The Watcher–A Jack the Ripper Tale by @libraryoferana is a Suspense Event pick #thriller #shortfic

Title: The Watcher – A Jack the Ripper Tale

Author: A. L. Butcher

Genre: Historical Fiction/Horror

Book Blurb:

The year is 1888, and the place is Whitechapel, in the very heart of London. But the heart is bleeding. A mysterious killer is stalking women of the streets - his true name is unknown, but his legend will go down in history. This is a short tale of Jack the Ripper.

18 rated for scenes of violence.

Excerpt:

There she was, that whore. Once more. There she was.

Beneath the flickering gas lamp at the corner of Dorset Street, Whitechapel, she strode, grinning a seductive smile at a passing sailor, just ashore and looking for company. He, as bad as the bitch whose breasts he felt and whose ear he nipped with yellowing teeth, the unseen Watcher thought. With eyes burning hatred and a menace previously unseen and misunderstood. It was, he thought, a righteous hatred, and they blaze all the brighter for it - the beast within told him so. For he was the beast and he was its creature, at once the same.

She could have been twenty or forty; the Watcher neither knew nor cared. She’d not see another year, another week, another night. The dim streets grew ever wickeder to those of her sort spreading around their sin, their poison. Defiling this town, this land, defiling HER. The Watcher shook his head; no more whores and this place would rise like the jewel it was. Not jaded and dull but glorious and fit for a queen. The beast within whispered in his head. “Cleanse this town, make it fit again.” And so, he did. A knife in the darkness, once more.

Geneva liquor and poverty aged a person far better than mere passing of the years. In the greatest Empire on Earth, they blighted the land. Gin palaces, opium dens, and hash houses aplenty gave heaven and hell to those with money, and those without. Life was cheap, and oblivion cheaper. The Watcher knew these unfortunates dropped their drawers for a taste of it, panting and moaning beneath the bridges and in the alleys, with their grunting men, and their penny a tumble.

The sailor moved on. He’d had his pleasure with another of her kind and spent his last pennies in the tavern, and she was here to work. Nothing was free in her line of employment. Except for death.

So, there she was, alone. Death walked these streets – and tonight it watched the red-haired whore, who sang and smiled and patted her new bonnet. There she was. The whore. Alone.

The minutes passed, creeping towards death; ebbing away from heaven and him ever closer to immortality. The whore did not know it. Of course, she’d heard the tales, everyone had. Screamed by newsboys on every corner “another ‘orrible murder” but rent still needed to be paid. And so she plied her trade. Afraid. Denying it would be her turn this night. A whore, alone.

Another night, another customer. Fear curled in her belly; these streets were streets of blood, four of her sisters slain in just a few weeks. But hunger was the greater force. Desperation made Mary-Jane brave – so she walked the streets, as she had often done. It wouldn’t be her, she thought. As they had. It couldn’t be her. Besides the police watched the alleys and the thoroughfares. The streets were largely empty, save the desperate and the foolhardy, and those too much in drink or lust to know or care.

The Watcher stood, beyond the pool of light from the gas lamp. This night was his. She would be his. This woman wasn’t as much a drab as some of her sisters-in-sin. Lust rose, entwined with his loathing. Two joined as one, desire and disgust, powerful and compelling. He’d never understood why they went together, but then he was a simple man, not one of the mind-doctors who had been so influential of late. The beast within did not care. Lust and hatred, pain and desire…bound so close he could experience little else when the darkness overtook him. Now, however, he watched.

Buy Links:

https://www.books2read.com/TheWatcherJTR

Audio

Amazon UK audio

https://amzn.to/2xxI86q

Amazon Audio

https://amzn.to/2DpJSoG

https://www.audible.com/pd/B07HGKCBN7/

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B07HGGHB6Z/

What makes your featured book a must-read?

Jack the Ripper is probably the most famous killer in history. To this day people are fascinated by who he (or possibly she) was. This short story covers the death of the final victim, and the view of the killer who does the deadly deed. It’s dark, bloody and twisted. Do we find out who the Ripper might have been? You’ll have to read to find out – this is fiction, a might have been tale based on real events.

Giveaway –

Enter to win a $66 Amazon (US) gift card:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750127

Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US account to win.

Runs August 10 – August 17, 2021.

Winner will be drawn on August 23, 2021.

Author Biography:

Alex is an award-winning author of dark fantasy, historical fantasy, short stories and poetry. With a background in classics, mythology, politics and creative writing her eclectic affinities bring an alchemical flair to her work. Based in the South West UK she enjoys her garden, nature, literature and losing herself in a myriad world of words.

Social Media Links:

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