The Bourbon Street Ripper

As usual, I'll skip summarising the story as others will have do

As usual, I'll skip summarising the story as others will have done
this before. In short, it's basically a well-done mystery novel and,
in contrast to the author's "Clearly not your normal mystery book." it
*is* a normal mystery book with a few twists and some "extra
features". It's *not* normal in that most "normal" mystery books are
treading well worn-out paths which, to a fair extent, BSR succeeds to
avoid.

The main characters are mostly believable and well-developed and both
the 20-years-before story as well as the current storyline and
interestingly (and rather subjectively) presented through some of the
characters.
The contrast between two of the protagonists, namely Rodger and
Michael, works well for the book as do the similarities between two
other characters (albeit the presentation of those could have been a
bit more subtle).

For me at least, this was a real page turner in spite of having to
apply some suspension of disbelief at certain points in the story (a
certain scene with the priory comes to mind). The book still "works"
for me, though, since when I'm reading a piece of fiction I'm willing
to "just let go" a fair part of my usual skepticism.

Unfortunately, there *are* a few downsides to this otherwise nice
work. Starting with what annoyed me the most, there were some scenes
that were presented in an overly gory way - there was no need to
describe in rather blunt terms how a side-character gets murdered and
how the crime scene looks afterwards. I consider these gore scenes
actually one of the weakest points of the book.

Some people might take offence at the Voodoo theme as well; I'm not
one of them, though. It may make sense, considering the primary
location in the book is New Orleans, though, I'm not sure.
Speaking of which: From what I've read, I somehow got the notion the
author might want to convey his ideas and feelings about or for New
Orleans. Maybe even get the reader to become interested in the city
itself. If that's part of the goal, it failed for me.

The cliffhanger at the end didn't really come as a surprise either -
there were (too) many allusions as to what would happen for my taste
and, thus, the "cliffhanger" didn't work for me - I expected exactly
what happened and I'm pretty sure I can predict what the second book
is going to start with.

I do like, though, that I'm not yet sure who's behind it all - I do
have my suspects but not having made up my mind at the end of the
first book is certainly a good sign.

This is my final gripe with BSR, though: A mystery thriller shouldn't
come in two books. Never ever.

Don't get me wrong, I've read lots of, e. g. epic fantasy; I've stuck
with Wheel of Time. I'm *not* happy with a mystery thriller trying to
pull off the same, though.
Those should come as one (huge, if necessary) volume. Yes, the
publisher might not like that, people with an attention span of about
10 seconds might not either. It might even sell worse at first but,
really, a good mystery will find its audience even if it has a
thousand pages.

I'm curious to read how this all is going to end and, thus, will buy
the second book for sure but, Leo, if you pull such a stunt again, you
can become the next winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and I
still won't read another book of yours.

Even though it might not seem like it after all this criticism, all in
all, I really liked this book. I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone
who likes to read a good mystery. Four out of five stars from me.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Go up one result for the Memorial Oak Garden

Go up one result for the Memorial Oak Garden. +Bearstar

The Bourbon Street Ripper by Leo King is a dark and thrilling my

The Bourbon Street Ripper by Leo King is a dark and thrilling mystery. Set in the New Orleans French Quarter during the 90's, there is a killer on the loose. Horrifically torturing victims before killing them by vivisection, this person is eerily similar to an infamous killer from 20 years previously- the Bourbon Street Ripper- so named for his similar MO to Jack the Ripper and surgical abilities.  The question is whether this is a copycat and, therefore, a serial killer. The race is on to find The Bourbon Street Ripper copycat before they kill again.




Heading the investigation is Rodger Bergeron, a seasoned cop who put away the Bourbon Street Ripper, but left him with plenty of trauma, and his partner, Michael LeBlanc, a very intelligent man with little to no social skills. As they try to find evidence and leads, their lives intersect with Sam Castille (the only living descent of the Bourbon Street Ripper and a woman with understandable emotion scars) and Richie Fastellos (an author in town for a book signing, who also has anxiety issues). Together, the four of them try to solve the case, for the sake of their home and themselves. 




As the case makes little progress and more women die, tensions run high. Sam and Rodger have past issues that need to be resolved for both their sakes, Michael and Rodger develop problems as the former feels his partner is deliberately keeping him out of the loop, and Richie must decide whether to stay and help or leave and go back to the safety of his home in Pittsburgh.




