I grew up on classic tales such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oliver Twist, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While I may not have read these tales in many years, I have fond memories devouring them and of the adventures and the depictions of historic times within the USA and UK within their pages. I'm always interested in exploring new cinematic adaptations but what doesn't happen often is getting the chance to return to the bookish setting for a whole new story. Until now, with the release of a sequel to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Seven years after the death of the sinister Mr. Edward Hyde which, we all know from the source material, also took away the unfortunate soul of Dr. Henry Jekyll, a mysterious man arrives in London claiming to be the deceased Jekyll and laying claim to his estate.
As the double life of Dr. Jekyll was known to only a very few, mostly everyone is fooled by the man's claim, except for Mr. Utterson, Jekyll's lawyer who was the sole beneficiary in Jekyll's will. Needless to say the people surrounding Utterson don't believe his wild claims that the gentleman in Jekyll's residence is in actual fact an imposter, believing that Utterson is merely trying to lay claim to the estate himself.
In a feint attempt to uncover the truth, Utterson goes down a dark path of madness not dissimilar to the one walked before him by his old friend Henry...
Perfectly capturing the bleak atmosphere of Victorian London and the origin story, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Seek is a solid sequel to the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was thoroughly gripped by the mystery at the heart of the story and even started to doubt myself just like Mr. Utterson did as the supposed imposter was so very good at portraying the character of Dr. Henry Jekyll.
The book wasn't very big,so I whizzed through the pages rapidly as I was trying to uncover the mystery, and along the way I was very impressed by Anthony O'Neill's capability to mimic the tone and feel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde so very well. Utterson wasn't as charismatic a protagonist as Jekyll perhaps, but this is a story-driven sequel and the story was very well put together indeed.
While I wasn't a huge fan of its inevitable ending, it did echo The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde perfectly, so I can't fault it that. And overall, with its beautifully atmospheric setting and gripping plot, this was a solid 4-star read for me!
Dr Jekyll & Mr Seek is published by Black & White Publishing and you can purchase your copy now from Foyles or your own preferred retailer.
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