Ripper

Isabel Allende's Island Beneath the Sea is one of my favourite books. (my review) I think she's brilliant when it comes to writing historical fiction. Her last novel, Maya's Notebook, (my review) was a contemporary piece with a teenage protagonist.

Ripper is Allende's latest novel and is again set

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in present day with a teenage protagonist.

Amanda and her five teenage online friends from around the world are part of a role playing game named Ripper. They investigate "fictional nineteenth century crimes in a fog-shrouded London where characters were faced with scoundrels armed with axes and icepicks, archetypal villains intent on disturbing the peace of the city."

When a famous astrologer (who just happens to be Amanda's godmother) predicts a "bloodbath" in Amanda's city (San Francisco) the young crime solvers move their focus to real time cases.

Okay, so that's the basic premise. It actually took me a bit to get into the novel. There are numerous characters and connections introduced in the first few chapters. I admit to feeling a bit confused as I tried to work out what the focus of the book was. Is it the murders? Or is it the story of Amanda's mother Indiana? Indi is a free spirited new ager who is torn between two lovers. There are many more storylines as the book continues - a few too many in my opinion. I usually enjoy Allende's in-depth study of her characters, but in Ripper I just felt overwhelmed.

Some of the relationships seemed odd, stilted and convenient. Amanda's father just happens to be the Deputy Police Chief of Homicide. Much of the Ripper players' knowledge is freely and easily obtained from him. ( I just never really bought the Ripper players - they seemed more of a prop than an effective part of the book.) Many of the (numerous) other characters are clichéd and overdrawn.

From the author's acknowledgements:

"This book was born on January 8, 2012 when my agent, Carmen Balcells, suggest to my husband, Willie Gordon, and me that we cowrite a crime novel. We tried, but within twenty-four hours it was clear the project would end in divorce. So he stuck to his own work - his sixth detective novel- while I shut myself away to write alone, as always."

I appreciate that an author would be interested in exploring something new and applaud Allende's foray into new genres. But, for this reader, Ripper was a bit of strange read. It was just way too busy and tried to do too much. There's the murder mystery, social commentary on war and the legal system, history, a love story, exploration of alternative therapies, new ageism, and more. The identity of the whodunit is well telegraphed despite the twist that Allende employs at the end. And the murderer's motive has been done many times before. (And the publisher's blurb of 'fast-paced mystery' misses the mark completely)

I still think Allende is a wonderful writer, but Ripper missed the mark for me.

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Don't read it for the mystery, read it for the things which make an Allende novel so rich and satisfying: a large, diverse cast with complex backstories and complicated relationships. Solving the mystery is the driver of the plot, but it isn't compelling in the way that Amanda's relationship with

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her family is. The teen characters playing Ripper together aren't explored very deeply. But the adults are. There are the divorced but amiable parents, their respective partners, their parents, their siblings, friends, co-workers...

Whodunnit is a piece of cake, but why is the story.

Library copy

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This novel had an engaging plot involving a series of murders that were being treated as separate cases by the police, but considered to be serial by a group of amateurs. The characters were mostly stereotypes (e.g., new-age healer, teenager, divorced husband, wounded warrior, doting grandfather,

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etc.,etc.) and many of the premises were not very believable (i.e.,amateurs solving crimes that the polices cannot over the Internet). The climax was exciting but the solution seemed to be just patched together and was also pretty far-fetched. I don't think crime thrillers are Allende's forte. She should stick to what she does best.

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It's been many years since I first read and enjoyed an Isabel Allende novel. She is best known for magical realism in her literary novels, so I was surprised to find that she tried her hand at the mystery/thriller genre with her latest work, Ripper.

Ripper has a serial killer at work in San

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Francisco, but no one know it yet. Amanda, a high school senior at a nearby boarding school run by feminist nuns (very cool!), is kind of nerdy and smart and spends time with other smart, nerdy teens in an online role playing game called Ripper.

They are intrigued by an astrologer (and friend to Amanda's mother Indiana) who predicts a bloodbath of murders will take place in San Francisco, and when a high school security guard is found brutally murdered, they have their first case.

Amanda's father is a police detective, so Amanda tries to get information for her team from him. Amanda's grandfather (Indiana's father) Blake is part of team Ripper, and I loved his relationship with his granddaughter. They love each other fiercely, and Blake spends as much time as he can with Amanda.

The story opens with Amanda telling us that her mother is being held by the serial killer, so we read the rest of the rest of the story waiting to find out why and how this happens. This conceit ratchets up the tension dramatically.

Other murders occur and the police don't believe they are connected until team Ripper puts all the pieces together. Amanda's father does not like his daughter's interest and involvement in these murders, but at least Blake is there to keep an eye on things.

