Slow start but I’m glad I kept reading in. The interweaving of the two stories and how they came together at the end was well done

Fascinated as I am by Jack the Ripper, this one didn't do it for me. The pacing was off and it was too slow in places.

Sorry for the extended delay in reviewing. I'm working on catching up on my backlist of netgalley reviews.

The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello

493 Pages
Publisher: 47North
Release Date: November 8, 2016

Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Robert Louis Stevenson was suffering from TB. He kept a journal of his illness and the unusual cure in Switzerland. He also details his family. Life with his wife Fanny, and stepson, Lloyd. It is during his play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that the Jack the Ripper killings occurred in White Chapel.

In current times, Rafe Salazar is a wildlife scientist living in California He is studying coyotes and notices a large paw print. Wolves are not known to come this far south but it is not impossible. While out one a hike, he sees a steamer trunk partially submerged. When two guys find it, he takes it from them. Upon opening it, he comes across Stevenson’s journal.

The book has a steady but building pace, the characters are well developed, and it is written in the third person point of view for the present time. The journal is written in the first-person point of view. This book mixes history with fiction which makes it more believable. If you like historical fiction with a modern twist, you will enjoy reading this book.

Loved this book. Pulp horror/ history/ thrills and the author’s wild imagination. Masello is an under appreciated author. His books are very well written commercial thrillers and Jekyll is no exception. Give him a try.

"A spellbinding thriller from the bestselling author of The Einstein Prophecy.

A chilling curse is transported from 1880s London to present-day California, awakening a long-dormant fiend.

While on routine patrol in the tinder-dry Topanga Canyon, environmental scientist Rafael Salazar expects to find animal poachers, not a dilapidated antique steamer trunk. Inside the peculiar case, he discovers a journal, written by the renowned Robert Louis Stevenson, which divulges ominous particulars about his creation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It also promises to reveal a terrible secret—the identity of Jack the Ripper.

Unfortunately, the journal—whose macabre tale unfolds in an alternating narrative with Rafe’s—isn’t the only relic in the trunk, and Rafe isn’t the only one to purloin a souvenir. A mysterious flask containing the last drops of the grisly potion that inspired Jekyll and Hyde and spawned London’s most infamous killer has gone missing. And it has definitely fallen into the wrong hands."

Yes, it sounds a little cheesy, but seriously, to combine literary icon Robert Louis Stevenson with Jack the Ripper it's a no-brainer that I'm going to read it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book; it was not to my taste, however, and I will not be completing it. I have not rated or reviewed this book. (The rating below is because a star rating is required by Netgalley, and is not reflective of an opinion.)

Received from Netgalley for honest read and review.

I really enjoyed this book and I am so happy to have received this from Netgalley,this was a thoroughly entertaining read that had me hooked from the bee.

Two stories interwoven together beautifully,and it flowed from one story to the other really well.

Louis and Rafes stories were really entertaining that I could not put down.

This book was good but I wished the present day stuff had better conclusions. I mean it should've finished up before going into the past where the journal entries get told from Stevenson's side. I do like how this book shown how Hyde is developed in both the past and present, which it was first Robert Louis Stevenson and then his stepson and then Lazlo in the present day after finding the elixir himself. I think this book does paint how monsters can be made whether from fear or from greed which we have seen the fear parts in the past with Stevenson being Hyde at first to write Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde and then seeing his stepson going through it, and then finally into the present where Lazlo became Hyde after surviving a meth lab exploding out of a stupid move. I will have to listen to an audio version to see what I may have missed.

Who hasn’t read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? If you haven’t read it, you at least know what it is about and who wrote it. I knew Robert Louis Stevenson wrote it but what I didn’t know was that he suffered from tuberculosis.

This book is written in a present day/past day format. That is not one of my most favorite types of writing but I was able to follow the story. It begins with RL Stevenson taking his family to a clinic where he hopes to be cured of his ailment. While there, he is subjected to a strange type of medical treatment.

