Hands of the Ripper

by Guy Adams

A new, modern-day novelization of the classic Hammer film, Hands of the Ripper— a deeply unsettling tale of manipulation and terror He is raising the poker again and Anna bites her lower lip so hard she chokes a little in the blood that runs down her throat . . . On a cold, wet night, recently widowed psychology lecturer John Pritchard visits spiritualist Aida Golding with his son. Although he is wary, something has driven him here, and once there he finds himself drawn to a troubled young woman who is trying to contact her child. Something about her intrigues him and despite his doubts he continues to attend meetings. One night at an intimate séance in Aida's house the lights go out and one of the group is brutally murdered. John has his suspicions, but he can't prove anything. He senses that Aida has some hold over the girl and he offers her a place of refuge in his home. But the past haunts Anna in the most chilling of ways, and all too soon John realizes he's made a terrible mistake.

Genres: Horror

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 2012

Reviews

[Miles Reid-lobatto · Rating 2 out of 5]

One or two interesting ideas, but it felt like nothing really was going on. Like the 'X the Unknown' novelization, it's brought into the present day (perhaps to separate it from the usual Jack the Ripper cliches and mythology that has cropped up since the film was originally made and to allow it to follow more of the Yorkshire Ripper type than the gothic horror that was Hammer's staple.) unlike 'X the Unknown', it just doesn't feel right. It's actually a real shame after Guy Adams' much superior and far more enjoyable novelization of 'Kronos.'

[Louise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing

[Chip · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don't mind a book that says it was based on a movie, but jeez get a little closer next time.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it three star because I'm a Hammer fan, the book was changed well to more moden times and has some good bits with in the story but saddly it could only go so fare.

O.K to read but only fully enjoyed by Hammer lovers.

[Nicola]

A man goes to a spirtitulist church tom try to speak to his dead wife, he later goes to a seance with the lights off its terrifying when the lights swithch back on one of them is dead

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange little story if you're wanting to read about the Hammer movie Hands of the ripper don't bother with this! Elements reminded me of The Dark Half or Shocker. 3/5

[Martin Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy in all the right ways. Pity the editor was crap and missed a lot of spelling mistakes.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reviewed for Book Chick City
http://www.bookchickcity.com/2012/10/...

HANDS OF THE RIPPER by Guy Adams is a horror book based on a film from Hammer that features horrific memories of the past plaguing the present.

John Pritchard is a university lecturer in the subject of psychology whose wife passed away recently, and he is struggling to cope with his grief. He sometimes sees her around the house and is toying with the idea of visiting a medium, but has never really believed that it is possible to contact the other side.

Taking the plunge, he decides to visit renowned medium, Aida Golding, who claims to have received contact from John’s wife. The rest of the audience are enthralled by her act, but John merely goes along with it and believes that she is faking the information she reveals. However, there is still a part of him that hopes it is real and so he agrees to a private meeting with Aida for a more personal conversation with his wife.

It is at this more intimate meeting with the medium that John actually hears his wife’s voice for himself, along with hearing the voices of the other guests’ deceased contacts. Among the voices heard is that of Douglas Reece, the notorious East End Ripper who makes contact with the priest that knew him before the murders. When one of their number is then murdered, events take a darker turn as they question whether the ripper’s spirit could have killed again.

At both of these séances, John comes across Sandy, a woman who has supposedly lost her baby and receives messages from her dead child. All is not as it appears and it becomes clear that Aida has a hold over her that makes her keep returning to the medium’s side. Is there something more sinister in their relationship or is John reading too much into it?

We don’t learn much about John throughout this book, which I was a little disappointed about as there could have been a lot more character development. He is obviously still grieving for his wife, and some of his mixed feelings of grief are explored, particularly in relation to Sandy as it is clear that he is drawn to her. However, his role didn’t seem to be that effectual, as he offers his aid to the girl but isn’t really involved in discovering the cause of the murders and is told the culprit by someone else.

In terms of the plot, I did like how there was such a mix of characters present at the private séance, and it was like they all represented a different view of mediums – from the sceptics to the avid believers. When they each start to be picked off one by one the fear rises, and it becomes clear that they need to work together to find the murderer before it’s too late. I didn’t particularly like how the writer used multiple perspectives in this book, as the views of so many characters are given and I would have preferred just seeing through the eyes of a few so their characters could be developed more. I also felt that the title of the book was misleading, as there was very little information given about the ‘ripper’, and this was one of the elements I was most looking forward to reading about.

Overall I liked the premise of this book, and was intrigued as to how the murder could have happened and whether the spirit of the ripper was really involved. I was a little disappointed with the ending though, as I thought it had become a little too supernatural and there were still some unexplained elements. Having not seen the original Hammer film there were probably some elements of the book I couldn’t appreciate as much as someone who has, but as a new reader I didn’t connect with the characters even though I liked the horror that they are put through.

[carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

a major disappointment.

to be honest, i really did enjoy the first half of the book. everything was going well, and there was a great mix of mystery and horror. i’ve never watched the movie before, and though i read some of the criticising reviews in regards to this book, i still tried my best to keep an open mind.

but, i just couldn’t handle the second half.

the plot started going downhill, some bits were too rushed and random. too many characters were introduced at one go, and hence were barely getting any in-depth descriptions. the ending was just so horrible, and i felt like i’d just wasted six whole days getting so invested in something only to experience disappointment in the end. and the punctuation? i had difficulty getting through some parts just because of the lack of commas, speech marks and full stops. it was just too much to handle.

i don’t deny that guy adams has the potential to be a great writer, but it’s just a known fact that ‘hands of the ripper’ is not one for the hot list.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

First: New Hammer (by name only), please stop these "re-imaginations" of your classics! I LOVED lush setting of 1971 movie Hands of the Ripper, the charm of old Hammer, and if I had known that the setting is changed I had not bought a book at all. Original story had interesting situation (reminding me from 1970´s Hammer classic The vampire lovers) where the lethal (if tragic) houseguest infiltrates the period home. No flat BBC lighting, draining of colors, CGI... Yes, I would have rather read the original 1971 not-really-novelization by Spencer Shew, described by Jonathan Rigby as a crazy story with Frank Liszt´s ghost (!) and Anna (Jack the Ripper´s daugher of the movie) as the Ripper herself, that sounds much more interesting than this story only freely based on the classic movie!

[Sian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have just finished reading Hands of the Ripper having not been aware that it was based on a Hammer film until I was halfway through, and must admit I am disappointed. I found the plot confusing and hard to follow, with characters not given enough depth. I disliked the lack of expansion on the private séances, and feel the book as a whole was rushed and also badly edited (I noted a number of spelling mistakes throughout). Sad because I thought I would enjoy this one.

[vishaly · Rating 2 out of 5]

wanted a little something more out of it?

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

21st Century version.