Who was Jack the Ripper?
A century has gone by since this
ghastly murderer traversed the streets of Whitechapel, but the
identify of Jack the Ripper remains shrouded in mystery. Speculations
have flooded non-fiction books and documentaries, attempting to offer
us clues as to who the Ripper could be. Meanwhile, the story of the
Ripper has become something of a legend, touching our imaginations
and inspiring a generation of movies, TV shows, and novels.
Good old Jack have appeared in a lot of
yarns. So how about throwing Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde into the
mix? Indeed, David Lynn Golemon, the author for Event Group
Thrillers, brings us a heart pounding, claustrophobic adventure.
It is a novel featuring two iconic characters of nightmare from the
19th century. It is called Ripper, and this book is
not some penny dreadful thriving on cheap scares.
Synopsis:
Blood and gore painted a dimly lit room
into crimson red; its horror and stench drove the London policemen to
the border of sanity.
It was 1888, and Jack the Ripper has
struck again.
Ripper's last victim, whose body was
hacked and slashed into a gob of flesh, bore little resemblance to a
shell of a mortal kind. Ripper's latest kill, was the also the most vicious one up to date, instilling a lurking fear into the
city's tormented soul.
Ripper's reign of terror, however, was
about to end that night. London police and a secret organization
unveiled the Ripper's identity. They confronted the monstrous killer
in his lair. After a night of mortal combat, Ripper disappeared from
the foggy streets of Whitechapel, leaving behind a haunting legend.
In 2012, Colonel Jack Collins and Event
Group are on a desperate mission in Mexico, to wrench one of their
own from the claws of a drug lord. Collins and his men clashed
against the Mexican drug cartel, and together they resurrected, by
accident, a sleeping monster from the past.
Jack the Ripper, is about to reborn
into this world.
My thoughts on this book:
Two weeks ago, I picked out Ripper
from a shelf in my local library and bore it home. I expected this
book to be a detective/crime thriller tinged with a flavor of science
fiction. Yet, when the time came to sinking my teeth into the meat of
this novel, Ripper defied my expectation. I had expected a
detective adventure, but this book turned out to be more like an
episode from Resident Evil. That is not to say Ripper is
a bad book. No, the 7th installment in Event Group
Thrillers narrated an entertaining story that also moved at a fast
pace. I had a great time reading Ripper, but this book paled in comparison to its predecessor.
My previous outing with Event Group
Thriller was a novel called Leviathan, a mesmerizing book
that captivated my imagination with a thrilling story and its cast of
memorable characters. Ripper, on the other hand, delivered a
story equally as energetic as Leviathan, but lacked the compelling
characterization that made Leviathan so good. In this novel,
the antagonists were stereotypical and wooden. Meanwhile, the main
characters, such as Colonel Jack Collins and his team, were portrayed
as typical action heroes, the type of action men who shoot and blast
their way to a triumphant victory against the villains. It suffices
to say, Ripper's characterization did not impress me. The
heroes and villains in this book were uninteresting and flat.
Despite a shallow characterization,
Ripper did succeed at telling a thrilling story and its
suspense will make you biting at your nails. As I mentioned earlier,
Ripper reminded me of a Resident Evil movie. This book
told a survival horror story, and it was an atmospheric adventure
where claustrophobia and tension would clutch you by the throat,
compelling you to keep turning the pages until the end of the book.
Meanwhile, Ripper also profited from David Lynn Golemon's incredible
power of imagination. He weaved together the fabrics from Jack the
Ripper and Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde, and created an engrossing tale both
fascinating and macabre.
Ripper is the kind of book to read when
you just want to curl up on a couch with a cup of tea in your hand.
The book's characters may be dull and two dimensional, but one can
easily forget these flaws and be entertained by Ripper,
especially when its story began to unleash legendary monsters and
shadowy nightmares upon your imagination. If you enjoy movies such as
I am Legend and Resident Evil, then you will probably
like this book too. I would recommend Ripper to those who are
fond of sci-fi, survival horror type of books.
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