"A very entertaining and interesting read. Instead of going about to cases and taking hansom cabs across England, Sherlock spends his time at 221b and solves cases from his chair. This series of short stories handles what Doyle claims Sherlock did a lot of, but rarely wrote about.

There's a wide variety of stories here, some from the perspective of clients such as a pair of problem solving young women, Mr Pinkerton himself, and others. Sherlock is recovering from a broken leg in some of the stories. Ultimately each shows a great deal of cleverness on the detective's part, although in varying degrees. And Watson is well-treated in all of them."

"I can’t remember after so many years if it was for a book or a movie, or possibly even a TV show, but years I ago I read a review in which the writer began by saying that the best review he could ever imagine sharing would consist of just a single word: “Wow!�

That single word review pretty well sums up my reaction to Win Scott Eckert’s latest addition to the ever-expanding mythology created well over a century ago by my all-time favorite storyteller, Edgar Rice Burroughs. I’ve written in the past about how - thanks to the early reading lessons I received from my mother and father, both lifelong voracious readers themselves - I was already delving into the works of ERB while most of my grade school classmates were still struggling their way through Sally, Dick and Jane. One of the Burroughs tales that really grabbed hold of me at the time was “The Son of Tarzan� - in part, I suppose, because I so identified with the young Jack Clayton’s thirst for adventure at that book’s beginning, and so wanted at that age to be just like Korak and his legendary father. Korak quickly became one of my favorites among the ERB cast of characters - and while I appreciated seeing him pop up for the occasional cameo appearance in the later Tarzan novels, it always grieved me that ERB didn’t give the character the full-blown “spin-off� treatment he deserved by writing additional adventures focused solely on Korak.

Well, it took roughly half a century, but I’ve finally got the Korak adventure I’ve been waiting for. Eckert - already a Master of Adventure in his own right - gives us a Korak that I’m pretty sure Burroughs himself would have no trouble recognizing: older, somewhat wiser, but still struggling with certain demons from his past as he sets out to rescue his daughter Suzanne following her disappearance in Pellucidar. He is joined along the way by family and friends old and new - Eckert’s portrayal of Korak’s wife Meriem is a particular delight - as his journey takes him ever deeper into the world at the earth’s core� and, perhaps, answers to a mystery that Burroughs himself set the stage for but never got around to solving for us.

Make that “mysteries,� plural, as this novel also touches upon events and characters from several of ERB’s non-Tarzan tales, as well as one of the Ape-Man’s own later adventures, in the process further enhancing the Burroughs Universe while at the same time sending it into new and dynamic directions. Eckert makes the most of adventures written by other authors that ERB Inc. has deemed to be part of the proper “ERB Universe Canon,� especially the two Pellucidar novels of John Eric Holmes - the first of which, “Mahars of Pellucidar,� I snapped up at the old B. Dalton Bookstore we used to frequent back in the 1970s while the poor clerk was still trying to put copies on the store shelves when the original Ace Books paperback edition was first released�

This is one of those reviews that is, to be honest, a little difficult for me - I love the book so much and want to share that here, but at the same time I want to avoid accidentally giving any spoilers that might ruin the enjoyment of other readers as they discover the book for themselves. Suffice it to say that “Korak At The Earth’s Core� is a great story, a tale I really believe Burroughs himself would have greatly enjoyed - and a worthy addition to pop culture’s first genuine “cohesive universe,� one created well before Kevin Feige and Stan Lee put their heads together and said, “Maybe it’s time we make some Marvel movies.�

Win Scott Eckert has done an admirable job of giving us a tale that can be enjoyed by both lifelong ERB fans like myself who have clamored for such adventures for decades, and by a new generation of fans for whom it can serve as an excellent jumping-off point for delving deeper into the original books that inspired it.

In other words: “Wow!�"