When Rory Deveaux moves from Louisiana to London, she steps off the plane into a city gripped by terror. The night before, a body was discovered with eerie similarities to the first of five Jack the Ripper murders committed in 1888. The same date, the same murder weapon, the same wounds, the same location. And Wexord, Rory's new boarding school, is right in the middle of Ripper territory - London's East End, just 5 minutes from Whitechapel Road, Jack's old stomping grounds.
But Rory has bigger things to worry about than crazed copycat killers from the 19th century - English boarding school is absolutely nothing like American high school. There's the mad rush for showers every morning, dealing with snooty head girl Charlotte, weird classes like the mysterious 'Further Maths,' uniforms, and hockey. Horrible, horrible hockey. Thankfully, Rory has new roommate and all-around awesome friend Jazza (even if she is a swimming rock star, which means she's of absolutely zero help with the dreaded hockey) to show her the British boarding school ropes. Along with cute prefect Jerome and classes that are way harder than American history, Rory is so busy figuring out her new English life she doesn't have time for the Ripper. Oh, and there is the embarrassing episode where she almost choked to death at dinner in front of all her new classmates (and Jerome, of course) that she is trying to ignore.
But with London seized by Ripper mania, there are tour groups everywhere, pub parties nightly, the streets are crawling with tourists in Ripper top hats, and speculation about the next murder is all over the news. When the second body is found right on schedule, London and Wexford explode in a furor of gossip and fear. By the night of the Double Event, the police have no leads, no evidence, and no suspects.
Wexford students are on lockdown, so when Jerome texts Rory to bring Jazza over to the boys' dorm to watch the action from the roof at midnight, of course they sneak out. The only weird thing Rory sees is the polite, kind of creepy guy in an old-fashioned suit when she and Jazza are crawling back in to the girls' dorm through the bathroom window - and the weirdest thing of all is that Jazza didn't - or couldn't - see him. When the body is found at Wexford the next morning, Rory knows that she has to tell someone what she saw - but even she's not sure what or even if she saw anything.
Chilly fingers of horror will creep down your spine and won't let go as Rory slowly realizes that she is the only one who can see the Ripper - and that he is coming for her. Who, or what, is he? Is he the original Ripper, or something even worse? The damp, foggy streets of London and the gothic boarding school setting just add to the atmospheric intensity of this dark mystery that totally freaked me out. The perfect November read, make sure your doors and windows are locked and you've got spare batteries for your flashlight before you curl up under a quilt with Maureen Johnson's terrifying take on the paranormal - though that probably won't keep the ghosts out...
Megan
(who could barely tear myself away from The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater to come to work today, and it is just... wow. I have no idea how I'm going to sum up the awesomeness that is Maggie when I write the review, but I'll do my best!)