Indiana Jackson is a holistic healer, a real crunchy-granola type. She is also knockout gorgeous and can get men to do whatever she asks, but she doesn't take advantage of that. She is in love with Alan Keller, who is from a wealthy family but doesn't like to work. Ryan, a former Navy SEAL who lost a leg in the war and now works for the CIA in some kind of clandestine manner, is a client of Indiana's. They are good friends, but he would like to be more than that.

As I was reading the story, I thought there were too many characters to keep track of- Indiana's many clients, the Ripper team, police, murder victims- it felt overwhelming. But as the story got rolling, I saw how everything came together and it worked.

Allende gives a few clues as to who the murderer may be, which I picked up on, but I had no idea how or why the murderer killed. The final resolution was a little hard to swallow, although the action scenes at the end were nail-biting.

The characters in the story are well-drawn and interesting, and I was particularly interested in Ryan's backstory. If the mystery's resolution stretches credulity a bit, I am willing to go with it because I liked the characters so much.

The book is translated from the Spanish by Ollie Brock and Frank Wynne, and they did a marvelous job. I would have never guessed that the author wasn't from San Francisco herself.

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One of the best books I have read this year, one of the best books period, Ripper is amazing, everything I hoped it would be from the description. A string of seemingly unrelated killings occur, and a group who play an online role-playing crime solving game (called "Ripper") attempt to solve each

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killing, slowly piecing together more than even the police have.

The ending is incredible, to say the least. The way everything comes together, and there is even a twist on top of the twist (none of which I saw coming), puts this book on the top of the heap.

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My first impression of this mystery novel is that the writing was rather clunky. Whether that is due to the original writing or the translation, I cannot know. As the book went on, it didn't bother me as much so either the author/translators got better or I got used to the style.

My second

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impression is that the characters were caricatures and stereotypes. Really, a Navy SEAL Team Six amputee and a flighty, kindhearted New Age Californian? (If all the fictional characters who were part of SEAL Team Six were added together, that prestigious team would likely have numbered in the thousands.)

Multiple people were murdered, but the reader was told very little about the victims initially and it was hard to be drawn into the story. A group of misfit teens and a grandfather were going to solve the murder: Hey, let's look at this murder. Okay, let's skip that one and go on to this one. No, let's look into this third one....

I was blindsided and disgusted when dogfighting entered the picture. I had to skim over those pages. There was no need for that in the story, it felt gratuitous, there only for the shock value. While I'm on my soapbox, let's keep animals out of human wars. They are our wars, and we should not use animals to fight them. We cause the animals enough grief without using them as weapons.

At 400+ pages in the edition I read, this story dragged on, and for the most part, just bored me.

I was given an advance reader's edition for review.

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I have history with Isabel Allende, beginning with The House of the Spirits, a book I first read when it came out in paperback. I was on my honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta and it was a wonderful place to read it and a wonderful story. I've since read many of her books and I always find something to

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love in them.

In theory, Ripper is a thriller, a bit of suspense, a crime novel. In reality, Ripper is the story of a sprawling network of family, friends, and acquaintances in San Francisco, particularly in the North Beach neighborhood (one of my favorite places in the city, and not just because of the City Lights bookstore, although that doesn't hurt it). If you need your crime novels to follow a standard trajectory of crime, detection, and capture, this book probably won't work for you, but if you approach it as a character-driven novel you'll enjoy yourself.

I really liked this book, even though it contains few of the elements of magical realism that have made Ms. Allende's novels famous. I loved getting to know these characters, their backstories, their current stories, and the thread of danger that interlaces their lives in this moment. From a teenager who runs an online role-playing game devoted to solving serial crime to Indiana - an unconventional healer, to Ryan - an Afghan war vet and amputee and his comrade in arms - the dog, Attila, I wanted to know everything about them all and Ms. Allende delivered. She also captures all the things I love about San Francisco and its flavors - the character of the various neighborhoods that make the city wonderful - without dwelling on (nor ignoring) its huge negatives, Ripper is a love note to the city, to family of all kinds, and will keep you reading long into the night.

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This book was quite a departure from Allende's usual fare, or is it? Her original intent was to co-write a mystery with her husband but their work habits were so different she went ahead on her own with this result. While there is a serial murderer on the loose in San Francisco, this book turned

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out to be more character driven than plot driven. Filling almost 500 pages are detailed descriptions of all of the players along with their histories and the events that brought them together.

At the center of the story is a bright teen, Amanda, her mother, Indiana, and the grandfather, Blake (known online as Kabel). Her mother has two beaus - Alan, ne'er-d-well member of a rich family, and Ryan, an ex-Navy SEAL. She is what people would envision a modern day hippy. She works in a holistic clinic and gives aromatherapy and massages to her clients. The last main member is Amanda's father, SFPD's deputy chief of homicide, Bob Martín.

