Tag Archives: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories

A Mote of Black Memory by Josh Reynolds

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
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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 ->
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Jack’s Back by Vanessa de Sade

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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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 ->
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The Simple Procedure by Paul A. Freeman

Book Review, ,
Overview
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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 ->
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Blue Serge by Martin Edwards

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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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 ->
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The Ripper Legacy by John Moralee

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
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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 ->
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Martha by Columbkill Noonan

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: Martha
Author: Columbkill Noonan
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Historical fiction
Dates read: 7th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: And there were that time last year, when you done got so jealous and threatned that one lady with her own scissors.

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Synopsis

Martha is jealous of all of the women that her man is spending time with. But, when the Ripper starts killing these same women, she’s not sure whether it was her or something more sinister…

Thoughts

I really need to do a little more research on Jack the Ripper before I continue reading too many of these short stories. They’re amazing, and I love the journey that they take me on, but I don’t click as to the character’s names and the theories as quickly as I do with topics I’m far more knowledgeable on. So, it took me a while to figure out whether Martha was a woman who was a likely suspect, or one that was a likely victim.

At the beginning I thought that this was a great little retelling with the woman as the villain. It made sense in a completely perverse way, and it made me intrigued as to the who and the why (as I know many, many, many people have been before me). But, then, as the story progressed, I became more uncertain and confused. The misleads and the vagueness surrounding this story was actually surprisingly fun and has made me dig out my book on Jack The Ripper (the one that is actually the historical background, not the retellings).

 <- The Guided Tour ReviewThe Ripper Legacy Review ->
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The Guided Tour by Rhys Hughes

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: The Guided Tour
Author: Rhys Hughes
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Horror
Dates read: 6th March 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: The incidentals and tangents assisted not only in setting the scene, coagulating the right atmosphere, but proved to be fascinating in their own right.

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Synopsis

Being a tour guide can be tough, but what happens when you want to get a little more hands-on experience with your tour?

Thoughts

This kind of wigged me out. But in a really good way. To start with, this story was about a man practicing to be a tour guide. Talking about Jack the Ripper, highlighting his crimes and the mystery surrounding the Butcher of Baker Street. Then it becomes far more twisted…

I really liked the twists and turns that this short story had. Every few paragraphs, the story is flipped completely on its head. Once you think that it is going in one direction, you find out that it is kind of going somewhere completely different. It very much reminds me of all of the theories and ideas surrounding Jack the Ripper in the first place – a lot of twists and turns, where no one is 100% sure of the truth.

 <- Bertie ReviewMartha Review ->
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Bertie by Barbara Nadel

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: Bertie
Author: Barbara Nadel
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Alternate history, Crime, Historical fiction
Dates read: 27th February 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: But this time there was no work Bertie could do to make it right.

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Synopsis

Bertie is a money lender and the guidance to his family while Jack the Ripper roams the streets. But he has his very own secret, one that could change everyone’s lives forever.

Thoughts

This is my first ever Jack the Ripper retelling. Or alternate history. And I kind of thought that it was a nice, gentle introduction. Especially since I know next to nothing about Jack the Ripper in the first place. Bertie not only pulled me in immediately, but it also made me want to read far more stories like this (so lucky I have a whole collection to dig through).

This was a quick and easy story. One that provided context for the uninitiated (like myself) in the very last paragraphs. The extra context and insight were immensely helpful to give me a little more idea of how this story sits within the current knowledge and fiction.

This is a great, quick read that gives an alternate point of view to not only who Jack the Ripper was, but also why he did what he did.

 <- The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories ReviewThe Guided Tour Review ->
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