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Escaping from Houdini

(Stalking Jack the Ripper #3)

Kerri Maniscalco (Goodreads Author)

4.14 · Rating details · 6,385 ratings · 1,419 reviews

In this third installment in the #1 bestselling Stalking Jack the Ripper series, a luxurious ocean liner becomes a floating prison of scandal, madness, and horror when passengers are murdered one by one…with nowhere to run from the killer. .

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood- ...more

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ebook, 416 pages

Published September 18th 2018 by JIMMY Patterson

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4.14 ·

Rating details

· 6,385 ratings · 1,419 reviews

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Jan 14, 2017 Kerri rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

UPDATE 10/11/18

internet: cressworth wedding 2019!
me: they've known each other 4 months, AR just turned 17, Papa Wadsworth hasn't approved of them even dating yet, they've liked each other for two months, they've kissed 3 or 4 times, Thomas screwed up twice 2-3 weeks ago in HPD, but if you're suuuuure... #SJTR4 #murderbynumbers #happyfriday!

https://twitter.com/KerriManiscalco/s...

just a little Friday fun. hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with tons of spooky reads!! xoxo

8/9/18 UPDATE:

EFH F ...more

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Jan 07, 2017 Katerina rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2018-reads, historical-fiction

INCOMING RANT.

You've been warned.

I AM JUST GOING TO PRETEND THAT THIS BOOK NEVER HAPPENED.

I've never been this disappointed or frustrated because of a book. Escaping from Houdini was an insult to my emotions, my sanity, and the very heroes Kerri Maniscalco so lovingly created. It took a tremendous amount of effort to turn the pages, to witness the fall of the characters that always managed to put a smile on my face. My pulse accelerated and I wanted to throw things and ravage and scream and bur ...more

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Oct 23, 2018 Hailey (Hailey in Bookland) rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery-thriller-paranormal, owned

3.5? 3.75? I DON’T KNOW
There were things I loved but also things that I hated, but I enjoyed it? I’ll talk it through more in my October wrap up!

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Sep 11, 2017 destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries] rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-physical, otp, historical-fiction, young-adult

#1: Stalking Jack the Ripper ★★★★★
#2: Hunting Prince Dracula ★★★★★
#3: Escaping From Houdini ★★★★★

Let me tell you guys, I have been dying to post this review! It’s been a few months since I read this one, but the publisher did request that I wait to post my thoughts until close to the book’s release, and naturally, I obliged. Now that I can finally gush freely with you all, I have to tell you that I adore this series. It is such a fun roller coaster of emotions and suspense, and I honestly think ...more

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Jan 19, 2018 may ❀ rated it it was ok

Shelves: 400-pgs, bye, historical, library, look-at-that-beauty, love-triangle-ugh, meh, series, mystery

i'm so sleepy but even my state of delirium cannot mask how annoyed i am @ this book

#ThomasEffingDeservesBetter

ill write something more thoughtful in the morning

2.5 stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i find it absolutely incredible that i can look at a cover and thing 'wow i want to marry that someday'

LIKE
MY
VOCABULARY
CANNOT
EVEN
BEGIN
TO
DESCRIBE
HOW
BEAUTIFUL

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Apr 16, 2017 Candace Robinson added it

This is such a fun series. I like the gory factors, Cresswell—especially Cresswell, and the cool themes that are intertwined. So when I saw carnival on a ship, I was incredibly ecstatic.

Let me start out by saying the book started off very well—we get some killing right away. But then a mysterious guy with a face mask who is the carnival's leader, Mephistopheles, comes into the picture. This is where our girl, Audrey Rose, starts getting a little ridiculous.

My favorite thing about this series has ...more

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Oct 12, 2018 Riley rated it it was ok

this....ain't it sis

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Jul 19, 2018 Jasmine from How Useful It Is rated it it was amazing

Shelves: from-publisher, thrillers, young-adult

I started reading Escaping from Houdini on 7/8/18 and finished it on 7/19/18. This book is an excellent read! I find the romance between Thomas and Audrey Rose intoxicating because of their limited time, privacy, and secrecy. I like the sharp tongues exchanges between Audrey and Mephistopheles. I like all the fancy clothes Audrey Rose wears: silks and velvets as well as the decorations to the live shows. I like the mystery to Mephistopheles’ background because he’s always wearing a mask. I like I started reading Escaping from Houdini on 7/8/18 and finished it on 7/19/18. This book is an excellent read! I find the romance between Thomas and Audrey Rose intoxicating because of their limited time, privacy, and secrecy. I like the sharp tongues exchanges between Audrey and Mephistopheles. I like all the fancy clothes Audrey Rose wears: silks and velvets as well as the decorations to the live shows. I like the mystery to Mephistopheles’ background because he’s always wearing a mask. I like the friction between Thomas, Audrey Rose, and Mephistopheles and their endless witticism/sarcasm/banter/charm/well-timed quips. I can’t tell Mephistopheles’ intentions toward Audrey Rose but the air of mystery makes the read interesting. I like how the characters are good at keeping a poker face in tense situations.

