Helpful Score: 1
In London of 1888, a beautiful young woman is hired as an assistant to a master magician, and becomes enraptured by her charismatic, handsome employer. But suspicious circumstances lead the police to suspect that the magician may be Jack the Ripper! Can she help her beloved prove his innocence and secure their future together?
A young woman struggling to survive in the dangerous slums of Victorian London, Mercy Dansing has seen the dark side of desire. And though she leaves that savage world behind when she goes to live at the mysterious Greystone estate, she discovers greater danger in Dominick D'Abanville, its master.
She'd been hired to assist him--this handsome, iron-willed man as famed for his conquests in love as for his feats of illusion onstage. But the passion he awakens in Mercy is all too real. Mercy must uncover the truth about the man she loves. For as a notorious killer stalks the streets of London, a game of revenge begins--a game in which Mercy could lose her heart--and even her life... Great writing. The story grabs and carries you right through the scary ending.
She'd been hired to assist him--this handsome, iron-willed man as famed for his conquests in love as for his feats of illusion onstage. But the passion he awakens in Mercy is all too real. Mercy must uncover the truth about the man she loves. For as a notorious killer stalks the streets of London, a game of revenge begins--a game in which Mercy could lose her heart--and even her life... Great writing. The story grabs and carries you right through the scary ending.
This is a unique story that takes place in the London of 1888; Mercy is a poor, beautiful woman who lives in the seamier side of town, with little to eat. She comes from a good background, but when her parents die, Mercy is left in the care of her ruthless half-brother, Oliver.
Through the machinations of Oliver, Mercy Dansing is hired to be the assistant of a mysterious magician, Dominick D'Abanville. She goes to live in his gothic-like home, Greystone. While there, Mercy becomes aware of the dangerous problems that swirl around her employer, London and the magician's home.
If readers look at this story as a mood-piece, definitely gothic and changeable, they will get their money's worth. However, the book itself spends too much time creating a mood and not enough time in pushing the story along. By the middle of the story, it was starting to drag -- seriously. The hero was interesting enough to carry the story but the author muddies the water with Jack the Ripper and an old house with an awful history and a conspiracy. Readers never really learn why the hero and heroine fall in love with each other; it just happens.
Katherine Sutcliffe does a wonderful job creating the mood of the story but she allows the plot to take a second place, which penalizes the story. If you are looking for an unusual plot, this is it. If you are looking for the components to fit together into a seamless novel, this isn't it.
Through the machinations of Oliver, Mercy Dansing is hired to be the assistant of a mysterious magician, Dominick D'Abanville. She goes to live in his gothic-like home, Greystone. While there, Mercy becomes aware of the dangerous problems that swirl around her employer, London and the magician's home.
If readers look at this story as a mood-piece, definitely gothic and changeable, they will get their money's worth. However, the book itself spends too much time creating a mood and not enough time in pushing the story along. By the middle of the story, it was starting to drag -- seriously. The hero was interesting enough to carry the story but the author muddies the water with Jack the Ripper and an old house with an awful history and a conspiracy. Readers never really learn why the hero and heroine fall in love with each other; it just happens.
Katherine Sutcliffe does a wonderful job creating the mood of the story but she allows the plot to take a second place, which penalizes the story. If you are looking for an unusual plot, this is it. If you are looking for the components to fit together into a seamless novel, this isn't it.