Renegade

March 15, 2013
This sequel to Ripper (2012) takes readers back to Abbie Sharp's late-Victorian London. Previously, Abbie learned that she inherited her psychic powers from her late mother and that the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti was her father. Doing charity work at first promoted and then reluctantly tolerated by her snobbish grandmother at the Whitechapel Hospital, she spurned the advances of sweet Simon St. John, accepted those of mercurial William Siddal, discovered an aptitude for medicine and single-handedly took out an evil cabal of immortal alchemists--all but one. Now she finds herself plagued by visions of a dreadful lamia, a man-eating monster that's half woman, half serpent. She also stumbles upon horrific acts of cannibalism in London's cemeteries. Could the remaining member of the Conclave be responsible? Well, duh. Reeves' story hits all the expected formula notes, including resurrecting the love triangle among Abbie, Simon and William. It also makes a waggish reference to Dickens and more labored ones to other English classics. But it's conveyed in such incompetent, faux-Victorian prose it's hard to imagine readers persisting to the exceptionally silly conclusion--which, heaven help them, sets up further sequels. Commas fling themselves about with little regard for grammatical rules, appearing where they don't belong but going AWOL where they should be, and malapropisms abound--sometimes multiple times on a page. An insult to all readers, teen or otherwise. (Paranormal historical fiction. 13 & up)

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October 1, 2013

Gr 7-10-This follow-up to Ripper (Flux, 2012) is best understood by readers of the first book. Arabella Sharp has survived the Conclave, but not without consequences, and is left with the knowledge that she is now a murderess, albeit for a justifiable reason. She is positive that the madness is behind her and that she can focus on becoming a doctor, not an easy task for a woman in Victorian England, and perhaps even think about a relationship with Dr. William Siddal. Then another series of mysterious murders begins, Arabella is drawn into the nightmare of the Conclave, and her beloved is kidnapped. Can she figure out the evil plan and save him? Reeves strikes a good balance between Victorian sensibilities and a strong female protagonist. Some of the more supernatural elements are a little far-fetched, and they are explained away by vague "scientific experiments." Buy where the predecessor is popular.-Saleena L. Davidson, South Brunswick Public Library, Monmouth Junction, NJ

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