Jackaby by:William Ritter

Summary:

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary–including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police–with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane–deny.

Review: 

Another book from my TBR list, I remember seeing it at bookstores and how it was a combination of Doctor Who meets Sherlock. two of my favorite shows and it actually felt like I was watching a WhoLock episode, with a little bit of supernatural.

R.F. Jackaby is basically the 10th Doctor with a little bit of Sherlock in him. He is a genius but he has a lot of arrogance in him and thinks that he is smarter than everyone. There was times when I felt he was a little bit unlikable, mainly towards the middle of the book but in the end is was a very good character to follow.

Abigail Rook is basically the Watson or companion role. I like that the book was told through her perspective because it makes it easier to follow the world it is based in. I like that she also wanted to be apart of the adventure and willing to learn from Jackaby. A major strength of the book is the relationship between Jackaby and Abigail which reminded me a lot of the Doctor/Companion relationship from Doctor Who. The back and forth between the characters has really good.

The supporting characters were also really like such as Inspector Marlowe, and Charlie Cane who I really want to see have more development in the next few books.

The plot, I felt was a little like a 2 hour pilot. It did a good job at introducing the two leads, and it has about a random case that Jackaby had to solve. But it was great trying to solve the case. I actually really liked the supernatural elements in the book, but I did feel that the twist felt a little tact on and not developed as much and even the conclusion I felt was a bit rushed. I did like the mystery element and mainly the setting which is in the Victorian era. I always did like mystery novels growing and I do feel that the genre is a bit lacking in the YA community so it was nice to read about.

In the end, Jackaby was a very good first book of a series that did a good job at introducing characters and the world where the story takes place in. While I felt that the twist could have been much better developed I do plan on reading the rest of the series.

Grade: 4/5