In an alternate Victorian England, a vampire woman and the
human man she comes to love investigate Jack the Ripper, who is killing vampire
prostitutes.
Newman’s novel is very ambitious. In addition to giving the Jack the Ripper
tale a new spin—and who doesn’t like Jack the Ripper stories?—the book turns
history on its ear, adding a potent element by adding a vampire police state storyline that results in anti-vampire riots and other
conflicts and clashes. Readers may be
reminded of the graphic novels of Alan Moore, which include both V FOR VENDETTA
and FROM HELL, also a Jack the Ripper tale.
There is also the relationship between Charles and Genevieve,
which has more nuance than the usual human/vampire interaction and is a lot
more grown-up. The characters here—and
there are a LOT of them—vary in stages of development but a lot of them are
really fine. It’s not necessary to know
that one character is real and another fictional in order to enjoy the
story. What we get is a feel for the
inhabited world, a Dickensian abundance of people (and vampires) who overflow
the pages and seem real.
