Narrator

Cary Hite

Cary Hite
  • Dr. Amy Winslow tells the story: in foggy, nighttime San Francisco a jogging SFPD captain is savagely attacked by a Bengal tiger which then vanishes. In her ER, Amy labors unsuccessfully to save the captain’s life, then consoles his aggrieved closest friend, Lt. Luis Ortega. Neither suspects their lives will intertwine in a life-or-death mystery.

    The next day, checking on former patient Mrs. Hudson at her Victorian house isolated in Marin County’s forest, Amy discovers in the cellar a secret, cobweb-covered 1899 electrochemical laboratory containing a Jules Verne–esque steam-punk sarcophagus out of which springs a wild-eyed, half-mummified, crypt-keeper-like man who injects himself with something before falling dead at her feet. Amy barely revives him.

    He claims to be a real-life Victorian master chemist and detective named Holmes, who allowed Conan Doyle to write stories based on his cases, though was slightly annoyed when Doyle changed his real first name to the catchier Sherlock. Becoming uninspired by 1890s crime, Holmes devised this method to hibernate for a century to investigate future mysteries.

    Amy assumes he’s a lunatic. His Scotland Yard identity papers were stolen while he slept, so it takes her a while to realize his amazing story is true.

    Respectably handsome when cleaned up, Holmes is still the same brash, egoistic, über-English, cocaine-addicted, non-feminist genius—but now a century out of sync—so his still-brilliant deductions are sometimes laughably or dangerously wrong. Holmes and Amy, his reluctant new Watson, find themselves unexpectedly attracted to each other while perilously involved in reclaiming his proof of identity, aided by cyber-savvy street teen Zapper. It’s all connected to the horrific death-by-tiger, only the first of several bizarre, mystifying murders being committed by an exquisitely fiendish descendant of Holmes’ Victorian archenemy, Professor Moriarty.

    The tone is classic Holmes—plus a refreshing twist of fish-out-of-water humor with a surprising spark of real romance.

  • For young readers inspired by bestselling autobiographies such as Essentially Charli and Reach for the Skai comes the extraordinary true story of how a nine-year-old DJ from Dubai became an international superstar, as told in her own words—with some help from her “Momager”—with a foreword by Wyclef Jean.

    Dubai wunderkind Michelle Rasul was only a toddler when she first got behind the turntables. By the time she entered the 2021 DMC Global DJing Championship, she was on her way to becoming an international celebrity. Her inspiring autobiography is a testament to passion, talent, family, love, and perseverance—and above all, a celebration of Girl Power with some scratching and a beat.

    Award-winning children’s author Rabiah York takes the reader through DJ Michelle’s extraordinary life in a rollicking, intimate narrative driven by Michelle’s own words—joined by the star’s mother, Saida Rasul. (Or “Momager,” as the family prefers.) In conversation, mother and daughter open up not only about the magic of music in their lives, but about the discipline it takes to journey from precocious youngster to professional scratch DJ. For all of Michelle’s positivity, she is unflinchingly honest about the obstacles she has had to overcome to achieve such astonishing success at such a young age.

    The print edition is enhanced by colorful photographs and other fun multimedia inserts—including (but not limited to) crucial bits of DJ history; text messages from friends, fans, and celebrities; even a school assignment.