The Hound of Justice: A Novel

by Claire O'Dell

Overview

"Dr. Janet Watson and covert agent Sara Holmes ... continue their dangerous investigation into the new American Civil War with the help of fresh allies, advanced technology, and brilliant deduction ... It's been two months since Dr. Janet Watson accepted an offer from Georgetown University Hospital. The training for her new high-tech arm is taking longer than expected, however, leaving her in limbo. Meanwhile, her brilliant friend and compatriot, Sara Holmes, has been placed on leave--punishment for going rogue during their previous adventure. After an extremist faction called the Brotherhood of Redemption launched a failed assassination attempt on the president that caused mass destruction, Holmes, who is now operating in the shadows, takes on the task of investigating the Brotherhood. Holmes is making progress when she abruptly disappears. When Watson receives a mysterious message from Holmes's cousin Micha that indicates that Sara Holmes' disappearance might be connected to the Brotherhood and to Adler Industries, Watson and Micha go on a high-stakes mission to reunite with Holmes once more. Together, Watson, Holmes and Micha embark on a thrilling, action-packed journey through the deep South to clear Holmes's name, thwart the Brotherhood's next move, and most important, bring their nemesis to justice for the atrocities she's committed in the New Civil War."--

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062699336
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/30/2019
Series:	Janet Watson Chronicles Series , #2
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Claire O'Dell grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., in the years of the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal. She attended high school just a few miles from the house where Mary Surratt once lived and where John Wilkes Booth planned for Lincoln to die. All this might explain why she spent so much time in the history and political science departments at college. Claire currently lives in Manchester, Connecticut, with her family and two idiosyncratic cats.

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/13/2019

In the pseudonymous O’Dell’s debut, A Study in Honor, which reimagined Holmes and Watson as gay African-American women living in a near-future U.S. riven by a second civil war sparked by right-wing racists, surgeon Janet Watson lost an arm. In this superb sequel, Watson, now employed by Georgetown University Hospital, is working hard to master a prosthetic replacement so that she can operate again. The inauguration of the new president, who campaigned on a promise to negotiate a peace treaty with the secessionists, is disrupted by a terror attack by the Brotherhood of Redemption. Watson is on hand to treat the wounded, and her enigmatic roommate, FBI agent Sara Holmes, is tasked with investigating how the Brotherhood managed to evade stringent security procedures and smuggle explosives into Washington, D.C. Eventually, Watson assumes an active role in Holmes’s inquiry, which requires a perilous crossing into enemy terrain. O’Dell movingly portrays a proud woman struggling to regain her professional skills in a country still plagued by racism. Readers will hope this inventive series has a long run. Agent: Lane Heymont, Tobias Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

The Hound of Justice is a story of resistance, to be sure, but it’s also the story of the real human costs of putting everything on the line. It’s also a compelling mystery, at the center of which is a Watson with the same loyalty and curiosity as the original, but with an identity and outlook far more reflective of the times in which she (and we) live.” — Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

“An engaging and ultimately deeply satisfying novel” — Tor.com

“The Hound of Justice is an entertaining, engaging near-future thriller, well written and well characterised. It’s not a traditional Holmes-and-Watson story—the dynamics of their relationship feel rather different to many variants—but maybe that’s to its credit. I enjoyed it, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next instalment, whatever (and whenever) that may be.” — Locus

“O’Dell movingly portrays a proud woman struggling to regain her professional skills in a country still plagued by racism. Readers will hope this inventive series has a long run.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“When these all-female, mostly black resistance fighters weapon up, they kick some serious bad-guy (and -girl) ass” — Kirkus Reviews

“This is an entertaining sequel, narrated by the increasingly engaging Watson, and one hopes that the work of this Holmes and Watson will continue.” — Booklist

“Outstanding characters and superb tension make this a must read book.” — Scifi Pulse

From the Publisher

An engaging and ultimately deeply satisfying novel

Tor.com

Outstanding characters and superb tension make this a must read book.

Scifi Pulse

This is an entertaining sequel, narrated by the increasingly engaging Watson, and one hopes that the work of this Holmes and Watson will continue.

Booklist

The Hound of Justice is an entertaining, engaging near-future thriller, well written and well characterised. It’s not a traditional Holmes-and-Watson story—the dynamics of their relationship feel rather different to many variants—but maybe that’s to its credit. I enjoyed it, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next instalment, whatever (and whenever) that may be.

Locus

The Hound of Justice is a story of resistance, to be sure, but it’s also the story of the real human costs of putting everything on the line. It’s also a compelling mystery, at the center of which is a Watson with the same loyalty and curiosity as the original, but with an identity and outlook far more reflective of the times in which she (and we) live.

Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

This is an entertaining sequel, narrated by the increasingly engaging Watson, and one hopes that the work of this Holmes and Watson will continue.

Booklist

2019-05-27
In this second installment of the Janet Watson Chronicles, Dr. Watson and Sara Holmes infiltrate a secret facility inside the New Confederacy to foil a diabolical assassination plot.

Set in a futuristic America divided by a New Civil War, O'Dell's (A Study in Honor, 2018) speculative take on the Sherlock Holmes mythology picks up where the first novel left off. Dr. Janet Watson, having lost an arm in the fight against Nadine Adler, is adapting to her prosthetic and itching to be cleared to perform surgery again. Her friend and Washington, D.C., roommate, Sara Holmes, is on indefinite leave from whatever "alphabet agency" she works for and is generally going stir-crazy. On Inauguration Day, the Brotherhood of Redemption, an extremist faction of the New Confederacy, sets off a number of explosions. Sara and Janet fear this is only the tip of a much more destructive terrorist plot. Additionally, there are a number of mysterious deaths at the hospital. While Janet tries to get her life back on track—rounds, practice surgeries, and a few dates with an attractive bookstore owner—Sara is laying the groundwork for a long game. When she disappears, Janet must travel south and then cross the border into the New Confederacy to find a hardcore group of resistance fighters and help them rescue a kidnapped biochemist. O'Dell's imagined America is a grim place, both mired in the racial violence and prejudice of the past and splintered apart by the destructive politics of Trump and those who, speculatively, have succeeded him. The links to Sherlock Holmes provide a deeper skeleton framework to the story, but one wonders how necessary it will be in future novels. Janet and Sara are complex African American women who have no need to be tied to white, male, British detectives of the past. When these all-female, mostly black resistance fighters weapon up, they kick some serious bad-guy (and -girl) ass.

Read it for the action scenes and savor some sweet friendship moments in between.

Kirkus Reviews