https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWN3LTCR
Editorial Review of Moriarty: The Napoleon of Crime by Aleksandr Mazo
A dark portrait of a sharp mind learning how power works.
This book offers an origin story of Professor Moriarty, the man Holmes later calls "the Napoleon of Crime." The tale unfolds through Moriarty’s own journal, which creates a close look at how he begins as a quiet boy in Durham in 1870 and grows into someone who reads people the same way he studies numbers.
The early pages follow his strict schooling, his jujutsu lessons with Shiro, and his friendship with Henry, a boy he tutors and trusts. These moments show how he learns pressure, timing, and small shifts that change an outcome. Trouble rises as tensions build around Henry, and a sudden tragedy breaks the order Moriarty tries to build. That moment sets him on a path that never bends back.
As the journal moves into his London years, the story widens. Moriarty starts shaping a new life with calm steps that hide sharp intent. His ideas turn toward patterns of crime, risk, and gain. The entries hint at a coming clash with Holmes, and each new choice feels like another stone laid toward that future.
The mix of mathematics and jujutsu forms the heart of his thinking. It guides how he weighs force, cost, and motive. The journal voice brings a steady pull, and the Victorian tone gives the book a firm sense of place. Small notes of street life, study halls, and hidden corners build an atmosphere that feels true to the era.
What stands out is the way the book shows the making of a mind. It traces growth through logic and discipline. It reveals how a single shift can change a life. It builds a portrait of someone who watches the world with care, then learns to shape it with cold skill. A quiet tension runs through these pages.
A thoughtful study of how a clever boy becomes the mind Holmes fears most.
