusp of manhood who has had to grow up very quickly and who has still not begun to deal with the weight of grief and loss he keeps at bay through what his therapist terms “high-risk behaviour”. He’s funny, kind, loyal and tough with a well of inner vulnerability he works hard to hide; he does dumb things (he’s sixteen!) and he’s far from perfect, but he’s struggling to make sense of the life he’s suddenly been thrust into, so even though he doesn’t always make the wisest decisions, it’s easy to understand and sympathise with him.
Although we never get Holmes’ perspective here, Mr. Ashe does a fantastic job of presenting him to the listener through Jack’s eyes. He’s an odd mix of confidence, innocence and vulnerability, he struggles with human interactions and clearly has never had much love or affection in his life, hiding behind a wall of stoicism and stand-offishness to hide what he sees as his deficiencies. A lifetime of conditioning – by his father – to be in control at all times and never to show or allow himself to feel emotion has turned him into the “Holmes bot” Jack jokes about, but as Jack gets to know him, he begins to see how much he’s hurting and how lonely and confused he is… and to realise that in some ways, they aren’t all that different. They both need someone to see them, to support them and to love them. Even if neither of them would ever admit it.
Their growing friendship, trust and admiration for one another is underpinned by an awkward attraction neither really knows how to handle. There’s some top-level pining going on on Jack’s part, and their off-the-charts chemistry crackles through so many wonderful moments of connection as they bounce ideas off each other, Jack manages to get a genuine laugh out of Holmes, and Holmes’ dry sense of humour breaks through.
I’m not going to say much about the mystery, which is as gritty, complex and full of misdirection and red herrings as any other Gregory Ashe mystery. Jack and Holmes find themselves delving into secrets left and right, finding more questions than answers and coming up against tech-genius Margaret Moriarty and Holmes’ coldhearted, manipulative father, Blackfriar. The mystery of Watson’s death is solved here, but by the end of the book, we suddenly realise this was never a ‘simple’ matter of murder and that there’s a much bigger picture in the offing.
Greg Tremblay’s excellent performance was well worth the wait! It’s as technically accomplished as I’ve come to expect from him – well-paced, clearly enunciated and strongly characterised – and his vocal acting really hits the spot. He captures Jack’s insouciance and bravado really well, but also adds a level of underlying vulnerability that works to show just how young he is and, at times, how lost. Holmes’ speaks at a slightly higher pitch and his dialogue is stilted and ultra-correct, which fits his repressed personality and reflects the way he’s been conditioned to get everything right. He’s described as being bidialectal (proficient at using two dialects in the same language – in this case, English and American), although (as per the text) he speaks mostly in an American accent, switching to an English one only occasionally, such as when he’s very stressed. Moriarty and Blackfriar both have English accents and Mr. Tremblay’s is pretty good, so the switch is seamless. Jack and Holmes’ interactions have a great rhythm to them and the teasing humour and affection between them come through strongly, and the moments of heightened emotion are superbly realised. The various secondary characters are clearly differentiated – a husky note for Jack’s dad, a bit of vocal swagger for the detective – and the handful of female voices are nicely done.
Angsty, funny, poignant, compelling and clever, featuring engaging characters and a fabulous performance from Greg Tremblay, The Strangest Forms gets The Adventures of Holloway Holmes off to a rollicking start, and I can’t wait for more.
This review originally appeared at AudioGals.
I’ve been hoping for years that my two favourite Gregs would, someday, collaborate on a project – and at long last, here it is! Greg Tremblay is narrating Gregory Ashe’s latest series, The Adventures of Holloway Holmes – a trilogy of romantic suspense novels featuring a descendent of that Holmes who has, through a series of unfortunate events, wound up being sent to a school for ‘troubled teens’ in remote Utah. (For ‘troubled teens’ read – kids whose parents want to stash them somewhere and forget about them).
First off, I have to say that although the two protagonists in the story are sixteen-going-on-seventeen, this isn’t a Young Adult book. It’s a Gregory Ashe book, complete with all that entails – clever, twisty plotting, some dark themes, characters who are royally messed up, a degree of violence, swearing and sexual situations.
Jack Moreno’s life was upended a year before this story begins, when a car accident killed his mother and left his dad with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) and unable to work. Jack dropped out of school so that he could cover his dad’s custodial shifts at the elite Walker School in the Wasatch Mountains, but the small salary doesn’t go very far and their debts are mounting. Jack very quickly earned himself a name around the school for being able to get stuff – condoms, chewing gum, manga, drugs and whatever else a bunch of highly-strung, hormonal teens might want – and is supplementing the family income by supplying them, but even then, it’s not enough.
The story begins with Jack anxiously waiting for Sarah Watson (yes, a descendant of that Watson) to show up so she can pay him for the five hundred dollars worth of Xanax he’s got for her. When it’s already way past the time they agreed and there’s still no sign of her, Jack really starts to worry; because of the large sum involved, he had to buy the pills on credit and if he can’t pay the dealer back, he’ll be in some serious trouble. His night goes from bad to worse when he finds Watson’s dead body laid out on top of the plastic garbage bags in a dumpster.
