An empty train crashes into the side of HM Prison
Bridewell: five prisoners escape, all murderers; only four
are known. The train was tampered with and there is no
record of its departure.
A year before, Jack the Ripper had slipped away from the
arms of the law; since then, he had been held captive by a
secret society of vigilantes, whose modus vivendi is that
the end justifies the means. Among the fugitives are Jack
and a pedophile and child murderer, who confesses he was
arrested by Detective Inspector Day, he knows where he
lives, and he wants revenge.
DI Walter Day, from London's Scotland Yard Murder Squad, is
at home with his wife Claire when he gets the message that
he must join the team who will investigate the catastrophe.
He is distraught at the thought of leaving his very
pregnant wife with only their housekeeper and a young
policeman, while murderers are roaming about town. Walter
meets with his mentor, Retired Inspector Adrian March, who
had failed to apprehend Jack the Ripper. It's a race
against time to catch the criminals before they cause any
mayhem.
THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP is an astonishing book. Mr. Grecian
writes magnificently; the tone is impeccable, as is the
language. THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP reads as if it were written
by an Englishman a century ago. Late nineteenth century
London is lovingly described and all the little details,
rather than slowing down the narration, actually enhance the
suspense by creating a Gothic atmosphere. It's all
fascinating and quite enlightening. The villains are
repulsive, horrifying, colourful; straight out of the alleys
of the Victorian era. Jack is elegant, extremely
intelligent, charming as well as being a revolting maniacal
and cruel killer.
Alex Grecian has an extraordinary sense of drama, and THE
DEVIL'S WORKSHOP alternates between the murderers, the
policemen, and Claire, and the chapters become shorter as
the tension slowly builds up towards a satisfying, but not
so predictable, conclusion. THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP is a superb
mystery novel!
They thought he was gone, but they were wrong. Jack the
Ripper is loose in London once more.
Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad faces the most shocking case of
its existence, in the extraordinary new historical thriller
from the author of the acclaimed national bestsellers The
Yard and The Black Country.
London, 1890. A small group of the city’s elite, fed up with
the murder rate, have made it their business to capture
violent criminals and mete out their own terrible brand of
retribution. Now they are taking it a step further: They
have arranged for four murderers to escape from prison, and
into the group’s hands.
But the plan goes wrong. The killers elude them, and now it
is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of
Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad to hunt the convicts down
before they can resume their bloody spree. But the Murder
Squad may already be too late. The killers have retribution
in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member
of the Murder Squad, and his family.
And that isn’t even the worst of it. During the escape, one
of the killers has stumbled upon the location of another
notorious murderer, one thought gone for good, but who is
now prepared to join forces with them.
And Saucy Jack has learned some new tricks while he’s been away.