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    Ripper: A Novel
    Ripper: A Novel
    Ripper: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    Ripper: A Novel

    Written by Isabel Allende

    Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

    3/5

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    About this audiobook

    Isabel Allende—the New York Times bestselling author whose books, including Maya’s Notebook, Island Beneath the Sea, and Zorro, have sold more than 57 million copies around the world—demonstrates her remarkable literary versatility with Ripper, an atmospheric, fast-paced mystery involving a brilliant teenage sleuth who must unmask a serial killer in San Francisco.

    The Jackson women, Indiana and Amanda, have always had each other. Yet, while their bond is strong, mother and daughter are as different as night and day. Indiana, a beautiful holistic healer, is a free-spirited bohemian. Long divorced from Amanda’s father, she’s reluctant to settle down with either of the men who want her—Alan, the wealthy scion of one of San Francisco’s elite families, and Ryan, an enigmatic, scarred former Navy SEAL.

    While her mom looks for the good in people, Amanda is fascinated by the dark side of human nature, like her father, the SFPD’s Deputy Chief of Homicide. Brilliant and introverted, the MIT-bound high school senior is a natural-born sleuth addicted to crime novels and Ripper, the online mystery game she plays with her beloved grandfather and friends around the world.

    When a string of strange murders occurs across the city, Amanda plunges into her own investigation, discovering, before the police do, that the deaths may be connected. But the case becomes all too personal when Indiana suddenly vanishes. Could her mother’s disappearance be linked to the serial killer? Now, with her mother’s life on the line, the young detective must solve the most complex mystery she’s ever faced before it’s too late.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 28, 2014
    ISBN9780062308627
    Author

    Isabel Allende

    Isabel Allende is the author of twelve works of fiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Maya’s Notebook, Island Beneath the Sea, Inés of My Soul, Daughter of Fortune, and a novel that has become a world-renowned classic, The House of the Spirits. Born in Peru and raised in Chile, she lives in California.

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    Reviews for Ripper

    3/5

    302 ratings41 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A serial murderer is stalking the streets of San Francisco, but the police are missing the clues. Only a casual group of amateur detectives have noticed the similarities linking the cases. The leader of the group, a clever high school girl named Amanda gets all the case details from her police detective father. But things are about to get very serious when Amanda's mother comes to the attention of the killer, nicknamed "the Wolf". Soon it will be a race against time solve the final clues and catch the murderer in the act.A very intimate and thoughtful portrayal of a family torn apart my secrets and betrayal.
    • 4/5
      I like the comprehensive character development. Despite the fact that it is rather long, the entire novel captivated my interest.
    • 4/5
      Great description of Bay Area landscape as the scene of the drama. In usual fashion, continues with use magical realism, though at a smaller extent & in a way that fits with the thriller genre. I can see this turning into a movie.
    • 4/5
      I admire Allende and may have added an extra star. Her books are rarely set in the US and I am not certain if it didn’t translate well or I was merely unprepared for the transition.
      I felt perhaps her characters were a bit over populated and doing too many things. They all tended to have messy lives and either confused or dead wrong moral centers. There was one part, which I won’t reveal that seemed especially unclear. More editing. More clarity? For free, she at least always writes well.
    • 3/5
      good, fast read.
    • 5/5
      The way the characters are described. Their presence, emotions, feelings and actions. Great! Splendid writer Miss Allende is!!!
    • 5/5
      Excelente, mantiene el suspenso hasta el final. Tiene personajes e historias muy bien desarrolladas. Cautivante.
    • 3/5
      Allende’s sweeping literary style that suits her so well does not suit a modern murder mystery. The pacing and character development are just off, and while I was engaged with the first half, the second half sort of falls apart. If you like Allende for the style she’s known for, like I do, skip this one.
    • 4/5
      A mystery novel by Isabel Allende set in San Fransisco
    • 3/5
      As always, I enjoyed Isabel Allende's writing . However, the theme seemed exciting when I picked up this book but soon left me cold.. I am not a huge murder mystery fan so not really my thing.
    • 4/5
      loved this ... such interesting characters
    • 2/5
      I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell for giving Isabel Allende 2 stars. I love her, not just her writing, she seems like a complete and utter delight. This isn't a horrible book it just didn't make it to good for me. I enjoyed the aspects of the characters, especially the central familial characters, but the story felt over the top and conversely boring. It was kind of like watching a Bruckheimer film. They are exhilarating and boring in my view. But, a lot of people love those successful films. I think there is an audience who validly loves this book, but I just couldn't get fully into it.
    • 2/5
      Ripper was my first experience with Isabel Allende, and, as I understand it, her first foray into crime fiction. I knew going in this would be a slower paced mystery/thriller type novel, and that is okay. I can appreciate a book that takes its time, one that spends a lot of time developing the characters, and setting up the story. Ripper opens with a rather heinous murder that is brought to the attention of a group of online role players, led by Amanda Martin, with her grandfather acting as her henchman who have decided to try their hand at solving real life crimes instead of their own make believe ones. It's an interesting premise to say the least.

