1 comments about Joseph: a Victorian Fairy Tale.

1. "Every artist is a cannibal. Every poet is a thief.
   
   All kill their inspiration and sing about the grief."
   
   -"The Fly" by U2
   
   Occasionally, in history, there comes a time when new creations and ideas lose their flavor and fade away. Forgotten. New concepts come along and almost rub out the old ones. Almost. There are some that remember.
   
   "Joseph" is a tale that author Tom Baker has composed to revive the black and white memories of The Elephant Man and Jack the Ripper.
   
   The interesting twist is that Mr. Baker weaves himself into the story at a particular point and critiques what may well be the flaws or weak points up until then. This pulls the strings tight and strengthens the rest of the narratives.
   
   It jumps around a bit, making it a little hard to follow at times. There is an explanation for this, but it is anticlimactic.
   
   Nevertheless,for those who remember the non-fiction classics, "Joseph" is more than a pleasant walk down memory lane. It's an old dog with a few new tricks.
   
   For those who don't...it's about bein' ugly and killin' whores.
   
   Jason Leonard

No comments about THE DIARY OF JACK THE RIPPER: THE DISCOVERY, THE INVESTIGATION, THE AUTHENTICATION..

1 comments about Ripper! (James Dickey Poetry Series).

1. An addiction to Ripperology and other infamous cases of true crime originally drew me to this book. A warning: THIS IS NOT AN ITEM FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. Even with the various Ripper related books I've read over the years, parts of the prose had me cringing in horror.

   The most compelling prose in the various selections lies in the exploration of the six most common Ripper suspects (The Butcher, The Priest, The Poet, The Physician, The Psychic and The Prince). Even a casual reading can turn into a marathon reading session.

   The language used is graphic and the images presented can be quite disturbing. Small details from the real Ripper case files such as the contents of victim Catherine Eddowes' pockets are woven in the narrative, adding that extra bit of realism to draw you into the insular world of Whitechapel during the murders.

   Ripper! is not another volume in the endless flow of armchair detective volumes that litter the true crime section of your local bookseller. You will not come away with a definitive answer to who committed these crimes. Buchanan does not force his opinions or wild theories about the Ripper's true identity on the reader unlike most Ripperology selections. Instead the reader is offered a look into what visions may have filled the mind and compelled the person behind the Ripper murders.

1 comments about Black by Gaslight.

1. Set in the same time period here is a book not only rich in descriptions and dialogue fitting that era, but also a refreshing contemporary to Sherlock and his Watson. The author has obviously gone to great lengths to make this story true to that era.
   
   Bright, bold and independent, Lady St Claire finds herself embroiled not only in a hunt for a dangerous madman, but becoming enmeshed in a deepening affection for the reluctant prostitute she rescues. Together they become a formidable team risking their lives to stop a man bent on murder.
   
   What starts out as an inquiry in retrieving some errant love letters soon takes Lina into Whitechapel at the start of the "Jack the Ripper" murders. Rescuing Rhiannon and assuring her safety at her home, Lina's determination soon uncovers a disturbing link to the murders. She and Rhiannon join forces with Sherringford Pike an investigative detective and begin a journey into the dark side of love and infatuation.
   
   Having long been a Sherlock Holmes fan, I found this a welcome addition to that tradition. The characters are finely fleshed out and their interactions witty and enjoyable. A refreshing read with women both passionate and intelligent, and a plot filled with twists and turns that keep you turning the page.

1 comments about Jack The Ripper.

1. DAW Books published in 1988 a Jack-the-Ripper anthology, Red Jack, edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh, and Frank D. McSherry. Recently reprinted by iBooks as Jack the Ripper, the anthology's centerpiece is the Ellery Queen-bylined Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Terror. Never having read Queen's novel nor seen its film adaptation I picked up the anthology. Marvin Kaye described the book in The Game Is Afoot as "the best of several novels to pit Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper." High praise, considering I had liked Edward B. Hanna's The Whitechapel Horrors, a book that earned points in my esteem for not naming the Ripper, and had even enjoyed much of Michael Dibdin's The Last Sherlock Holmes Story.
   
   My thoughts on A Study in Terror? I didn't like it.
   
   As a work of Ripper fiction the book is a failure.
   
   Of the five accepted Ripper victims only two are mentioned--Annie Chapman and Polly Nichols, and for the latter only her first name is ever given--but the novel places the two murders in the wrong order. Chapman's murder occurs early in the novel, but it is said that the Ripper has already claimed five victims, when in reality Chapman was the second victim, perhaps the third or fourth if one counts the murders of Martha Tabrum and Emma Smith which took place in Whitechapel but have little else to connect them to the Ripper. One later murder is mentioned--Watson views the body in the mortuary--but the description of the body mutilations--the Ripper removed one of her breasts--matches none of the latter victims, unless Watson viewed the final victim, Mary Kelly, but would not Watson have noticed the other mutilations the Ripper inflicted upon that victim?
   
