Tag Archives: Crime

Catch Me When You Can… by M. Christian

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: Catch Me When You Can…
Author: M. Christian
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Horror
Dates read: 11th April 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: Nah, not that daft piece o’ shite.

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Synopsis

Flashes of life fill out this short story as you take a journey with the victims of Jack the Ripper.

Thoughts

This was a bit of a harder tale to follow than some others. It was kind of jumpy and a little hard to follow. I’m not even 100% sure I understood what was actually going on… I think this was a tale about the five different known victims of Jack the Ripper. Their experiences and the huge gaps in our knowledge of their lives beforehand. The reasons for their murders… and if I’m right, this was actually kind of well done. Leaving me feeling quite confused and as though there is so much more information out there… which is exactly what people who are fascinated by Jack the Ripper feel (I would imagine).

The part that I liked the most about this short story was the very last line. It highlights that there are five known victims, but kind of hints that there is a high possibility of many more…

 <- A Mote of Black Memory ReviewRipper Familias Review ->
Image source: Amazon

A Mote of Black Memory by Josh Reynolds

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: A Mote of Black Memory
Author: Josh Reynolds
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Fantasy, Horror
Dates read: 1st April 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: They had not revealed the truth, or perhaps they had, and, like a wound growing gangrenous, fiction had become fact.

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Synopsis

Asking someone to find the presence and aura of a mystery figure from history seems like a good idea. But, when that figure is Jack the Ripper, the terror of Whitechapel… maybe things should just be left as they are…

Thoughts

I’m a big believer in the idea that things that we do in an area leave residual energy. It’s why if I’m ever sick or have bad mental health moments, I don’t rewear those clothes until they have been thoroughly washed. I don’t want the residues to continue hanging around my body. So it makes total sense to me that there is a story which focuses on the residual energies of Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel. And just how dangerous this can be to those who seek it out.

Luckily I didn’t finish this story just before bed time. I read it nice and early in the morning when the sun was still out and shining. The depth of depravity and darkness in this story was almost astounding, and it was certainly terrifying. Even writing this review, I can imagine a black cloud in the distorted shape of the Ripper reaching out his ghoulish hands, rending my soul, piece by little piece…

 <- Jack’s Back ReviewCatch Me When You Can… Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Pigeon from Hell by Stephen Graham Jones

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: Pigeon from Hell
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Horror
Dates read: 21st March 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: We were trading babysitting jobs, Kara and me.

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Synopsis

Little Ben went missing one day, but his pigeon stayed around… to remind her just what she’d done.

Thoughts

This was a haunting story from the very outset. But, honestly, it wasn’t until the story started to unfold that I truly started to get goosebumps. And feel uncomfortable. This is a very different and… well, haunting tale that I don’t think will be leaving me for a very long time.

Initially I really loved this story. I thought that it was a tale with an observer retelling a tragedy. And a crapped out, musty old pigeon was somehow part of it. But, as it unfolded, I realised more and more that this wasn’t really a bystander telling the story. And that there wasn’t going to be any kind of happily ever after.

This is one of those stories that doesn’t have a happy ending. It doesn’t leave you with happy, glowy feelings. But it does leave you thinking. Which means that while I don’t plan on rereading this tale anytime soon, it certainly was a… not fun, but something like it… kind of read.

 <- The Fortune of Sparrows ReviewThe Secret of Flight Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Jack’s Back by Vanessa de Sade

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: Jack’s Back
Author: Vanessa de Sade
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Family
Dates read: 29th March 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: Never again…

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Synopsis

It’s been ten years since Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of Whitechapel, but a series of murders indicate that he just might be back…

Thoughts

I really liked this story. It posited not only an entirely different villain to the one that you would traditionally expect, but it also created an engaging story that was just, quite frankly, fascinating.

The part of the story that I found that hardest to digest in this story was the idea of a thirteen-year old striper. As someone in the modern age, this disturbs me more than I can describe. Yet, when I remembered the time in which this story is based, it made a lot of sense. And the protection of Daisy by another woman made this story a lot less ick, and a lot more sweet. Especially when the description of the real Jack the Ripper comes out in the end…

 <- The Simple Procedure ReviewA Mote of Black Memory Review ->
Image source: Amazon

The Simple Procedure by Paul A. Freeman

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: The Simple Procedure
Author: Paul A. Freeman
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Crime
Dates read: 24th March 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: You said yourself it was assumed that Strangling Stan died in the fighting, thus ending the persecution of Kabul’s fallen women.

