jennybeastie's review against another edition
2.0
I think perhaps this is one of those series that isn't meant to be read all at once -- I've been enjoying up until this book, but this one? Meh. Very predictable/ heavy-handed foreshadowing, very unbelievable secret society that lends to a tortured plot, and I just got frustrated seeing the same villains come back again. It felt a little like a batman movie -- the joker has escaped and is up to his old tricks! But now he's targeting the hero! Duh-duh-duh!
*sigh*
I'm relieved at the survival rate of the main characters, but I'm not sure I find that believable, either, and the set up for the next book just makes me want to headdesk.
*sigh*
I'm relieved at the survival rate of the main characters, but I'm not sure I find that believable, either, and the set up for the next book just makes me want to headdesk.
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I think the plot is quite clever, and I found myself musing a lot about the idea of "appropriate punishment" for violent criminals. The interesting characters I loved from the first two Murder Squad books, however, took a back seat to a very twisted Jack the Ripper. I actually got bored with his wandering monologues, and was disturbed by the gory violence throughout the book. I was also a bit let down by the ending. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series or not.
slimikin's review against another edition
2.0
For a little while there, I thought Grecian would just kill every single one of his characters and leave me sitting, stunned and awash in their blood, in the parlor of Day's house. Yeesh. This was definitely more of a gory thriller than the smart, historically nuanced mysteries I've come to expect from this series.
tsmom1219's review against another edition
3.0
Just a little too much graphic detail in this one for me. Writing and characters are great though.
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
2.0
Things I didn’t like -
1. Jack the Ripper – really? Couldn’t we have a new bad guy, not one who’s been written and re-written a million times? It just annoyed me.
2. Day’s wife Claire has her babies in this one. Not only was she annoying, but I really don’t want to read about labor.
This is a bit more gory than most mysteries I read, but that didn’t really bother me. I don’t know that it’s really a mystery, more a thriller. We know who the killers are already and the other bad guy is pretty obvious from the beginning.
I will say John Curless did an excellent job as reader. He kept the characters separate and there were several longer dialogues that he kept interesting and moving along. I felt like he read it as it was meant to be read, melodrama and all. I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it had been in print instead of audio.
You can find my whole review at
1. Jack the Ripper – really? Couldn’t we have a new bad guy, not one who’s been written and re-written a million times? It just annoyed me.
2. Day’s wife Claire has her babies in this one. Not only was she annoying, but I really don’t want to read about labor.
This is a bit more gory than most mysteries I read, but that didn’t really bother me. I don’t know that it’s really a mystery, more a thriller. We know who the killers are already and the other bad guy is pretty obvious from the beginning.
I will say John Curless did an excellent job as reader. He kept the characters separate and there were several longer dialogues that he kept interesting and moving along. I felt like he read it as it was meant to be read, melodrama and all. I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it had been in print instead of audio.
You can find my whole review at
hslk0111's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the first book. The second book was pretty good. This one was just okay. I like the characters and the time period, but the plot was a little far fetched. I will, however, eagerly wait for book 4.
mslaura's review against another edition
3.0
I love a dark, gritty Victorian crime novel, but for me this one fell somewhat short of the previous books in this series. It was a bit more "in your face" for lack of a better term and lacked the nuance and depth of the previous novels. The plot did not feel as well developed and though one should expect a fair amount of gore in a book that includes Jack the Ripper as a central character, it felt somewhat gratuitous at times, as if the goal was shock rather than suspense. It did, however, leave me wanting to read the next book in the series and find out more about the Harvest Man, so overall I give it three stars.
mcampbel's review against another edition
4.0
Glad I didn't read this one at night. This book gives you shivers. It is very, very suspenseful!!