Jack knows it’s a really shitty thing to do, but he carefully extracts the money she owes him from her purse – it’s no use to her now, after all, and he’d kind of like to keep breathing – makes sure he leaves no traces and then heads back to the office to call the police. But this may have not been the best idea, because the lead detective assigned to the case seems to have already decided that Jack and his dad are involved somehow, and he’s like a dog with a bone. The only way to prove their innocence is to find the real killer – but Jack isn’t going to be able to do that alone, and the one person who can help him is Supercreep – otherwise known as the icily-aloof, scary-as-hell, gorgeous-as-a-Greek-statue, Holloway Holmes.
As in any Gregory Ashe novel, there are lots of moving parts here, but – also true to form – the central relationship is the glue holding everything together, and it’s utterly compelling. Jack has had very little to do with Holmes, and given the rumours flying around about him, would have been happy to keep it that way, but somehow, the more time Jack spends with the uptight and very literal Holmes, the more fascinated he becomes. Jack’s is the sole PoV in the books, and I love his snarky, cocky narrative voice; he’s a beautifully drawn character, a boy on the cusp of manhood who has had to grow up very quickly and who has still not begun to deal with the weight of grief and loss he keeps at bay through what his therapist terms “high-risk behaviour”. He’s funny, kind, loyal and tough with a well of inner vulnerability he works hard to hide; he does dumb things (he’s sixteen!) and he’s far from perfect, but he’s struggling to make sense of the life he’s suddenly been thrust into, so even though he doesn’t always make the wisest decisions, it’s easy to understand and sympathise with him.
Although we never get Holmes’ perspective here, Mr. Ashe does a fantastic job of presenting him to the listener through Jack’s eyes. He’s an odd mix of confidence, innocence and vulnerability, he struggles with human interactions and clearly has never had much love or affection in his life, hiding behind a wall of stoicism and stand-offishness to hide what he sees as his deficiencies. A lifetime of conditioning – by his father – to be in control at all times and never to show or allow himself to feel emotion has turned him into the “Holmes bot” Jack jokes about, but as Jack gets to know him, he begins to see how much he’s hurting and how lonely and confused he is… and to realise that in some ways, they aren’t all that different. They both need someone to see them, to support them and to love them. Even if neither of them would ever admit it.
Their growing friendship, trust and admiration for one another is underpinned by an awkward attraction neither really knows how to handle. There’s some top-level pining going on on Jack’s part, and their off-the-charts chemistry crackles through so many wonderful moments of connection as they bounce ideas off each other, Jack manages to get a genuine laugh out of Holmes, and Holmes’ dry sense of humour breaks through.
I’m not going to say much about the mystery, which is as gritty, complex and full of misdirection and red herrings as any other Gregory Ashe mystery. Jack and Holmes find themselves delving into secrets left and right, finding more questions than answers and coming up against tech-genius Margaret Moriarty and Holmes’ coldhearted, manipulative father, Blackfriar. The mystery of Watson’s death is solved here, but by the end of the book, we suddenly realise this was never a ‘simple’ matter of murder and that there’s a much bigger picture in the offing.
Greg Tremblay’s excellent performance was well worth the wait! It’s as technically accomplished as I’ve come to expect from him – well-paced, clearly enunciated and strongly characterised – and his vocal acting really hits the spot. He captures Jack’s insouciance and bravado really well, but also adds a level of underlying vulnerability that works to show just how young he is and, at times, how lost. Holmes’ speaks at a slightly higher pitch and his dialogue is stilted and ultra-correct, which fits his repressed personality and reflects the way he’s been conditioned to get everything right. He’s described as being bidialectal (proficient at using two dialects in the same language – in this case, English and American), although (as per the text) he speaks mostly in an American accent, switching to an English one only occasionally, such as when he’s very stressed. Moriarty and Blackfriar both have English accents and Mr. Tremblay’s is pretty good, so the switch is seamless. Jack and Holmes’ interactions have a great rhythm to them and the teasing humour and affection between them come through strongly, and the moments of heightened emotion are superbly realised. The various secondary characters are clearly differentiated – a husky note for Jack’s dad, a bit of vocal swagger for the detective – and the handful of female voices are nicely done.
Angsty, funny, poignant, compelling and clever, featuring engaging characters and a fabulous performance from Greg Tremblay, The Strangest Forms gets The Adventures of Holloway Holmes off to a rollicking start, and I can’t wait for more.
This review originally appeared at AudioGals.
April 22, 2024
Everything about this worked for me. Jack is baby Jem and Holmes is baby Emery-Tean-Theo. Great mystery, great character dynamics, great setting, and so many believably horrible people to hate on.
Resistance is futile!
Resistance is futile!
February 26, 2023
Honestly, this whole book was like a "here's all the best tropes, dynamics, and character traits rolled into one delicious story -- enjoy" and I am here. for. it.
I have been so excited for this book since it was announced. Sherlock Holmes meets Gregory Ashe? Heck yeah. And it did not disappoint. It was glorious and I'm already counting down the days to the next one. A most excellent start to new series.
