The List of 7

A young Arthur Conan Doyle confronts an occult conspiracy in “a ripping good tale” by the New York Times–bestselling author and co-creator of Twin Peaks (The Washington Post Book World).As the city of London slumbers, there are those in its midst who conspire to rule the world through the darkest and most nefarious means. These seven, seated in positions of extraordinary power and influence, marshal forces from the far side to aid them in their fiendish endeavor.In the aftermath of a bloody séance and a terrifying supernatural contact, a courageous young doctor named Arthur Conan Doyle finds himself drawn into a malevolent conspiracy beyond human comprehension, and into the company of a mysterious genius named Jack Sparks.The future is not safe, as a thousand-year reign of pure evil is about to begin—unless a small group of stalwart champions can unravel the unspeakable mysteries behind a crime far more terrible than murder . . . “Exhilarating . . . Sparks and Doyle race from one cliffhanger to the next, mixing it up with zombies, villains, giant leeches, and femmes fatales; exploring secret tunnels and a walled castle; crossing paths with Bram Stoker, Madame Blavatsky, Jack the Ripper, and Victoria Regina.” —Kirkus Reviews“Scary and compulsive, with a chilling twist.” —Vogue“A knockout . . . engrossing, strange and terrifying.” —Booklist“Plenty of detail and fast-paced action.” —The Denver Post“Compelling . . . bizarre . . . will linger long in the reader’s memory.” —San Francisco Chronicle

From Publishers Weekly

The Twin Peaks co-creator's first novel confronts Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with a mystery involving black magic and Satanic manifestations. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Since the author wrote for Hill Street Blues , the acclaimed television series of the 1980s, and cocreated the popular Twin Peaks with David Lynch, it comes as no surprise that this first novel is particularly well suited to dramatization. Young Arthur Conan Doyle battles a group of influential and highly placed Satanists with the help of Jack Sparks, a strong, intelligent, and resourceful agent of Her Majesty who later becomes Doyle's inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. The pair's numerous hairsbreadth escapes provide for an achingly suspenseful listening experience. The novel's excessive plot is actually enhanced by the abridgment, which removes some of the book's more unnecessarily lurid passages. Also, the printed version's ludicrous, hyperbolic treatment of the "revelatory" finale--hidden beneath a flap on the book's back cover--is (thankfully) impossible to reproduce in a recording. Reader Rene Auberjonois deftly handles the wide array of character voices. Recommended for all popular collections.- Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

History has it that Arthur Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes on his med-school teacher Dr. Joseph Bell. Not so, imagines Frost (co-creator of Twin Peaks) in his exhilarating, exuberantly melodramatic first novel: Holmes's real template was one Jack Sparks, Queen Victoria's most secret agent, who enlisted Doyle as his Watson to combat a conspiracy aimed at nothing less than incarnating Satan in human form. Doyle's a young M.D. and writer when he gets an anonymous letter imploring him to save ``an innocent's life'' from ``fraudulent'' practitioners of the ``spiritual arts''--a letter couched in the same Victorian language that Frost uses to tell his tale, and one appealing to the doctor's interest in psychic phenomena. It's this interest that has prompted Doyle to write about a ``Dark Brotherhood'' in a novel that's attracted the attention of the ``7,'' a real-life cabal of the black arts. The letter, sent by the cabal, takes Doyle to a s‚ance where a demon manifests and several are slain, and from which Doyle escapes with the help of a mysterious dynamo who calls himself Jack Sparks- -though, for his deductive powers, violin playing, and cocaine addiction, he might just as well be called ``Holmes.'' Sparks tells Doyle of the 7 and of their leader, Alexander Sparks, Jack's own brother and nemesis, the crime lord of London (i.e., Moriarity). The game is afoot--and wearing running shoes--as Sparks and Doyle race from one cliffhanger to the next, mixing it up with zombies, villains, giant leeches, and femmes fatales; exploring secret tunnels and a walled castle; crossing paths with Bram Stoker, Madame Blavatsky, Jack the Ripper, and Victoria Regina--even as The Dweller on the Threshold awaits his borning.... Unabashedly corny, and lifting ideas from a dozen sources, including Nicholas Meyer (whose new Holmes pastiche, The Canary Trainer, p. 821, it far outclasses)--but a jolly good adventure yarn for that. (Film rights to Universal) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Vogue

“Scary and compulsive, with a chilling twist.”

Booklist

“A knockout . . . remarkable . . . engrossing, strange and terrifying.”

The Denver Post

“Plenty of detail and a fast-paced action.”

San Francisco Chronicle

“Compelling . . . bizarre . . . The List of 7 will linger long in the reader’s memory.”

From AudioFile

Mark Frost weaves fiction and fact with more fiction by mixing established literary characters into his own plot of mystery and intrigue. Young Arthur Conan Doyle sets out to unravel the identities and purpose of the Dark Brotherhood, a group of deadly "dabblers in the spiritual arts." Rene Auberjonous narrates and provides the characterizations for the cast of characters. His narrative style is well-suited to this spooky tale, and his variety of English accents is wonderful. He skillfully moves from character to narrator and back to character. There's just one problem--every character has an English accent except the very British Conan Doyle. A.A.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About the Author

Mark Frost studied directing and playwriting at Carnegie Mellon University. He partnered with David Lynch to create and coexecutive produce the groundbreaking TV series Twin Peaks. Frost cowrote the screenplays to the major motion pictures Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. He wrote and produced the critically acclaimed film The Greatest Game Ever Played. He is also the New York Times bestselling author of eight previous books.

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