Amanda is the leader of an online group who originally started out to solve the Ripper murders of London, got bored, and decided to turn their attention to current cases. As most readers are familiar with the many police procedural programs on TV and various book series, many of the things that happen are glaringly mishandled, such as Bob letting the grandfather look through the case files knowing full well that the information will end up with his daughter.

So why did I enjoy this book? It takes place in the San Francisco area and takes the reader around to parts of the East Bay and wine country - always fun. I enjoy books featuring teens who do something with their time other than bullying each other or strutting around like peacocks. That gives me hope. I also enjoy books where the adults take the teens seriously and don't just blow them off when they have something to share. The long build up ends with a climatic ending, worthy of any good murder mystery.

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I really enjoyed Ripper, however, it did require that I overlook the broad characters who were more like caricatures and suspend belief in several instances.

A motley group from around the world connects online to try to solve the historic Jack the Ripper murders. Amanda, a high school senior, is

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the leader of the crew and her grandfather Blake is her henchman. When Amanda's grandmother predicts a spate of murders in their hometown of San Francisco, the group tracks and investigates the killings.

Amanda's father is the Deputy Chief of Homicide and shares details of the investigation with his daughter and father-in-law. The duo manages to out-think the department along the way.

When Amanda's mother goes missing, most are concerned that she may be the next victim of a possible serial killer, and the online detectives step up their search for the murderer.

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While this book was very well written, it was just not my cup of tea. I tend to lose interest when the story is too segmented between characters. I found this to be true in Ripper. I was also disappointed in there being little about the murders and the gaming group and much more about each

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character's psyche. I originally picked this book up because of the intrigue of the murder being related to the game. Much to my chagrin it fell very short of my expectations.

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Let me start this review by saying that when I went to add Ripper to my Goodreads "currently reading" list, I was dismayed to see the plethora of low star ratings. I couldn't understand it - surely it was a bunch of people who didn't know what they were talking about. You see, this is not my first

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Allende book and I was confident that I knew her style, I knew what she was capable of and there was just no way that she could put out anything that would merit less than four stars from me.

Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Dec. 19, 2013.

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I am still in the beginning of this book, but I am already frustrated to the point that I may not be able to finish it. Reading is tiresome, there are too many characters and all them are weirdos with extraordinary life histories, even the dog is odd. When a character is approaching a restaurant I

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am getting anxious that pretty soon we will learn the whole amazing life story of a waitress and/or the building itself. As if the author prepared a lot of material ahead of time and couldn’t help but tell us all she knew. Overall instead of having a pleasure or leisurely reading an elegant story with subtle thoughts, as I was used to with this author, I feel as if I were cheated to read a comic, it is disappointing and overwhelming.

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This is good beach reading - nothing very profound, but it's engaging and the characters are likeable, if a bit one-dimensional. This isn't a formulaic murder mystery - in fact, until the last few chapters, I wouldn't have characterized it as a mystery at all, but just a story with some murders in

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the background.

I listened to the audiobook, and enjoyed it.

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Whenever I am about to write a "not so great" review it pains me to no end. I have a great amount of respect for the process of writing and for the writers themselves. And to complicate things even more Isabel Allende is one of my all time favorite authors. The way she plays with words, the themes

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and stories she creates stay with me long after I've finished reading the book. I knew that Ripper would be a departure from her usual style and genre but I embraced the idea of that change. Yet in the end it felt like such a struggle just trying to convince myself to finish this book.

Amanda, one of the main characters and the designated sleuth is supposed to be 17 years old yet I had to keep reminding myself of that fact because for the most part the character was described as so immature that it felt like she was closer to 12-13 than 17. The game Ripper revolves around a group of teenagers interested in solving crimes so I initially thought that maybe the book will lean more towards Y.A. Then at other moments it sounded as if the book is targeting primarily adult audiences. Almost as if the story itself could not decide what genre to follow.

The pace of the story was excruciatingly slow and each time I found myself even remotely interested in the mystery part of the book, it would end up going on a tangent about something completely unrelated. I learned way more about the background of each one of the characters than about the crimes. Instead emotionally connected to the characters I found myself thinking - "Alright already, I really don't care. Can we get back to the story now?".

The biggest source of my disappointment was the fact that I kept questioning the fact that Isabel Allende's name was on the cover of this book - it just did not seem possible that she would write something of this quality (or lack thereof). The writing felt so choppy and unfocused that as I mentioned before it took a lot of effort not to give up altogether on reading the book. I did soldier on but in the end the only positive thing I can say about the whole affair is that it might potentially make a decent TV show. I still love and respect Isabel Allende, but I wholeheartedly hope that she will go back to writing such unforgettable books as The House of the Spirits.