The mystery was intriguing and complex, the pacing was excellent, and I was never bored. And once we hit the three-quarter point, I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what happened next, and was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. I also loved the way Greg took bits and pieces of the Sherlock Holmes mythology, so to speak, and made it his own.
Holloway Holmes was amazingly done. While this story was told exclusively from Jack's POV, Holloway's voice and personality were still so distinct you didn't need to be in his head. In fact, it almost made it better. His character was gorgeously fleshed out and beautifully complicated. Holmes Bot is officially one of my favorite GA characters and he must be protected at all costs.
Jack Moreno is our POV character. His life and backstory are so tragic and well-written, it made my heart hurt for him numerous times. He is also kind of a little smart-ass, and that's how I like my characters, so immediately I adored him. It also did my heart good to see another good parent in a GA book. They tend to be few and far between, so savor them when they exist.
Moriarty was not on the page nearly long enough, but oh my. What a sadistic little bean. I look forward to seeing this character again in future books.
The chemistry between Jack and Holloway crackled off every page. From their disdain for each other at the start to the unresolved sexual tension -- it was all amazing. And the bickering. Oh my lord, the bickering. If there's anything I have a weakness for, it's banter between two characters with good chemistry. It's a GA story, so naturally, this is as slow burn as slow burn can get and these two are going to take some extra time to get from point A to point B, but that's ok. We can enjoy the ride.
There were several cute little nods to not only the original Holmes stories but to Greg's Hazardverse books. So many of them just made me internally go, "SQUEEEEE" when they happened. One of them in particular made me mash my keyboard into a note in Kindle and squeal out loud.
Oh, and that surprise toward the end was...dang. Came out of nowhere (for me anyway), and it was so brilliant and devious.
I have not yet read the preview of the next book at the end of this one, but I'm sure I will break down and do it soon. 10/10 recommend.
I have been so excited for this book since it was announced. Sherlock Holmes meets Gregory Ashe? Heck yeah. And it did not disappoint. It was glorious and I'm already counting down the days to the next one. A most excellent start to new series.
The mystery was intriguing and complex, the pacing was excellent, and I was never bored. And once we hit the three-quarter point, I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what happened next, and was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. I also loved the way Greg took bits and pieces of the Sherlock Holmes mythology, so to speak, and made it his own.
Holloway Holmes was amazingly done. While this story was told exclusively from Jack's POV, Holloway's voice and personality were still so distinct you didn't need to be in his head. In fact, it almost made it better. His character was gorgeously fleshed out and beautifully complicated. Holmes Bot is officially one of my favorite GA characters and he must be protected at all costs.
Jack Moreno is our POV character. His life and backstory are so tragic and well-written, it made my heart hurt for him numerous times. He is also kind of a little smart-ass, and that's how I like my characters, so immediately I adored him. It also did my heart good to see another good parent in a GA book. They tend to be few and far between, so savor them when they exist.
Moriarty was not on the page nearly long enough, but oh my. What a sadistic little bean. I look forward to seeing this character again in future books.
The chemistry between Jack and Holloway crackled off every page. From their disdain for each other at the start to the unresolved sexual tension -- it was all amazing. And the bickering. Oh my lord, the bickering. If there's anything I have a weakness for, it's banter between two characters with good chemistry. It's a GA story, so naturally, this is as slow burn as slow burn can get and these two are going to take some extra time to get from point A to point B, but that's ok. We can enjoy the ride.
There were several cute little nods to not only the original Holmes stories but to Greg's Hazardverse books. So many of them just made me internally go, "SQUEEEEE" when they happened. One of them in particular made me mash my keyboard into a note in Kindle and squeal out loud.
Oh, and that surprise toward the end was...dang. Came out of nowhere (for me anyway), and it was so brilliant and devious.
I have not yet read the preview of the next book at the end of this one, but I'm sure I will break down and do it soon. 10/10 recommend.
February 26, 2023
I didn't want this book to end! When I looked down and saw I only had 8% left, I wanted to cry. I even read the first chapter of the next book, which is something I usually refuse to do, just so I could spend a little more time with Jack and Holloway. And I shouldn't have done it because...GAH! April 21st can't come fast enough!
As usual, this was a mystery so there's little I can say without giving things away. Unlike other reviewers, I didn't know who the bad guy was until the good guys did. There were so many other things going on, that sometimes I forgot there was a mystery to be solved at all. I loved that because it made the story feel so much bigger. I also loved that we were back in Utah because Gregory Ashe paints such a beautiful picture of the landscape there.
I was a little worried about the single POV, but Holloway Holmes via Jack Moreno was an utter delight. Jack was witty and charming and intelligent (questionable Wikipedia search history notwithstanding), but also self deprecating and horrible in a fight. Deciphering the mystery that was, and still is, Holloway Holmes through Jack's perspective was both hilarious and heartwarming. Holloway made it obvious that he didn't need physical protection, but he was so vulnerable and innocent in other ways. He triggered Jack's protective nature, and mine too. If Jack hurts that boys' heart, he'll have to answer to me.
