Study in Red - By Brian L Porter

Bone chilling, mind manipulating and terrifying and expertly crafted are just some words that describe the most masterfully written account of the heinous crimes committed by Jack the Ripper. Brian L. Porter captures the attention of the reader on the first page and kept this reader and reviewer engulfed and enveloped in this book until the very last word.

I can feel the warmth emanating from the keyboard on my computer and the stale smell in the air in the room making my body tense. Enveloped and entrapped in the psychotic world of Jack the Ripper, intertwined and woven so brilliantly with that of the narrator, Dr. Robert Cavendish, I became so absorbed in this tale of horror I began to feel like I was living the events alongside him.

Brian L Porter, author of Study in Red, grabs the reader by surprise and immerses you into the horrific, mind twisted brain of a man so deranged, and insane you begin to wonder what fact is and what fiction is.

Dr. Robert Cavendish’s father dies and he leaves him these mysterious journal papers and a letter stating that he is to share what is written in the journal with no one. He is to forever keep the tormenting secret that plagued his great grandfather, grandfather, father and now passed on to him, forever, or risk the consequences to himself and his family.

Through the eyes of both the narrator and this maniacal killer, who portrays himself as an innocent victim, infected with syphilis after cohabiting with a whore, or prostitute, he describes in his notes, his thoughts, motives, and reasoning for doing his work. Dr. Robert Cavendish, the narrator as his grandparents and father before, became embroiled in a plot so devious, murderous, and horrendous there was no turning back.

Through the eyes of the Narrator:

I Robert Cavendish received a journal written by what I was led to believe Jack the Ripper and notes inserted by my great grandfather Dr. Burton Cavendish. Little did I know that when I opened this journal and would begin reading that my life as I knew it would forever change and I would no longer be the person that I am now. Clearly, the author immersed me into the sinister world of this deranged killer of prostitutes. Justifying his actions by recreating and describing his killings in his graphic journal entries, you begin to see the reasoning behind his revenge against, those he so vividly describes as “Whores whose blood will fill the streets.”

The more I read the more frightened I became. Starting to see shadows in my study, I thought someone was watching me. A man who I believed had multiple personalities and committed these atrocities on so many women was not only clever but also elusive. Always in plain sight but not there. Using the sewers of London, he managed to do his work and not be seen.

The brilliance of the author to create an atmosphere of fear using the cold wind, torrential rain, and room changing temperatures is very masterful. Reading his journal and what was revealed at the end and what the killer’s relationship was to my great grandfather, myself and my family was startling, too frightening to tell and will not be revealed by myself or anyone else. You have to read the journals and book to learn what lies beneath and the secrets within them.

Through the Eyes of the Killer

I Jack the Ripper killed, mutilated, gutted, and destroyed many whores. Had time allowed and the disease that was transmitted by a worthless whore on my precious body, not destroyed, and eaten away at my flesh and mind so rapidly, I would still be at large and nothing would have stopped me from eradicating this world of every one of them. Named the Whitechapel Murderer, my victims were prostitutes whose throats I slit and bodies I mutilated. My fame became widespread as the newspapers printed stories about each of the murders. Describing in detail the brutality that I had inflicted on these worthless women. Throughout the telling of this tale, my identity is never revealed. Nor will it ever be.

Even the so-called brilliant doctor Burton Cavendish that I shared my story with, did not believe the truth when I told it to him in the hospital. Never once realizing that I was the killer, thinking that it was the ranting, and raving of a multiple personality and irrational man.

Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes,and Mary Jane Kelly, Martha Tambram and of course Emma Elizabeth Smith were some of my worthy victims. To understand the rationale behind my thinking and why I committed these crimes you need to read Study in Red by Brian L. Porter and learn the reasoning behind them yourself.

Five stars does not seem to be enough to rate this outstanding book. I would give it not only five stars but five red rubies too. I will definitely look for and read many more of this author’s books. I am totally hooked.
Fran Lewis

Study in Red - By Brian L Porter