This book is told in the first person point of view following Audrey Rose Wadsworth, 17, as she, Thomas Cresswell, and her Uncle Jonathan Wadsworth, whom readers learned from book 1 that he’s an expert in reading crime scenes are boarding a cruise ship called the Etruria heading to New York. There is entertainment on this cruise ship and the newest entertainer to excite everyone on board is Mephistopheles and his Moonlight Carnival crew. Their performance promises the audience of tricks that will both be dazzling and on the brink of danger. Audiences clap wildly from one act to the next with excitement and eagerness until at last, when there’s a knife protruding from the back of their fellow audience that left a puddle of blood on the floor, no one thought twice that it was a real murder but part of an act. Audrey finds herself trapped on a boat at sea with a murderer on the loose. Audrey, her uncle, and Thomas now find themselves with a dead body to examine and it might not be the only one.

Escaping from Houdini is truly mesmerizing. I love the topic of magic performances and how it all takes place on a cruise. As much as I love following Thomas and Audrey Rose breaking curfews and sneaking out on secret adventures, I do love the change in this book with Thomas having a competitor. It’s interesting how Thomas is still consider a “friend” after all of those stolen moments. I like Mrs. Harvey in this book more than in the previous books. I like the pictures before each chapter, especially the late 19th century circus performers because it gives readers an idea of what’s to come and their costumes are really out there! I love books with epilogues. I couldn’t guess who the murderer is but I did flipped back to read again to see if there were clues I might have missed. This book is a must read and the series shouldn’t be missed. I highly recommend everyone to read it!

Pro: fast paced, page turner, suspense, mystery, cruise, circus, diversity, humor/banter

xoxo, Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details ...more

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Sep 27, 2018 Sharon rated it it was ok

Shelves: 1-and-a-half-stars, your-cheating-lying-heart, angsts-and-angsts, annoying-tropes, can-you-just-not, carnival, beautiful-covers, eyeroll-moments, extended-secrecy-trope, get-your-shit-together

Aw, man. It sucks when a series that was on its way to becoming one of my favorites disappoints me and now, I don’t know how to feel about it anymore. I’m filled with a lot of feelings – and pretty much none of them good. I’m just going straight to the spoilers, beware:

(view spoiler) ...more

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Apr 22, 2018 Stacee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: physical-arc, read-in-2018, acknowledgements

I have been on board with these books since SJTR, so when I got my greedy hands on a arc of Houdini, I screamed at my UPS guy.

As always, Audrey Rose and Thomas are perfection. I love their banter and flirting and the way they are true partners in all things. Mephistopheles is an intriguing addition and of course he was quite charming and so infuriating. There is a fairly large cast of secondary characters on the ship and I will admit to not being able to keep up on the passengers, but it didn’t ...more

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Jun 20, 2018 Danielle rated it really liked it

I love this series so much oh my god give me more please

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Jan 19, 2018 Nastassja rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2018, anticipated-releases, 1st-pov, almost-liked-it, alternative-history, cover-ecstasy, dark, dark-haired-heroine, excellent-writing, eye-rolling

**Full review now posted on my blog**

You don't need to be a detective to see how immature and disappointing this book is. One of the greatest failures of the year.

*Mild spoilers below*

Look at the gif above, this is a real life case when I want to go drinking for a week to forget all about this book. This is the moment I was dreading since book 2 came out and I had my doubts regarding it, and this is the case when I intentionally overrated this series by giving book 2 - 3.5 stars and book 3 - 2.5, when really they deserved at least half a star less. Why have I done it? Because I adored book 1, which you can see in my absolutely insane fangirl review. I don't know why I am still doing it, but I think it's time to add some snark to the whole story. So be done with introspection, Nastassja, and let's start the snarky party.