      The real story, however, lies with Indiana, Amanda, Martin, and Amanda's grandfather, with Indiana always at the center. It makes sense given she is targeted by the killer--something revealed to the reader up front. What the reader doesn't know is why or how. And so, Isabel Allende's novel, Ripper, unfolds.

      The author spends much time describing Indiana's life and the people she encounters. Each of those people play an important role in events to come, and I have to say, I appreciated the depth the author went into with each character, including the more eccentric and mysterious ones. I especially liked how the author breathed life into her characters. I really came to care for Amanda and her mother, Indiana. Both were very different in terms of personality, but they are strong female leads, nonetheless. I also really liked Amanda's grandfather--even though I did have to wonder at times how easily led by Amanda he was.

      Ryan, the former Navy SEAL and his dog, were such interesting characters, especially given Ryan's past and the obstacles he had to overcome after losing his leg in battle. The emotional turmoil he went through was palatable, especially given the psychological aspects of what he'd been through--and done. And the dog, a war hero in her own right. Atilla's own story was very moving. I loved that dog.

      I wish the author had allowed the reader to spend more time with the Ripper group in general. They were an interesting group of kids, misfits really, each bringing their own knowledge and skills to the table.

      At times I felt as if the author threw just about everything, including the kitchen sink, she could into this novel--and, somehow, it worked, mostly. Allende is clearly a gifted storyteller. Just about everything she includes in this novel has a purpose. And while some threads of the story were stronger than others, some more necessary than others, it made for an interesting and entertaining novel.

      It took a while for the mystery to unravel, and very little happens over the first half of the novel in terms of the actual solving of the crime. I did wish the story hadn't meandered quite as much in the middle as it did. Nothing a tightening of the plot couldn't resolve. The biggest trouble I had with the book, at it was a big one for me, was near the end. Not the end itself, mind you, but the way the author revealed the who and why of the mystery. The suspense was intense and the edge of your seat kind. I did not mind the slow down as the point of view changed from the good guys to the bad. Writing devices like that only increase the suspense. What bothered me was the repetition. As the good guys uncovered major bits of the mystery, the view would shift to the killer, who would then go over the same information without much more insight than I, as the reader, had already been given. It happened again and again, enough the throw me out of the story. Still, the ending is, like I said, intense and quite a ride. It was a fitting ending to the novel overall.

      And can I just add how much I loved the setting of the novel? San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. I am always happy to spend time there, in person or in a book.

      There was much I liked about this book even as there were some aspects I had trouble with. I am curious about Allende's other books and hope to one day try something else by her. So many others love her writing. I want to too, but this wasn't a book that won be over.
    • 1/5
      I really disliked this. It won't take long for the discerning reader to unravel the mystery, and there's a lot of ridiculousness here (a group of children helping police solve a crime). A main character named "Indiana" whose daughter is going to MIT (of course - why would you want a simply smart and engaging young woman. Have her go to MIT!). Very silly characters. I would not read anything by this author again.
    • 4/5
      Don't read it for the mystery, read it for the things which make an Allende novel so rich and satisfying: a large, diverse cast with complex backstories and complicated relationships. Solving the mystery is the driver of the plot, but it isn't compelling in the way that Amanda's relationship with her family is. The teen characters playing Ripper together aren't explored very deeply. But the adults are. There are the divorced but amiable parents, their respective partners, their parents, their siblings, friends, co-workers...

      Whodunnit is a piece of cake, but why is the story.

      Library copy
    • 3/5
      I didn't feel this book was up to the high standard of Allende's other books. It is partly a mystery and maybe Allende just wanted to explore what it was like to write in that genre. But also I just didn't connect with any of these characters and I don't know that I can say that of any of her other books. I know it wasn't because I was listening to this as an audiobook because I have read several of her books that way. It certainly wasn't the fault of the narrator. Edoardo Ballerini did an excellent job of switching voices and accents.Amanda Martin is a young teenager living with her mother, Indiana, and grandfather in San Francisco. Her father is a murder investigator with the SFPD (what a boon for a young girl who wants to investigate a murder). Amanda's godmother has forecast the SF will run with blood and a series of murders that seem to be connected are bearing out that prophecy. Amanda has just the software tool to investigate the claim (it is basically a chat room of like-minded teens). Then the man that her mother was going to marry is killed and Indiana goes missing. Everyone jumps on board the investigation wagon. You know what happens, right?I think Ms Allende should stick to literary fiction with a side of magical realism and leave the crime genre to people who can do it justice.
    • 3/5
      Set in contemporary times. Not one of Allendes best works, I completed it, but don't remember the details several months later.
    • 2/5
      Could not finish this book. Read it in Spanish, the author's native language, and still, did not enjoy it. Read about one hundred pages, the character development is ridiculously long. And every time she uses first name and surname when she mentions each person. Too boring.
    • 3/5
      Isabel Allende devotes her talent to a murder mystery and investigation in her latest book, Ripper, a recommended novel.

