Fear is a hungry beast. The more you feed it, the more it grows.
stalking jack the ripper, kerri maniscalco
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Reading Method: Physical
Page Count: 464
Dates Read: May 12 – 13
Synopsis:
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.
Review:
I had the pleasure of reading Kingdom of the Wicked last year and thought to myself “Self, let’s keep the good times rolling.” So I bought all of the Stalking Jack the Ripper books in one go – a bit ambitious, I know. I finally found some time to squeeze it into my tbr and managed to fly through it in only a couple of days.
Plot:
I loved the idea behind this story. Absolutely loved it. The historical, dark and moody vibes are right up my alley. Audrey Rose saying “to heck with societal standards; I’m going to cut up these dead bodies” was amazing. And then throw in the whole serial killer on the loose, possibly Jack the Ripper (definitely Jack the Ripper), plotline was *perfect.* While there were a few things I didn’t love about the book, the storyline and overall feel of the book wasn’t one of them.
Characters:
The story mainly follows Audrey Rose – a seventeen year old girl studying under the instruction of her uncle who performs examinations on cadavers. Audrey has a mind of her own, isn’t afraid to take risks and stand up for herself, and has a passion for her studies even though it’s widely frowned upon. My issue with Audrey Rose is her constant insistence on reminding the reader just how much she isn’t ~like other girls.~ WE GET IT. It honestly made the book borderline unbearable to read. Any time she did something it was a monologue about how normal girls would never do this or that. It’s one thing to *make* your character different through their actions, but another thing entirely to consistently remind us (on every page) through the use of her inner monologue. It made me hate her. Honestly hate her.
The only relief was when we would see her interactions with Thomas Cresswell. Thomas is snarky, a tad mysterious, and also interested in the science of studying cadavers. He’s also always down to go on adventures, and we all need someone like that in our lives. By the end I was just reading for him.
Writing:
Gahhhh. I don’t know what to say here. The overall aesthetic of the book was spot on. The story was fast-paced and I loved how everything concluded. Aside from my earlier complaints, the writing was decent. I was just majorly turned off by the use of telling rather showing. I really loved Kingdom of the Wicked, so I am hoping against hope that there is going to be some development in the writing as the series continues.
Overall:
Overall, not my favorite. It was a quick read and I will continue the series, at least for the next book, but if it doesn’t get better, I likely won’t finish the series. I’m remaining optimistic though. Hunting Prince Dracula is not at the top of my tbr, but I will get to it eventually.
