Thursday, June 04, 2020

The Night of the Ripper by Robert Bloch

(pb; 1984)

Review

Night is an entertaining, intriguing procedural thriller about (yes) Jack the Ripper, where an American doctor (Mark Robinson) and Inspector Frederick Abberline─with help from others─track down the infamous killer as he racks up a Whitechapel body count.

Ripper has it all: fully fleshed, interesting characters and suspects; suspense and tabloid-vivid gore (often via characters’ dialogues); thriller-taut, masterful pacing and corkscrew twists; time-appropriate, historical-crossover characters (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Merrick, Oscar Wilde); and a tale wrap-up that is simultaneously satisfying and a little unsettling. Worth owning, this.

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