Why Escaping from Houdini is a fiend pretending to be worthy of its predecessor? I can give you some reasons.

>> The plot is absolutely erratic and messy. If you want to find a thread of deductive thinking here in the best Sherlock Holmes tradition - which this series originally was successfully accomplishing - you are for a great deal of disappointment. The whole time I was reading this book, I couldn't fathom why the mystery was so unimportant that it was almost fully replaced by teenage angst and inner cringy heroine's monologue. It felt like all Audrey Rose cared about is romance: give her a daisy and she will pluck petals all day long, asking the flower to foretell her if 'he loves her or not'. Pathetic and boring. Why when a lot of people where dying on that fucking ship, in most terrific and gruesome ways, characters didn't particularly care and kept living their lives as if nothing was happening. Have you seen or read "Murder on the Orient express"? Do you remember in what state of fear and desperation characters were when murder happened on a train in a closed space in the middle of nowhere? There's a brutal killer on a loose and all you do is keep say, Show must go on?

This is so wrong on so many levels.

If I were not lazy, I'd quote the whole book and give you prove as why the detective part of the book is fake. But then I will have to do the same with characters and the romance.
Oh boy, this book does feel like an evil changeling.

What happened to Audrey Rose? - Changeling!
What happened to Thomas Cresswell? - Changeling!
What happened to their sexy banters and smart dialogues? - Fairy fucking Changelings!!

Audrey Rose was immature and stupid. All her talk of science is bullshit; all she really cared about - new boy in ~~circus~~ town (I'll get to it yet).
What happened to Thomas Cresswell?! Ah yeah, feminist heroine's spineless sidekick. Shoot him and spare us the embarrassment of pretending we still love him.

Get used to disappointment

Ow, and now is my favorite reason to hate this book. Drummmmmmmmmmm-ta-da ---> fucking love triangle!

This is what practically happens: Audrey Rose starts to have 'tender' feelings toward - attention - a clone of Cresswell! *gasp* They guy is darkly handsome and mysterious and he does sexy banter. Oh my, Audrey Rose starts to doubt her feelings toward Cresswell *gasp again* Am I the only one who feels cheap soap opera vibes?

I am very sorry I had to let all that spontaneous snark out on one of my ex-favorite series, but my disappointment is so high I had to let it out of my system.

Grand finale:

P.S. I will give book 4 a chance to rehabilitate, because no matter how harsh I am I still believe in second chances and do really really want my OTP Cressworth back.

...more

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Oct 20, 2017 Rachel E. Carter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-buy-paperback

This book nearly broke my heart but THANK YOU KERRI that last chapter put it together again. SJTR is still my fave (just because I like when you don't know if the love interest is or isn't the villain and they weren't together yet which made for the best tension) but this definitely out-paced HPD by about a million -the setting and atmosphere were absolutely fantastic and I did love Thomas's competition even if I'm forever rooting for Cresswell.

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Feb 07, 2018 Grace (BURTSBOOKS) rated it really liked it

I think it's safe to say this is the weakest of the series so far in terms of mystery and endings but I enjoyed the carnival theme so much I hardly even cared RTC

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Jan 20, 2018 Faye* rated it liked it

This series is a bit like those cosy murder mysteries, and listening to them on audio is just a whole lot of fun. Unfortunately, I think this instalment may be my least favourite. It wasn't bad but I felt myself getting distracted while I was listening, and it just didn't hold the same charm as books 1 and 2. I sincerely hope it was just me this time as I'm definitely planning on listening to the fourth (and final) book.

~~~~~~~~~~~before reading~~~~~~~~~~~
Look at that cover, it's so pretty!! I ...more

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Oct 04, 2018 Karima chermiti rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, buddy_read, historical_fiction, young-adult, mystery

#1)Stalking Jack the Ripper : 4 stars
#2)Hunting Prince Dracula : 5 stars

Spoiler warning : This review is filled with spoilers. If you haven’t read this book then you need to stay away unless you don’t care about being spoiled.

After reading and falling in love with Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula , Escaping from Houdini was one of my most anticipated sequels of the fall. It’s really sad that I didn’t love anything about this book. Not only that but my love for the whole series ...more

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Nov 03, 2017 celeste rated it it was ok

i'm going to RANT because i have a lot of feelings towards this book and they are not particularly positive.

listen, i fell in love with these characters so much that i was highly anticipating this book mainly because of them. from the get-go the murder mystery in this one wasn't really appealing to me ever since we heard that houdini was gonna be in it, i honestly couldn't have cared less unlike with the previous two books but everything was fine because i still had audrey rose and thomas being i'm going to RANT because i have a lot of feelings towards this book and they are not particularly positive.

listen, i fell in love with these characters so much that i was highly anticipating this book mainly because of them. from the get-go the murder mystery in this one wasn't really appealing to me ever since we heard that houdini was gonna be in it, i honestly couldn't have cared less unlike with the previous two books but everything was fine because i still had audrey rose and thomas being that dynamic duo of crime investigators, right? right.......

i was surprised to find out how kerri completely sidelined what was so unique about these books, which is of course the relationship between the two main characters. and i'm not even talking about the 'romantic' aspect of the relationship (though that also played a huge role in my disappointment), but of their professional relationship. the dynamic these two characters had, the constant banter between them and simply them working together and solving crime was what made them unique and so refreshing in my opinion. and that was taken from us in this book for the sake of introducing the third side of a completely unnecessary love triangle. and i guess i would have been more accepting towards this new character if he hadn't happened to be extremely fucking annoying. i couldn't stand the guy or the things he said or the way he kept invading audrey rose's personal space. i just couldn't deal with him, and the fact that him and audrey rose took the spotlight and the majority of this book's scenes pissed me off. it pissed me off because as a consequence of that, thomas cresswell was sidelined and barely in the book.

audrey rose didn't make any fucking sense in the way she behaved towards this new character, and don't come at me with the excuse that she was doing it for 'the sake of the bargain'. bullshit. she said so herself, she was confused about her feelings towards him. you expect me to believe that she's gonna second-guess her feelings for thomas over a guy she just met 5 DAYS AGO?!?! ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME RIGHT NOW???? unbelievable. i could understand her having doubts over marrying thomas because that's a huge deal, but to second-guess her FEELINGS? not realistic. this book just turned into another ya cliche where authors have to ALWAYS create drama or drive a wedge btw a couple once they become canon, and it's always through a love triangle. it's always the same damn thing. it's like they can't come up with something new or at least something mildly interesting to seperate them. i was half-way through this book and i honestly wanted it to be over.

the only good and redeeming thing in this travesty of a book was thomas cresswell, as little as he was in it. not even the murder mystery was intriguing in this one, it was all over the place, with 0 clues given to the readers for us to at least be mildly engaged into guessing who could be the murderer. this was such a disappointment of a book, and one that i was highly, highly anticipating because i do love these characters but the way that they were written in this one was just not right and i'm really pissed about it. ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 ambsreads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance, young-adult, wishlist

Trigger Warnings: gruesome murders, descriptions of death, PTSD references, anxiety

THIS REVIEW OF ESCAPING FROM HOUDINI WAS FIRST FEATURED ON MY BLOG @ AMBSREADS

If you know me, then you know I am absolutely obsessed with Kerri Maniscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper series. This particular series is one that I just can’t get out of my head. In between the release of each book I can’t get the characters out of my head and find myself desperately yearning for the next book each year. As soon as I co Trigger Warnings: gruesome murders, descriptions of death, PTSD references, anxiety

THIS REVIEW OF ESCAPING FROM HOUDINI WAS FIRST FEATURED ON MY BLOG @ AMBSREADS

If you know me, then you know I am absolutely obsessed with Kerri Maniscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper series. This particular series is one that I just can’t get out of my head. In between the release of each book I can’t get the characters out of my head and find myself desperately yearning for the next book each year. As soon as I could get my hands on Escaping from Houdini I did. I waited patiently (not really) for this book and was absolutely devastated when I realised I was actually rostered to work the day that this book released.

It felt like a form of torture to not be able to read one of my favourite books on release day and have to spread it out over several days. It didn’t take away from my absolute enjoyment of it though. I was so absolutely enthralled with this book and just the spectacular world building that I am almost left rendered speechless. Kerri Maniscalco’s Audrey Rose and Thomas are such reflections of real life that it is incredible. I can’t speak about the era of Victorian England but, I love the atmosphere that is created.

At the end of Hunting Prince Dracula our formidable duo, their chaperone and Audrey Rose’s uncle were bordering a ship set to head to New York to solve a new crime. The pair had faced horrific circumstances of the two major crime investigations they had been a part of and are looking forward to some possible relaxing on an entertainment ship. Nothing is ever that easy so when a lady dies during a circus act on the first night Audrey Rose, Thomas and her uncle jump straight into the investigation. The trio has to solve the crime before the criminal gets off the ship in New York or else they’ll never be able to work it out. Problems arise and flirtations begin to confuse our dear lead main character. I’ll talk more about that one later though. This story follows closely with the carnival that is on board the ship. In a time where PT Barnum was creating show business and it is something spectacular throughout Escaping from Houdini.

Kerri Maniscalco knows how to use description. She weaves it so damn well that it makes you feel as if you’re aboard the ship or even Audrey Rose. It is such a unique experience and one that I rarely experience with books now. However, each of Kerri’s books has managed to take me to her unique historical settings.

Some may say there is a love triangle in this book as well or that Audrey is unfaithful towards Thomas. I don’t see it that way. Our main characters are seventeen. I was seventeen only a few years ago and in a relationship, I remember finding other people attractive but that didn’t mean I was unfaithful to my boyfriend of the time (it was super toxic but still). Audrey is clearly struggling with her feelings for the ringmaster and that is clear in the book. It is so damn clear what she feels for Thomas is on a whole other playing field. The romance and ship stay put but Audrey is allowed to explore her internal feelings of attraction without being slandered I believe. I think it was an incredibly realistic insertion by the author and give her major props for it!

Audrey is ultimately a complex character who I want to see stab someone. No, but seriously. She has so many layers and after the ending of this book, I am so excited to see where Kerri takes her character!

Thomas is so damn charming as well. I mean I absolutely adore him and I know many others do so it’s not a shock. But can we like all acknowledge that is he basically the ‘men doing the bare minimum’ meme on Twitter? He gives Audrey Rose free choice and allows her to choose between men without any of his input. He says he will always support her choices and everything he does shows that. But, like, every man should do this. It is absolutely lovely to see, don’t get me wrong! But it is straight up that Twitter meme.

I guess I should talk about the mystery element of this book considering it is a young adult mystery. I didn’t actually guess the killer in this one. Someone take my detective hat from me because it is all over for me folks. The mystery really kept me on the edge of my seat. It seemed that unlike the other murder that this one was random and that is probably the scariest part. It was so damn intriguing to see how the murders all came together and the characters reactions.

I think the only thing that bothered me slightly about Escaping from Houdini was that the PTSD representation was pulled back a little. It is still present in underlying conversations and thoughts but after everything that Audrey Rose has been through, most of it with no discussions, I don’t think it should have all but disappeared from the book.

Overall, I am so glad to say that Escaping from Houdini met all of my expectations. It quite literally blew my socks off and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to read it. It was such a spectacular story and the showcasing of the authors writing is so clear. Gosh, I could rave about these books for days. I just think everyone should give these a try, even if you aren’t particularly interested in historical fiction or mystery. Kerri Maniscalco creates the perfect harmony between the two that anyone would love. ...more

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Oct 05, 2018 Ann (annreads) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

“If you wish to go, I’ll never make you stay. I might not do and say the proper thing all the time, but I do know that I love you enough to set you free.”

DEAD
Please resurrect me when the next book comes out, thank you *goes back to the coffin*

4/5 ★★★★

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Apr 08, 2018 Elise (TheBookishActress) marked it as tbr-faves

Shelves: anticipated-sequels, coverporn

this... is a gorgeous cover

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Jan 19, 2018 maram ☂︎ marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2018-releases, historical, mystery-thriller-suspense, need

The cover is absolutely stunning! 😍 Can’t wait to get my hands on it 😭😭😭

description

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Sep 20, 2018 Veronika rated it it was ok

Shelves: annoying-characters, boring, death, dark, did-not-care, disappointment, female-pov, frustrating-as-fuck, full-of-cliches, hea

A shit ton of books have been battling for "biggest disappointment of 2018" but I think we finally have a winner!?

description

Jokes aside, this was B A D. The plot was awfully boring and repetitive, the characters felt... different and less well-made than before, and I was SO! ANGRY! at them for how they acted. Audrey Rose, the girl who was finally 1000% in this relationship at the end of book 2 was suddenly flirting with a new guy (?) and Thomas somehow lost all his charm and personality. Oh, and don't ev ...more

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Sep 23, 2018 Samhita {Multi Dreamer}⚔ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-read, favorites

By far the best in the series! I absolutely loved this one! It had me second guessing everything and Kerri's writing is absolutely beautiful. The character growths in this book were definitely one of the plus points other than the writing, plot, romance and Thomas Cresswell. Please read this series if you haven't already because it will definitely suck you in and won't let go.

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Sep 24, 2018 Abbey rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oh hey, Bitter Becky is still here and the more and more I think about this book the more ticked off I get. The idea of having to re-read this book for the fourth installment seriously lessens my joy. Like I don't even want to re-read the first two books knowing that I'll run into this one again 🙄 My love for this series is slowly dying. I use to adore this series and Hunting Prince Dracula was my absolute favorite and it sucks that one book can ruin everything.

Did you know that that this was or Oh hey, Bitter Becky is still here and the more and more I think about this book the more ticked off I get. The idea of having to re-read this book for the fourth installment seriously lessens my joy. Like I don't even want to re-read the first two books knowing that I'll run into this one again 🙄 My love for this series is slowly dying. I use to adore this series and Hunting Prince Dracula was my absolute favorite and it sucks that one book can ruin everything.

Did you know that that this was originally suppose to be a trilogy? THIS BOOK WAS NEVER SUPPOSE TO HAPPEN! At first I was excited for the fact of having an extra book but I would have gladly taken the original idea with Audrey and Thomas already in America. Cause I'm pretty sure none of this nonsense would've happened.

I'm hoping the fourth installment will return my love for this series and I can pretend EFH NEVER HAPPENED! Thomas deserves better and I'm officially over shipping him with Audrey Rose.

This 3 stars just turned into 2, because the first time I just didn't have the heart to give one of my favorite series anything less then 3.

••••••

Escaping From Houdini was one of my most anticipated books of 2018. This has been one of my favorite series since I first read Stalking Jack The Ripper, I even preordered this one because I was that excited (and I wanted those beautiful preorder cards) and then I finally get my hands on it for it to just be the biggest disappointment ever. I never imagined going into this one that I'd come out giving it just 3 stars. I found myself skipping a lot throughout this as well.

In EFH Audrey Rose, Thomas and her uncle Jonathan are on their way to America to consult on a murder case. The board the RMS Etruria, on the boat is the Moonlight Carnival. On the first night of the carnival one of the passengers is found dead. Audrey Rose and Thomas then sit out to find out the identity of the killer because they strike again.

Everything I loved about the first two novels just seemed to be missing in this. EFH seemed very different, the characters didn't act right and to be honest the murder aspect seemed to be just a side story in this one and the romance was front and center. Now if the romance was just Thomas and Audrey, I wouldn't have minded so much but the author had to come and throw a fridgen love triangle in there.... a completely unnecessary, unwanted, not adding anything to the plot love triangle. Like I can't even wrap my head around the idea that Audrey Rose was so sure of her love for Thomas to the point of them wanting to marry each other, (then assuring Thomas that another could never take her heart) to questioning everything after meeting Mephistopheles for all of two days. Like I can't guys it just irks me so much. I understand that people's feelings change but don't sit there and lie about it. Also you can't just be wanting to marry someone and then have feelings for someone else a couple days later. Seems very unrealistic to me. Plus Mephistopheles was just a lair who used Audrey Rose and tricked her. I'm just saying, I'm honestly to believe that Mephistopheles could have been bettter then Thomas? ☕️🐸

Then we have my precious Thomas who honestly was crapped on in this novel and honestly deserved better. At this point I don't even care if he straight up left Audrey Rose and her none sense. One thing that bothered me most was Audrey Rose knew that she was hurting Thomas, yet instead of trying to fix things she made them worse and then Thomas never even discusses his feelings. I'm hoping they discuss things in book four because Audrey Rose to me didn't learn anything from her actions.

This series to me has always been about the dream team Audrey Rose and Thomas solving murders together. It was seriously lacking in EFH, Thomas wasn't in this one enough for me and every time Audrey Rose got a clue she went to Mephistopheles instead of to Thomas.... like why? It was stupid. Then the murder aspect of this book seemed like a side story, one of my favorite things is trying to guess who could possibly be the killer. Plus we are lead to believe that one of the carnival performers is the killer. Which is what leads Audrey Rose to making a deal with Mephistopheles to "get close to him and learn about the performers" and we barely even get to know much about them. Any one of them could have been the killer.

Also, a surprise in this novel is that we got more of Liza, Audrey Rose's cousin who they learn was missing to only be found as one of the performers because she was in love with Houdini. I laugh at this because we barely even got to meet Houdini and the book is named after him 😫😂🙈

I don't know I'm just highly disappointed, I think the only thing I liked in this novel was the carnival theme. I will definitely read book 4 and I'm hoping to all hope that it'll be better and earn my love for this series back. ...more

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Sep 16, 2018 Katie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, favorites, owned, read-in-2018, 4-star-rating, re-reads, read-in-2019

Update (03/17/2019): Changing my rating from 5 to 4 stars. I still really loved this book, but I think that I enjoyed the first two books in the series a little more. The mystery was still really well done (although I knew who the murderer was this time around) and I liked so much about the book. I think there was just something that the other books had that this one was lacking a bit ((view spoiler) ...more

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Dec 20, 2017 Mel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, owned, read-in-2018

So, in the end I think I decided to rate this a 4.5 stars. I think this is the highest I've rated a book in this series so far. Actually, looking back I think I did rate book two 4.5 stars, but I rated down.

This will possibly contain minor spoilers for books 1 and 2. They will not be tagged. Any spoilers for this book will be tagged.

Firstly, I need to say that the mystery in this one was a lot more well done than in the two previous books. I have stated in the past that I knew who the killer was ...more

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Oct 24, 2017 Linda rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018-reads, historical-and-historical-fiction, love-triangle-included, magical-atmosphere-guaranteed, mystery, own-a-copy, sassy-girls, strange-fall-reads, victorian-london, ya-romance

the full spoiler-free review is up on my blog!

Love was a tricky, complicated thing - so morally gray. Both grand and terrible things were often done in its honor. But could anything truly be done out of love if it had the potential to hurt the one at its heart? I wavered.

I will try and keep it short because I have already said everything in my blog post but: this book was so enjoyable, magical and perfectly fitting for this time of the year! 🌟🎭 I fell in love with the Moonlight Carnival, the p ...more

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Oct 04, 2017 Patty marked it as 2018 · review of another edition

"New Year’s afternoon aboard the Etruria began like a fairytale, which was the first indication a nightmare lurked on the horizon, waiting, as most villains do, for an opportunity to strike."

The first chapter can be read here. Trust me, you want to read it!!!

20/01/18: Read the first chapter. I'm even MORE excited (if that's even possible) for this to be released!!! And can we talk about the "creative ways of stealing kisses" ?!?! AHHHHHHHHkkjnkjNKBjrbkgkfd!!!!!!!

19/01/18 OMG. The cover reveal ...more

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Nov 08, 2018 Jenny Baker marked it as did-not-finish · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, historical-fiction, young-adult

I give up.

I started reading the hardback book in early October and stopped on page 120. I was so bored I couldn’t get myself to turn the page. I requested the audiobook via Overdrive from my library thinking (and hoping) that the audiobook would be better. My request just arrived last night. I started over and got about midpoint when I finally gave up, because I'm still bored and I just don’t care. The first two books were three-star reads, so I’m not heartbroken about this, just annoyed. I'm g ...more

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Nov 02, 2017 Nadia marked it as to-read

Shelves: anticipated-releases-2018

01/19/18 - OKAY BUT THAT COVER!! IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I CAN'T HANDLE MYSELF!! PLEASE JUST LOOK AT THAT!!

IT'S GORGEOUS
HOW CAN I EVEN BEGIN TO SUM UP MY FEELINGS????
IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!
Like, seriously, I want that cover to come over to my house and just give me a masterclass on what to do to look better because I think I can use some advice.

12/18/17 - WE HAVE A TITLE AND A RELEASE DATE AND A SYNOPSYS AND I'M WAY TOO FUCKING EXCITED FOR THIS. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT SEPTEMBER????!!

Orig ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Librari...: Please Edit Page Number	3	14	Jan 09, 2019 12:18PM
Fantastic Books a...: December	6	8	Jan 01, 2019 04:15PM
YA Buddy Readers'...: Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3) - Starting October 14th AND 26th 2018	15	21	Nov 02, 2018 04:02PM
For Love of a Book: Escaping from Houdini - Buddy Read October	63	28	Oct 24, 2018 12:18PM

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About Kerri Maniscalco

Kerri Maniscalco

4,783 followers

I'm mostly on instagram and twitter--where I'm always ready to talk fictional crushes and nerd out over books. (Okay, okay. And I've also been known to share snippets and teasers from my upcoming novels, if you're into that sort of thing...) Please feel free to chat with me there @KerriManiscalco. I love talking with fellow readers!

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where ...more