FAMILYFANS Books & Comics

Jack Knife, by Virginia Baker, is a fresh time-travel spin on the legendary serial killer Jack the Ripper, taking the reader on a lurching, no holds barred journey down the dark alleys of late 19^th century London.  Told in a visceral, edged narrative, Jack Knife brings to life a horror that’s fascinated many for years; the tale of the first ever acknowledged serial killer in a century ill-equipped to deal with such a psychologically obsessed murderer.

It’s 2007 and there’s a problem; a big one that threatens the very fabric of space and time itself.  Brilliant but egocentric scientist Jonathan Avery has inexplicably violated all safety protocols and initiated the Project without clearance or authorization. In a violent act that leaves a co-worker dead – destroyed the molecular level – Avery initiates the Portal and vanishes into the past.

Fellow scientist Sara Grant and Special Ops Agent David Elliot are tasked with either retrieving Avery or eliminating him, because the very fabric of reality is at stake.  Though there are many conflicting theories, one thing this certain: if Avery is allowed to change too much of the past, the future they call “home” will no longer be. 

However, their task is far greater than they imagined when they step through the Portal and find themselves in late 19^th century London – a time dominated by men, where women are showpieces, beasts of burden, or sexual playthings.  Worse yet, they realize they’ve also stepped into the midst of London’s most horrifying time in history: the bloody reign of Jack the Ripper.

Police Inspector Jonas Robb is an uncommon man.  The son of a privileged family, he scorns his high-bred upbringing to “get his hands dirty” working as an investigator, trying to bring real good to the world. It is he who first discovers the eerie similarities between the murdered prostitutes – those whom “dignified people” care little about – in several different districts, and wonders at the possibility they might be connected.

When Robb encounters two equally uncommon people, purported siblings David and Sara, he senses somethin uncanny about them he can’t quite put his finger on. Sara is brash, bold, intelligent – unafraid to speak her mind in an era when women aren’t expected to have one – and David possesses a cold, calculating side, making him almost as dangerous as the killer Robb hunts. 

Through half-truths and double statements, David and Sara enlist Robb’s aide in searching for their “lost uncle” Jonathon – who turns out to be Jay Osbourne, a journalist who’s consolidated all the news agencies in England and is slowly building a coup to overthrow the government and knock down the pillars of time itself.

Jack Knife is a wonderfully well told story, a mix of genres – a splendid time piece, an engrossing murder mystery, and a musing tale about the ramifications of changing the past.  Those who don’t have a taste for science fiction shouldn’t be put off by the time travel elements; this is a murder mystery, first and foremost.  The Portal and time travel are merely tools Baker uses to weave a great story.

There are some tawdry parts, but considering the story takes places in the slums of 19^th century England, it could’ve been much worse.  Baker shows a keen insight into how people think and talk and act, and it takes a considerable talent to weave such disparate genres together.  The narrative is a halting, stop-start construction, but this creates a feeling of breathless pursuit and suspense. Considering this is her first novel, there should be more good things to come from Virginia Baker.