   No, it would be better to say that A Study in Terror pits Sherlock Holmes against a random murderer in London's East End in the autumn of 1888. Scholars looking for an accurate representation of the Whitechapel murders will not find it here.
   
   As a work of Sherlock Holmes fiction the book has its moments, though I would hesitate to recommend the book.
   
   As an evocation of Watson's style, the prose comes close in parts but it lacks the flavor of the genuine article. The London on 1888 isn't evoked on the page. The squalor of Whitechapel isn't present.
   
   There are a few genuinely Holmesian moments. The Holmes brothers out-deducing one another at the window in the Diogenes Club. Holmes stating his reasons for not involving himself in the Ripper murders--they lack the intellectual puzzle he so craves. But when Holmes is given an intellectual puzzle that leads him onto the trail of the Ripper it feels forced, inappropriate, and beside the point--an over-elaborate scheme to set the wheels of plot in motion.
   
   The novel's climax disappoints and lacks genuine suspense.
   
   I bought Jack the Ripper to plug a hole in my Sherlock Holmes collection. I'm glad that I read the story, but I wonder now if I should have bothered. Kaye called A Study in Terror the best Holmes versus the Ripper story, but it wasn't, not for me. Perhaps years of wondering about the story set the bar too high in my mind. The story was too mundane for me, too generic, neither the Ripper nor Holmes.
   
   For Holmes completists only. Ripper fans need not bother.

1 comments about Jack the Ripper: Murder Mystery And Intrigue in London's East End (Amazing Stories).

1. The book was well written to keep the reader's interest, but does not go into great detail on the Whitechapel murders.

1 comments about Ripper Notes: Murder by Numbers.

1. This one is the April 2005, Issue #22 of the Ripper Notes quarterly magazine-ish pamphlet. Less intriguing than Issue #23 which I read first. Here a collection of Ripper researchers give you a variety of articles, somehow relating to the Whitechapel murders and JtR. First up is a debate on witness testimony of the death time of victim Annie Chapman. Next we look at modern serial killer connections with those of the past, an article on John Robinson (who purportedly may have almost caught the Ripper). From there we look into two more pre-1888 prostitute deaths that might be attributed to the Ripper. Fifth essay deals with the debate on whether there were TWO Mary Kellys, the lesser known being the victim while the better known passing the body off as herself and taking up a new life elsewhere. And we conclude with an article on a "Dear Boss" Ripper stage play which incorporated puppets with live actors.
   
   Overall, Issue 23 is much better but this is still interesting enough to read it.

No comments about Jack the Ripper and the London Press.

2 comments about Ripper Notes: Madmen, Myths and Magic.

1. Some good stories here. Really liked the one on Kelly, If your interested in JTR, I think you will find some interesting reading. Not a masterpiece, but its hard to come out with 4 of these 120 pages book form a year. They have done well. A good solid 4 stars.



2. This review is for Ripper Notes #20: Madmen, Myths, & Magic from October 2004. When I first started buying the Ripper Notes, I hesitated at this one because it seemed to have hokey subject matter based on the title. However, I finally ended up buying it and I was pleasantly surprised at how good this issue was. Here's the rundown of article content:
   1. Serial stabbers - rather than murders, here's a look at criminals that got their rocks off at stabbing women (largely in the buttocks).
   2. Dispelling the myth that JtR was the first serial killer.
   3. Psychics claiming to know the identity of JtR, focus on Robert Lees from that timeframe and ends with modern psychics id'ing the Ripper.
   4. A Mrs. Maxwell claims to have run into Mary Kelly which confilcts with the time of death. Mrs. Maxwell was on her way to the milk shoppe, so we get a brief history on the availability of milk in 1880s. Not sure why this was all that needed other than it was a small detail that got the author thinking. Worst article in the magazine and largely the sole reason for 4 stars.
   5. Comparisons of JtR to Mr. Hyde, vampires, Frankenstein's monster, and werewolves.
   6. A History of the witches of Whitechapel, surprisingly good article.
   7. JtR and the 'vesica piscis' symbol connection. Making the murders fit into a ritual. Also ties into the Lindbergh baby kidnapping by Hauptmann.
   8. Whether the murder sites form a pattern (cross, arrow, pentagram, etc) and if the killing sites were random or chosen specifically to make a pattern. Truly interesting article
   9. Why was the Stride murder more careless in its location as opposed to the seemingly safe and scouted out sites of the other four canonical victims. Stride's site provided the biggest and most public site of getting caught.
   10. Filler article on JtR letters scare in Leadville, Colorado.
   
   Overall, I was fairly impressed with this edition of the Ripper Notes. Good solid articles (sans the milk one) and rounded out by the regular features including the book review from 2004.

No comments about The Complete Jack the Ripper.