The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
Burton & Swinburne, Book 1
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The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
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Narrated by:
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Gerard Doyle
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By:
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Mark Hodder
About this listen
Sir Richard Francis Burton is an explorer, linguist, scholar, and swordsman. His reputation has been tarnished, his career is in tatters, and his former partner is missing and probably dead. Algernon Charles Swinburne is an unsuccessful poet and follower of de Sade, for whom pain is pleasure and brandy is ruin. They stand at a crossroads in their lives, and are caught in the epicentre of an empire torn by conflicting forces: Engineers transform the landscape with bigger, faster, noisier, and dirtier technological wonders; Eugenicists develop specialist animals to provide unpaid labour; and Libertines oppose repressive laws and demand a society based on beauty and creativity, while the Rakes push the boundaries of human behaviour to the limits with magic, drugs, and anarchy.
The two men are sucked into the perilous depths of this moral and ethical vacuum, when Lord Palmerston commissions Burton to investigate assaults on young women committed by a weird apparition known as Spring Heeled Jack, and to find out why werewolves are terrorizing London's East End. Their investigations lead them to one of the defining events of the age, and the terrifying possibility that the world they inhabit shouldn’t exist at all.
©2010 Mark Hodder (P)2012 Audible LtdListeners also enjoyed...
It is mainly a time-travel story in which a man from the 23rd century, keen to reinstate the family's good name, tries to stop his ancestor from killing Queen Victoria and in the attempt dramatically changes the course of history. During the course of the book there is a bit of confusion about the paradoxes that the storyline sets up, but it is all lost in the enjoyable silliness of it all, including a Charles Darwin with two brains and a mechanical Brunel!
Spring-Heeled Jack is a real Victorian phenomena and is worth a look in Wikipedia, but read this after you have listened to the book! Hodder has carefully followed the 'real' myth and speculation in the story he has woven.
The narrator also does a fine job.
Odd, Original and Memorable
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excellent all round innovative and gripping
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try not to think logically and simply enjoy the story and you will be fine.
I enjoyed the narrator and the whole performance particularly the idea of messages being delivered by swearing parrots! Had me laughing
very different but surprisingly good
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One thing I need to say is that in some reviews it mentions that the book is a bit overlong, and this did make me think twice before downloading. After finishing the audiobook i couldn't disagree more. I found the conversations between characters to be interesting and always helped to move the plot along.
I would highly recommend this book and I'm itching to get my next credit so I can grab book 2.
Fantastic adventure with great narration
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Highly entertaining
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Definitely strange
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Steam punk thirller!
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Would you listen to The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack again? Why?
Yes, it was an interesting foray into a past quite different from the one recorded in the history books. There were so many different characters it will probably take another listen to fully appreciate them.What was one of the most memorable moments of The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack?
I loved all the scenes with Algernon Swinburne. Although he claimed to be utterly depraved he was a likeable character with a strong sense of loyalty.What does Gerard Doyle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
The voices selected brough a warmth and likeableness to many of the main characters and he made those who had bodily modifications sound so very different it really made them come alive.Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It had some elements that made me smile but it was most interesting for the world described in such great detail in the novel and for the unfolding of the twists and turns of the plot.A very interesting imagining
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A great idea for the legend
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Ps
The narration was very strong. Tended to feel weak at times, but those times were very rare. High marks all around.
An excellent listen
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