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What have you done with Isabel Allende? I want her back. I miss the surreal mysticism, drama and passion that permeates each page from beginning to end. I am all for experimenting with writing style and genre, but if it does not work at the level one usually achieves, save it for future

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thought.

Ouch! That was harsh and I do not mean to be nasty. Yet, had I wanted a basic who-done-it novel I would have chosen a different author with a better grasp of the subject matter. Ripper is far too prosaic for Allende. The plot is interesting in very general terms, it being a mystery. But, for the most part, it simply plods along getting stuck in the mud once too often. The characters have potential, but are not developed enough to sustain my curiosity. Much of the book dragged on and on, going on tedious tangents while avoiding the main idea. There was nothing, overall, that held my attention.

In my defense, since I normally love Isabel Allende’s work, I did not look forward to my continued reading of Ripper. I had to force myself to do so each time I picked it up. Two-thirds of the way through, I had to admit defeat and put it away for good. No one is perfect one-hundred percent of the time. So, no, I will not give up on one of my favored authors. I will quietly wait in hope for her next great novel.

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I started out really liking this book. I thought the daughter's character and her interaction with her Grandfather and the "Ripper" group really made the story. But, they just couldn't carry it through to the end

Picked up an AR copy of this somewhere. Was interested in it for several reasons: I like the author, I'd not read her YA stuff, and I left my heart in San Francisco. There were many elements in the book which I liked, starting with the author's explanation of how the book came to be. It made me

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aware of her husband's body of work, which, if I remember, I'll seek out. I liked that she incorporated elements of his books through characters and references in this one. As a someone who practices tai chi each morning, and have done Qigong, I liked that this practice was an essential piece of one character's life. It was also kinda fun to trace the paths through San Francisco, though I never got a feel of the city itself.

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I was very disappointed by this book. Allende is one of my favourite authors and I was really interested to see what she would do with a "murder mystery" type of story. Unfortunately the novel is good in places but mainly turgid and boring. I kept reading because I wanted to know who 'did' it and

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why but in the end I figured it out well before the end of the book and it didn't seem particularly plausible. I think that was the main problem with the whole book - despite the extensive character backgrounds given for everyone, few of them came across as real-live people that I could relate to.

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Ripper is an online who-done-it game with a difference. The game master is Amanda. Amanda is as introverted as she is intelligent, yet she likes to take charge. She and her on line group of fellow social misfits enjoy investigating long ago crimes coming up with their own solutions. When a local

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astrologer predicts that San Francisco is going to experience a “blood bath” the Ripper players decide to turn their attentions to modern day crime … aided by Amanda’s long suffering grandfather and any information Amanda gleans from her father, a homicide detective. It all sounds like an exciting mystery to solve until it hits too close to home and Amanda’s mother becomes a victim.

I found the concept of these five on line friends forming the “Ripper” club to solve crimes on line intriguing and that description is what prompted me to pick up the book. As it turns out, much to my disappointment, that concept is not the center of the storyline, in fact it’s only what amounts to a miniscule part of the story at all. Amanda’s new-age mother and her disappointing love life, poorly paying career choice and absentmindedness take over the plot. That was too bad because I really didn’t like the character. Unfortunately I did not like most of the characters in this book. With the exception of Amanda’s grandfather (who she dearly loves but constantly treats like crap) I found all of the character’s self centered and rude to each other. Even the serial killer responsible for the “blood-bath” was so overly complicated that by the big reveal at the end, I didn’t care any more. I will say that Ms. Allende was very clever with her antagonist. Very clever but overdone!

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Allende takes on crime fiction. As usual, wonderful female characters, interesting plot. The conclusion seemed unbelievable, but thoroughly entertaining. I hope this is only an experiment for Allende and she goes to the genre she is famous for when she publishes again.

Ripper was an interesting story, with a different story line, but alas it was not a page turner. I found myself distracted by even the slightest things, and this is quite unusual for me. I am an avid reader, who always has a book going... I'm not easily distracted! That said, I was invested enough

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to need closure, and that came with a couple twists and a very convoluted villain. This story is well worth a read, but is best suited for a flight or journey by train without distractions.

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Still a little unbelievable even though Allende was trying for realism. The last 100 pages were good though.

Nope, nope, nope. The first couple paragraphs describe more brutality than I can stomach, and a group of 4th grade children discover the results of that brutality. I'm done.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell for giving Isabel Allende 2 stars. I love her, not just her writing, she seems like a complete and utter delight. This isn't a horrible book it just didn't make it to good for me. I enjoyed the aspects of the characters, especially the central familial characters,

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but the story felt over the top and conversely boring. It was kind of like watching a Bruckheimer film. They are exhilarating and boring in my view. But, a lot of people love those successful films. I think there is an audience who validly loves this book, but I just couldn't get fully into it.

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