What if Jack the Ripper were alive today?
Jack the Ripper. The name means Victorian England. It means foggy streets and the glint of a silver knife. There's something almost romantic about Jack.
This, when you think about it, is one of the most disturbing things possible. It would be exactly like saying there's something romantic about Fred West or Ian Brady. The fifth murder of the Ripper series, the murder of Mary Kelly, is still considered one of the worst crime scenes in English history.
When I started work on The Name of the Star, I was trying to think of the person you would least want to return from the grave and roam London, unseen. Jack fit the bill. I was always fascinated with Jack the Ripper. I grew up in Philadelphia loving English mystery novels. I read two Agatha Christies a day. The first book I remember reading in its entirety was The Hound of the Baskervilles. Jack the Ripper was more of that-but real! Read More