Initially, I actually had high hopes for this book. From the first few pages it was clear that the author had done a good job capturing Dumas’ writing style. The language was flowery, Dantes was arrogant, and Hadee subservient. Not my favorite things about Dumas but integral to his work and well represented here. However… The book opens with a blatant sex scene between Dantes and Haydee. Now, I don’t have a problem with sex scenes in principle, but nothing like this happens in the original. More than that, I thought the ambiguous nature of Dantes’ relationship with Haydee was part of the first book’s appeal.

The book then continues with adventures that manage to be both boring and unbelievable. For instance, the first fight scene includes Dantes’ wearing stilts – and it’s not written as though it’s supposed to be funny. While Dumas often pushes the bounds of the believable with cliched adventure elements, there was nothing as blatantly ridiculous as the events in this book. The reason none of the adventures were suspenseful or exciting (even the scene on stilts was boring!) had to do with how Dantes handled the fights. In every case, he sends his servant to sneak up on people with a blow dart. Every. Single. Time. It’s so dishonorable and so out of character with the Dantes from the original! It also prevents our hero from every being in danger. Thus the boredom.

The sequel also pushes the wish-fulfilling aspect of Dantes’ experiences into the ridiculous. The only thing that happens in the book (besides the boring fight scenes) is that women throw themselves at Dantes. He manages to marry two women and still sleeps with a third. The book also includes too many details about food and wine, as well as poems and songs. All of these things break the author’s adherence to Dumas’ style of writing. Also, the book ends with someone not graphically, but certainly gruesomely being castrated. So that’s the book folks. Boring fights and scenes totally out-of-character for Dumas’ writing plus gratuitous sex and violence.

Also, I can’t help noticing that while this book has mostly five star reviews on goodreads, many of them come from people with a 5 star average and no profile pictures. From that, you may draw your own conclusions.

This review first published on Doing Dewey. ( )

Thumbs up! This book is a well-written sequel. The tone and the atmosphere given by Alexandre Dumas are very well respected. I like the way Holy Ghost Writer makes you traveling into different sceneries such as the tales of The Arabian Nights when introducing Raymee. A breath taking book to which you hardly give a break! ( )

After reading The Count of Monte Cristo as Retold by Sherlock Holmes, I was anticipating some pretty interesting adventures for Edmond Dantès in The Sultan of Monte Cristo. What I read was a story that began as promising, and then sort of took a comical turn. And, I don’t think the Holy Ghost Writer had this intention. Regardless, it was pretty entertaining.

Edmond Dantès is a pirate. (And boy, do I love pirates. Edmond is no Jack Sparrow, but he does okay.) After a run-in with the dreaded pirate Medusalocks, the Count settles down and happily weds Haydee. She was the former slave girl who became his ward in the original novel. Her title and authority as Sultana is reinstated, making Edmond the Sultan of Albania. Eager to succeed in his new role, the Sultan converts to Islam.

This is the part where it gets crazy.

The Count/Sultan leaves Albania, and returns to Paris for business. There, he encounters Mercedes. She has letters from Edmond’s father that prove he is a direct descendant of Mary Magdalene. Edmond still has feelings for his former fiancée. He has been given permission from Haydee to take on a new wife, preferably Mercedes, as long as she doesn’t forget her place as wifey number two. Mercedes actually agrees to this arrangement, and she and Haydee become BFF sister wives. From there, there’s adventure—really crazy adventure—involving The Count, or Sultan, or Pirate, or whomever Edmond has to be that day. In the end, there’s a surprise twist that will make you wonder if the author was smoking the stuff Edmond had in the book.

This book was a good attempt at a sequel. The Holy Ghost Writer stayed true to Edmond’s character by continuously creating alliances and aliases in much the same way as Dumas does in the original story. But there were times when I thought, “This is insane,” or “I can’t believe this is happening.” I still enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes angle; and, the very 70’s, hippie-like marriage arrangement between Edmond, Haydee, and Mercedes. What I can tell you is that either you’re going to like it or loathe it. ( )

For those who made it through The Count of Monte Cristo, it is an exciting adventure to engage in the opportunity of where someone else’s imagination takes the characters after the book ends. Dumas certainly leaves some threads which can be followed, and it’s thrilling to follow an author as they explore paths that characters and story lines could potentially take. The opening lines of the The Sultan of Monte Cristo may leave one nostalgic about their journey with Dantes through the Count of Monte Cristo, and therefore ready to pursue what this sequel has to offer.

As a warning, The Holy Ghost Writer is not Alexander Dumas. Anyone who is wanting another wordy and lengthy novel written with the same language and austerity as Dumas may be disappointed. It is advised to read on simply out of curiosity for where another writer’s imagination will take the story. The writing style is different from Dumas, and the author takes some liberties to fill in details that perhaps he wishes Dumas would have expanded upon. Though The Holy Ghost Writer, as s/he calls himself, uses many flowery and descriptive words throughout the book, he continues to leave much to the imagination as well. Most characters are already familiar for those who read the original by Dumas, but for those who didn’t it is no problem to jump right in.

The story begins its setting on the sea, sailing away with what will be the new object of his affection, Haydee. Though not all were left with the feeling of Dantes questioning his identity at the end of The Count of Monte Cristo, it is obvious that there are now many questions about his feeling of identity. Perhaps all the time on the open sea has left him with much to ponder.

The Sultan of Monte Cristo is a short, exciting read. It’s full of both gushy romance and dangerous adventures. All actions are over fairly quickly, however. And the reader is quickly thrust into another scene in a different place, with new characters. There could be a lot of detail filled in, such as how is Dantes getting between these places, what is happening with the other scene while he’s there, and what else can we know about Raymee’s appearance? The reader will need to use their imagination to fill in many of these details. The book is rather chopped up into three scenes with three different sets of characters which are each left at the end. This leaves the reader wondering how each of them will come together in the books to follow. If you’re happy with a quick, expressive book, then you’ll enjoy this for a weekend story.

The last intriguing point of these stories is the mystery of the author’s identity. He begs to play a guessing game with the reader – one which will certainly draw many people in. What kind of clues are we looking for exactly? Is it someone incredibly famous, or someone who is less known and will be harder to find? My guess: they are a foreigner living in the U.S. – but I, as others, will have to read on for clues. ( )

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books so this was an intriguing read for me! The author does a good job of capturing Dumas's writing style and prose. It is interesting to imagine what happens to the characters in this way. A good read for any fan of the original story!