Ripper: A Novel

by Isabel Allende Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Overview

Isabel Allende-the New York Times bestselling author whose books, including Maya's Notebook, Island Beneath the Sea, and Zorro, have sold more than 57 million copies around the world-demonstrates her remarkable literary versatility with Ripper, an atmospheric, fast-paced mystery involving a brilliant teenage sleuth who must unmask a serial killer in San Francisco.

The Jackson women, Indiana and Amanda, have always had each other. Yet, while their bond is strong, mother and daughter are as different as night and day. Indiana, a beautiful holistic healer, is a free-spirited bohemian. Long divorced from Amanda's father, she's reluctant to settle down with either of the men who want her-Alan, the wealthy scion of one of San Francisco's elite families, and Ryan, an enigmatic, scarred former Navy SEAL.

While her mom looks for the good in people, Amanda is fascinated by the dark side of human nature, like her father, the SFPD's Deputy Chief of Homicide. Brilliant and introverted, the MIT-bound high school senior is a natural-born sleuth addicted to crime novels and Ripper, the online mystery game she plays with her beloved grandfather and friends around the world.

When a string of strange murders occurs across the city, Amanda plunges into her own investigation, discovering, before the police do, that the deaths may be connected. But the case becomes all too personal when Indiana suddenly vanishes. Could her mother's disappearance be linked to the serial killer? Now, with her mother's life on the line, the young detective must solve the most complex mystery she's ever faced before it's too late.

Editorial Reviews

For Amanda Martin and her friends, Ripper was just a suspenseful online role-playing mystery game. Then the digital murders seem to take on an alarming new real-world dimension when the group discerns that they can detect the work of a serial killer even before the police do. Isabel Allende's new novel invites you into a world teeming with possible suspects and could-be victims, all portrayed with her inimitable touch. A welcome genre leap for one of the most talented and popular writers of our time.

From the Publisher

Allende’s tightly plotted tale of crimes obvious and masked is sharply perceptive, utterly charming, and intensely suspenseful.” — Booklist, starred review

“A rip-roaring, entertaining crime novel. . . .  Allende remains a remarkable spinner of stories. Her prose is sparkling and graceful . . . her ability to portray passion and action undimmed. Ripper grabs you, toys with you, amuses you…” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“The novelist’s charming first murder mystery features an irresistible teenage sleuth.” — New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice

“Thoroughly charming book. . . . A lot of fun to read.” — New York Times Book Review

“Literary icon Isabel Allende mesmerizes with her first crime novel…this race-against-the-clock thriller is pure magic.” — People Magazine, Four Stars

“Appealing characters, a fast-paced plot, and a successfully imagined killer add up to great entertainment.” — Library Journal

“[Allende’s] facility with plotting and pacing will keep readers turning the pages.” — Publishers Weekly

“It must have been surprising to discover that [Allende’s] particular literary strengths - a talent for dramatization, a delight in world-building and a passion for investigating relationships between family members - lend themselves so well to a genre she’s never bothered with before. I am hoping she’ll continue her killings.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“There are deliciously creepy elements in Ripper, much like those in the dark Scandinavian crime novels one of its characters loves.” — Seattle Times

“Allende doesn’t miss a beat, smoothly exposing the underbelly of the city and the shenanigans of its wealthy elite. You might guess the identity of the killer before the last pages, but you won’t care-the shocks and unexpected twists will keep you riveted until the end.” — More magazine

“Like many of Allende books it’s a joy to read with sentences to savor and read aloud. An excellent novel, RIPPER is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.” — I Love a Mystery (Blog)

Seattle Times

There are deliciously creepy elements in Ripper, much like those in the dark Scandinavian crime novels one of its characters loves.

People Magazine

Literary icon Isabel Allende mesmerizes with her first crime novel…this race-against-the-clock thriller is pure magic.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

A rip-roaring, entertaining crime novel. . . .  Allende remains a remarkable spinner of stories. Her prose is sparkling and graceful . . . her ability to portray passion and action undimmed. Ripper grabs you, toys with you, amuses you…

San Francisco Chronicle

It must have been surprising to discover that [Allende’s] particular literary strengths - a talent for dramatization, a delight in world-building and a passion for investigating relationships between family members - lend themselves so well to a genre she’s never bothered with before. I am hoping she’ll continue her killings.

starred review Booklist

Allende’s tightly plotted tale of crimes obvious and masked is sharply perceptive, utterly charming, and intensely suspenseful.

More magazine

Allende doesn’t miss a beat, smoothly exposing the underbelly of the city and the shenanigans of its wealthy elite. You might guess the identity of the killer before the last pages, but you won’t care-the shocks and unexpected twists will keep you riveted until the end.

New York Times Book Review

The novelist’s charming first murder mystery features an irresistible teenage sleuth.

San Francisco Chronicle

It must have been surprising to discover that [Allende’s] particular literary strengths - a talent for dramatization, a delight in world-building and a passion for investigating relationships between family members - lend themselves so well to a genre she’s never bothered with before. I am hoping she’ll continue her killings.

I Love a Mystery (Blog)

Like many of Allende books it’s a joy to read with sentences to savor and read aloud. An excellent novel, RIPPER is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

People Magazine

Literary icon Isabel Allende mesmerizes with her first crime novel…this race-against-the-clock thriller is pure magic.

More Magazine

Allende doesn’t miss a beat, smoothly exposing the underbelly of the city and the shenanigans of its wealthy elite. You might guess the identity of the killer before the last pages, but you won’t care-the shocks and unexpected twists will keep you riveted until the end.

Kirkus Reviews

2013-11-17
A seasoned hand at the intimate Latin American literary novel and young-adult fantasy takes an ungainly stab at a page-turner about a serial killer. This loose, overstuffed crime story from Allende (Maya's Notebook, 2013, etc.) is set in San Francisco, where teenage heroine Amanda is navigating two problems. First is the split between her mom, Indiana, a gorgeous New-Age healer, and her dad, the SFPD's deputy homicide chief. The second problem is the spate of grotesque murders in the city, over which Amanda obsesses online with a group of fellow geeks with a mordant streak. (Allende refers to such Internet activity as a game called Ripper, but the "game" seems hardly distinct from a chat room.) While Amanda attempts to connect the murders to one killer, Indiana ponders whether to give her affections to a wealthy but shiftless socialite or a former Navy SEAL with PTSD. There are repeated references in the book to Scandinavian crime fiction, and Allende has clearly taken inspiration from the general outlines of the genre: the gory, imaginatively murdered corpses, the whip-smart young female hero, the cynicism about law enforcement institutions. But Allende struggles with pacing and tone. The novel is overlong and thick with clichés both in the prose and the characters; the most carefully drawn character, Indiana, is prone to a flightiness that seems largely designed to serve plot points. Allende crafts some thoughtful brief sketches of San Francisco subcultures, from high-end mansions to rough-and-tumble drag queens, and she cleverly unifies the murders in the closing chapters. But by then, the characters and plot turns feel so familiar that a late-breaking tragedy has little emotional effect. Credit Allende for attempting to expand her range, but crime fiction is plainly not her forte.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170411856
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/28/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

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