Yawn.

Don't get me wrong, the narration is great, and the book is well researched; particularly as the historical, sociological and criminological facts and references are apt and correct. However, the hypothesis posed (essentially that "free-masons did it!") just gets tiresome and predictable... I'm sure the author (Bruce Robinson) would read this review and assume that it was conspired by the cult itself...

This book definitely is not enjoyable as an audiobook. But, I suppose it has uses for 'academic' purposes... I.e. it's best used in paper copy, and completely boring as an audiobook.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Fascinating read with caveats..

I have to applaud B Robinson for the depth and extent of his dogged research. He seems to have unearthed so much material I've never come across ( although this does occasionally become something of a diversion.) The premis of the book is fascinating, and pretty convincing to a non expert. There was obviously wicked collusion by all parties in the Florence Maybrick trial, and certainly circumstantial evidence that his Ripper suspect was correct although circumstantial does not make the case cast iron... his own conviction however that it is.
The issue I found hardest to cope with ( apart from some of the graphic detail) was some of the language used... sluts and worse used frequently when referring to the victims, who he seems very uninterested in. I'm assuming he was trying to echo the attitudes of the times he was writing about with all the rampant victorian hypocrisy but it was often hard to read and really felt uncomfortable and provocative. If you do not like frequent use of every expletive this may not be a book for you. His rage at Victorian society andFreemasonry is absolutely palpable, quite possibly justified . He also sneeringly expresses his attitudes towards ripperologists, which felt unnecessarily belligerent. He obviously sees himself as a very different investigator.
Overall a very dense and articulate read ( caveat above) and a fascinating theory. Certainly recommended for anyone interested in the subject.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Brilliant detailed account of

This is an amazing piece of work. Absolutely gripping stuff. The story is much deeper and more shocking than we all believed....and we thought it was shocking to start with!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

Wide Conspiracy Theory & Troubling Language

An interesting book on the Ripper with a clever candidate. However, throughout the book is troubling offensive language, used seemingly only for effect. The conspiracy is somewhat hard to fully buy into but the idea of police incompetence saying the Ripper was dead whilst the ghastly killing continued is more plausible. With checking out but with those two major caveats.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Fascinating

Ever since a mysterious figure ripped his way through the East End of London in the late 1880s, writers and filmmakers have focused on the identity of the perpetrator. The mystery of Jack the Ripper still exudes a fascination to lovers of murder mysteries and horror stories, spawning more theories and possibilities than any other serial killer.

In this book, writer and movie director Bruce (Withnail and I) Robinson takes a very particular view on the subject. In this meticulously researched tome, he explores the idea that the identity of the mysterious Jack was a conspiracy created and prolonged by Freemasons, the Metropolitan Police, the British Government and a bevy of coroners, doctors and bent witnesses.

I bought the paperback version of this ages ago, but as it runs to more than 800 pages and has a font size that I’d need a microscope to read, I also bought the audio version. Narrated by Phil Fox, with an introduction by the author, this is a fascinating book that uses police and court reports, newspaper articles, letters and witness statements to back up the theory that Freemason Michael Maybrick was the man behind the murders, and how his letters to Commissioner Charles Warren taunted the pudding-headed policeman with clues that even a black cat in a coal cellar at night couldn’t have failed to follow.

Robinson’s style pulls no punches and he makes it very clear what he thinks of all these alleged conspirators, using language that would put a hardened navvy to shame. Though his theory is a complex one and demands that dozens, if not hundreds of individuals must have been involved in the conspiracy, it nevertheless sounds plausible, and explains why even now certain documents are still not available for public viewing.

A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable book that puts the scribblings of Ripperologists everywhere firmly in the shade.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Fascinating

Ive become obsessed with this book. It is about so much more than some Psychopath who murdered maybe five maybe 35 people. it is about the very fabric of England and everything that is wrong with
It.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Awful Am Dram narrator!

The content of this book is as good as the narrator is bad. It starts off with the author himself reading and he would have been the perfect choice to continue. He has a bitter tone that conveys the book’s hatchet job on Victorian hypocrisy perfectly. Then comes the truly atrocious narrator who over-emotes nearly every sentence- the few that he doesn’t ruin show that he has the ability if he chose to read normally.

I’ve returned this title and have ordered the paperback instead ...

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Remarkable body of work

Anyone with even the slightest interest in the ripper murders really MUST read /listen to this supremely forensically researched book.The sheer blatant withholding of information and quite breathtaking avoidance by the powers that be of Masonic hints in the murders leaves a quite remarkable read . As for the “ nominee “ himself ...who can say ? But one thing this work does is completely blow the vast majority of the more preposterous candidates clean out of the water .The narration ( by the author himself) is nothing short of pitch perfect . Highly recommended

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

good good

the best audio book I've ever listen too by far the narrator is brilliant . .

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Far too long

This book in my opinion was way way too long. The author made a really great case for his subject but went rather the long way around to tell you. So much could have been done without and it wouldn't have affected the content or conclusion.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!