Jaclyn The Ripper-Karl Alexander

Jaclyn The Ripper
Karl Alexander
Forge, Nov 2009, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765318947

After dispatching Jack the Ripper from 1979 to a far future, H.G. Wells and Amy Catherine Robbins travel to his time 1893 (see Time After Time) where they marry. However, so her beloved parents would not worry she returned to tell them what became of their prodigal daughter. In 1906 Wells is worried about his wife who failed to come home, Wells traces her to 2010 Los Angeles.

Meanwhile Jack managed to anchor in 2353 before returning back to 2010 Los Angeles as a woman. While Wells searches for his Amy, he notices an alarming pattern that reminds him of Victorian Whitechapel and San Francisco circa 1979; Jack is back and he obsessively believes he must stop the killer for all eternity.

With two fascinating twists since the events of Time After Time, Jaclyn the Ripper is an exciting fast-paced thriller that never quite gels as the key two antagonists never quite come across as the naïve good vs. the sinister evil of the first book. Still fans of Time After Time, book or movie, will enjoy the return engagement as Jaclyn the Ripper still enjoys the kill.

Harriet Klausner