And kudos to Jack's dad for being awesome! I'm trying to think of other dads in the GA universe who weren't some brand of jackass and I'm coming up short. Holloway will have to shoulder the burden of having a shitty dad all on his own, I suppose.
I'm really excited about this series and can't wait to see what happens next!
As usual, this was a mystery so there's little I can say without giving things away. Unlike other reviewers, I didn't know who the bad guy was until the good guys did. There were so many other things going on, that sometimes I forgot there was a mystery to be solved at all. I loved that because it made the story feel so much bigger. I also loved that we were back in Utah because Gregory Ashe paints such a beautiful picture of the landscape there.
I was a little worried about the single POV, but Holloway Holmes via Jack Moreno was an utter delight. Jack was witty and charming and intelligent (questionable Wikipedia search history notwithstanding), but also self deprecating and horrible in a fight. Deciphering the mystery that was, and still is, Holloway Holmes through Jack's perspective was both hilarious and heartwarming. Holloway made it obvious that he didn't need physical protection, but he was so vulnerable and innocent in other ways. He triggered Jack's protective nature, and mine too. If Jack hurts that boys' heart, he'll have to answer to me.
And kudos to Jack's dad for being awesome! I'm trying to think of other dads in the GA universe who weren't some brand of jackass and I'm coming up short. Holloway will have to shoulder the burden of having a shitty dad all on his own, I suppose.
I'm really excited about this series and can't wait to see what happens next!
February 24, 2024
A hard one to rate, that's for sure.
I absolutely loved the writing style and the atmosphere, it was perfect for gloomy, rainy days. The characters were fleshed out and even though I didn't particularly like them, they were interesting and complex enough.
I'm pretty sure I want to continue the series, even though I'm not in a hurry to do so. I think I have a love-hate relationship with Jack, the main character. I enjoyed his POV, however frustrating it was to read about this hot mess of a boy. He's sixteen and even though at times he's incredibly mature (living in very poor conditions like he and his dad, he'd have to be), he's also sixteen so, reckless and dumb and a jackass when it comes to feelings. I constantly had to remind myself to cut him some slack but boy is he a hot mess. Not very likable but still I can't be mad at him, not really. That's how you know his character is incredibly well-written.
However. If he hurts Holloway, I don't care, I'm coming for Jack. And Ariana? The poor girl should just dump Jack before her feelings get hurt (but I have a feeling she will be fine, she won't spend much time crying over some boy, go queen). Jack with his dad...damn, that duo pulled on my heartstrings, not gonna lie.
The overall mystery was not that interesting compared to the characters, that's also why it took me so long to read this (that and, well, real life is a bitch).
One more thing that jumped out at me while reading - is it normal to describe every character, no matter how unimportant, by their skin color first? Jack is a POC so, maybe? It just caught my interest because I have a feeling if Jack were white and did that, it would be outrageous.
I absolutely loved the writing style and the atmosphere, it was perfect for gloomy, rainy days. The characters were fleshed out and even though I didn't particularly like them, they were interesting and complex enough.
I'm pretty sure I want to continue the series, even though I'm not in a hurry to do so. I think I have a love-hate relationship with Jack, the main character. I enjoyed his POV, however frustrating it was to read about this hot mess of a boy. He's sixteen and even though at times he's incredibly mature (living in very poor conditions like he and his dad, he'd have to be), he's also sixteen so, reckless and dumb and a jackass when it comes to feelings. I constantly had to remind myself to cut him some slack but boy is he a hot mess. Not very likable but still I can't be mad at him, not really. That's how you know his character is incredibly well-written.
However. If he hurts Holloway, I don't care, I'm coming for Jack. And Ariana? The poor girl should just dump Jack before her feelings get hurt (but I have a feeling she will be fine, she won't spend much time crying over some boy, go queen). Jack with his dad...damn, that duo pulled on my heartstrings, not gonna lie.
The overall mystery was not that interesting compared to the characters, that's also why it took me so long to read this (that and, well, real life is a bitch).
One more thing that jumped out at me while reading - is it normal to describe every character, no matter how unimportant, by their skin color first? Jack is a POC so, maybe? It just caught my interest because I have a feeling if Jack were white and did that, it would be outrageous.
December 9, 2023
I've read a lot of Gregory Ashe over the years and I think this is my favorite so far. The characters are likeable, the setting unique, and the twists and turns fun to follow. He does a great job building up the mystery and the conflict between the leads. They have great chemistry and some of their banter was a joy to read. I also really like how which characters are LGBTQ isn't fraught with self hatred or conflict.
March 5, 2023
4 1/2 stars. Gregory Ashe is back in fine form with new protagonists and an exciting new series. The story features descendants of Sherlock Holmes, Watson and Moriarty. Overall this was a fun read yet it includes some complex characterizations. I’m definitely looking forward to the next novel in the series.
March 8, 2023
Best book for me so far this year ❤️. Can't wait to read the next one.
March 5, 2023
These two dummies are my newest and most favorite blorbos. Truly an excellent start to a new series from one of my favorite authors. I figured out some of the mystery but not nearly all of it, which is my favorite way for mysteries to go! The only thing I didn't like is that now I have to wait for book 2.
