History Literature / Ripper2014

** Amanda is fascinated with Scandinavian crime novels, has read the ''[[Literature/MillenniumSeries Millenium]]'' trilogy[[note]]the novel takes place after Stieg Larsson's death and before his publisher hired another writer to continue with the series.[[/note]] and the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' book series.

* UnconventionalFormatting: Most of the book is written on a third-person POV. The only exception is a portion of the text that appears in italics, written in first-person POV, representing the perspective Indiana's abductor, as they explain why they did what they did.

** The abusive foster parents are found with letters burned on their buttocks: A on one, F on the others.

* BettyAndVeronica: Indiana is the Archie. Wealthy, sophisticated Alan Keller, a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob and a fear of commitment is the Veronica. The athletic veteran Ryan Miller is the Betty; despite his own traumas, he is her friend, comes to Amanda's rescue when she calls him for help, and is there for her.

* CallingCard: It's all about wolves. The widow of one of the victims receives a copy of Creator/HermannHesse's novel ''Steppenwolf''. Another victim, who collected glass figurines, receives one after her death that is at first mistaken for a dog but it's really a wolf.

* CommitmentIssues: Alan has been dating Indiana for several years now and is happy keeping things casual. It is not until she breaks up with him and he loses his wealth that he finally proposes to her.

* NailedToTheWagon: How Ryan Miller got sober: he was entitled to accept help from a program from the Veterans Administration, but he was too proud or too macho for that. A like-minded neighbor had him strip naked and left him by himself in his apartment without any of his clothes, his phone or his computer for three days. He is absolutely miserable and even contemplates breaking out the window. But when she comes to get him, he is clean and manages to stay clean for years.

* ThemeSerialKiller: The killer chooses to "execute" his victims with variations on the death penalty: one is shot execution style, the foster parents are killed via an overdose (lethal injection), the psychiatrist is electrocuted, and the judge is garroted to death. [[spoiler:His first victims die from carbon monoxide poisoning in an improvised gas chamber.]]
* UnconventionalFormatting: Most of the book is written on a third-person POV. The only exception is a portion of the text that appears in italics, written in first-person POV, representing the perspective Indiana's abductor , as they explain why they did what they did.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Amanda is incredibly intelligent but seems to have trouble with social skills and fitting in, is downright obsessive with her interests, is averse to the smells of the other girls in her dorm. It is mentioned that she was taken to a child psychiatrist when she was younger, but nobody mentions any formal diagnosis. She is just written off as quirky.

* DinnerAndABreakup: Ryan decides to end his relationship with Jennifer Yang, as they are sexually incompatible (she is into S&M and he is a rather vanilla guy) in a classic tea house. He ends up regretting it when she causes a scene. As he tries to drag her out, an onlooker calls him a sadist. Jennifer yells back that she wishes he was.

* UnconventionalFormatting: Most of the book is written on a third-person POV. The only exception is a portion of the text that appears in italics, written in first-person POV, representing Indiana's abductor, as they explain why they did what they did.

* NailedToTheWagon: How Ryan Miller got sober: he was entitled to accept help from a program from the Veterans Administration, but he was too proud or too macho for that. A like-minded neighbor had him strip naked and left by himself in his apartment without his phone or his computer for three days. He is absolutely miserable and even contemplates breaking out the window. But when she comes to get him, he is clean and manages to stay clean for years.

Amanda Martin is fascinated by crime. She is currently obsessed with a game called “Ripper” which she plays online with players from around the world. With the assistance of her beloved grandfather, she guides the group (Sherlock, Esmeralda, Colonel Paddington, and Abatha) in their objective of solve crimes inspired by those of Jack the Ripper. When a series of grisly murders starts taking place in the San Francisco area where she leaves, she is fascinated by then and finds herself steering the group toward solving these real life murders.

* CoolOldLady: Denise, a woman in her sixties who is friends with Ryan and Pedro.

* TraumaCongaLine: The killer's early life. In infancy, he was abused by his biological parents. A nurse kidnaps him [[spoiler:and raises him [[RaisedAsTheOppositeGender ''as her daughter'']], teaching "Lee" that "girls are good, boys are bad". One day the nurse dies but her ID is stolen. By the time authorities identify her and find her child, "Lee Galespi" is close to death by starvation. And that is before Child Protective Service intervenes.]]

* BettyAndVeronica: Indiana is the Archie. Wealthy, sophisticated Alan Keller, a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob and a fear of commitment is the Veronica. The athletic veteran Ryan Miller is the Betty; despite his own traumas, he is her friend, comes to Amanda's rescue when she calls him for help, and trains for the Ironman Triathlon.

* HandicappedBadass: Despite losing his leg during a mission, Ryan still practices at the gun range, trains his dog (who was his partner in Afghanistan) and is a triathlete. [[spoiler: When the identity of Indiana's abductor is found, he and Attila break into the location where she is being kept. Not even being mortally wounded stops him from saving her.]]

** Ryan's dog used to be work with him while he was stationed in Afghanistan. He was trained to kill upon command, which he can do thanks to his titanium fangs. His name? Attila, as in UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Amanda's group of ''Ripper'' players. Sherlock Holmes is an African-American boy genius age 12, Abatha is a teenaged girl from Montreal who has been hospitalized several times for her eating disorder, Esmeralda is a paraplegic teenage boy from Auckland, New Zealand, and Col. Paddington is an agoraphobic teenager from New Jersey who has not left his home in ages.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Carol Drinkwater, the cancer patient, is not real; "she" is a persona created by the killer, Gary Brunswick/Lee Galespi/Anton Farkas in order to get closer to Indiana]]

* ThemeSerialKiller: The killer chooses to "execute" his victims with variations on the death penalty: one is shot execution style, the foster parents are killed via an overdose (lethal injection), the psychiatrist's murder is based upon the electric chair, and the judge is garroted to death. [[spoiler:His first victims die from carbon monoxide poisoning in an improvised gas chamber.]]