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Synopsis

Sherlock Holmes is on the case of Jack the Ripper, and you’ll never guess who the villain truly is!

Thoughts

As soon as I discovered that there was a Sherlock Holmes tale about Jack the Ripper, I was kind of excited. After all, Sherlock Holmes is an amazing storyline and character. And he always catches the bad guy. So I knew there would be a new version as to just who Jack the Ripper was. The answer to that was not what I expected in the slightest. But it was oh so good.

My biggest complaint about this short story was that it was far too short. I was expecting a strong adventure with a little bit of action. It really wasn’t like that. But, it worked brilliantly, most of this tale is Holmes explaining how he figured out just who the true villain is… and it makes you kind of wish that Sherlock was actually a real person…

 <- Blue Serge ReviewJack’s Back Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Blyth’s Secret by Mike O’Driscoll

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: Blyth’s Secret
Author: Mike O’Driscoll
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Horror
Dates read: 7th March 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: She sighed.

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Synopsis

A man with a horrible past and a weird obsession with corvids is trying to communicate with a crow… but when he finally learns his secret, it is far darker than he ever imagined.

Thoughts

Well. This didn’t end like I expected it to. At all. But it did end in a great way. Well, not for Wil, but for me and my sick, happy little brain… it ended brilliantly.

I always feel sympathy for those who are not quite socially… adequate. There is something kind of vulnerable about them. And this was highlighted throughout this story. Wil isn’t quite capable of working with others, and he just wants to be reclusive and left to his own research. But between a creepy corvid who keeps leading him about, and his own social inadequacies, it just isn’t meant to be.

The actual villain in this story was not remotely who I was expecting. I thought that it would be a hidden secret from Wil’s past, but it was someone completely… surprising. Which makes sense, because people like Ted Bundy were also completely unpredictable.

 <- The Murmurations of Vienna Von Drome ReviewThe Fortune of Sparrows Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Blue Serge by Martin Edwards

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: Blue Serge
Author: Martin Edwards
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Easy reading, Historical fiction
Dates read: 13th March 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: But you had no fear, and you emerged vindicated.

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Synopsis

A mysterious man approaches an old detective with the knowledge of Jack the Ripper’s identity. But as his story unfolds, so do the many twists and turns of the tale of the Blue Serge.

Thoughts

This short story really made me decide to pick up my book on The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper. It had this beautiful complexity and background to the storyline that I wasn’t expecting. There was also a lot of information and context in it that completely went over my head because I really don’t know all that much about Jack the Ripper.

I like the idea that the man who is perceived as the good guy at the beginning of the story slowly becomes unravelled. The roles become reversed and your sympathies slowly change throughout the unfolding of the tale. I always enjoy stories that make you question your perceptions and understandings. Although the change in your perception comes slowly, I love that the moments in which it most definitively hits are highlighted by a change in location. The symbolism and methodology work brilliantly together and gives you a sense of suspense throughout.

 <- The Ripper Legacy ReviewThe Simple Procedure Review ->
Image source: Amazon

The Murmurations of Vienna Von Drome by Jeffrey Ford

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Murmurations of Vienna Von Drome
Author: Jeffrey Ford
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Horror
Dates read: 7th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: “Good lord,” I said, “by this time he could have eaten a half dozen spleens.”

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Synopsis

The Beast has been preying upon a small American town for years, and the local Sheriff knows that it has something to do with Vienna Von Drome. But even with all of his suspicions, he won’t know who the villain truly is until the end.

Thoughts

I actually found this short story a lot more difficult to put down than the other stories which preceded it in Black Feathers. It still had that slightly dark horror feel to it, but the storyline was a lot more linear than I had expected. Where many other horror stories have an incredibly jumpy and disjointed feel to them, this followed a chronological path and one that made a lot more sense to me. It was a nice change from the more abstract horror short stories I have been reading lately.