In the present day, Rafael Salazar is working as a field officer with the Environmental Sciences Service. He is studying wolves. He lives in a trailer and rents from a gal that owns a general store. He would like to ask her out but the guy she lives with is a deterrent.

Rafe and his assistant find an old trunk in a small pond and in it, he finds a journal. This is the tie between the present story and the past.

What type of medical treatment did Stevenson actually receive at the clinic? Is it tied to why Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Will Rafe get the girl? All these and other questions are what you will find out if you read The Jekyll Revelation.

I have looked forward to reading this book for ages but never made time for it. So when one of my best blogging buddies suggested we read it together to feature on our "Two Bloggers One Book" I was thrilled. However, while it saddens me to admit it, "The Jekyll Revelation" is not the book for everyone. It is very slow in places and I think my love for Jack the Ripper and anything Gothic and Victorian in nature is what helped me through. Also, I would love to give the book 3.5/5 but since Goodreads simply doesn't allow it (and why not BTW?) I guess I must conform and because of the elements listed above, go with 4/5.

"The Jekyll Revelation" is told entirely in two alternating timelines. First you have Rafe Salazar who is an environmental scientist studying coyotes in drought-stricken Topanga, California. Then you have Robert Louis Stevenson's diary which tells the second tale. And let me warn you, it takes a LONG time for these two plot lines to link together in any real fashion. While working in the mountains one day, Rafe stumbles across an old trunk floating in a pond. He finds nothing of interest in it except for some old Victorian clothes and a journal written by none other than Stevenson himself. Rafe's tale takes him on an adventure which has him battling clandestine meth labs and bikers and fighting the feelings for his landlady while struggling to take care of his disabled sister as well and protect the canyon coyotes.

Stevenson's tale is one of mystery and intrigue, with a lot of information dumping scattered throughout. Battling an illness, he and his family travel to a remote location where he can receive experimental treatment. The doctor manages to infuse Stevenson with a tonic containing wolf blood which has some lasting effects on all who take it. Stevenson, who is famous for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" starting penning the famous novel and as time progresses, we learn of his true inspiration for his tale. Also, around the same time, Jack the Ripper begins stalking his prey but is there a connection to Stevenson and his groundbreaking horror tale?

Masello must have a heck of an imagination because there are so many different elements in this book and as if there werem't enough, he even throws a popular theater owner - Bram Stoker - into the mix. At times I found the book confusing and hard to follow and I honestly think Masello could have written two separate tales and the stories would have been just as good. The two really only overlap at the very end and while it was a nice connection, it could have went without happening. Also, maybe I missed something but I think there was an element that never did get wrapped up well. Rafe finds giant tracks in Topanga early in the novel which could not possible belong to the coyotes he's tracking and I'm not sure if the reader ever really learns where they came from. Miranda, the landlady, also encounters that giant wolf and unless I'm mistaken, it's presence is never explained well.

So in retrospect, which sometimes happens after putting my thoughts down on "paper," I'm going with 3/5. I liked the book but it didn't overwhelm me and since I've now taken a good look at my thoughts, I realize quite a few flaws have grabbed hold of my book-filled mind. Overall, if you like Gothic takes, are fascinated with Jack the Ripper (like I apparently am) and don't mind dueling timelines, you might enjoy "The Jekyll Revelation." Just don't prepare for a quick read and at best, just enjoy the slow ride through some often confusing and sometimes terrifying landscapes.

When I first grabbed this last year to review I thought it sounded like it was going to be a really cool read, but for some reason, I put it off. Now that I finally got a chance to read it I am really disappointed.

It’s got two stories going on with the past being told through the journal of Robert Louis Stevenson and present day in California, where Rafe an environmentalist finds a truck that contains the journal and some old clothing and a bit of potion.