      Ripper opens with the ominous warning from Amanda Martin concerning Indiana Jackson, her mother: "Mom is still alive, but she's going to be murdered at midnight on Good Friday..." Amanda and her mother are complete opposites in many ways but she shares a strong bond with Indiana, a holistic healer, and even more so with her grandfather, Blake Jackson. Amanda's father is Deputy Chief Bob Martin. Amanda plays an online role playing game called Ripper with 4 friends and her grandfather.

      After Amanda's astrologer godmother, Celeste Roko, predicts a bloodbath in San Francisco, the murder of Ed Stanton occurs. Amanda and her grandfather mark this as the first murder in the coming bloodbath and transform the online Ripper from a game into a criminal investigation as a series of murders take place in San Francisco. Since Amanda's father, Bob Martin, is leading the murder investigations, Amanda and her grandfather Blake have unprecedented access to all manner of inside information on the investigation from the police, which certainly will stretch believability for most crime aficionados. Feeling much younger than 17, Amanda repeatedly reminded me of Alan Bradley's young female sleuth, Flavia de Luce.

      Allende extensively covers the three months leading up to the threat to Indiana's life while thoroughly and exhaustively analyzing the eccentric cast of main characters. All of this results in making Ripper a rather unconventional murder mystery, but certainly a very enjoyable mystery. We are privy to a vast amount of inside information about many of the characters. Having never read Allende to this point (don't judge - I have some issues with magic realism) I have to guess that this is Allende's preferred way to establish characterization. It's just not the norm for this genre.

      I felt at a certain point that I was just being given too much superfluous information and it was slowing the pace down. Part of the thrill in reading mysteries for me is the fast pace and the slow, miserly release of information. However, the other part of enjoyment I find in mysteries is guessing who-dun-it and Allende did an excellent job embedding the killer into the story, although part of that is simple due to the sheer volume of information about people.

      In the end, while I enjoyed her writing and the descriptions of her characters, her writing style didn't quite work for me in a mystery. I can't fault the book for her writing, though, because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

      Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the HarperCollins for review purposes.
    • 3/5
      Still a little unbelievable even though Allende was trying for realism. The last 100 pages were good though.
    • 3/5
      Ripper was an interesting story, with a different story line, but alas it was not a page turner. I found myself distracted by even the slightest things, and this is quite unusual for me. I am an avid reader, who always has a book going... I'm not easily distracted! That said, I was invested enough to need closure, and that came with a couple twists and a very convoluted villain. This story is well worth a read, but is best suited for a flight or journey by train without distractions.
    • 1/5
      Ripper is an online who-done-it game with a difference. The game master is Amanda. Amanda is as introverted as she is intelligent, yet she likes to take charge. She and her on line group of fellow social misfits enjoy investigating long ago crimes coming up with their own solutions. When a local astrologer predicts that San Francisco is going to experience a “blood bath” the Ripper players decide to turn their attentions to modern day crime … aided by Amanda’s long suffering grandfather and any information Amanda gleans from her father, a homicide detective. It all sounds like an exciting mystery to solve until it hits too close to home and Amanda’s mother becomes a victim.

