THE NAME OF THE STAR by Maureen Johnson
Tis the Season…for Jack the Ripper, only that was a long time ago, right? Maureen Johnson’s new thriller brings us to present day London (Wexford & White Chapel) and the sites of the gruesome Jack the Ripper murders with a whole new set of victims. Aurora (Rory, that is, let’s get is straight, Brits….) has just landed in a new boarding school as her parents take on a sabbatical in nearby Bristol. She’s from New Orleans, spooky enough. This is not your traditional Ripperfest. Characters are ‘fleshed out’ and the story builds beautifully. I did NOT skip to the end, a sign of a well-written book in my view. The series-to-be entitled ‘The Shades of London’ is about people who see dead people because they themselves have had a brush with death. AND, it’s not MI5, BUT there is an entire (gradually diminishing because of unknown assailants) squad of ‘shades’ who are called in to the case so secretly/discreetly that you, the innocent bystander, will never know there is such a thing. Rory has her brush with death and meets her first (but unknown to her at the time) dead person while studying. What is fascinating about the book is the building of suspense, the absolutely creepy villain and down-to-the wire ending that doesn’t seem like a repeat of anything I’ve read before. Loved it. It does have icky descriptions of mutilations (Jack was neat in his dismemberment of his victims) and I would not recommend as just any old scary story. Besides, there is more to it. I won’t give it away…is this JACK THE RIPPER or is it just a very good copy cat who no one has set eyes on except Rory Devreaux? Is he real? The bodies are. Timely read for the most intriguing of seasons.