June 20, 2023
Two of my favourite things in the world, come together: an Ashe's book and Sherlock Holmes. Picture me ecstatic even before starting the story *laughs*
And what a story! The mystery and the characters are simply wonderful, hell, even the descriptions of the place are top-notch.
I adore having the story told from Jack's POV, first, because his inner though are of such a raw honesty that it's hard to not understand even his most asshole-ish actions. and second, because I enjoy having a hard-to-pin Holmes, surrounded by a bit of a mystery. Yes, we get enough clues about his past and his upbringing to understand some facets of his character, but so much more is yet to uncover about him.
I also deeply enjoyed the subversion of the most common Holmes' tropes. Yes, I'm not going to lie, I was annoyed at Watson's fate at the very beginning, but I forgave this soon enough :P And I totally covet Moriarty's cup *dies laughing*
Jack and Wikipedia... he really loves Wikipedia *g*
I love how Jack tries and tries to keep his father and himself afloat in a world that doesn't care about them. I love his love for learning and his stubbornness and even his brokenness.
Those are the things that allow him to connect with Holmes, and not give up even when things are looking really bad.
And then we have Jack's dad. I'm pretty happy that he had a call close enough that he was able to stop for a minute to rethink his act and become the father his son needs. And a smart one at that, too *g*
Ariana, now... I think she will be a bit like Nora in Hazzard and Sommerset' series. She's smart, she knows what she wants and she's not willing to take anybody's shit. I like her. Yes, she's in an awkward position in this story, she's the 'obstacle' for the MCs to get together. Well, one of them, at least. But, as I said, she's smart and she won't accept anything less than Jack's full commitment, so... Nora. And I love Nora.
Almost as much as I despise Blackfriar Holmes. Now, that's a VERY dangerous opponent and the one that I think will bring the most mayhem to their lives. He reminds me of John-Henry's father, but even worse.
Er... do you still have any doubt about how much I love this story? Because, just with this first book, I know that I'll love this series and it will become a favourite. Go and read it, you won't regret it :D
Edited because I listened to the audiobook and it is WONDERFUL. I love Greg Tremblay's narration, it's perfect and now I just want to go back and listen to it again ♥
And what a story! The mystery and the characters are simply wonderful, hell, even the descriptions of the place are top-notch.
I adore having the story told from Jack's POV, first, because his inner though are of such a raw honesty that it's hard to not understand even his most asshole-ish actions. and second, because I enjoy having a hard-to-pin Holmes, surrounded by a bit of a mystery. Yes, we get enough clues about his past and his upbringing to understand some facets of his character, but so much more is yet to uncover about him.
I also deeply enjoyed the subversion of the most common Holmes' tropes. Yes, I'm not going to lie, I was annoyed at Watson's fate at the very beginning, but I forgave this soon enough :P And I totally covet Moriarty's cup *dies laughing*
Jack and Wikipedia... he really loves Wikipedia *g*
I thought about the likelihood of all that, of Holmeses and Watsons stumbling into each other in cafes and archeology sites and in Siberia and, apparently, at a private school for kids who were too much trouble for their rich parents. "Quantum entanglement," I said "Maybe that's what it is. You know, when the quantum state, like their spin, is linked no matter how far apart they are" When Holmes raised his eyebrows, I said, "Wikipedia. Again"
I love how Jack tries and tries to keep his father and himself afloat in a world that doesn't care about them. I love his love for learning and his stubbornness and even his brokenness.
Those are the things that allow him to connect with Holmes, and not give up even when things are looking really bad.
"I believe we were friends. It was a conclusion based on data--we spent time together, and she was patient with me, and she laughed at some of the things I said. I didn't have anything else to compare it to." He was looking at me again with that tremendous force behind his gaze. "Before I met you"
And then we have Jack's dad. I'm pretty happy that he had a call close enough that he was able to stop for a minute to rethink his act and become the father his son needs. And a smart one at that, too *g*
Ariana, now... I think she will be a bit like Nora in Hazzard and Sommerset' series. She's smart, she knows what she wants and she's not willing to take anybody's shit. I like her. Yes, she's in an awkward position in this story, she's the 'obstacle' for the MCs to get together. Well, one of them, at least. But, as I said, she's smart and she won't accept anything less than Jack's full commitment, so... Nora. And I love Nora.
Almost as much as I despise Blackfriar Holmes. Now, that's a VERY dangerous opponent and the one that I think will bring the most mayhem to their lives. He reminds me of John-Henry's father, but even worse.
