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This page lists novels, short story collections and other publications by Alan Vanneman.

By Alan Vanneman:
- novels, short story collections
- non-fiction

Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra

Alan Vanneman

2002

"A seemingly impossible murder in a London rooming house sends master sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, on a perilous search for a killer that leads them from England to Egypt, India, and Singapore, as they encounter formidable foes, including the evil Harat and corrupt Lord Barrington, and such unexpected allies as Catpain MacDougall and the lovely Widow Han."

Sherlock Holmes and the Hapsburg Tiara

Alan Vanneman

2003

"In a crafty new novel featuring the world’s greatest literary detective, Alan Vanneman extends the boundaries of the Sherlock Holmes canon with a knotty investigation that takes the celebrated sleuth and his cohort, Dr. Watson, far from the cozy Victorian comforts of 221B Baker Street. The mystery begins familiarly enough, in London, in the middle of the night. Holmes and Watson are summoned to a crime scene that, not so familiarly, seems to vanish before their eyes, as they find themselves with neither evidence nor a client. They do not want for opposition, however; not for long, not with the governments of three great empires arrayed against them. As Holmes strives to unmask his most cunning, ruthless, and elusive foe, he is transported into a world of high finance rife with intrigue and crime. With a cast of characters that includes the enchanting lady of fortune Countess D’Espinau and historical greats like Winston Churchill and Cecil Rhodes as well as a poorest-of-the-poor beggar girl whom Watson adopts, Holmes follows a trail that leads ultimately and unpredictably to the fabled and fabulous lost Hapsburg tiara."

Three Bullets: A New Nero Wolfe Threesome

Alan Vanneman

2013

Three Nero Wolfe stories.

"Three Novellas incorporating the primary characters in Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series of mysteries. The first novella is set in the 1930s, so as to be appropriate to the original Nero Wolfe stories. The other two have been set in the 21st century."

• Invitation To A Shooting Party
• Fame Will Tell
• Politics Is Murder

Author! Author!

Alan Vanneman

2014

"Author! Author! contains two short stories and a novella, with famous authors as the leading characters. In 'The Transfiguration of W. H. Auden,' the great poet dies and goes, not to heaven, but someplace better. Victorian England! In 'The Man Who Met Joyce Carol Oates,' an admirer discovers that encountering genius is not without peril. In 'The Apotheosis of John Updike,' the poet of suburbia encounters catharses without number west of the Hudson."

Vorak of Kolnap

Alan Vanneman

2014

"A World of Mung: That’s what they called Kolnap, a sorry sack of methane mush, the least glorious posting in the entire Nardan Confederation, a good thirty years’ freeze from the nearest “civilized” planet. Careers were lost on Kolnap, not made, until one cockroach had the courage to make a difference, had the abdomen to stand up and join claws across the species, daring the embrace of the temptress grasshopper Nayluu and building an alliance with his ant sergeant, Orkan. Together they rewrote the history of Kolnap, a history forged in the soul of the roach of roaches, the roach they called 'Vorak of Kolnap'."

Brief Lives

Alan Vanneman

2014

"Brief Lives is a collection of 32 short stories written by Alan Vanneman. The stories range in length from brief sketches to full-length tales, while the tone varies from trivial to farcical to tragic. Only eight have appeared in print before."

Traveling North: The Education of Alice Barnstable

Alan Vanneman

2016

"How did Alice Barnstable, a not so simple girl from Valdosta, Georgia, find herself mixed up in the fast-paced world of political consulting, not to mention toting a gun for the CIA? Alice will tell you all about it, in a bildungsroman that takes readers back to the tumultuous Reagan Era, where Alice encounters everyone from CIA Director Bill Casey to Woody Allen. Most of all, she encounters her boss, Kevin Meister, a German longing to atone for his country’s Nazi past by striving to bring the benefits of democracy to Central and Eastern Europe."

Tongue Of Newt

Alan Vanneman

2018

"Tongue of Newt is a Washington novel with a twist: in 2012, the upward striving Jerry Callahan gets a job writing a newsletter for none other than Newt Gingrich, who quickly decides that Jerry is just the man to write his masterpiece, the Washington novel to end all Washington novels, The City and its Masters. There are distractions, like the enticing Amanda Hamilton, Harvard grad and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, so frustratingly out of Jerry's league, and dangers, like Jerry's bosses, Ned and Jerry, who resent his bond with Newt. Jerry bobs and weaves, thrusts and parries, but always there is the novel. But, even if completed, will it prove to be too good, too unsparing in its portrayal of Beltway follies and betrayals? And if it is too hot to handle, who will be burned?"

James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide

Alan Vanneman

2015

"Alan Vanneman provides a thorough review of Thurber’s work, giving special consideration to Thurber’s “serious” articles and stories, which run the gamut from touching to nightmarish. Vanneman also includes a short collection of essays on Thurber’s fellow New Yorker writers E. B. White and Wolcott Gibbs and several more on the subject perhaps dearest to Thurber’s heart, words."