The four try to figure out where the killer will strike next and who the target will be by revisiting the old Bourbon Street Ripper files. When more of the past is revealed and small clues begin to shed a different light on the past killings and meaning for them, everyone must fight to stay sane and alive in torrent of gangsters, voodoo and a mysterious Nite Priory leaving messages with dangerous men.




The Bourbon Street Ripper is a dark, gritty and graphic telling of a murder in a place ripe with faith and belief. The line between reality and fiction is blurred indecipherably. Haitian voodoo and worship to the loa (the gods of their belief) keep appearing in the case, without any evidence that it even factors at all in the big picture. 




The characters are realistic and each comes with their own set of very real, very difficult problems. Whether they be from guilt, anger or fear. There's also the added uncertainty that any of them are innocent. In fact, for all we know one of them is the actual killer and as this book ends with more questions than answers, we'll have to wait for the next instalment to finally know. I have theories aplenty, but there can only be one answer.




I enjoyed this first part of the Sons of the Father series. There is a second part to come before the final reveal and the end of this first book ends on such a cliffhanger that it will leave you unable to stop reading.




A warning to those of younger age (or those who just don't like it), but there are very graphic scenes and course language is present. If you're okay with those, like mythology (and enjoy whodunits) then this is a great book for you. It's a little longer than most (at almost 500 pages), but the words fly by as the tension builds and the story unfolds. A fantastic first instalment that will leave you begging for more.




Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.

First I should say that this book was a freebie for me, in retur

First I should say that this book was a freebie for me, in return for a review.  I didn't finish this one, got about half way through, and may finish it at some future time, but not now.  
Positives are: BSR has a great plot, very intriguing in that it doesn't give away where it's going, interesting main characters and how they interact is done very well, and I like the way King handles the timeline of the story.  
Negatives are: Minor characters are done away with too quickly which makes them seem over exaggerated/cartoonish, excessive gore (I know some prefer this, but to me, leaving something to the imagination is far better), and while a lot of the "scenes" are well written and intriguing, there are some that are awkwardly unbelievable and really throw off an otherwise pleasing rhythm  to the story (it was one of these scenes that convinced me to move on to other books).
If you're looking for a quick mystery/crime story, this is a good one, but if you are looking for something more, you might be disappointed.

It's a wonderful mix between a thriller and a crime mystery. I

It's a wonderful mix between a thriller and a crime mystery. I liked the self-contained chapters which are related but also focused on an other part of the story. Every now and then they are crossing their path, it looks like an update for all protagonists before they leave each other for travelling their own route before meeting with each other again. Everybody puts himself in jeopardy when also they are working in pairs and it seems that all the characters have difficulty to trust their next. There is a story in the present which is related to an unsolved story from the past. It's fast-paced and extremely enthralling. The only disappointment came in the end when I had to find out that this book is only the first part of the story and a sequel is following. It leaves me hanging in the nothingness. What a pity!

Leo King spins quite the web with this novel. At first, it feels

Leo King spins quite the web with this novel. At first, it feels as if the book is struggling to realize what it really wants to be, with various seemingly non-connected and at odds narratives beginning. A gritty street level cop story about a copycat serial killer. A young heiress to a vast Louisiana fortune haunted by family secrets. An up and coming author who seems taken by the gothic romance of the crimes the copycat is emulating. They are all very much their own stories and could stand on their own. By the middle of the book he is able to bring them together and make it feel not only natural, but as if these stories were destined to be told together. And then he begins mixing in little bits of the occult and Voodoo, which really helps vault this story into another plane entirely.

As in most books, the devil is in the details, and in a mystery novel, this is even moreso. King doesn't disappoint with his details. I was constantly amused or surprised when one came up that put pieces of the overall plot into place. Plenty there to keep you flipping back in the book to see if you really did read that name earlier all the way to the end of it. The fact that King is a native of New Orleans also helps with this, as he is able to give life to the city as only a person who has lived most of his life there would be able to. It helps to lend a sense of vibrancy and life to the overall book, something that is very pleasant.

The dramatic irony that King wields is also very impressive. At the end of this first installment, he has given his characters just enough rope to hang themselves with, and the epilogue lets the reader know that they were right all along as long as they've been paying attention.

All in all, this was a fantastic book. If you're looking for a gripping, page turner of a thriller mystery, you can't go wrong with this book. I can't wait for the second installment.

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