“It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Sherlock Holmes was distinguished.”~Dr John Watson.
Zombies are the least of the problems encountered in Sherlock Holmes and the Zombie Problem by author Nick S. Thomas. Bad writing can usually be overcome by a decent plot, but sometimes you run into stuff like this:
“Shocked and in fear I stumbled to my feet and withdrew across the room, two more shots rang out from Holmes’ gun, one hitting the attacker in the shoulder, the other missing, it had no effect.”
or this:
“I ripped the cabinet open, taking up my recently purchased rifle, a wonder I now was pleased to have purchased just a few months before, an 1881 model Marlin under lever rifle, kept for this very type of situation which I had hoped to never face but prepared for anyway.”
Let me just say that if you’re not willing to write proper sentences, then I am not willing to read your book.
It’s a shame really, as the idea of Sherlock Holmes fighting a Zombie horde unleashed upon him by the nefarious James Moriarty is something I’m totally on-board with. A great idea, but in this case so poorly executed that (for the first time ever) I could not finish the novel.
That’s how bad it is.
If you can’t write a page without a run on sentence, then I would suggest either a refresher course in grammar, finding a half decent editor–or a career change.
Gutenberg's Son 