Historical Copycats

When I was a student, I became temporarily obsessed with the Jack the Ripper case. I mean, who doesn't? (I was a Criminal Justice student and my research was for a paper I was writing.) Since that time, I've come across some additional crazies that have confounded folks historically, but I think Jack's appeal is that there really is no way to prove who he was. And I don't think that anyone wants to know his real identity. I think everyone wants to come up with their own theory and if it's every truly solved, that will end.

Anyway, I bring up Jack because I've just finished reading S.J. Bolton's latest, which features a modern-day Jack the Ripper copycat. And now I'm starting Holly Luhning's Quiver, a book with an Elizabeth of Bathory theme. So I'm amidst historic copycats at the moment : )

Now You See Me is about a London cop, Lacey Flint, who literally stumbles onto a stabbing. Lacey, who's moonlighting in an effort to get the attention of a specific division she hopes to work for after her training period is up, wasn't supposed to be there. The victim, a woman who dies in Lacey's arms, is only later tied to Jack the Ripper -- when a reporter receives a modern version of the famous "Dear Boss" letter. As the connections fall into place, though, Lacey realizes that she herself may soon be deemed a suspect. Now it's up to Lacey to catch the killer or risk having her own secrets exposed.

I loved it! Lacey as a character was fantastic. She's got secrets -- secrets from those around her, but also secrets she hides from the reader. The Jack the Ripper theory is excellent and plausible and the twist in the plot, because almost every great thriller has one, is a little expected in some ways, but works oh, so well!

Definitely on my recommended list! I have high hopes for Quiver as well and will keep you posted.

Double Take!

So I didn't really think about it at first, but something about the new SJ Bolton book is just a little familiar to me. Oh, yeah! It's the same freaking cover art as Jean Christophe Grange's Empire of Wolves. Two different publishing companies with publications two years apart, and they have the same cover.

You'd think someone would be watching for that kind of thing, wouldn't you?

Grange's hardcover release had very different art - it was dark with a sort of red shadow of a woman across the front. The UK edition had an actual photo of a woman on the cover - fitting since it's about a woman who has amnesia and discovers that she's had significant plastic surgery done on her face. Her husband is keeping things from her and she can't even trust herself. It's fantastic! The movie (starring Jean Reno *sigh* my "old man" crush - he's not really an old man, but he's WAY older than I am - is very much worth tracking down.

Bolton's book on the other hand is about strange ritualistic murders in the Shetland Islands. I've not had the chance to read it just yet, but am really looking forward to it, especially after everything that I've heard.

The UK cover art for Sacrifice was also significantly different from the carboned US cover. It featured a dark scene, with a gold ring on a sandy beach up close, and water in the background.

Seeing as how I am probably the biggest Grange fan this side of the Atlantic, my guess is that the designers working on Bolton's title were hoping no one would recognize the cover - either that or they obtained the photo themselves with no knowledge of Grange's book. Who knows? I'm probably one of the few folks who even owns both books, though I don't think it's a stretch for someone who likes overseas stuff to have found both books - hm, a UK and a French author who write graphic thrillers, nope not a stretch if you've actually HEARD of them.

My hope is that if I keep harping on Grange's books, people will search him out like I did. I am this close to buying French editions of his new stuff and attempting to use my limited skills to decipher them myself! In the meantime, if what I have heard is correct (and if the cover art can be trusted - haha) then maybe Bolton will be added to my list of must haves and then the two will have something else in common.