{Book Review} ESCAPING FROM HOUDINI by Kerri Maniscalco

 

Escaping From Houdini

Stalking Jack the Ripper Book 3

Kerri Maniscalco

YA Historical Crime Fiction

437 Pages

Blurb:

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea.

It's up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer's horrifying finale?

My Review:

This is one of my less favorite books in the series. While I love Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula, Escaping From Houdini doesn't sit well with me.

I love the carnival aspect of the book, and even the murders keep the reader interested in seeing. what is going to happen next and who the killer will be unveiled to be. I also liked that the author added in facts about Harry Houdini's life throughout the book, like the fact that he lived in Appleton, Wisconsin (since I live about 30 miles from there). 

What I didn't like about the book? Audrey Rose's behavior. I know she was trying to be undercover or detach her emotions or something (the explanation makes zero sense to me) but the way she treats Thomas throughout the book really puts me off. Her seeming personality shift also is off-putting to me. It made me at the time, and now as I'm rereading, unsure if I wanted to read the fourth and final book. 

Overall, if you're looking for another dazzling, chilling murder investigation for Audrey Rose and Thomas to uncover, you'll enjoy this book - if you can get past Audrey referring to Thomas as just her "friend" and chasing after the ringleader, Mephistopheles, like a love-sick puppy. 

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟

3.75 of 5 Stars!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Waiting on Wednesday is a tag created by Jill @ Breaking the Spine several years ago. This fun feature allows us to showcase upcoming book releases that we’re excited to read! This week I’m sharing my excitement for the third book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper Series by Kerri Maniscalco, ESCAPING FROM HOUDINI! This series follows Audrey Rose Wadsworth, a girl in Victorian England who'd rather investigate murders and do autopsies alongside her uncle and her excruciating partner, Thomas Cresswell than act how a proper young lady of highborn British society should act. I've loved this series since the beginning, Audrey Rose is the picture of a strong female lead and Maniscalco is fantastic at world-building - you feel as if you've stepped into late nineteenth-century England and Romania - and her descriptions of medical and forensic procedure is well detailed. Unfortunately I didn't get an ARC this time so I am so, so, so excited to finally read Escaping from Houdini!!!!

Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Published by: Jimmy Patterson

Genres: Young Adult - Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance

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Preorder from Amazon 💠 Barnes and Noble 💠 Books of Wonder

In this third installment in the #1 bestselling Stalking Jack the Ripper series, a luxurious ocean liner becomes a floating prison of scandal, madness, and horror when passengers are murdered one by one…with nowhere to run from the killer. .

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The strange and disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

There's an awesome preorder incentive going on now that you won't want to miss out on!

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF ESCAPING FROM HOUDINI

Submit proof of pre-order here to receive eight limited edition character cards.

Have you read the Stalking Jack the Ripper Series? What do you think of it? If you haven't, do you want to?

Book Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world. 

My Review:

Stalking Jack the Ripper fictionally solves a mystery that has remained unsolved for 129 years. 

Our heroine, Audrey Rose Wadsworth, is a peculiar girl for her era of London society. She'd much rather study forensic science and help her uncle perform autopsies than sit down for afternoon tea with other young ladies of society, much to the dismay of her father. 

And what a time to be studying forensic science it will be, when a woman is found brutally slain. Neither Audrey Rose, nor her uncle or his insufferable assistant, Thomas Cresswell could have predicted this will be only the first in a series of gruesome murders that will become infamous and be sensationalized across the morning headlines. 

Who is Jack the Ripper? As their lives are turned upside down and startling secrets are revealed in Audrey Rose's family she must join together with Thomas to stop a mad killer. What is the killer's motivation? Will they find out before the killer sets his sights on Audrey Rose? Or will the case remain unsolved?

Audrey Rose is a fantastic heroine! She chose to step away from society's expectations of that era to pursue her passion, showing that women can be feminine and fearless, even in Victorian England. Thomas's quick wit and deduction skills are awesome and his flirtiness with Audrey Rose is entertaining. I love how she fights her feelings for him in this book. They really paired well together.

The author really did her research both into the case and the forensic practices of the era and I thought the creative liberties she took fit in well with the story, making them feel authentic to the amazing world building and the true history. 

This is a wonderful debut novel and I can't wait to read more by this author. What adventures now await Audrey Rose and Thomas at their new school in Romania? I can't wait to find out! 

My Rating:

5 of 5 Stars! 

Bookish Shop Spotlight & Review: Read and Wonder

Last month I discovered a great new bookish shop, Read and Wonder, through author Kerri Maniscalco, who was holding a giveaway of a set of their Stalking Jack the Ripper inspired magnetic bookmarks. Upon checking them out I had to order myself a set and I got them this week! 

Take a closer look.... 

My Mini Review:

I found the Etsy shop easy to navigate and find what I was specifically searching for and the prices and shipping rate to the US were extremely reasonable.

I ordered these magnetic bookmarks on July 17th, they shipped out on July 22nd, and I received them on August 7th, which I found to be an acceptable and understandable time-frame when shipping from Australia to the U.S. 

The magnetic bookmarks themselves are well made and the magnets clip together well when placed over a page. They also look very cute (as you can see in the pictures).

My Rating:

5 Stars! 

I will definitely order from this shop again!