      I found the concept of these five on line friends forming the “Ripper” club to solve crimes on line intriguing and that description is what prompted me to pick up the book. As it turns out, much to my disappointment, that concept is not the center of the storyline, in fact it’s only what amounts to a miniscule part of the story at all. Amanda’s new-age mother and her disappointing love life, poorly paying career choice and absentmindedness take over the plot. That was too bad because I really didn’t like the character. Unfortunately I did not like most of the characters in this book. With the exception of Amanda’s grandfather (who she dearly loves but constantly treats like crap) I found all of the character’s self centered and rude to each other. Even the serial killer responsible for the “blood-bath” was so overly complicated that by the big reveal at the end, I didn’t care any more. I will say that Ms. Allende was very clever with her antagonist. Very clever but overdone!
    • 2/5
      I was very disappointed by this book. Allende is one of my favourite authors and I was really interested to see what she would do with a "murder mystery" type of story. Unfortunately the novel is good in places but mainly turgid and boring. I kept reading because I wanted to know who 'did' it and why but in the end I figured it out well before the end of the book and it didn't seem particularly plausible. I think that was the main problem with the whole book - despite the extensive character backgrounds given for everyone, few of them came across as real-live people that I could relate to.
    • 3/5
      I started out really liking this book. I thought the daughter's character and her interaction with her Grandfather and the "Ripper" group really made the story. But, they just couldn't carry it through to the end
    • 3/5
      Picked up an AR copy of this somewhere. Was interested in it for several reasons: I like the author, I'd not read her YA stuff, and I left my heart in San Francisco. There were many elements in the book which I liked, starting with the author's explanation of how the book came to be. It made me aware of her husband's body of work, which, if I remember, I'll seek out. I liked that she incorporated elements of his books through characters and references in this one. As a someone who practices tai chi each morning, and have done Qigong, I liked that this practice was an essential piece of one character's life. It was also kinda fun to trace the paths through San Francisco, though I never got a feel of the city itself.
    • 2/5
      What have you done with Isabel Allende? I want her back. I miss the surreal mysticism, drama and passion that permeates each page from beginning to end. I am all for experimenting with writing style and genre, but if it does not work at the level one usually achieves, save it for future thought.Ouch! That was harsh and I do not mean to be nasty. Yet, had I wanted a basic who-done-it novel I would have chosen a different author with a better grasp of the subject matter. Ripper is far too prosaic for Allende. The plot is interesting in very general terms, it being a mystery. But, for the most part, it simply plods along getting stuck in the mud once too often. The characters have potential, but are not developed enough to sustain my curiosity. Much of the book dragged on and on, going on tedious tangents while avoiding the main idea. There was nothing, overall, that held my attention. In my defense, since I normally love Isabel Allende’s work, I did not look forward to my continued reading of Ripper. I had to force myself to do so each time I picked it up. Two-thirds of the way through, I had to admit defeat and put it away for good. No one is perfect one-hundred percent of the time. So, no, I will not give up on one of my favored authors. I will quietly wait in hope for her next great novel.
    • 1/5
      Whenever I am about to write a "not so great" review it pains me to no end. I have a great amount of respect for the process of writing and for the writers themselves. And to complicate things even more Isabel Allende is one of my all time favorite authors. The way she plays with words, the themes and stories she creates stay with me long after I've finished reading the book. I knew that Ripper would be a departure from her usual style and genre but I embraced the idea of that change. Yet in the end it felt like such a struggle just trying to convince myself to finish this book.Amanda, one of the main characters and the designated sleuth is supposed to be 17 years old yet I had to keep reminding myself of that fact because for the most part the character was described as so immature that it felt like she was closer to 12-13 than 17. The game Ripper revolves around a group of teenagers interested in solving crimes so I initially thought that maybe the book will lean more towards Y.A. Then at other moments it sounded as if the book is targeting primarily adult audiences. Almost as if the story itself could not decide what genre to follow.The pace of the story was excruciatingly slow and each time I found myself even remotely interested in the mystery part of the book, it would end up going on a tangent about something completely unrelated. I learned way more about the background of each one of the characters than about the crimes. Instead emotionally connected to the characters I found myself thinking - "Alright already, I really don't care. Can we get back to the story now?".The biggest source of my disappointment was the fact that I kept questioning the fact that Isabel Allende's name was on the cover of this book - it just did not seem possible that she would write something of this quality (or lack thereof). The writing felt so choppy and unfocused that as I mentioned before it took a lot of effort not to give up altogether on reading the book. I did soldier on but in the end the only positive thing I can say about the whole affair is that it might potentially make a decent TV show. I still love and respect Isabel Allende, but I wholeheartedly hope that she will go back to writing such unforgettable books as The House of the Spirits.
    • 4/5
      Allende takes on crime fiction. As usual, wonderful female characters, interesting plot. The conclusion seemed unbelievable, but thoroughly entertaining. I hope this is only an experiment for Allende and she goes to the genre she is famous for when she publishes again.
    • 2/5
      I am still in the beginning of this book, but I am already frustrated to the point that I may not be able to finish it. Reading is tiresome, there are too many characters and all them are weirdos with extraordinary life histories, even the dog is odd. When a character is approaching a restaurant I am getting anxious that pretty soon we will learn the whole amazing life story of a waitress and/or the building itself. As if the author prepared a lot of material ahead of time and couldn’t help but tell us all she knew. Overall instead of having a pleasure or leisurely reading an elegant story with subtle thoughts, as I was used to with this author, I feel as if I were cheated to read a comic, it is disappointing and overwhelming.
    • 4/5
      This is good beach reading - nothing very profound, but it's engaging and the characters are likeable, if a bit one-dimensional. This isn't a formulaic murder mystery - in fact, until the last few chapters, I wouldn't have characterized it as a mystery at all, but just a story with some murders in the background.I listened to the audiobook, and enjoyed it.