1888-The Ripper File: Book One of the Paranormal; Research and Rescue Institute

Paranormal Research and Rescue Institute #1

by Lora Edwards

With a love of all things dark and mysterious, history professor Teagan Faelynn is obsessed with the lore of Jack the Ripper. Not one just to enjoy the legend for what it is, Teagan travels to London at the behest of her grandfather in order to study a new journal with possible answers to history’s most intriguing questions. What Teagan finds instead is more than just a new lead--but a world set apart from ours in every way imaginable. For not only is Jack the Ripper real--but every conceivable monster known to man or myth: dragons, fairies, witches, Valkyries abound in a world where the truth is often too incredible to be believed. Now hundreds of years in the past and beset on all sides by friends and foes, Teagan must guard her life--and her heart--from all the dangers 1888 London has to offer and dive headfirst into the secrets of the past. For learning the Ripper’s identity is merely the beginning--when the killer himself comes calling--and drags Teagan into the most incredible adventure of her young life.
Step into the past with Teagan in the first installment of the series and rip into a paranormal romance so thrilling it’s to die for...

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Time Travel, Mystery, Romance, Audiobook, Science Fiction

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2017

Reviews

[Malorie (Firereader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more cheesy than actually mysterious. If you like fantasy romance it's decent.

[Karsyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters and the story, even if the way of time traveling was a little lame.

This book was almost perfect (5 stars) but two things kept it from being that way. One, I knew who the killer was from the moment that character was introduced, so that sucked. Two, did NOT care for the romance part of it. Had there been no romance, this book would have been so perfect. But I'm the minority, a woman who doesn't really care for romance in every single story, so most time travel / romance fans will love this book. I do plan on reading more.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHARACTERS: 4 out of 5
PLOT: 4.5 out of 5
WORLD BUILDING: 4 out of 5
STORY FLOW: 4 out of 5

What sold me on this book was the cover. I know they say, "Never judge a book..." and all that, but I did. It hinted at mystery, supernatural and had a gothic hint to it. I was browsing Amazon when I happened across it and I clicked on it right away wanting to know more.

This book ticked every box for me. A lover of all things supernatural, paranormal, fantasy, mystery and time travel this book touched on each. The characters were likable and I adored her grandfather. He friend I had to warm to but that didn't take too long.
I loved the link to Jack the Ripper too and have been fascinated with all things Ripper since I was a teenager. As I said, this book ticked every box.

There is something for everyone in this, there is even vampires, witches, fae and many other supernatural creatures to tickle your fancy.

Highly recommended!

[Cmoore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply loved this audio book! Starting with the narrator, Corinne Davies' performance was marvelous. She slipped in and out of characters and accents as seamless as breathing, from an American accent, to Hugh's thick Welsh brogue, to a stodgy English one, and then back again... 
The title of the book initially caught my attention, although not an aficionado of Jack the Ripper per se, I do enjoy a good yarn where he's featured and hopefully gets his butt kicked... and there's time travel, too. That is seriously one of my favorite tropes...
  This story introduces us to Teagan Faelynn, a  professor of history at Duke University, and she's also a  "Jack the Ripper buff".
   Some supposedly new information about the Ripper has been found, and Teagan is drawn away from her job, all the way to London, where things really start to go sideways... Teagan has to land on her feet if she wants to keep up with, and survive this madcap tale!

[Katrina Garvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's next?

I loved this book! The characters were well developed and easy to get attached to and the story line grabbed me from the start. I am not much for history, but if history had been told like this I would have found it much more enjoyable! I had to will myself to put it down and go to sleep as much as I didn't want to stop reading. Looking forward to the next book!

[Danell Murrah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book!

Great time travel, fantasy, romance and mystery all in one book. Love anything historical that takes place in England. Looking forward to more books from Lora Edwards.

[Theo Honey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheesy- guilty pleasure - better than Harry Potter. Could use more queer

[Daniel Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read and so much fun!

[Darla River-Higgs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 1

I loved the story line. I am anxious to start the 2nd book. The action and suspense kept me wanting more. Thank you

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this time travel historical mystery kept my interest, good characters. I will definitely read the next one

[Nichola · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are sooooooooo my issues with this book. Had I not had an audiobook to listen to, I would have DNF'd this book at 20%.

The characters sound like teenagers and the magic system is a mess. I know this is supposed to be an enjoyable romp, but I didn't enjoy it at all. Even if you are not going to write an epic fantasy, you still need to explain how in 1888 Tvs and laptops work? The romance wasn't even compelling, the characters have little to not back story! So many issues. I thought I might give the next one a shot, but unless someone convinces me it is a huge improvement, I strongly doubt it.

[Tina Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Congratulations Lora on your first book. This time travel book grabs you from the beginning and holds you until the end. The characters Teagan, Ovidia and Bran bring you along in their journey, not just in their personal lives but also with their journeys thru time and solving cases from the past. It leaves you wanting more.

[Maria Pahlman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love to read about the Ripper cases. My bad for only reading the "Ripper' part and not the whole synopsis. The paranormal aspect took it to a complete different direction. This type of a book just isn't my cup of tea. I feel it was too short for this kind of a story that has been told many a times and had very limited main character development.

[Mary Aquino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Read

I'm not big into fae, but I enjoyed getting to know Teagan, Ovidia, and Bran. The connection to the Ripper murders and the jump back to Victorian London was cool. If you like fae/witch/time travel paranormal stories, you will like this one!

[Nia Ireland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contained some of my favourite supernatural elements and packed them up in a way I've never seen before - I'm always one for trying something new but on this occasion it didn't really do it for me. It turns out that I'm not a huge fan of time travel novels as a rule (there are exceptions), and that features quite heavily in this novel.

