Following the conclusion of his latest case, Sherlock Holmes, along with his cousin, Dr. Henry Vernier, agrees to look into the mysterious events taking place at the Paris Opera House. Closely following Leroux's original, Holmes and Vernier are witnesses to Christine's disappearance, the falling of the chandelier and other events, as they try to discover what or who is behind all of them.

I found this to be a very satisfying story, both from the point of view of a POTO and a Sherlock Holmes fan. Be forewarned, however, that there is more Holmes than Phantom in this book. This well written novel's fast pace is maintained throughout, holds one's interest and has a twist at the end. The dialogue was easy to read, in fact, I finished the book in one afternoon. It is a welcomed addition to my POTO collection and I definitely recommend it.

In "The Angel of the Opera," Sherlock Holmes is on one of his most challenging cases yet; the managers of the Paris Opera have hired him to reveal the identity of the Phantom of the Opera. As the novel opens, Sherlock and his cousin Henry are in Wales wrapping up a case that began in India with hired thugs, but are soon called to Paris when a mysterious "Opera ghost" starts making demands on the new managers.

The novel is narrated by Henry, whose presence is explained in order to fill the rift created when Watson killed off Holmes in an earlier novel. Henry, a doctor, describes both Sherlock's genius and his more human failings (melancholy, his none-too-handsome appearance) in ample detail. Henry and Sherlock must interview both the principal suspects Christine Daae, Carlotta, and the Vicomte de Chagny multiple times, as well as opera employees as they race to uncover the identity of the Phantom.

In many respects, Siciliano's novel is a brilliantly rewritten version of Leroux's original The Phantom of the Opera: The Original Novel that incorporates both the strengths of the original, as well as the observant sleuthing abilities of Holmes. Siciliano's descriptions bring the cast of characters vividly to life, and his language is suitable to the historical period of the novel, full of lush details of the opulence of that bygone era. His literary version of the Phantom in particular paints a man of great intelligence and musical genius who has turned into a twisted genius capable of death and destruction, but whose deep need for love and acceptance offer a glimmer of hope for the future (the ending was inspired and in-character for Siciliano's Phantom).

The story will be at once familiar for those who, like myself, are avid fans of the Phantom. This, along with Phantom, was one of the first Phantom novelizations that I read, and remains one of my favorites. Even as someone who's never read any Sherlock Holmes novels (my familiarity of the character stems from cinematic portrayals by Basil Rathbone), "Angel of the Opera" is a fascinating hybrid that does justice to two literary giants.

I absolutely loved this tale! Mr. Siciliano has done justice to not only a much loved detective, but our Opera Ghost as well. If for nothing else, this is a wonderful romp, and will keep one entertained! It is always nice to find a different take on a much loved story, and this is it. I even learned what lime light is all about! Bravo Sam Siciliano! I believe M. Leroux would be pleased!

While exploring my local library for Phantom material (which had, sadly, all been cleaned out by booklifters that never returned them) I stumbled upon this little ditty in the fiction section almost by accident. I managed to get through it with amusement, though it did nothing in terms of depth.

My impressions were thus:

* The characters are almost completely one-dimensional.

--Henry is a complete Gary-Stu;

--Christine is a superstitious, pouting barbie with a good voice;

--Raoul -while never the best of people in the first place IMHO- was portrayed even worse as a snide whiny jerk whose feelings are so wishy-washy it's a wonder even the oblivious Christine can't see how shallow he is;

--Erik acts more like Raoul than like any version of Erik ever;

--And to top it off, Sherlock was sickeningly sweet and caring and understanding and deep. Not that the Original Holmes wasn't deep, but this is deep like "I'm deep and everyone knows it" kind of deep.

* The plot was contrived, and easily predictable. The fact that Holmes WENT ON about how predictable the end between Christine, Raoul and Erik was was not only annoying, but served no purpose except to make a point of how Sherlock is always right, even when he wants to be wrong. And the ending was so sickly sweet and out of character that it didn't even feel like he was writing about the Erik or Holmes any of us has known or loved.

* The dialouge was very stiff at some points, and then almost completely modern in others. It lacked consistancy, and I was often left wondering why in the world he thought a character would ever talk in such a stilted manner, even a character set 100+ years ago.

Overall, this is fine as a library checkout when you want to read some fluff. I'll give Mr. Siciliano credit that despite his characterazation and plot problems, he managed not to disgust me so much that I couldn't finish. But I would never pay for this book when I could be buying something better.

Bravo, Mr. Siciliano, bravo. You've managed to accomplish what 12 year old phangirls only dream of; have a novel published that not only turns Erik into the poor, unfortunate ugly man who's only wish was to marry a girl at least 30 years younger than him AND pair him up with another woman who was not only young, beautiful and musically gifted but incredibly deep.
It was okay. The writing style was very easy to understand and it had that happy ending that everyone enjoys. Also, Raoul was potrayed as a jerk, but I doubt anyone really cares about that.
One of the most annoying aspects about the book were that Watson and the Persian were "bad guys." The Persian is one of my favorite characters, and to see him potrayed as a money-hungry jackass willing to exploit his friend was infuriating. Also, what did Mr. Siciliano have against Watson? Maybe he was afraid that he would butcher Watson character like he did with the other ones, and decided to take the easy way out and make up a new character.
Last, he did a pretty crappy job with Erik, Christine and Sherlock. Let's begin with Sherlock. He's turned into a complete Mary Sue (if that can be used to describe males) by making him not only genius enough to be completely figure out Erik, but also incredibly kind and understanding. Sherlock is basically the Persian (as he should've been) with an English accent.
There really isn't much to say about Erik, except that I've read quite a few phanfics that potray him better.
As for Christine, she's simply a pretty girl with a nice voice who would rather take the easy way out and marry Raoul. Look, I totally think that Christine made a mistake and should have ended up with Erik, but what most author's fail to realize is that Erik isn't the only victom. What is she supposed to do, jump into the arms of an incredibly ugly man (the living corpse, remember?) who not only has a severe superiority complex but pretended to be an angel sent from her dead father to teach her to sing? Yeah right.
All in all, the book is mildly okay. [...].