It took me forever to read this and when I did I just really wasn’t that interested in the how the story was progressing, it was just so slow. The journal pieces were really long and boring up until about the halfway mark when Jack the Ripper started to come into play. I will admit to skimming through the journal.

Then the story with Rafe and everyone in the present day part really wasn’t much more interesting. Rafe and Heidi found the trunk but then something happened and they had to leave it behind then some idiots found it and brought to Miranda’s for her old man to look at as they just knew it would have something they could sell in it, but it really didn’t have a lot in it. I skimmed some if it too.

It was really hard to see how these two stories were going to come together and make any kind of sense. The end did clear up most of my confusion but it never really clears up why there is a wolf mentioned in the present day parts. I can only conclude that it must be a descendent of the one mentioned in the past sections?? One may never know.

Overall, I liked the concept, but I really didn’t enjoy it and almost DNFed it but I already DNFed a buddy read a few months ago and didn’t want to do it so soon again…lol. Can’t really recommend it.

This story held me the entire time. I like flipping between modern day and RLS's time. I wish it had ended differently for that section but I understand why Mr. Masello ended it the way he did. It was a bit ambiguous on the fate of Louis, but I liked that. A great read and highly recommended.

The Jekyll Revelation is a gripping thriller in which Masello takes one of the darkest chapters in the human history, namely the shocking and brutal murders by Jack the Ripper and deftly weaves his creative genius around it to create a riveting tale that imagines the dark evil depths the human mind can fall to. Split as two parallel narratives, one set in the late nineteenth century and the other in modern day, the story weaves these parallel threads together, subtly at first and then through this hair-raising revelation about how terror, dormant across centuries, could rear its ugly head again in the present day.

The story features two main protagonists. The first one being the famous author Robert Louis Stevenson whose journal is what the reader is privy to while in the present day, we follow the adventures of Rafael Salazar, an environmental scientist living in the dry and dusty canyon of Topaganga, California. But I think the main pull of the overall narrative would be the nagging teaser around the identity of the infamous murderer, Jack the Ripper.

Admittedly, the dark heady days recounted in the famous author's journal is far more gripping than the present day turmoil that Rage goes through. The story begins on a slow note, introducing us to Rafe and his world, confined to tracking a pack of coyotes in the bush, his confused feelings for the bohemian girl whose trailer he has rented and also his run-ins with the gang of no-gooders in that canyon, who torture and kill animals for fun. And the diary begins with the account of Stevenson going to this secret medical rehab to improve his ailing lung condition. While the initial parts set in this snowy small town rehab in the Swiss Alps makes for a very entertaining read, Rafe's life seems pretty drab by comparison.

But things heat up when Rafe on one of his hikes into the wild, discovers a trunk at the bottom of a lake, that reveals to him, this very same diary and a secret elixir. We switch back and forth rapidly between the two narratives, each a punchy revelation in itself, racing to make up that connect between these threads. Nebulous it may seem, till the last few chapters as terrible secrets tumble out of the closet.

I thought it was fascinating as to how Masello recreates the life and times of Stevenson - based on the eerie coincidence that the first murder by Jack the Ripper happened at roughly the same time, the first stage production of Curious case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde premiered in London, Masello brings alive the late nineteenth century Europe - from the slippery snow-laden slopes of the Alps where Stevenson saves the life of a grey wolf and in that process, in a strange turn of events, himself gets saved by something from the wolf - to the rainy, dismal alleyways in London, where young unsuspecting women are being preyed upon by this deranged killer. The writing is really solid as Masello nails the deadly atmosphere and the grim mood of the setting; the creepy sense of dread gets under your skin while the whole of London is in the grips of fear and uncertainty. There are some really terrific moments of action in the dark of the night featuring Stevenson himself that had me biting my nails down to stubs. The lightning fast plot however, really doesn't have the same bite when it comes to the story of Rafe.