Er... do you still have any doubt about how much I love this story? Because, just with this first book, I know that I'll love this series and it will become a favourite. Go and read it, you won't regret it :D
Edited because I listened to the audiobook and it is WONDERFUL. I love Greg Tremblay's narration, it's perfect and now I just want to go back and listen to it again ♥
June 8, 2023
🎧🎧🎧 Audio Review 🎧🎧🎧
Was a little uncertain when I saw that Mr T was narrating this series...yes, I 🩷🩷🩷 Mr T but doing 16/17 year old voices 🫣; however, as usual he proved me wrong and narrated beautifully, even Holmes the elder and his posh British accent [not an unnecessary 'r' in sight or should that be sound 🤔, Michael Ferraiuolo take lessons please]. The only thing I could take slight issue with were the times that errors had obviously been made and the narrated sentence/phrase was re-inserted back into the whole with a different tone. Looking forward to listening to The Old Wheel when that comes out.
📚📚📚 Book Review 📚📚📚
4.5 stars rounded up. Have to say Jack reminded me a lot of what could've been a younger Jem from The Same Breath, Jem and Tean from the Lion and the Lamb series, and not just because of the Utah setting of this particular series. I loved the banter between Jack and Holloway, the snark and the laughs. I did call the creepy villain of the piece correctly BUT I think we may have trouble in future reads with Holmes the elder...what a nasty piece of work he is!! 😡 The Old Wheel comes out in April and is available for pre-order on the Big A.
Was a little uncertain when I saw that Mr T was narrating this series...yes, I 🩷🩷🩷 Mr T but doing 16/17 year old voices 🫣; however, as usual he proved me wrong and narrated beautifully, even Holmes the elder and his posh British accent [not an unnecessary 'r' in sight or should that be sound 🤔, Michael Ferraiuolo take lessons please]. The only thing I could take slight issue with were the times that errors had obviously been made and the narrated sentence/phrase was re-inserted back into the whole with a different tone. Looking forward to listening to The Old Wheel when that comes out.
📚📚📚 Book Review 📚📚📚
4.5 stars rounded up. Have to say Jack reminded me a lot of what could've been a younger Jem from The Same Breath, Jem and Tean from the Lion and the Lamb series, and not just because of the Utah setting of this particular series. I loved the banter between Jack and Holloway, the snark and the laughs. I did call the creepy villain of the piece correctly BUT I think we may have trouble in future reads with Holmes the elder...what a nasty piece of work he is!! 😡 The Old Wheel comes out in April and is available for pre-order on the Big A.
March 23, 2023
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.75 stars
The Strangest Forms is the first book in the Adventures of Holloway Holmes series, and I cannot wait for book two. For all that Jack is sixteen and working at a high school, this book is not YA by any means. It features underage sex, a lot of drinking, drugs, and poor decision making with revenge porn, implications of child abuse, sexual blackmail, normal blackmail, violent fight scenes, and intended sexual assault. In a way, it feels reminiscent of old-school detective novels with seedy underbellies and smoky back rooms, and I loved it. It’s also not a romance, not yet, but there is a great deal of sexual tension, unrequited feelings, and a clueless narrator.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
4.75 stars
The Strangest Forms is the first book in the Adventures of Holloway Holmes series, and I cannot wait for book two. For all that Jack is sixteen and working at a high school, this book is not YA by any means. It features underage sex, a lot of drinking, drugs, and poor decision making with revenge porn, implications of child abuse, sexual blackmail, normal blackmail, violent fight scenes, and intended sexual assault. In a way, it feels reminiscent of old-school detective novels with seedy underbellies and smoky back rooms, and I loved it. It’s also not a romance, not yet, but there is a great deal of sexual tension, unrequited feelings, and a clueless narrator.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
August 31, 2024
I only recently started reading Gregory Ashe with his current series, The Last Picks, and this is my first venture into his older, non-cozy type books.
I enjoyed this a lot. (Though I'm giving a side-eye to all the "robot" cracks.) Mostly for the characters. To be honest the pacing is a little farther towards the thriller end of the scale than I prefer. I've grabbed the rest of the series already and do plan to continue it, though I fully expect him to put poor H through it, and think I might have to file Ashe's non-cozy works on the shelf with authors I like, but need to be careful with, as I feel their books require a bit more emotional stamina than I always have available. Fortunately the next of the Last Picks books drops in just a few days.
I enjoyed this a lot. (Though I'm giving a side-eye to all the "robot" cracks.) Mostly for the characters. To be honest the pacing is a little farther towards the thriller end of the scale than I prefer. I've grabbed the rest of the series already and do plan to continue it, though I fully expect him to put poor H through it, and think I might have to file Ashe's non-cozy works on the shelf with authors I like, but need to be careful with, as I feel their books require a bit more emotional stamina than I always have available. Fortunately the next of the Last Picks books drops in just a few days.
March 14, 2023
This book is, to put it simply, a work of art. I’ve never given anything five stars quite so easily, but The strangest Forms exceeded all expectations, and then some.
Whenever I start a new book by Gregory Ashe, I already know it’s going to be good. Gregory’s books carry a style that beautifully blends humour and heart that cannot be found elsewhere. When I found out that he’d written a Sherlock Holmes novel I was beyond excited, and I was not disappointed,
The Strangest Forms is a sweeping, intoxicating murder mystery with just the right amount of longing from the two male leads to make you ache for them to get together. Of course, Gregory Ashe is the master of the slow burn, and it’s always worth it when the love interests finally ignite. Holloway and Jack’s friendship is as charming as it is unexpected, and full of so much yearning that you cannot help but root for them.
As with all of Gregory’s books, I come for the romance and stay for the mystery. The Strangest Forms is a classic whodunnit with heart-stopping revelations, sophisticated plot twists, and nostalgic throwbacks to the original Sherlock Holmes books. The story reads like a meticulous, thrilling game of wits, where every move each character makes is deviously calculated.
Resplendent in it own right, The Strangest Form stands confidently on its own feet as a separate work of art to the original Arthur Conan-Doyle novels, but written like a love letter to the primary Sherlock stories. Gregory brings Holloway Holmes to life as a teenage descendant of the great Sherlock Holmes, and shakes up the readers expectations of what a Holmes and Watson story can be.
I cannot recommend this book enough, although I will try. In one word? Elementary.
Whenever I start a new book by Gregory Ashe, I already know it’s going to be good. Gregory’s books carry a style that beautifully blends humour and heart that cannot be found elsewhere. When I found out that he’d written a Sherlock Holmes novel I was beyond excited, and I was not disappointed,
The Strangest Forms is a sweeping, intoxicating murder mystery with just the right amount of longing from the two male leads to make you ache for them to get together. Of course, Gregory Ashe is the master of the slow burn, and it’s always worth it when the love interests finally ignite. Holloway and Jack’s friendship is as charming as it is unexpected, and full of so much yearning that you cannot help but root for them.
As with all of Gregory’s books, I come for the romance and stay for the mystery. The Strangest Forms is a classic whodunnit with heart-stopping revelations, sophisticated plot twists, and nostalgic throwbacks to the original Sherlock Holmes books. The story reads like a meticulous, thrilling game of wits, where every move each character makes is deviously calculated.
Resplendent in it own right, The Strangest Form stands confidently on its own feet as a separate work of art to the original Arthur Conan-Doyle novels, but written like a love letter to the primary Sherlock stories. Gregory brings Holloway Holmes to life as a teenage descendant of the great Sherlock Holmes, and shakes up the readers expectations of what a Holmes and Watson story can be.
I cannot recommend this book enough, although I will try. In one word? Elementary.
March 15, 2023
What a peculiar yet engaging read. I wasn't sure about the premise initially - descendants of Holmes, Watson and Moriarty all linked and entangled in what is essentially a Riverside-esque murder/mystery, set in an exclusive reform school for delinquent Millionaire children. Luckily, the plot and characters swept me up post-halfway mark and I did grow to like Jack (narrator with a strong Artful Dodger vibe) and 'alabaster-physique' Krav Marga trained Holloway. A nice mystery populated with a host of suspects and menacing adult-figures. I'm quite prepared to continue on to see where the author takes this new series ... and readers should already be familiar with Mr Ashe's tendency toward long long romance arcs. 3.5 stars.
February 27, 2023
It's been awhile since we've had the pleasure of meeting new Gregory Ashe characters, and I'm happy to report that Jack Moreno and Holloway Holmes have my whole entire heart. The two of them have a rocky start, but soon come to rely on each other as they work together to find Sarah Watson's killer.
The building of trust and admiration between Jack and Holloway is done incredibly well. There is so much to love about their relationship: the tender interactions, the protectiveness, the way they truly see each other. The whole story takes place in about a week, but their strong connection by the end of it is completely believable.
It was really fun to see how Gregory Ashe incorporated Sherlock Holmes mythology into this book. My one quibble, though, is the concept of all the Holmeses, Watsons, and Moriartys finding each other across generations and continents. Since everything else about this book is realistic fiction, the idea of the descendants of these three families being destined to find each other took me out of the story a bit. It does provide a nice explanation for why all these characters have wound up in Utah together, but I'm not sure including that in the explanation was necessary. The plot of the story explains that well enough on its own.
This was an excellent start to the series and I'm looking forward to the next installment. As expected, this is another slowburn, so we have to wait and see if these two dumb teenage boys can find a way to confess their true feelings. I've already read the preview of Book 2 that was included at the end of this book and it's made me even more excited!
The building of trust and admiration between Jack and Holloway is done incredibly well. There is so much to love about their relationship: the tender interactions, the protectiveness, the way they truly see each other. The whole story takes place in about a week, but their strong connection by the end of it is completely believable.
It was really fun to see how Gregory Ashe incorporated Sherlock Holmes mythology into this book. My one quibble, though, is the concept of all the Holmeses, Watsons, and Moriartys finding each other across generations and continents. Since everything else about this book is realistic fiction, the idea of the descendants of these three families being destined to find each other took me out of the story a bit. It does provide a nice explanation for why all these characters have wound up in Utah together, but I'm not sure including that in the explanation was necessary. The plot of the story explains that well enough on its own.
This was an excellent start to the series and I'm looking forward to the next installment. As expected, this is another slowburn, so we have to wait and see if these two dumb teenage boys can find a way to confess their true feelings. I've already read the preview of Book 2 that was included at the end of this book and it's made me even more excited!
