Jennifer Silence is a police consultant, she is a psycholinguist. A psychologist who specializes in written documents that add to the profile of a murderer.

Living in Venice Beach, CA she is not surprised by an earthquake shaking her home. She is surprised by finding a bricked up section under the stairs of her cellar. She is surprised by finding the skeletons of several women. She is surprised by finding a journal hidden in a tin box, left with the skeletons. She is surprised when she begins to read the journal that it seems to have been written by Jack the Ripper detailing his crimes in London.

Her family has owned the house since the early 1900’s, is one of her ancestors, Jack?

A thriller that takes you from London at the turn of the 20th century to the present 2010’s in California. A fascinating tale of a serial killer.
Highly recommend! ( )

WOW, what a page turner! AND it had me going in a different direction, definetly worth the read. ( )

If you are fascinated by the Jack the Ripper legend you should enjoy this book. I did. It's not ageless literature, but it is good to entertain you over a few days. There are two stories: a current times one involving the investigator who specializes in graphology (wonderful subject, by the way) and the journal of Jack the Ripper who supposedly immigrated to the US after his crimes in London took place. I can't say that I cared much for the protaganist. She is just a little too defensive and cruel without a reason to people who are trying to help her. However, her devotion to her schizophrenic brother makes some of her behavior understandable. Lots of action and tension and an ending that I didn't see coming. ( )

Really two tales, one an autobiography by Jack the Ripper and the other an agonizing cluster of guilt and fear by suspected descendents of Jack living in modern day Venice, CA. Siblings Jennifer and Richard lived in a historical house allegedly built by their great grandfather and lived in by their family. Jack the Ripper was suspected to have either medical or butcher training. Jennifer and Richard's fore bearers had all been doctors and both Jennifer and Richard started Medical Degrees with Jennifer changing to an Dr. of Psychology degree while Richard completed an M.D.. Richard showed symptoms of mental illness by his mid-twenties but, was able to maintain it in control with medication. Jennifer's work as a criminal profiler and studies that included the history of Jack the Ripper primed her for an exposure to a trigger event when a portion of her basement wall collapsed during a small quake exposing a macabre cache of old bones and a diary of Edward Hare detailing his gruesome butchery and caching of the found bones. By this time, Richard was off his meds and both he and his older sister feared their suspected association with their infamous ancestor. Young girls were going missing in Venice and Jennifer agonized over sharing her fears with her police cohorts or trying to find Richard and safely rescuing him and making Venice safe. All the evidence points to Richard but, Jennifer feels the family responsibility of a protecting older sister and is determined to care for Richard even at the expense of her own life. As the story evolves with suspense and chair edging tension, outside elements make themselves known and the story stretches into unknown areas, making a twisting chilling ending to an action packed, engaging story. ( )

****SOFT SPOILER ALERT****
Riptide's premise is a very interesting one, especially for those who find the Jack the Ripper mythology irresistible. Unfortunately, Michael Prescott's novel didn't connect with me entirely.

Psychologist, Dr. Jennifer Silence is on call to the Venice, California PD as a Psycholinguistic Analyst. She reads the hidden messages between the lines of the written word. Her cellar reveals a diary, among other things, that lead her into a world of speculation, Ripperology and ultimately, gruesome murder.

My main dislike was the protagonist herself. I found Jennifer quite unlikeable, shallow & thoughtless. She seemed to argue with most of her friends and colleagues. However, the exception was in her dealings with her brother, Richard, which I found quite heart-wrenching. Throughout the book, I felt Jennifer acted unprofessionally and indulged in questionable and risky behaviour, endangering the lives of those around her with her impulsivity and stubbornness.

Aside from this, I found the story arc rose and fell unevenly, and even the suspenseful action scenes felt anticlimactic. I'm not quite sure why the writing fell flat for me. Just okay, nothing more. ( )