This book mixes fact and fiction and follows the fortunes of a policeman in the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, a maniac who killed at least 13 women in the north of England between the mid-1970s and 1980.
It is presented in a breathless style - much of it in dialogue with lots of stream of consciousness, swear words, nightmares, flashbacks, song lyrics, tape recordings, italics and CAPITAL LETTERS just in case you don't get the point that this is a rollercoaster ride we are on.
The story is made more complicated by the fact that the policeman has been brought in from Manchester to investigate the inept performance of the Yorkshire police who have not only failed to catch the killer but been led on a wild goose chase by the infamous hoax tape by a man who claimed to be the Ripper*.
Some of the Yorkshire police are also seen to be corrupt as well as incompetent and the hunt for the Ripper is taking place amidst mistrust and hatred among the police themselves.
As if that was not enough, our hero's attempts to become a father have come to nothing and his wife is in a desperate state after suffering a series of miscarriages.
The whole novel is set in grimy place like Leeds, Wakefield and Manchester as the hero drives backwards and forwards across the Moors (where, of course, the infamous murders carried out by Ian Brady and Mira Hindley in the 1960s occurred). On top of that, it is always raining or snowing, cold and dark.
The bodies of the murdered victims, mainly prostitutes, pile up and are described in horrific detail. Other murders and suicides also feature just in case the reader feels cheated of corpses.
This book is not exactly light reading. I thought it went over the top but this is the style the author has adopted in several other books sets covering real events in the same way, including the miners' strike of 1984.
Having said that, it is good to see a writer trying to set a new style and be different.
* I am not sure if the Yorkshire Ripper case was given wide publicity in the US but American readers who are not familiar with it can find lots of information on the Internet.