Does the terror that stalked the streets of London get a new lease of life, in modern day California? The bikers gang and the meth problem doesn't compare well enough to the grungy dirge that plays out in Stevenson's life after he pens down the polarizing novel called Curious case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that charmed and repulsed readers worldwide in equal measure; a novel that may well be a reflection on the human society - daring us to reach into the stygian depths where evil that resides in each of us. The novel would well have worked just as a standalone historical thriller and done well by itself. But the twists and turns keep coming - and that final whopper of a twist will definitely blow your mind. All the elements of a thriller done right, there are a few shallow moments in this book, especially in the present day narrative and characters, not well fleshed out enough. But Rafe holds his own and grows into a compelling character by the end. Full points for the inventive and creative imagination by which Masello has wrought out the Stevenson angle to the Jack the Ripper murders, this definitely is the gripping account that will have you ripping the pages out to get to the end.

A blazing fast read, crammed with some brilliant characters and a compelling dark twister of a plot. Lovers of mystery and historical fiction, anyone who's interested in Jack the Ripper's story, should not miss this one!

“The Jekyll Revelation” eBook was published in 2016 and was written by Robert Masello (http://www.robertmasello.com). Mr. Masello has published 17 books.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Situations. The story is set in the 1880s and present day. The primary character in the 1880’s portion is the well known author Robert Louis Stevenson. The modern portion of the story centers on environmental scientist Rafael Salazar.

For Stevenson, the story begins with his journey to a Swiss clinic for treatment of his tuberculosis. The doctor is a bit odd and the treatment strange, though effective. Stevenson discovers that the medication he is being given comes from an astonishing and sickening source. He also finds himself altered when he takes the medication.

Salazar is studying coyotes in California. His efforts at both his research and love life are hampered by a local gang and their followers. While trying to track his coyotes, he discovers an old trunk that had been submerged in a pond until the drought hit. Inside the trunk he discovers an old journal. The journal proves to be Sevenson’s.

Stevenson is able to publish several works after his hospital stay, including ’The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. As a play based on the book opens in London, Jack the Ripper begins his terror. The similarity to Stevenson's Hyde draws the attention of Scotland Yard. Stevenson must evade several dangerous situations and eventually discovers the identity of The Ripper.

Salazar must evade one dangerous situation after another. Though his work is under scrutiny and his grant may be cancelled at any moment, he continues to follow his coyotes. He also reads, and is astonished by, the tale Stevenson has recorded.

I thought that the 10.5 hours I spent with this 493 page novel were interesting. There was some action, but for the most part this was a book on the slow side. I guess that Mystery categorizes this better than any other tag, with a bit of Horror and Science Fiction thrown in. I liked the way Stevenson and Salazar were presented, though I think more could have been done with the Salazar character. The cover art is OK, but doesn’t really give any insight to the story. I give this novel a 3.5 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

The Jekyll Revelation is a strange hybrid of a novel. It constantly flicks between the diaries of novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, and the struggles of a present day environmental scientist tracking coyotes in Topanga Canyon outside of Los Angeles. In the process deep secrets are revealed.

The Robert Louis Stevenson story line is told in diary form. It starts with a murder then flashes back to Stevenson’s sojourn with his family in a Swiss health retreat while he writes Treasure Island. Stevenson was seeking (and received according to his diary) radical treatment for a chronic lung condition. The story of Stevenson’s stay at the sanitarium and his bizarre treatment is told in the best tradition of gothic horror. The results provide more than the inspiration for the novel about Jekyll and Hyde which, once published and adapted for the West End stage, draws Stevenson into the Jack the Ripper investigation.

The Jekyll Revelation leans heavily on historical record to create a fictional Stevenson. And Robert Masello effectively manages to blur the line between what is likely to be the truth, fictional licence and out and out fantasy.

