Shelley Dickson Carr
New Book Partners
December 2012
Ripped by Shelly Dickson Carr is an entertaining YA adventure through the London of 1888, where Jack the Ripper has launched his reign of terror in the fog shrouded streets. Katie Lenox is a thoroughly modern American girl who has lost her parents in an automobile accident and now lives with her grandmother in London. Not only is she mourning their loss, she feels that she has lost her older sister, Courtney, who does not get along with her grandmother.
Katie is settling in as well as might be expected with the help of her cousin Collin. She and Collin are visiting a Jack the Ripper Exhibit at Madame Tussaud's along with Collin's friend, Toby. After a chilling tour at the waxworks they visit the Stone of London, where Katie sticks her finger in a fissure in the stone and finds herself in 1888 London. Katie decides to try to find out who Jack the Ripper is, and perhaps alter his bloody history. She finds the 1888 counterparts of Collin and Toby on hand to help her.
Ripped is very fast moving and convoluted; perhaps a little too convoluted to resolve satisfactorily. The historical detail is well-researched- when the list of Ripper victims at the Exhibit included names that are not in the historical record, the reader knows that something interesting is going on. When Katie discovers that a female relative is on the the list, the quest to stop Jack becomes even more urgent.
I initially liked the inclusion of "Cockney Rhyming Slang" in the book, but found it a bit distracting by the end. The slang is certainly creative, but used a little too often for my taste. Ripped kept me turning the pages however and I would recommend it for a 12 and up audience who are interested in history with some mystery and thrills.
Thanks to netgalley for a digital advance copy.
RATING- 3 Knives
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