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A review by enchantedfiction
Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco
4.0
Escaping from Houdini is the third installment to the Stalking Jack the Ripper series, and does well to hold up to the first two. Audrey Rose and Thomas find themselves on a ship heading to America, but this is no ordinary ship. There is a traveling circus aboard, and they are set to perform every night the ship is at sail. But bodies start showing up in their acts, and it doesn't stop there. Can Audrey Rose and Thomas solve the mystery of who is behind these murders, without getting killed themselves?
I thought this one would be my favorite out of the three so far since Houdini is someone who fascinates me more than Jack the Ripper and Dracula. But I found myself being able to take longer breaks between listenings, though I did really enjoy the story. I don't know if maybe I'm going into an audiobook slump or if the pacing just got to me. It felt like there were a lot of new characters brought into this one, as well as a heavy focus on the romantic notions between Audrey Rose and Thomas, and Audrey Rose and Mephistopheles. Since this wasn't something that was as prominent in the first two, I think it kind of threw me a little and made it easier to stop listening. I thought of Audrey Rose as a smart, independent, clever girl in the first two books, and this one kind of left me thinking that she's not as smart as I had originally believed. I felt like she should have been smarter than getting dragged into Mephistopheles' charm, since it seemed that Thomas was really the perfect person for her. But love triangles seem to be an undying trope, and this book fell prey to it. Though it ended with her declaring her love for one of them (no spoilers here), it took up too much of the story.
I am still looking forward to getting to Capturing the Devil, and I did enjoy Escaping from Houdini. I just wish it hadn't fallen into an overplayed trope and we could have had a love loyal character. The motive and story for why the killings happened was actually very interesting, though I did have a few questions that weren't answered, which is fine, since it's really just me thinking too much into it. I really do enjoy these as audiobooks as well, the reader does a very good job of distinguishing her characters by voice, and did a few different accents for this one since there were different ethnicities on the boat.
I thought this one would be my favorite out of the three so far since Houdini is someone who fascinates me more than Jack the Ripper and Dracula. But I found myself being able to take longer breaks between listenings, though I did really enjoy the story. I don't know if maybe I'm going into an audiobook slump or if the pacing just got to me. It felt like there were a lot of new characters brought into this one, as well as a heavy focus on the romantic notions between Audrey Rose and Thomas, and Audrey Rose and Mephistopheles. Since this wasn't something that was as prominent in the first two, I think it kind of threw me a little and made it easier to stop listening. I thought of Audrey Rose as a smart, independent, clever girl in the first two books, and this one kind of left me thinking that she's not as smart as I had originally believed. I felt like she should have been smarter than getting dragged into Mephistopheles' charm, since it seemed that Thomas was really the perfect person for her. But love triangles seem to be an undying trope, and this book fell prey to it. Though it ended with her declaring her love for one of them (no spoilers here), it took up too much of the story.
I am still looking forward to getting to Capturing the Devil, and I did enjoy Escaping from Houdini. I just wish it hadn't fallen into an overplayed trope and we could have had a love loyal character. The motive and story for why the killings happened was actually very interesting, though I did have a few questions that weren't answered, which is fine, since it's really just me thinking too much into it. I really do enjoy these as audiobooks as well, the reader does a very good job of distinguishing her characters by voice, and did a few different accents for this one since there were different ethnicities on the boat.