Meanwhile, in the bright sunshine of Topanga Canyon, Rafael Salazar is dealing with bureaucracy, an unrequited crush and a possible meth lab hidden in the Canyon by a local biker gang. In the midst of all this he finds a strange trunk in a dried lake bed which, together with some old clothes, contains Stevenson’s diaries and the secret behind the creation of the novel of Jekyll and Hyde. This is an engaging tale that could stand alone but is made more interesting by the resonances with the past.

While the two stories finally come together in a way, they remain, for the most part, fairly separate. This is not a bad thing, both stories are engaging on their own and the juxtaposition between them is stark. And while the connection can only ever be tenuous it does serve to bring them together for two fairly explosive finales.

The Jekyll Revelation is a fun reinvention of history with a gothic core. The chilly Swiss Alps and rainy London streets and the drought-stricken Topanga Canyon are well juxtaposed as are the lives of the two protagonists. And proves that, over one hundred years on, the Ripper mystery continues to be a rich source of inspiration for horror and suspense.

The Jekyll Revelation follows two parallel timelines, and two very different men – who may be more alike than they realize. Rafe is an environmental scientist working in the drought-stricken Topanga Canyon in California, where he finds an antique steamer trunk in a dried-up lake bed. Inside is a journal that tells a shocking story about the life of Robert Louis Stevenson and the macabre inspiration for his famous novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Rafe spends his days tracking animal poachers in the canyon, and his nights reading Stevenson’s journal – as he reads, the novelist’s story is slowly revealed to us as well. When Stevenson travelled to Switzerland with his wife and stepson to be treated for his lung disease, he was given a curative potion with some unexpected side effects. He experiences blackouts and half-memories of unusual events. The potion inspires him to finish his novel about Jekyll and Hyde, and it is performed as a play in London not long after. The play receives rave reviews – until it seemingly inspires a copy-cat, later identified as Jack the Ripper. Stevenson himself becomes a prime suspect, although he becomes suspicious of someone else close to him.

As Rafe speeds through the journal, intent on finding out the identity of the Ripper, he begins to witness some shocking occurrences in his own time. Aside from the journal, Stevenson’s trunk contained other items that could trigger the Jekyll and Hyde curse all over again – most suspicious is a mysterious flask filled with an unidentified liquid. When Rafe tries to dispose of the trunk’s dark contents, the potion ends up falling into the wrong hands.

Stevenson’s journal entries feel impressively authentic to the writing style of his original time. Although Rafe is living in another century and across the world, he becomes entirely wrapped up in Stevenson’s story. In most novels with parallel stories, I usually prefer one and suffer through the other – but in this case, both settings were completely compelling. Jekyll and Hyde is often rewritten in different disguises, but this novel truly feels fresh and original. Although some scenes were somewhat weak and contrived, the overall effect was very successful.

Although this novel is set (partly) in a historical era, it doesn’t exactly fit that genre – it is a gothic mystery with a dash of horror, interspersed with modern scenes that emphasize the many ways that men can become monsters. Masallo has played with the timeline here in places, but it is still very authentic to Stevenson’s life and seems to be very well researched. I will definitely be looking out for more of Masallo’s novels, which feature real historical characters with a twist.

I received this book from 47North Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mr. Masello creates a wonderful novel that jumps back and forth from modern Topanga Canyon to Victorian London and Victorian Polynesia. He blends the modern tale of Rafe, a forest ranger investigating a strange antique trunk, with that of Robert Louis Stevenson in the later part of his life.

The mystery of Jack the Ripper is the major plot driver here, and it is very well done with quite a plot twist near the end.

This is an absorbing book - I could not put it down since I wanted to discover the identity of Jack the Ripper. A lot of fun.

If you enjoy Jack the Ripper stories, this book is for you. A very stylishly and elegantly written novel which will keep you guessing.

A great read!

Really loved this book. Everything about it. Loved the style it was written, the blending of real life historical figures with the fiction of the book, the characters - all of it was just a great read.

