Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #1
Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible
Synopsis:
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.
The story’s shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.
Review
This book was such a fun read.
I was hooked from the very first page of this book. Granted, I listened to this on audio, but still…. I was hooked from the very beginning.
I haven’t read anything by James Patterson before, he just doesn’t write the type of books I typically reach for, however, I did appreciate his introduction and ultimately ended up agreeing with his praise over this book.
I think his introduction could have set my expectations too high, however, all of those expectations were met.
Our main character, Audrey, has definitely made it to my list of favorite female MCs. She has a very Jane Austen-esque fire about her. I’m always drawn to passionate career-driven characters, particularly when they have to overcome adversity to get to where they want to be. In Audrey’s case, she had to overcome gender stereotypes just to attend school and work with her uncle.
I can’t really speak to how well the “twists” were done in this book because I am probably the worst person to ever try to guess whodunnit. I very, very rarely read mysteries and thrillers (they hold little appeal to me), therefore I have very little experience guessing the twists and turns in these types of books. I’m almost always wrong when I make assumptions, which likely makes me an author’s favorite type of reader, because they’ll shock me every time.
I will say that closer to the reveal at the end I began to guess what was going to happen – at least in part – so that probably means that it was meant to be obvious.
I’m very curious to see what the rest of the books in this series are like since this didn’t really have an open-ended wrap up. I’ve yet to read the synopsis of the next books, and I’m going to try to avoid it if I can.
Anyway, I’m glad I finally got around to reading this one! It was definitely worth the wait.
Audiobook Performance: 5 stars
The narrator had such a pleasant voice!
Butterfly Rating: 2 Stars
Re-read Worthiness: Nah
Bookshelf Placement: Already there!
Book Boyfriend Rating: 3 stars
