They All Love Jack

Busting the Ripper

By: Bruce Robinson

Narrated by: Phil Fox

Length: 30 hrs and 25 mins

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

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.

Loved this book

Thought provoking. Thorough, and the author reading his own was absolute perfection. It's been a while since I felt a sense of loss when the story was done. Highly recommended.

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).

Know what you're getting into

This 30-hour audio book is leading you through a new theory on who was Jack the Ripper. It negates old theories and will pick at some scabs. In all though, I loved this.

Deja Vu

I kept getting deja vu listening to this because the author was repeating himself so often.
Stating your points 3 separate times doesn't make it a stronger argument.

Difficult, Appalling, and Probably True

This is *not* an easy or pleasant listen (at least it wasn't for me) but IF you are interested in Jack the Ripper, I think Bruce Robinson has done a remarkable amount of research and has presented the most logical answer for "who did it." I think he's right and, although I expect it's not the reaction the author intended, my reaction to the book is an increased "fear of the LORD" and conviction that we cannot serve two masters. There were men who considered themselves "good," upholders of the law, and they were compromised by their need to cover up for and protect a member of their semi-secret brotherhood - and, because of it, many lives were lost and others ruined.

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

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.

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.

a wider view on the world of Jack

Well, I love long audiobooks. And this one was very interesting. It doesn't matter if the writer is right about his candidate for Jack the Ripper, and the description of the canonical victims is brief (but almost everybody interested in this topic already knows about them). What makes this book worth while is the in depth view of the corrupt Victorian society, and the huge divide between the rich and the poor. It created the perfect playground for a serial murderer. The narration is very good, with the perfect British understated humor.