If one thing is evident about me and my literary affections (and there's a lot more than one thing, but let's just go with it here) it's that all you need to do is mention Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to get my attention. I am a huge fan of the story, of all its various renditions, and how well any popular culture actually gets to portraying the proper Jekyll and Hyde that Robert Louis Stevenson created. (Hint: almost none.) So when this came across my feed in NetGalley, I jumped on the chance to read the ARC.

That being said, this is coming out far later than it should have, and I went and borrowed the book from Amazon to finish it. But I'm especially grateful that I did.

Read more…
The book has two timelines: a modern one, where we follow Rafael Salazar and the coyotes he's monitoring in Topanga Canyon, California, and the other beginning in 1881, following none other than Stevenson himself. It's nearly impossible to figure out why we're following both of them, and I found it difficult to invest myself in the book at first, because I couldn't figure out why I was supposed to care about Rafe. There wasn't anything wrong with him, I just didn't have a connection. I mean, I agree that coyotes are probably cool and a good thing to study, and environmental agents should have places in books too. But.

As time went on, it began to clear up. Stevenson was in a far away portion of Switzerland, hoping to find some cure for the health issues that have been plaguing him for far too long. During his time there, a wolf begins to play a very prominent role in the story--and just around then, Rafe starts noticing that there's something bigger than his coyotes wandering around the woods here. Now I'm getting interested.

We follow Stevenson, through journal entries, through his time in Davos (Switzerland) and the trials and tribulations he faced there--and here we begin to see where we may be going, with the introduction of a strange elixir that Dr. Rüedi gives to him, and the sudden surge of strength and indifference to danger that comes along with the taking of it. Sure enough, we follow into the time where Stevenson writes and publishes Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, his own struggles with duality--and then, as it did in real life, the onset of Jack the Ripper and suspicions being leveled at Stevenson.

Meanwhile in California, Rafe has found a large steamer trunk in the middle of a lake and doesn't quite know what to do with it, though he knows he doesn't want the local riff-raff getting their hands on it. Once open, he finds antique clothes which have clearly seen better days, an assortment of other knick-knacks, a pocket watch with unfamiliar initials carved on it...and a strange journal, which seems to have tales of Switzerland in it. And as things start to get bizarre with the people around him, he starts to wonder what else he's unlocked with this trunk.

It's a truly fascinating look at the times; I had been unaware that Jekyll and Hyde and Jack the Ripper coincided in real life, and that apparently RLS had in fact been considered for one of the Ripper's possible identities. A quick glance through some basics of RLS's life shows that the basics--where he lived, when he was there, nicknames he's given--are all true. Of course, there are some liberties taken, and they're pretty easy to pick out. But all things considered, it's a wonderful piece of fiction.

I do think that the modern-day portions of the book are lacking. I don't really have much drive to care about Rafe, no matter how cool he seems, and there are a lot of characters who are introduced simply to be a plot point...and then vanish again. It's clear by the end that the author wants to bring the whole story around to meet back up with itself, but there's not a strong connection to hold onto. If that had been strengthened, I think it would have been better--but all things considered, even if they'd just been taken out entirely, the story would have been just as enjoyable. It feels like a missed opportunity.

However, as you can see from my rating, I haven't let that detract from my opinion overall. No matter how long it took me to get into it, once I was hooked I read the book in mere hours. The tone is perfect, the setting is good, the pacing is spaced without dragging. I enjoyed seeing Stevenson in his version of London, and the pieces of Jack the Ripper poking in. (I also noted some homages to real people in the names, though I don't know if they actually existed in that time and place, or not. It was still nice.)

In the end, a very enjoyable book, and certainly enough to make me interested in other things Masello has written. He's good with his words, and better with his research. Especially if you have a fondness for RLS, Jekyll and Hyde, or Jack the Ripper, I'd very much suggest picking up this book. It's well worth the read.

Rating: ***** (Highest Recommendation)

An original thrilling read that brings back beloved characters in a quirky spellbinding tale. Good work.