Sherlock Holmes & Kolchak The Night Stalker: Cry Of Thunder

Chapter 1 begins with Carl Kolchak, and you can imagine him talking into his trusty cassette recorder: "My day started like many of them do, with dread. It was only a matter of time before the giant shadow of that paragon of journalism, one Tony Vincenzo, would engulf me, and my lungs would burst from oxygen deprivation. If I only knew what lay before me, I would have escaped that shadow like the ground hog on Ground Hog Day."The "intoxicating" Brandi Lexton comes into the office, and she's looking for Kolchak: "I need to know why this manuscript was important to my great-grandfather. And it may sound a little odd but it HAS to be you who sees it. Understand that this has been passed down from generation to generation waiting to be put into your hands." How could our intrepid reporter not be intrigued?The 2nd chapter takes us back to the summer of 1905. Consulting detective Sherlock Holmes also has a woman ask for his help. She is Elizabeth Komonov, and her husband Serge has been charged with murder and she is sure he is innocent.From then on, chapters alternate between Kolchak and Holmes, and Kolchak ends up in, of all places, Tombstone, Arizona. As you'd expect with Holmes, there is a mystery to solve. And as you'd expect with Kolchak, there is an unworldly element, too.I had high hopes when I started this book. I'm a big fan of the Darren McGavin's TV movies & show (1972-1975)  Kolchak - The Night Stalker . And I am a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as the many modern novels & TV & movies in which he features."Cry For Thunder" is trying to bring to life two characters that are well-known, and that's hard to do convincingly. There is humor involved with the Kolchak chapters, which I expected because of the humor in the show. But for me, Joe Gentile's Kolchak does not have the brains or charm of the TV character. The Holmes chapters are decently presented, but transitions between the two key characters' chapters are clunky and the plotting a bit disjointed. The ending seems to rather peter out.Overall, I thought "Cry For Thunder" was an OK = 3 stars. It has definite possibilities, if Joe Gentile is considering another book with these characters.Happy Reader Kolchak - The Night Stalker

I've been a fan of both Sherlock Holmes and Carl Kolchak for many years. That the two could team up was an intriguing idea, one I wondered how the good folks at Moonstone could accomplish. They do comics of both characters and have for years.Kolchak is visited by a young woman with a had-written mauscript found on her great-grandfather after he was murdered in the early fifties. It had been passed down in the family since then waiting to be put into Kolchak's hands specifically. She couldn't explain how he could be involved even before his birth.The manuscript turns out to be a Sherlock Holmes story, one of many unknown tales chronicled by his friend Dr. Watson. It involved a Latvian terrorist, a man who confessed to a murder he didn't commit, that of his wife. Or rather his second wife, both at the same time.A second manuscript turns up, modern day followers of the terrorist, and the stuff of legends: the giant Thunderbirds in a subplot that goes all the way back to 1890 Tombstone.A lot of fun.

Kochack doing a novel over a short story ... ties to a Holmes case and of course Kolchak bumbling through it and hoping it all works out for him and a story for Tony in the end ...

This guy has the voice of Carl Kolchak and his world down to a tee. If you like the show this is for you.

I had a lot of hopes for this book. I was very disappointed. I think they left a lot loose ends out. Not the best crossover.