• They All Love Jack

  • Busting the Ripper
  • By: Bruce Robinson
  • Narrated by: Phil Fox
  • Length: 30 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (154 ratings)

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They All Love Jack  By  cover art

They All Love Jack

By: Bruce Robinson
Narrated by: Phil Fox
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Publisher's summary

For over 100 years, the mystery of Jack the Ripper has been a source of unparalleled fascination and horror, spawning an army of obsessive theorists and endless volumes purporting to finally reveal the identity of the brutal murderer who terrorized Victorian England.

But what if there was never really any mystery at all? What if the Ripper was always hiding in plain sight, deliberately leaving a trail of clues to his identity for anyone who cared to look while cynically mocking those who were supposedly attempting to bring him to justice?

In They All Love Jack, the award-winning film director and screenwriter Bruce Robinson exposes the cover-up that enabled one of history's most notorious serial killers to remain at large. More than 12 years in the writing, this is no mere radical reinterpretation of the Jack the Ripper legend and an enthralling hunt for the killer. A literary high-wire act reminiscent of Tom Wolfe or Hunter S. Thompson, it is an expressionistic journey through the cesspools of late-Victorian society: a phantasmagoria of highly placed villains, hypocrites, and institutionalized corruption.

A Polemic forensic investigation and panoramic portrait of an age, underpinned by deep scholarship and delivered in Robinson's inimitably vivid and scabrous prose, They All Love Jack is an absolutely riveting and unique book, demolishing the theories of generations of self-appointed experts - the so-called Ripperologists - to make clear, at last, who really did it and, more important, how he managed to get away with it for so long.

©2015 Bruce Robinson (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about They All Love Jack

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Bogged down in a rambling argument

This book isn't really for people who are interested in true crime or learning more about Jack the Ripper. Robinson really wants to make the point that every person who has ever researched or written about Jack the Ripper is an idiot, and Robinson himself is the lone figure with any intelligence. So, it's more about disproving other people than proving his own ideas. Robinson has very little respect for "Ripperologists," a term he uses with disdain whenever possible. In fact, he has little respect for anybody, using slurs for gay people, Jewish people, and prostitutes. The major problem with this book, though, is that it becomes boring very quickly. Robinson is very hard to follow. He skips over the first two murders to focus on the third and fourth, spending over two hours discussing the grapes found at the crime scenes. In doing this, he has flashbacks, flash-sideways, and flash forwards. He discusses witnesses to the crime and the hated "Ripperologists" together, so separating them and figuring out his point becomes a chore. After a while the whole thing is a muddy mess and it just becomes boring. This whole book feels like a first draft desperately in need of an editor to trim it down.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Kinda boring


This book is interesting but gets sort of repetitive. It also goes into such minutiae that I think it would be better to actually read on paper. Lastly I'm confused at some of the language the modern author chooses. For example, he describes one man as having "lied like a slut." That's one of many times I was wide-eyed at insulting/misogynist language in the narration. Again, it might be easier to read, but hearing that said aloud is distracting and weird.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

not as much about Jack the ripper

this 20+ hour audiobook is less about Jack the ripper, and more about the authors candidate for the identity, James Michael Maybrick.
the content regarding JTR could easily have been cut down to a handful hours.

The book revolves around James Maybrick, his associates, and sometimes people only vaguely related to him, and not at all to JTR.

the authors theories are presented in a form that reminds me of a political debate. presenting everything as fact, while condemning or mocking other theories. Sometimes presented rather arrogantly and condescending.
Some of the theories are quite interesting, while others seem to be grabbing at straws, built on wishful thinking or assumptions.

This is more a book about Maybrick, free masonry, and the police in London around the time of the JTR events.

If you want this book based on your interest in JTR. Don't! I would suggest a better use of your time is to Google "James Michael Maybrick + jack the ripper" and get your info that way. The book has far too much side-info, and non related facts and/or fictions to be worth it.

however, the book isn't a complete waste, it's interesting on another level.
Think of it akin to start watching the movie "one hour photo" because "Robin Williams is a funny guy". you would be disappointed, not because the movie isn't good, but because you expected something else.

in summary :
interesting book, but too much filler to be worth it purely as a JTR theory book. Google the theory, or hope for a severely abridged version

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite audiobook ... ever

I don't make the claim in the title lightly. As a guy with a long commute, I've amassed a large audiobook library and this is my favorite. Yep, it's #1 of 1000+ audible titles.
Admittedly, I am a sucker for Victorian Britain and have a dozen books on JtR. So, full disclosure there.
Even that said, it can't be denied Robinson did a ton of research and built such an amazing case. It's beyond fascinating. I rarely listen to audibles again but I've listened to this at least 7x in the prior 2yrs. I learn something new each time.
And the narration? It's out of the park. Or, "bang on" as the English would say. He nails it. Having listened to so many books I've grown impatient with crap narration, but also thoroughly appreciate the good ones. And this narrator is so so so excellent. He "gets" the book and ... well, he's perfect. Best of any title in my library.
In short, if you're into history, this is totally worth your time.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

this may be my fav audible yet

narrator is so so good! and book has that interstitial British humor I find particular funny - plus it is true crime (my fav).

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting research. Fluffed up story.

While the research was interesting I found two major flaws with this book.

1. The book was 30+ hours but could have been a third of its length. The storytelling was thickly padded with gratuitous stylized language. I got the impression that the author wanted to show off his wit just as much as he wanted to prove his points. While the narrator was clearly talented and worked with what he was given, I often couldn't tell if I was listening to a book or a reading of a very long monologue from a very long play.

2. In one sentence at the beginning of the book the author tries to discount Patricia Cornwell's research leading to Walter Sickert. After reading her original edition, and the more recently updated one, that just doesn't cut it. I found this brief discount insulting to her work, and self-discrediting of him. As a matter of fact, throughout the book the author snidely labels other researcher/authors as 'ripperogists' as if he is indicating that he is somehow different or superior when what he has done is just a much longer attempt at the same.

I am glad I stuck with the book after almost giving up, to sift through 20 hours of bloviating for maybe 10 hours of substance

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible research

Whether you belive Mr. Robinson has tracked down Jack the Ripper or not, this book supplies some of most in-depth research not only into Jack the Ripper but also into the Maybrick murder. Excellent book, great performance by Mr. Fox. I would recommend this book to any Ripper enthusiast.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting angle on a familiar story

Very thorough, though too much information to retain in one pass. Not that being thorough is a bad thing. Quite the opposite. I had to go through it a second time to retain a lot of the evidence that was presented. It’s easier the second time when you have become acquainted with all of the players in the story.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing book, great narration!

Fascinating read. The amount of research that must have went into writing this book is mind blowing. I loved every minute of it and kudos to the author. I think you got your man.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Repetitive and self aggrandizing

If you are into true crime and thinking of this, skip it. The author seems more concerned with putting down other theorists than succinctly laying out his case. He also has a strong tendency to use misogynistic phrases. (Not when he is quoting others, but when stating an opinion. For example, using “lying like a slut,” as a descriptor.) I am not going to spend 15 more hours listening to the author go on and on about how dumb everyone else is, while simultaneously repeating himself incessantly.

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