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March 23, 2025Everything is a bit dark (so I didn't know about Ashe) but I need good distractions(so I figured I needed to read an Ashe)
As a result, I read straight through and have no idea what news has dropped. The tone here sits closer to jem & tean than anything imo, with echoes of the couple too.
Fun concept and great humor bouy the darker plot and somewhat legally gray but ethically good characters.
Will be hard to stop here.
As a result, I read straight through and have no idea what news has dropped. The tone here sits closer to jem & tean than anything imo, with echoes of the couple too.
Fun concept and great humor bouy the darker plot and somewhat legally gray but ethically good characters.
Will be hard to stop here.
June 22, 2023
I'd forgotten just how good this author's books were😌.
May 18, 2023
While I was initially interested because it's in the same world as Sherlock Holmes, young Jack Moreno kept me interested as a very witty and street-smart narrator. We follow Jack as he struggles to keep his broken family a-float by working his father's shifts at a private school for troubled youth outside Provo, UT. At this school descendants of both Sherlock Holmes and John Watson happen to reside, though they're not completely like their famous ancestors. In this world, though Holmes and Watson were real-life people, the Sherlock Holmes books and subsequent pop culture also exist so it makes for a really compelling juxtaposition between what were the detectives actually like and what the modern culture thinks of them and how that affects their descendants today.
Jack was made the head of the family at a young 15 years old when his mother died in a car accident that left his father with severe brain injuries - Jack was able to walk away barely injured. Likely due to survivor's guilt and PTSD, he blames himself for her death and his father's medical problems and so pushes himself to the brink trying to take care of his dad the best he can. This means covering his dad's shifts as a maintenance/janitorial worker at the private school they also reside at and homeschooling himself through the internet. Besides this, he uses the rest of whatever free time he has to date a local girl in nearby Provo and fulfill his role of being the "bad kid" (drugs and drug sales, sex, etc.) that will later in the story put him in a bad place with the local law enforcement.
Jack finds a murdered student that happens to be a relative of John Watson which sets everything in the book off. Halloway Holmes is also a student at the school and is suspicious of Jack but they get to know each other and eventually team up to try to solve the murder. During all this Jack also has flashbacks throughout the book that makes it seem like maybe the accident was much more than that, though we don't find out what these flashbacks mean in this book, but it's obviously building up to a later book's mystery.
The main murder gets solved but also leaves a lot of other unanswered questions that will obviously be the basis of the subsequent books' mystery. This series is being released pretty quickly so I assume that Ashe probably wrote them at once in an effort to keep the mystery straight and sensical. It has a pretty slow start and while I did enjoy both Jack and Halloway as characters, I didn't really care about any the secondary characters so I got bored through some parts. For example, Jack's girlfriend was just about pointless which makes me feel slightly sorry for her - this book has a buildup of sexual tension between Jack and Halloway that doesn't progress much in this book, but Jack obviously has feelings for this Holmes so needs to make some tough decisions to save everyone more heartache. The cops and teachers got a lot of time on the page but the ending of the book made it seem like we won't really see much of them again, so felt a bit pointless as well.
Overall, I do want to continue with the series but I hope that the pace picks up a bit and we aren't introduced to a ton of new characters when it's already a bit bloated.
Jack was made the head of the family at a young 15 years old when his mother died in a car accident that left his father with severe brain injuries - Jack was able to walk away barely injured. Likely due to survivor's guilt and PTSD, he blames himself for her death and his father's medical problems and so pushes himself to the brink trying to take care of his dad the best he can. This means covering his dad's shifts as a maintenance/janitorial worker at the private school they also reside at and homeschooling himself through the internet. Besides this, he uses the rest of whatever free time he has to date a local girl in nearby Provo and fulfill his role of being the "bad kid" (drugs and drug sales, sex, etc.) that will later in the story put him in a bad place with the local law enforcement.
Jack finds a murdered student that happens to be a relative of John Watson which sets everything in the book off. Halloway Holmes is also a student at the school and is suspicious of Jack but they get to know each other and eventually team up to try to solve the murder. During all this Jack also has flashbacks throughout the book that makes it seem like maybe the accident was much more than that, though we don't find out what these flashbacks mean in this book, but it's obviously building up to a later book's mystery.
The main murder gets solved but also leaves a lot of other unanswered questions that will obviously be the basis of the subsequent books' mystery. This series is being released pretty quickly so I assume that Ashe probably wrote them at once in an effort to keep the mystery straight and sensical. It has a pretty slow start and while I did enjoy both Jack and Halloway as characters, I didn't really care about any the secondary characters so I got bored through some parts. For example, Jack's girlfriend was just about pointless which makes me feel slightly sorry for her - this book has a buildup of sexual tension between Jack and Halloway that doesn't progress much in this book, but Jack obviously has feelings for this Holmes so needs to make some tough decisions to save everyone more heartache. The cops and teachers got a lot of time on the page but the ending of the book made it seem like we won't really see much of them again, so felt a bit pointless as well.
Overall, I do want to continue with the series but I hope that the pace picks up a bit and we aren't introduced to a ton of new characters when it's already a bit bloated.
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