Mayhem

Starred review from November 11, 2013
Rather than offer the umpteenth fictional take on Jack the Ripper, Pinborough (The Hidden) cleverly uses the so-called Thames Torso murders, a lesser-known series of crimes in late-1880s London, as the starting point for this terrifying novel. Most of the tale is told from the perspective of Dr. Thomas Bond, a historical figure who assisted the police with both sets of killings. Bond responds to the carnage he sees by ever-more-frequent visits to an opium den. His search for the man leaving parts of women strewn around the city, including in the basement of the new location for Scotland Yard, leads him to team with some unusual allies—and to a truth about the crimes and their connection to a Polish legend that he finds almost impossible to believe. In this chilling exploration of madness and evil, Pinborough excels at summoning up the bleak spirit of Victorian London’s mean streets and those forced to fight for survival there. Agent: Veronique Baxter, David Higham Associates (U.K.).

Ancient beasts, primitive mysteries, and supernatural possibilities are key in this chilling novel. Multiple points of view and various settings give narrator Steven Crossley much to work with. Two serial killers are on the loose in Whitechapel in 1888--the infamous Jack the Ripper and the lesser known Thames Torso killer. The story is told in part by Dr. Thomas Bond, the police surgeon who assisted on both actual cases, and in part by other characters and newspaper articles. Crossley is most devastating when he lets us into the minds of the madman's victims, moments before death. As the bloody, brutalized bodies turn up, Bond, a mysterious priest, and a Polish visionary set out to slay a monster. Crossley masterfully delivers shifts in point of view as well as the book's shrewd subplots and clever plot twists. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine