Book Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Author: Kerri Maniscalco

Publisher: Jimmy Patterson

Year: 2016

Pages: 326

Genre: Young Adult/Historical

Rating: 2 stars

One sentence summary: Audrey Rose, a seventeen-year-old girl with an interest in forensic medicine, hunts down the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

A full synopsis of this book can be found on Goodreads.

Spoiler Level: None

I am really disappointed by this one. It has everything I love: Victorian England, a serial killer, a visit to the circus, and a meeting with a medium. Top it off with an independent heroine, a witty love interest, and a dark and morbid plot, and you've got the ingredients for a great story. Sadly, this book was way too hyped up for me, both by reviews and by my own expectations, and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I wanted to. It started off fantastic. The first chapter shows our main character Audrey Rose examining and dissecting a corpse in her Uncle's laboratory. The writing was descriptive and sensory and made the gruesome scene fascinating to read about. However, the writing failed to impress me as I kept reading. Other than scenes that depicted dead bodies, which were very detailed and morbid, the writing was average. I found that the author had a habit of telling us things rather than showing them. For instance, instead of having Audrey show her modern mindset, Audrey tells us that she isn't like other 19th century girls. She doesn't understand why society gets to make the rules about gender, why she is constantly oppressed by men, and why she can't be pretty and be interested in science at the same time. While the modern message is good, the way it was spoon fed to the reader and constantly repeated for good measure was infinitely irritating. The book was easy to read and wasn't terribly written, but overall it mostly failed to engage me. I really didn't like the characters. Audrey was okay, but her 21st century attitudes kept me from believing her authenticity as a 19th century woman. Also, she was pretty dumb if I'm being honest. She may know her way around a dead body but she certainly didn't have any street smarts. Walking out on the streets in the middle of the night while a serial killer is stalking women is not courageous, but just plain stupid. As for Thomas Cresswell, well, he was an ass. I am all for handsome, witty, slightly egotistical guys with an air of mystery, but this guy took it too far. I didn't find his flirting appealing at all because he just came off like a jerk. The relationship between Audrey and Thomas was lacking as well, perhaps because I didn't like Thomas, but also because it was so insta-lovey without any real depth. One glance from Thomas turned Audrey to butter. Their whole relationship was defined by stolen glances, Thomas hitting on Audrey, and Audrey calling him a jerk and denying any feelings for him. It was a hate to love relationship gone bad - and I love that trope. I didn't like the plot of this book either. It wasn't terrible, stuff still happened, but it just wasn't that interesting. Audrey never had to do any real thinking. Clue after clue just fell into her lap, and even when the obvious answer was staring at her in the face she still couldn't figure it out. I figured out who the killer was about a quarter of the way through. The ending was mildly fascinating and I enjoyed the gruesome elements of the book, but the rest of the plot was just ok. I was originally going to give this book 3 stars, because it wasn't that bad of a book. But looking back on my enjoyment levels while reading it and how disappointed I was, I can't give it higher than 2.