In Extremis: A Hellbound Novella by David McCaffrey

In Extremis: A Hellbound Novella by David McCaffrey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 hour

Pages - 88 pages

Publisher - Sixth Element Publishing

Blurb from Goodreads


James Maybrick had secured his legacy as the most infamous serial killer of all time…his diary would one day shock the world.

Thomas Quinn wants revenge…his actions will give birth to an organisation of unspeakable power.

Together, they unwittingly set in motion a plan that will one day lead to the serial killer, Obadiah Stark.

Stark became The Tally Man.

They were The Brethren.

Maybrick is known to history by another name…



My Review

In Extremis is a novella that picks up immediately after the last murder by Jack The Ripper, the author has another book, Hellbound that people say you should read before this one. I decided to read this first, James Maybrick is The Ripper & in this short novella we get to read his thoughts & state of mind in the immediate aftermath of the killers. Thomas Quinn is one of the Brethren, a group of "individuals" who have an idea of what society should be and see Maybrick as a means to an end. When Maybrick puts them at risk, Quinn and the Brethren set in motion a plan to clean the decks, without exposing the all important Brethren brotherhood.

Ooooh I do love all things Jack The Ripper, he has always been an enigma, so many conspiracy's and theories. I can't believe of the books I have read Maybrick didn't feature or if he did I don't remember him. I now want to go digging and have a read about Maybrick and his diary, In Extremis we get to go behind the scenes and see into the mind of one of the most notorious killers. Excerpts from the journal of James Maybrick which I did struggle with a few of the words with the curved writing however it was very late at night which probably contributed!

Apart from a few big words I needed to look up, the writing flows well, it is well written creating a creepy and eerie atmosphere making the reader pull their blanket just a wee bit closer and listen a bit more keenly to the creaks when late night reading. This was my first dance with this author, it won't be my last, 4/5 for me this time. I would warn, as with all Jack The Ripper themed books, some of the passages are graphic which may upset some of our faint hearted readers, otherwise dive right in.

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