Book Review: The God of the Hive by Laurie R. King

The God of the Hive
Author: Laurie R. King
Series: Mary Russell (Book 10)
Publication: Bantam; 1 edition (April 27, 2010)

Description: In Laurie R. King’s latest Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes mystery, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author delivers a thriller of ingenious surprises and unrelenting suspense—as the famous husband and wife sleuths are pursued by a killer immune from the sting of justice.

It began as a problem in one of Holmes’ beloved beehives, led to a murderous cult, and ended—or so they’d hoped—with a daring escape from a sacrificial altar. Instead, Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, have stirred the wrath and the limitless resources of those they’ve thwarted. Now they are separated and on the run, wanted by the police, and pursued across the Continent by a ruthless enemy with powerful connections.

Unstoppable together, Russell and Holmes will have to survive this time apart, maintaining tenuous contact only by means of coded messages and cryptic notes. With Holmes’ young granddaughter in her safekeeping, Russell will have to call on instincts she didn’t know she had. But has the couple already made a fatal mistake by separating, making themselves easier targets for the shadowy government agents sent to silence them?

From hidden rooms in London shops and rustic forest cabins to rickety planes over Scotland and boats on the frozen North Sea, Russell and Holmes work their way back to each other while uncovering answers to a mystery that will take both of them to solve. A hermit with a mysterious past and a beautiful young female doctor with a secret, a cruelly scarred flyer and an obsessed man of the cloth, Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, and an Intelligence agent who knows too much: Everyone Russell and Holmes meet could either speed their safe reunion or betray them to their enemies—in the most complex, shocking, and deeply personal case of their career.

My Thoughts: After their confrontation with a villain, Holmes and Russell need to split up to confuse their enemy. Holmes takes to the sea with his son Damian who has a gunshot wound and Russell grabs Holmes's three-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter Estelle and heads south. She catches up with the pilot who flew her north and convinces him to take them to a place where they can catch a train heading further south.

However, a sniper shoots their plane and wounds their pilot which convinces them to go even further before landing to get out of the range of the villains who are after them. A plane crash lands them in the realm of Robert Goodman who is living as a hermit. They spend a couple of days there before the villains overtake them and all four are forced to flee.

Russell stashes the pilot and Estelle in a place that should be safe and travels to London with Robert Goodman to search for both Holmes brothers. Then the news comes the Mycroft has been killed outside a house of ill repute and his funeral is to be the next Sunday.

Mycroft has fallen afoul of villains of his own though they are part of the larger conspiracy. Sections from the head villains point of view let us know about a plot to depose Mycroft and take his place in the Intelligence community which he feels is his destiny. And he's more than willing to murder, Mycroft, Sherlock, Mary, and anyone else who might stand in his way.

This story is told from multiple points of view and was filled with action as our heroes new and old have to find out who is behind the massive plot and save their lives and the lives of innocent victims along the way. Holmes and Russell are apart for large parts of this story which adds their worry for each other to the tension of an already tense situation.

This was an excellent story. I loved the action and tension. I really liked Robert Goodman who was an intriguing character. I also want to know more about Damian, Estelle, and the young Scottish doctor that Sherlock kidnaps to take care of Damian's gunshot wound.

Favorite Quote:

"Not a ladder as such, it's rope. A rope ladder. If you feel up to such a thing."

"Is there sufficient anchor up there? I'd not care to get nearly to the top and have it come loose."

"Oh no, no no, that wouldn't do at all. Yes, there's a metal pipe near by, and I have a rope as well. To fasten around the pipe, that is, and tie to the ladder."

"Mr. Sosa, I don't know that I've ever had opportunity to enquire, but -- your knowledge of knots. How comprehensive is it?"

"Quite sufficient, I assure you, sir," he answered earnestly. As a boy, I taught myself a full two dozen styles and their chief purposes. I propose a sheet bend rather than a reef knot. And to fasten it to the pipe, a double half-hitch should be sufficient. No, sir; my knots will hold."

I bought this one in 2010 and am rereading it. You can buy your copy here.