YOURS TRULY, FROM HELL

by Terrenee Lore Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 17, 1987

Telepathy, time-warps, Satanism: a confused pulp-arama centered on the centennial of the Jack-the-Ripper murders--with someone (or some-thing) re-creating the original butcherings, corpse by corpse, in 1988 London. Yes, folks, exactly 100 years after the ripping of prostitute Polly Nichols, a pornofilm actress of the same name is found dead with precisely the same wounds; further. more, the killer and his accomplice appeared in full period regalia before disappearing almost magically! Could this be a supernatural reenactment? So it seems--especially since retired US brigadier-general Jim Lees, a gifted psychic despite his own reluctance, has been having clairvoyant visions of the killings, complete with Satanic tauntings. (Lees' father was a carny psychic, to the son's enduring shame.) Going to London with adoring wife Ann, Lees offers his services to the authorities (extensive ESP tests begin) and seeks spiritual guidance from ESP-savvy priest Father Eric Mueller (who wrestles with his lust for Ann). Meanwhile the Ripper-murders continue on schedule--along with escalating incidents of time-warp manifestations all around London. (Victorian objects appear, then rot away in slow motion.) Meanwhile, too, we are treated to closeups of the ""new"" Ripper in psychic communion with the ""old"" Ripper. And the focus sporadically settles on top investigator Sir Malcolm Stuart--not because he's an effective detective, but because (as eventually becomes clear) someone in his posh circle of mistress, friends, and relations just might be the psycho whose hatred of women has summoned up all that 19th-century ectoplasm. The tepid/ludicrous climax comes after Margaret Thatcher fires Sir Malcolm, Gen. Lees finds God (and exorcises his father-hatred via therapeutic flashbacks), and Father M. organizes a worldwide TV pray-in against the Ripper's Satan-power. But few readers--not even most fans of paranormal melodrama--will last that long; and Ripper aficionados are likely to be thoroughly annoyed by this lurid, padded mishmash of occultery, sci-fi, and gothic psycho-whodunit.

Pub Date: Aug. 17, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION