Publishers Weekly
★ 11/11/2013
Rather than offer the umpteenth fictional take on Jack the Ripper, Pinborough (The Hidden) cleverly uses the so-called Thames Torso murders, a lesser-known series of crimes in late-1880s London, as the starting point for this terrifying novel. Most of the tale is told from the perspective of Dr. Thomas Bond, a historical figure who assisted the police with both sets of killings. Bond responds to the carnage he sees by ever-more-frequent visits to an opium den. His search for the man leaving parts of women strewn around the city, including in the basement of the new location for Scotland Yard, leads him to team with some unusual allies—and to a truth about the crimes and their connection to a Polish legend that he finds almost impossible to believe. In this chilling exploration of madness and evil, Pinborough excels at summoning up the bleak spirit of Victorian London’s mean streets and those forced to fight for survival there. Agent: Veronique Baxter, David Higham Associates (U.K.). (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"Few writers blend mystery and the supernatural as well as Sarah Pinborough, but there are none who do it better. Quite, quite brilliant."—John Connolly, best-selling author of the Charlie Parker series
"If you enjoy a true crime-novel combo, don't pass on the newest work from British-born author Sarah Pinborough, who takes a cue from Dean Koontz in composing a new supernatural-whodunit-polyphonic thriller for those not of the faint of heart."—John Henry, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
"In this chilling exploration of madness and evil, Pinborough excels at summoning up the bleak spirit of Victorian London's mean streets and those forced to fight for survival there."—Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
"Masterfully... Mayhem is a beautifully rendered exploration of madness in all its forms. The author takes sleight of hand to new heights. She makes the mean streets of Victorian London all too real. It's a demanding, moody horror story with a shocking twist."—Irma Heldman, Open Letters Monthly
"Sarah Pinborough deftly trawls through the muck of Victorian London in Mayhem, a graphic tale about a series of murders contemporaneous to Jack the Ripper's crimes... English horror and fantasy writer Sarah Pinborough breaks new ground in "Mayhem," her 12th novel, by exploring several murders that occurred contemporaneously with the Ripper crimes... Although the news stories and a letter signed by Jack the Ripper, interspersed throughout the novel, lend authenticity to and place the murders in context, Mayhem's greater achievement is in its deft portrayal of the divergent social classes in Victorian London that gave rise to the Thames Torso Killer and the men who hunted him."—Paula L. Woods, The Los Angeles Times
"Mayhem is a terrific piece of sustained writing, taking the tired streets of fictional Victorian London and reinvigorating them through the introduction of an ancient enemy. It's well worth reading whether as historical true crime fiction or as a supernatural thriller."—David Marshall, Thinking About Books
"Pinborough's fiction moves at a breakneck pace. Once you start, you can't stop."—Sarah Langan, author of The Keeper and The Missing
"She rides the line between gritty realism and otherworldly weirdness without ever toppling over."—SFX
"a taut late Victorian crime thriller with a stunning Eastern European spin. The inclusion of world-wide nespaper coverage of the first known serial killers adds fascinating macabre shock and depth; mindful of the Son of Sam coverage. Readers will relish this tense twisting historical whodunit."—Harriet Klausner, Midwest Book Review
"Mayhem is a disturbingly engrossing Victorian horror with a standout, menacing villain. Never have I known a smile to be so sinister and rancid, but Pinborough's prose prove the gesture to be something terrifyingly palpable. This genre-defying novel is a ravenous read and will have you as insatiable as the malicious mischief-maker that awaits you in its pages."—BookPage
