They all love Jack

[Pcdunn]

Binning a book, sacrilege, must be a bad one. I've even still got Cornwell's and Edward's.

My local used and new store only had Cornwell's book, the last time I went looking for JTR material.

Don't trash books-- give them to charity, or at least recycle them! ;-)

[GUT]

It'd almost be worth the postage from the UK to Australia to get the thing off my bookshelves...almost...I'm seriously considering binning the thing, (and I don't think I've ever done that with a book)...yeah it's THAT good...

Binning a book, sacrilege, must be a bad one. I've even still got Cornwell's and Edward's.

[drstrange169]

Shame you already bought it.
Here it is at an unbelievable bargain price.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Naming-Jack-the-Ripper-New-Crime-Scene-Evidence-A-Stu-Russell-Edwards-NEW-Ha-/391368191607?hash=item5b1f5cae77:g:DZ0AAOSwqYBWnr~T

[Cogidubnus]

It'd almost be worth the postage from the UK to Australia to get the thing off my bookshelves...almost...I'm seriously considering binning the thing, (and I don't think I've ever done that with a book)...yeah it's THAT good...

[GUT]

I bought it...wish I hadn't...it's so rabid as to be tedious

That good????

[Cogidubnus]

I bought it...wish I hadn't...it's so rabid as to be tedious

[curious4]

Yes, it certainly seemed like it!

😆😆 Would almost be worth listening to!

C4

[scanbran]

PS Did the narrator include ALL the obscenities?

Yes, it certainly seemed like it!

[curious4]

Hello C4

Thanks for the reply and advice. I think I'll probably give the book a miss then, particularly as it runs to over 800 pages!

Hello John

Yes, a weighty book indeed! It was as hard to lift as it was to read!

Best wishes
C4

[curious4]

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of this work.

While I agree with most of the points raised above, and did find myself disagreeing outloud with some of Robinson's assumptions and conclusions, I thought there were some very interesting things raised that do require explanation (the whole thing around the grapes made me think) and it is written in an entertaining (to me) style that the narrator seems to really have a lot of fun with.

Hello Scanbran

That must have been quite a narrator! I think the grapes thing could have been possible, although it could be claimed that there were blood clots on her hand which could have been mistaken for grapes in the dark. I am quite open to a cover-up by senior police if they thought Queen and country at risk. Swanson was interested in Packer's evidence, but seemed to change his mind. I am inclined to think that he was believed but that it was thought that he would come across as an unreliable witness. Any conspiracy would not have involved Freemasons covering up for each other but a more general threat to the Crown as I see it.

Best wishes
C4

PS Did the narrator include ALL the obscenities?

[John G]

Hello JohnG

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who was interested in JTR. If you are interested in Freemasons or a serial killer suddenly starts disembowelling Freemasons, yes this one's probably for you.

Nothing new in it at all as far as I could see - neither regarding the East End in 1888 nor regarding the victims, or indeed JTR.

Sorry to be so negative but that's what I think.

I have read many books on JTR where I disagree with the author's choice of killer, but which give valuable and useful background information. This is not one of them. In fact I disliked it so much I had to turn to the Kray brothers for some light relief!

Best wishes
C4

Hello C4

Thanks for the reply and advice. I think I'll probably give the book a miss then, particularly as it runs to over 800 pages!

[curious4]

Hi C4,

I was thinking about purchasing the book myself. From some of the reviews I've read, there was generally negative opinions about his choice of suspect and the stuff about freemasons, but praise for the amount of research undertaken (I believe he engaged Keith Skinner as a researcher). Did you find the book contained any novel research, or information not available in most other books?

Hello JohnG

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who was interested in JTR. If you are interested in Freemasons or a serial killer suddenly starts disembowelling Freemasons, yes this one's probably for you.

Nothing new in it at all as far as I could see - neither regarding the East End in 1888 nor regarding the victims, or indeed JTR.

Sorry to be so negative but that's what I think.

I have read many books on JTR where I disagree with the author's choice of killer, but which give valuable and useful background information. This is not one of them. In fact I disliked it so much I had to turn to the Kray brothers for some light relief!

Best wishes
C4

[scanbran]

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of this work.

While I agree with most of the points raised above, and did find myself disagreeing outloud with some of Robinson's assumptions and conclusions, I thought there were some very interesting things raised that do require explanation (the whole thing around the grapes made me think) and it is written in an entertaining (to me) style that the narrator seems to really have a lot of fun with.

[John G]

Spent a good amount of time before Christmas ploughing my way through this tome and can say with certainty that, no, I didn't love this Jack. Apart from the few usual words about poverty in the East End, I couldn't find much interest in the victims. There was some babble regarding metal on, round or under them (I lost interest in this eventually, but apparently this has to do with Freemasons (!), which appeared to be the main theme of the book: HE was a Freemason, he WAS a Freemason, he was (wait for it) a FREEMASON! His evidence for this was thin to say the least: if you are looking for a plural of JU, the obvious would be JUs or JUes, not JUWES and his obsession with the inverted v falls on his world shattering piece of evidence "proving" that two inverted "v"s proved that Kate Eddowes' injuries were known to someone at the time (naturally the murderer) falls on the fact that inverted "v"s (or "y"s) indicated words added to a sentence when there was no room to write them in place, and indeed there are two words written above the line. The book is more about Freemasons than JTR, or indeed his suspect and deteriorates into what can be described as resembling a little boy's whining because the big boys won't let him join their club! In fact, any conspiracy theory regarding a cover up would not be dependant on the big boy's club. This was the age of Scott and Oates and Kipling. Freemasonery would not be necessary to cover up a scandal threatening Queen and Country, any ex-public schoolboy would put his life and reputation on the line.

Not without humour, though. We are expected to swallow Maybrick's difference in height to the 5' plus suspect (he was six foot two) on the claim that he bought grapes from Packer and had to bend down to the window, thus appearing much shorter.

I won't bother anyone with the fact that Maybrick is credited with writing all of the letters to the police on the grounds that he claimed to be able to write several different hands (which doesn't mean he could alter his handstyle at will, merely that someone who could for example write in the style of handwriting favoured by lawyers - rather like different fonts on a computer).

As for his liberal sprinkling of obscenities throughout the book, I feel this is designed to draw attention from his literary failings.

No, not worth its weight. In my opinion, anyway. A very tedious book!

Best wishes
C4

Hi C4,

I was thinking about purchasing the book myself. From some of the reviews I've read, there was generally negative opinions about his choice of suspect and the stuff about freemasons, but praise for the amount of research undertaken (I believe he engaged Keith Skinner as a researcher). Did you find the book contained any novel research, or information not available in most other books?

[MarieO]

Read through this book a couple of months ago. I think it should be put under fiction considering he claims all the Ripper letters are the work of one person. Must be one incredibly bored individual to go through all that trouble. To me this is just another anti Freemasonry book.