When you are reading recommendations from publishers you usually have to insert a grain of salt into their zeal. I have learned the hard way over the years what they are enthusiastic about might not be your cup of tea. When Mayhem was described to me as a historical police procedural, I jumped at it. I even got the audio book in order to have some wonderful reading time in the car. Boy, was I in for a surprise!
Welcome to the 1800's London and Jack the Ripper is slashing his way across White Chapel. Surgeon and occasional police consultant Dr. Thomas Bond has been asked to visit a crime scene and what he sees is the beginning of a new kind of horror. The victim is a woman, they think. All they have is a torso nothing else. Dr. Bond is fairly confident this isn't the work of Jack but someone new. The police inspectors of course think this is all the work of Jack. But there are differences that Dr. Bond can feel but can't quite put his finger on.
Dr. Bond has also lost the ability to sleep and has begun to turn to certain drugs to help him find release from the living nightmare. During one of his visits to the drug dens, he spies a priest dressed in a long wax coat. The chance meeting between these two driven men begin the hunt for one of the most vicious killers London has ever seen.
This book is a fast paced riveting thriller. But it is also very graphic in its descriptions. There were several times I didn't like what I was hearing and wasn't sure I wanted to go on. But I wanted to see Dr. Bond find the light at the end of his harrowing journey. We are presented with the cast of characters and the fun part is to decide who exactly is the culprit. What you may find out may surprise you. I know I was even after the evidence was fully presented!
The audio was just wonderful in a creepy way. The narrator Steven Crossley has a knack with the English and Cockney accents that just made everything come alive. I loved the way he said "Dr. Bond" - almost like " Bond, James Bond". Awesome!! It was hard in parts to understand in the car. You had to turn the volume up real loud but other than that a stellar performance.
Six Degrees of Reading: The Yard by Alex Grecian; Fatal Enquiry by Will Thomas; The Asylum by John Harwood.
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