The second (and so far final) in Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost's series of books featuring a fictionalised Arthur Conan Doyle as a character isn't a great departure from the first. Once more, our trusty author - now thoroughly jack of Holmes - is caught up in world-changing events of a supernatural nature and must fight with Jack Sparks (Holmes' inspiration in this world) to prevent catastrophe, and a universal loss of stiff upper lip. On this outing, Doyle embarks on a tour of the US to escape his failing wife (and marriage). The trip to the land of the Yankee provides plenty of space for period detail, and also ensures Frost can add a fairly big dose of cowboy-and-religion imagery to the creeping Lovecraftian grimness featured in the first volume. This time there's fewer Cockney lads around to provide excuses for terrible appropriation of rhyming slang. This is a good thing. In their stead, however, we have a fairly stock (though appealing) Japanese priest/assassin and a prisoner cowboy with a heart of gold. There's plenty of cut-out characters - religious adherents with the attention span of goldfish, preachers with demonic focus, mystical native Americans, Rabbis and their families who don't cry "oy vey!" at every opportunity (but might as well), a specimen of serial killer as well as some terrible, terrible actors. They're vibrant and thoroughly stereotypical, but that's fine: it's fun. The story is serviceable, but nobody is really reading this for deep reflection on the human soul. Everything moves at a clip, and the tension rockets up in the latter part of the book where characters from the first story come out of the woodwork. It's all cinematic, and the reader can't help but think that handled a-la Raiders of the Lost Ark this would make a great film. Popcorn ahoy!The problem is that the end of the story is a bit tacked on. It just... ends. There's a certain amount of hand-waving to explain away some parts of how we've come from a heavily plotted, intrigue-laden conspiracy-and-dreams story to what amounts to an evil genius lair boss-battle - but it's unsatisfying. Some characters just float off, and we're never really given a resolution for them. It's frustrating, and I wonder how different things would have been given a little more time or editorial input. Still, this isn't great cap-L Literature. But it's a fantastically fun, pulpy read, as was the first. If you basically want more of the same, only this time with cowboys, then this is pretty much the thing for you.
Mark Frost's first novel was The List of 7—one of the finest stories I have ever read. Mark Frost's second novel The Six Messiahs I grabbed up with an eager ferocity I have not often experienced.The copy I read was 424 pages in length. Reaching page 419, I would have given this one 4 stars; a fine work, a few flaws. The last five pages took three and a half of those stars away. He... just... stopped. The ending would have to have done something to even be bad. This one wasn't even enough to get my Anne Rice Bad Ending Award. 6 Messiahs would have ended better if the Saint of Killers [from Garth Ennis' The Preacher series:] had shown up, his six guns a'blazin'... or might have reached some conclusion if, perhaps, Miaowara Tomokato, the Samurai Cat, brought in a couple of Mausers.The saddest thing about how bad this book ended was that it held so much potential. Potential to spare. It was mating season for Potential, and this story was dosed with pheromones. But somewhere, in the last few pages of the book, Mark Frost must have received a telephone call, and walked off to leave his agent to publish the book without a conclusion or resolution of any sort. Perhaps an explanation of what happened and why might have been in order. But the reader is not even granted that much. If you are Tantalus, standing the river of your local bookstore and want to torture yourself with a novel. This is the book for you. If you want to read a fine fine tale from the co-writer of Twin Peaks, pick up Frost's first novel The List of 7. It shows the incredible talent and power for storytelling of which he is capable.The Six Messiahs did not ascend.
What do You think about The Six Messiahs (2005)?
Another good read from Mark Frost. However, the reason I dropped a star was the ending - it was as if the author ran out of paper and so abruptly finished the story in a very hurried and incongruous manner from which the rest of the book had been written.Having said that, I really did enjoy the book. I like Frost's style of writing, and how he pulls together several story lines to one climatic conclusion. He keeps the reader engaged and I did find it hard to put down at the end of each chapter.Several familiar characters re-appear in the book from "The List of Seven" story, although I would have loved to have had more of Larry in this book.
—Jo
I remember when I read The List of Seven in high school, and I found the book to be completely fascinating. I kept me on the edge of my seat and once I picked it up I did not want to put it down. I absolutely loved Jack Sparks. So when I happened upon this book I was quite excited about it. Needless to say I was left somewhat disappointed. There was something about this book that I found not quite as engaging as the first book. It took me a bit longer to really get into it, and I thought it started out slow, and had some lulling moments for me. But with that being said, it did start to pick more as I went a long and had some of the same elements that I remember loving so much in the first book. The characters were fascinating, and the story intriguing, and it did leave me wondering what was going to happen next. So not a bad read, but there was just something the first book had that was lacking here.
—Silver
la verdad me costo tomarle el ritmo a este libro, en un inicio me parecio lento y sin sentido (lo odie), luego al avanzar la trama mejoro con personajes entretenidos.el libro es la continuacion de otro (mm no lo lei y tampoco me parecio necesario; éste se explica muy bien solo) y trata principalmente del bien y el mal que reina en todo ser humano y la opción que poseemos de escoger a uno o el otro con sus debidas consecuencias.3 estrellas más que suficiente porque tiene un inicio difícil, el desarrollo de la historia es agil y con mucha acción, pero su final me pareció un poco pobre y abrupto, quizas suficiente para alguien que leyó toda la cronica, pero repentino para alguien que leyó solo éste libro.
—Damarys
