Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publication: September 5, 2017
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Genre: Teen, YA Fiction, Historical Fiction
Pages: 352
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
Presented by James Patterson’s new children’s imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion…
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.
Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
REVIEW:
I am not entirely sure where I came across this book. I think that it is entirely possible that I bought the book purely for the content of the book because I do love to read about Jack the Ripper. It being a YA and having a romantic twist just probably added to the appeal. As most of my books do it ended up on my shelf for far too long before I was able to actually listen to it instead. Notice and tread? I am listening to most of my TBR books, most of my job at work is driving and I get a lot knocked out that way.
Audrey Rose is not like most girls her age. She loves Forensic Medicine and doing autopsy. She has talked her Uncle into allowing her to attend the classes that he teaches as long as she hides her identity and comes dressed as a man. All of her skills as a budding detective and a ME are put to the test as Jack the Ripper wreaks havoc on the city of London. It also tests the bonds of her family in the process. Will her skills save her family or will the family that she knows and loves come apart at the seams? I adored this book. It was so good that my kids wanted me to wait for them to listen to more (I did not do that however). I loved the characters and how they interacted with each other. Audrey Rose is written in such a way that she is both a child and an adult in some cases.
While the author did take some liberties with the story of Jack the Ripper she did also keep some things historically accurate for the book. There is an author’s note at the end of the book listing all the things that are the same and the things that are different. I think that this book is very appropriate for YA. Sometimes I read books and I am like nooooo my daughter would not read this. The romance is very clean and minimal. Like you know that they like each other and they do kiss once but it is very much glances at each other across the room and touches on the arm. The medical portions are clean, the only overly descriptive thing that she touches on is the way she describes the victims of the Ripper. Those for some could be too much. I did kind of figure out who the Ripper was but the twist at the end I did not see coming at all. I have the other 3 books in this series and I think I will read them soon. I also have other books by this author and think I will see how those rate compared to this one.
