The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack

Burton & Swinburne, Book 1

By: Mark Hodder

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 14 hrs

Publisher's summary

Sir Richard Francis Burton: explorer, linguist, scholar, and swordsman; his reputation tarnished; his career in tatters; his former partner missing and probably dead. Algernon Charles Swinburne: 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 epicenter 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 labor; libertines oppose repressive laws and demand a society based on beauty and creativity; while the Rakes push the boundaries of human behavior 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)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The usual superlatives for really clever fantasy (imaginative, mind-bending, phantasmagorical) aren’t nearly big enough for this debut novel. With this one book, Hodder has put himself on the genre map.... Hodder’s only problem now is to find a way to follow up this exhilarating debut, which will appeal not only to sf/fantasy readers but also to mystery and historical-fiction fans." (Booklist)

"A historical figure already larger than life, Capt. Sir Richard Francis Burton, pursues a legendary and violent Victorian creature, Spring Heeled Jack, at the behest of the prime minister in this convincingly researched debut. Fans of steampunk will be intrigued by the alternate history setting, in which the queen dies mid-century; they will also enjoy following Burton and his sidekick, poet Algernon Swinburne, as they investigate the dark secrets of 19th-century England and recall Burton's legendary expedition to find the source of the Nile." (Publishers Weekly)

Great fun!

A good story. Excellent narration by Gerard Doyle. He gives each character an instantly recognizable voice. I highly recommend all the books in this series.

Meh

I just could not get into this story. Like so many other mysteries, the main character seemed based on Sherlock. I did like the "butterfly effect" aspect of this book. The character's were not well developed but the story line was ok.

Interesting concept.

If you could sum up The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack in three words, what would they be?

This was my first experience with "steam punk", while I found the story entertaining and certainly well read I'm still not sure if I would delve further into the series.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Fairly predictable

Which character – as performed by Gerard Doyle – was your favorite?

Burton

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Steampunk, but not my favorite

Where does The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I had no idea what to expect when I began this book. I simply choose it because it was "steampunk". I enjoyed the depiction of not-Victorian London and the monsters. I didn't enjoy some of the more violent scenes and the anger some of the characters experienced.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

His loss of sanity seemed forced and slightly not realistic. I may have changed how he descended into insanity.

Complicated by very worth it plot

**Some Spoilers**
This is an amazing crossing of genres including a steam-punk mystery, dystopian future adventure, and alternative history. Hodder's is tightly and carefully woven to create suspense and action. Part way through, I feared that the plot had major holes i it and might not actually work out, but I was, thankfully, wrong. It was exciting that a major chunk of the end of the book, tells us the story not from the perspective of our main characters, Burton and Swinburn, but from Spring-Heeled Jack himself. This allows readers to see what misconceptions Burton made and how two different perspectives can give the reader a glimpse at the truth. Doyle is a fine narrator, although in his quest to differentiate characters voices, he sometimes lost the clarity and diction required for an audio book.

not my thing I guess

didn't finish it, had a hard time with a lot of it including the reader.

surprisingly wonderful

it has just enough real history to keep it entertaining and plausible, I am definitely going to continue on in the series.

A great series

The story has alot of twists and turns as well as giving you food for thought. It's fast paced and never dull. However the funny parts will catch you off guard so if you are listening with ear buds, folks around you will think you've lost your mind as you laugh uncontrollably. If you like the parakeets in the first book you will LOVE them in the second one!
Each book is good stand alone but is best as they string together for an unexpected end.

This shows promise fo the series

The story worked OK. A little predicable. The reader was excellent. I will think about getting one more.

Rambling

What would have made The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack better?

Didn't make it far enough into the story to be able to say.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mark Hodder again?

unknown

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Spoke too fast. Had to go back several times to hear what had been said.
Difficult to keep up with.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disapoinment. Not what I had been expecting.

Any additional comments?

Did not know anymore of what the story was about after one hour of listening than I did after the 1st 5 minutes into the story.
Narrator not clear with different characters.