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I just finished this book and thought I'd write a review without spoilers.
Up until the end, this was a fun book. At 370 pages, it kept me entertained for some time and was well worth the $3.45 that I paid for it on Amazon (kindle edition).
Slightly amateurish yet endearing, many of the real-life major suspects are either major characters or make cameos in the book: Kosminski, Tumblety, Barnett, Pizer, and Sickert immediately come to mind. There may be others. The victims are also minor characters in the plot. The author's handling of Eddowes and her partner in life was one of the highlights of this book.
The strength of this book is Revelle-Smith's development of a handful of fictional characters (Gina and Toby are my favorites), one of this fictional lot may or may not be the Ripper. So it is neat. You have "real" Ripper suspects and "fictional" Ripper suspects, one of whom is the Ripper in this fictional story, if that makes sense!
The Kelly murder set-up is spooky!
Alas, I was left disappointed by the reveal. I don't care who the Ripper was, per se, but the reveal did not tie in with the ongoing character development. The author spends several hundred pages getting us to care about Gina, for example, yet she isn't really mentioned after the reveal. Ditto with just about every other main character. Some major characters actually disappear from the pages before the reveal for no apparent reason. And although it names the Ripper, we have no clue really why he killed and - more importantly - why he chose to stop. The Ripper basically just said that nothing lasts forever.
Overall, however, this is worth its absurdly cheap price. It kept me entertained. 3 of 5 stars.
Up until the end, this was a fun book. At 370 pages, it kept me entertained for some time and was well worth the $3.45 that I paid for it on Amazon (kindle edition).
Slightly amateurish yet endearing, many of the real-life major suspects are either major characters or make cameos in the book: Kosminski, Tumblety, Barnett, Pizer, and Sickert immediately come to mind. There may be others. The victims are also minor characters in the plot. The author's handling of Eddowes and her partner in life was one of the highlights of this book.
The strength of this book is Revelle-Smith's development of a handful of fictional characters (Gina and Toby are my favorites), one of this fictional lot may or may not be the Ripper. So it is neat. You have "real" Ripper suspects and "fictional" Ripper suspects, one of whom is the Ripper in this fictional story, if that makes sense!
The Kelly murder set-up is spooky!
Alas, I was left disappointed by the reveal. I don't care who the Ripper was, per se, but the reveal did not tie in with the ongoing character development. The author spends several hundred pages getting us to care about Gina, for example, yet she isn't really mentioned after the reveal. Ditto with just about every other main character. Some major characters actually disappear from the pages before the reveal for no apparent reason. And although it names the Ripper, we have no clue really why he killed and - more importantly - why he chose to stop. The Ripper basically just said that nothing lasts forever.
Overall, however, this is worth its absurdly cheap price. It kept me entertained. 3 of 5 stars.