I spent the entire story line of this tale trying to figure out who the Beast was. It seemed too easy to be Vienna, but I couldn’t figure out who it would be if it wasn’t her. This sense of mystery and intrigue meant that I kind of walked into a wall when I was reading this (bad habit of mine to get so absorbed into a story that I forget to concentrate on anything around me).

Although this was kind of a straight-laced story of crime and horror, it had the recurring theme of sparrows throughout. Not birds that I have ever associated with horror, but the haunting flight patterns that are shown throughout are quite eerie and intense. They added a feeling of horror to the atmosphere that it would have otherwise lacked.

 <- The Orphan Bird ReviewBlyth’s Secret Review ->
Image source: Amazon

The Ripper Legacy by John Moralee

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: The Ripper Legacy
Author: John Moralee
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Crime, Horror
Dates read: 7th March 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: OK.

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Synopsis

A Jack the Ripper conference is faced with a horrible tragedy. Has Jack the Ripper returned? And with a vengeance?

Thoughts

This story was intense. I thought that the lead female was going to get offed pretty quickly. After all, it starts with her having an affair. And Jack the Ripper went after promiscuous women… it seemed like a pretty potent parallel. But that really wasn’t the case.

This short story bought the shock and horror aspect of Jack the Ripper into a more modern day context. After all, the Butcher of Baker Street has always seemed terrifying, but it happened so long ago and the villain is definitely dead, so it’s not all that scary except as an indication of the depravities of humanity. Yet, creating a modern-day massacre and having a group obsessed with the Ripper involved in this… it made me understand a little more what the people of Whitechapel must have felt when their halls were being stalked.

I always enjoy a contemporary telling of a tale that is familiar. Whether it is through history or fairy tales, the themes and ideas that are displayed in the original come to the forefront and take over. In an amazingly beautiful and, in this case, incredibly terrifying way.

 <- Martha ReviewBlue Serge Review ->
Image source: Amazon

The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for book cover the mephisto club

Title: The Mephisto Club
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Series: Rizzoli & Isles #6
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Strong women
Dates read: 20th November 2018 – 28th February 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Bantam Books
Year: 2006
5th sentence, 74th page: The roads are a mess out there this morning.

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Synopsis

Can you really see evil when you look into someone’s eyes?

In a rundown house, a woman has been dismembered in an act of carnage that leaves veteran cops in shock. Drawn on the wall, in blood, are ancient symbols, and a mirror-image word in Latin that, translated, says: ‘I have sinned.’

Then a second woman is found butchered on Beacon Hill, just outside the home of the leader of the Mephisto Club, a secret society dedicated to the study of evil. On the door yet more ancient symbols have been scrawled. 88 This is evil that the Boston PD has never encountered before. And the only way Dr Maura Isles can defeat it is by turning to the people who understand the devil himself.

Thoughts

It took me a really long time to get through this book. And it isn’t because it wasn’t amazing… it was more so because I was so freaked out by the villains voice that I couldn’t read this at night. Or when my partner wasn’t likely to be home. Or really in any number of different circumstances, because I’d kind of freak out and feel extremely uncomfortable. Which, I still did. And this is also the reason that I love reading these types of books… they’re so real that I get goosebumps and the heebie jeebies just reading them.

All of Gerritsen’s villains have made me feel uncomfortable and unhappy whilst reading her stories. But, there was something about this villain that felt even more creepy. Probably because from the very beginning you could tell that he had an unhealthy, stalkerish obsession with his family members. The idea that he was welcomed into a home and then destroyed it from the inside out… well, it makes you even more horrified. The poor family that was just trying to do the right thing… and well, you’ll have to wait and see how truly badly off they were because of this one decision.

The Mephisto Club is everything that I love in a good crime thriller. It is full of mystery, fast-paced action and personal dramas that connect you further with the characters. It is impossible not to fall completely in love with everyone in this story and want the best for Rizzoli and Isles as they race to find the killer and discover the meaning of ‘I have sinned’.

 <- Vanish ReviewKeeping the Dead Review ->
Image source: Penguin Books Australia