The synopsis doesn't give much away, so I'll skirt around the finer points - Teagan is in her early twenties when she finds out there's far more to this world than she thought. She's a University lecturer and specialises in the Ripper murders, this interest comes in handy when she's recruited to go back in time and investigate the crimes.

The mystery and suspense parts of this novel were brilliant, I'm a sucker for Ripper fiction myself and I enjoyed the spin the author put on the murders. It was the other elements of the story that I didn't really enjoy, such as the romance between Taegan and Bran which was squished in at the end and involved a lot of smouldering and intense staring in the lead up to it.

Taegan spends a lot of her time stamping her feet and telling everyone that she's capable of taking care of herself, before being massively incapable and needing rescuing. Thankfully her best friend Ovidia is a badass, so she's not just being rescued by men all the time...

I listened to the audiobook version and Corinne Davies was a brilliant voice for Taegan, her narration from Taegan's point of view was excellent. Many of the characters in this book have different British accents, some of which weren't her strong point - Irish and Scottish were surprisingly good (I appreciate how hard they are to do) but the different English characters did meld into one when they were conversing. I'm a firm believer in 'less is more' when it comes to tricky accents.

This is going to be a brilliant series for fans of history and mythological/fairytale creatures, with some romance and intrigue thrown in.

"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minor spoilers

Teagan is starting to get comfortable with her professorship at Duke University, where students adore her, partly because of the curriculum that she offers-History 301: Jack the Ripper. The tranquility lifestyle is abruptly halted when she ‘vacations’ with her parents in London and finds out two things: she’s an elf of royal fae ancestry, and she has been summoned by a supernatural institute to go back in time, and for the sake of all mystical creatures, stop the Ripper from alternating history.

This was an elegant and quaint read, packed with suspense and wonder. Teagan’s character is carefully written out as she meticulously adapts to her new lifestyle and environment. There’s a stretch of the book that piqued my curiosity focusing on supernatural cultures, but was blemished by a frivolous love interest, and a Valkyrien party animal. The latter is likable, but nearly turns the book into a study on fashion statements.

I still highly recommend this for fantasy fans that are looking for their next series

[Nan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story,but . . .

We have pretty much everything but the kitchen sink here -- fae, vampires, witches, brownies, selkies, romance, time travel, Jack the Ripper. Yet, it's a fun story in many ways.

So, why only three stars?
1. Typesetting errors - I find missing close quotes very annoying. Especially the third or fourth time.
2. The romance is way too high, for my taste, on the "I hate you, no, I love you, no, I hate you" spectrum.
3. Stop with the fancy clothes already! One more mention of high-end shoe brands (think "Sex and the City), and I may have thrown up.

If you enjoy, or at least can put up with that stuff, you're in for a fun ride. Me, I think I'll take a pass on the sequels. There's a lot of non-irritating stuff out there to read.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I only dock a star (or maybe just a half of a star?) because I wanted to see more detail at the end: How are the powers developed to someone who knew nothing before this...even if it all came flooding back to her like she knew what to do all along..? What about life at Duke? vs just the explanations of what had happened...almost like nothing else mattered or that wr had to fill in the blanks ourselves... Anyways, I like that there a sequel (even though not necessarily following the same character), but I hope we get glimpses of previous characters within...the dynamic in this story was amusing.

[The Book Dragon's Hoard by A.V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun take on the Jack the Ripper saga. I particularly liked the paranormal twist. Lora Edwards has done a great job of her world building and this is a total page-turner. I devoured it. Although, I did feel there was something lacking. A "je ne sais quoi" element that I needed to become properly immersed. The best description I can give is that The Ripper File is a paint-by-numbers endeavour. There isn't much to distinguish it from any other paranormal mystery. It was fun, but there wasn't reaļly anything memorable about the characters or the plot.

[S.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book; however, it is not without it's faults. There is a lot jammed into a short amount of time and therefore might be a bit too scattered for some readers. I like the characters enough to come back for the next installments but I do hope that the story telling is a bit more streamlined in the next book.

[Alison Atherton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ripper

if you are a fan of the ripper this is definatly not a book for you I personally enjoyed it but it was more of a love story than a search for the ripper so much more could have been said about the 1888 case felt let down in that respect i won't buy the next books i will leave it at that but if you like magical worlds with a brief spot of history this book us for you

[Julia Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going into the book I was expecting a lot more suspense, murder, and general ass kicking. I was not expecting so much romance. However, once my mind changed gears, I really enjoyed this book. It was a new take on Jack the Ripper. I will be looking for other books by this author to see what other takes on historical figures she has.

[Suzanna Renea]

I started off with high hopes for this book since it promised everything I love in a book. But no. It went the was of Kerri Maniscalco's Stalking Jack the Ripper. Heavy on the romance low on interesting plot.

[Colleen B · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a chore to finish and I probably should have dnf'd it. The writing, the characters, the ridiculous attempt at a romance. Nothing was well thought out or executed with any skill. A really cool idea and a really big letdown

[Amie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun!

This is a fast paced good time. The characters are interesting and you actually want to know them. Time travel, supernaturals, mystery and suspense. seriously read it. I had so much fun I'm off to read book two!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just ok. Nothing great nor will I continue with the series.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read from a new author! You can`t go wrong with vampires, witches, Valkyries, dragons and a paranormal answer to solving the Jack the Ripper age old mystery

[Amy the book-bat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one quite a bit. I am looking forward to reading book 2

[Hufflepuffloki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too perfect, and too flawless characters. But good enough for a rose coloured daydream with a tiny bit of old murder thrown in.

[Charlotte Jolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I enjoyed reading this book, the characters are fun, and using crimes from history is great. I'm looking forward to the next one.