Read between 14th May 2016 and 18th July 2016.
This is possibly one of my favourite Alex Scarrow novels. I read TimeRiders first, and subsequently became addicted to his style of writing. Even between the genres and ages, his writing style remains the same; short chapters, built up plots and quick revelations. Though the revelations are somewhat slower in The Candle Man than in TimeRiders, this is possibly due to the change in audience.
The book begins with suspense; aboard the Titanic, next to a dying girl, a man recounts the most exciting time of his life, knowing that he is going to die by nights end. The story surrounding Jack the Ripper. Scarrow keeps this suspense throughout the novel, with a few twists and turns that took me by surprise (i.e the identity of the man on the Titanic and the role of Mary Kelly.) I admit that I thought it would struggle to keep the pace of the novel as many Jack the Ripper novels do, but I was pleasantly surprised. This was probably helped by the novel being split into three distinct parts and views; 1. how the Candle Man came to England. 2. Mary Kelly and John Argyll, and 3. the employer of the Candle Man.
Scarrow has always had this imagination that enables him to intertwine historical opinions (such as near the end of this novel, the different viewpoints in regards to Mary Kelly and her murder by Jack the Ripper) with fact and events. It served him very well in this novel, and I hope he continues to use this method in future novels.
Altogether, this was a brilliant book by a brilliant author, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a friend or read it again.
Rating = 5 / 5 stars.
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