* BettyAndVeronica: With wealthy, sophisticated Alan as the Veronica, and war veteran Ryan as the Betty.
* BittersweetEnding: The serial killer is found and [[spoiler: killed, but both Alan and Ryan are dead. Indiana is still traumatized but she decides to travel to Afghanistan to provide aid to the village children from Ryan's past. Amanda is all set to start her first semester at MIT but that means leaving the nest.]]

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: The first murder reported; all other victims are killed and later found at home.
* DesecratingTheDead: Ed Staton is found dead from a gunshot in the middle of his forehead at a school gym, sprawled on a vaulting horse, pants around his ankles, and a baseball bat inserted where the sun don’t shine.

* RummageSaleReject: Amanda. Her ensembles are not guided by trends or even common sense. When she goes out to breakfast with her dad and he points out that she is in flip-flops when it's rainy out, she just puts on a Peruvian wool hat and a scarf.

** References are made to ''Literature/MillenniumSeries'',
** Amanda is mentioned to have an obsession with [[Literature/{{Twilight}} books about vampires and werewolves]].
* TraumaCongaLine: The killer's early life. In infancy, he was abused by his biological parents. A nurse kidnaps him [[spoiler:and raises him [[RaisedAsTheOppositeGender ''as her daughter'']], teaching that "girls are good, boys are bad". One day the nurse dies but her ID is stolen. By the time authorities identify her and find her child, "Lee Galespi" is close to death by starvation. And that is before he enters the foster care system.]]
* ThemeSerialKiller: The killer chooses to "execute" his victims with variations on the death penalty: one is shot execution style, the foster parents are killed via an overdose (lethal injection), the psychiatrist's murder is based upon the electric chair, and the judge is garroted to death. [[spoiler:His first victims die in an improvised gas chamber.]]

* CoolOldLady: Denise, a woman in her sixties who is friends with Ryan and Pedro.

%%* TragicVillain: The killer's early life . He was abused by his biological parents, kidnapped by a nurse who raised him ''as her daughter'' and nurtured an obsession for cleanliness. After the nurse's death, the "daughter" has a male identity reimposed

%%* TragicVillain: The killer's early life . He was abused by his biological parents, kidnapped by a nurse who raised him ''as her daughter'' and nurtured an obsession for cleanliness. After the nurse's death, the "daughter" has a male identity reimposed

* TheReveal:

* ContrivedCoincidence: Judge Rachel Rosen's body is found by the house cleaners... whose mother is the housekeeper at Blake Jackson's home ... who still happens to have an amicable relationship with his former son-in-law ... who is in charge of the Homicide Unit of the Police Department.

** Amanda is mentioned to have an obsession with [[Literature/{{Twilight}} books about vampires and werewolves]].

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Gary, one of Indiana's patients at the holistic clinic is very interested in her, but she finds him boring as hell.

* HandicappedBadass: Despite losing his leg during a mission, Ryan still practices at the gun range, trains his dog (who was his partner in Afghanistan) and is a triathlete. [[spoiler: When the identity of Indiana's abductor is found, he and Indiana break into the location where she is being kept. Not even mortally wounded stops him from saving her.]]

* HandicappedBadass: Despite losing his leg during a mission, Ryan still practices at the gun range, trains his dog (who was his partner in Afghanistan) and is a triathlete.

Amanda Martin is fascinated by crime. She is currently obsessed with a game called “Ripper” which she plays online with players from around the world. With the assistance of her beloved grandfather, she guides the group (Sherlock, Esmeralda, Colonel Paddington, and Abatha) in their objective of solve crimes inspired by those of Jack the Ripper. She finds herself steering her group toward solving real life murders taking place around the San Francisco area where she lives.

** A psychologist who was a DomesticAbuser and once prescribed electroshock.
** A HangingJudge from Juvenile Court, known as The Butcher, who is a tightwad and who is constantly late in paying for her cleaning service.

* RummageSaleReject: Amanda. Her ensembles are not guided by trends or even common sense. When she goes out to breakfast with her dad and he points out that she is in flip-flops when it's rainy out, she just puts on a Peruvian wool hat and a scarp.
* ShotgunWedding: Bob and Indiana marry as a result of her becoming pregnant as a teenager. Since he was a DumbJock with a HairTriggerTemper, their marriage didn't last too long. Oddly enough, their relationship is very friendly and kind by the time the novel takes place.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Indiana is constantly losing her phone, her keys, and appears oblivious to things going around. But when it comes to her work as a holistic healer, she is a consummate professional.
* CoolOldLady: Denise, a woman in her sixties who is friends with Ryan and Pedro.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: One of Indiana's patients at the holistic clinic is very interested in her, but she finds him boring as hell.

Amanda Martin is fascinated by crime. She is currently obsessed with a game called “Ripper” which she plays online with players from around the world. With the assistance of her beloved grandfather, she guides the group (Sherlock, Esmeralda, Colonel Paddington, and Abatha) in their objective of solve crimes inspired by those of Jack the Ripper. She finds herself steering her group toward solving real life murders taking place around the San Francisco area where she lives.

Amanda is a Game Master for an group of young people playing "Ripper", a role-playing game where they are trying to solve murders. She finds it easy to convince her group to switch to try solving real life murders taking place around the San Francisco area where she lives. But the game stops being fun when her free-spirited mother goes missing.