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Mark Blacklock

I'm Jack Kindle Edition

by Mark Blacklock (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.9 51 ratings

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An “intelligent, disturbing slice of noir” that portrays the man who derailed the police investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper (The Guardian).

In this provocative novel, Mark Blacklock portrays the true and complex history of John Humble, aka Wearside Jack, the Ripper Hoaxer, a timewaster and criminal, sympathetic and revolting, the man hidden by a wall of words, a fiction-spinner worthy of textual analysis. In this remarkable work, John Humble leads the reader into an allusive, elusive labyrinth of interpretations, simultaneously hoodwinking and revealing.

I’m Jack is a riveting novel about truth, lies, prison and shame. It is also a profound and furious love letter to Sunderland. It is a puzzle, a hoax, a multi-voice portrait and a virtuoso assemblage of textual elements. I’m Jack announces the arrival of a radically talented and innovative novelist.

“A gripping study in self-invention—and, ultimately, self-erasure.”—Tom McCarthy, author of the Man Booker Prize finalists, Satin Island and C

“Here are dark telegrams from an expertly realized otherness that is Sunderland. Spare. Swift. Smart. And dangerous. Carrying us through maps of shame to rescue a convincing fiction of the past from its sullen entropy.”—Iain Sinclair, award-winning author of The Last London

“A chilling debut . . . An audacious exercise in mimicry . . . Its tone is mischievous, with a vein of dark, crafty humor—though the overall effect is somber. Blacklock’s Humble is impossible to like; yet by the end it is almost impossible not to feel sorry for him.”—Financial Times

“A deftly executed ventriloquist act, it’s anchored in the true story of notorious hoaxer John Humble.”—Observer

Print length

221 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Granta Books
Publication date

June 4, 2015
File size

4026 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A gripping study in self-invention - and, ultimately, self-erasure - Tom McCarthy

Here are dark telegrams from an expertly realised otherness that is Sunderland. Spare. Swift. Smart. And dangerous. Carrying us through maps of shame to rescue a convincing fiction of the past from its sullen entropy - Iain Sinclair

The varied range and wit of his polyphonic chorus are reminiscent of Joe Orton's darkly subversive correspondence pranks... [An] intelligent [and] disturbing slice of noir - Catherine Taylor, Guardian

An audacious exercise in mimicry... Its tone is mischievous, with a vein of dark, crafty humour - though the overall effect is sombre. Blacklock's Humble is impossible to like; yet by the end it is almost impossible not to feel sorry for him - Austin Collings, Financial Times

Less a novel and more an assault on the senses, I'm Jack cleverly uses inter-textual trickery and deft Mackem parlance to create a portrait of a man obsessed. It is a forensic montage, a frenzied confessional and a stark commentary on the effects of public notoriety. Moving, haunted and necessary - Benjamin Myers, author, Pig Iron

Compelling, troubling, fascinating, a delight to read. It is a sublime anti-novel and a brilliantly original intervention into a most peculiar episode of recent history - James Miller, author, Lost Boys

Absorbing and fascinating. Using multi-layered storytelling, a deep personal knowledge of Sunderland past, present and legend in a believable and hard-hitting blend of fact and imagination, it paints a genuinely disturbing vision of an obsessive, calculating and ultimately self-destructive personality - Bryan Talbot, author, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes

A deftly executed ventriloquist act, it's anchored in the true story of notorious hoaxer John Humble... The book itself is just as slippery - Hephzibah Anderson, Observer

[An] intriguing debut... There is an air of grubby menace throughout - Ben Myers, New Statesman

The ageing Humble is a figure lost on the margins of society: alcoholic, in and out of gaol and lacking any real relationship... [Suggesting] that crime might be understood by looking at the particular social situations that contribute to it, Blacklock presents Humble as far from 'evil' but a melancholic echo of a wider deprivation - Jerome de Groot, History Today --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

MARK BLACKLOCK has a doctorate in 4th Dimensionality, speaks third-class Japanese and was once a human cannonball. He lives in South London with his wife and three daughters. Mark's debut novel, I'M JACK, about the Yorkshire RIpper hoaxer, was published by Granta in June 2015, and is currently being made into a feature film. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00RPYDG8C
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Granta Books (June 4, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 4, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4026 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 221 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #2,544,551 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,631 in Serial Killers
- #4,412 in Psychological Literary Fiction
- #4,557 in Noir Crime

Customer Reviews:
3.9 51 ratings

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Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5

51 global ratings

5 star		46%
4 star		25%
3 star		14%
2 star		6%
1 star		9%

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Top reviews from other countries

Peggy Sue Potter

The start is hard to follow, persevere.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 8, 2021

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The prologue to the book is written in the Wearside dialect with words misspelled and little to no punctuation. You have to read it phonetically and imagine the accent to get anywhere near understanding it. It was hard to read and was quite long. If the whole book had been written like that I couldn’t have read it.

The story was not in any chronological order and dealt with Humble’s childhood and his incarceration as well as his crime.

Luchair F

A very clever book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 7, 2019

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This is a really smart novel - the tale of Wearside Jack told through real and imagined voices; texts, transcripts, letters, stories and newspaper clippings, some authentic and some made up. I read somewhere that the author hails from Sunderland although I should imagine his life story does not have much in common with that of the hapless John Humble. I also note that his second novel will be published in 2020 and it will be most interesting to see if it turns out to be as compelling as this one. I hope that it is, but of course one wonders how much the subject matter contributed to the success of the first, although i knew nothing of Humble before reading this having avoided any Sutcliffe related books or articles as I am not a True Crime fan.

Jim Wynn

Dark, obsessive but well-paced with touches of humour - a great holiday read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 16, 2015

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This beautifully written novel is a fictional take on episodes from the life of Wearside Jack, the hoaxer who sent in the letters and tapes that diverted the police investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper in the late 70s, indirectly leading to a further 3 murders. Having evaded capture for more than 25 years, the real life 'Jack' was finally arrested due to DNA technology, but was clearly a troubled, guilt-ridden character.

The bulk of this short novel is made up of a sequence of letters from 'Jack', interspersed with a selection of police reports, expert witness statements, as well as letters from a range of ancillary characters, many of whom are as fascinatingly unreliable, and flawed, as the central figure himself.

Although Jack is troubled and obsessive, and the subject matter at times bleak, the narrative is well-paced and includes plenty of dark humour. For me, it hit that tricky balance between being substantial and thought-provoking, without being heavy or impenetrable.

I really, really enjoyed this book. At a little over 200 pages it is a perfect holiday read.

6 people found this helpful

matt pennington

He may not be Jack but he's a very, very clever boy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 14, 2015

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I normally buy my books based on the pub style rantings of my friends, and if I've had a few too many, any ne’er-do-well who happens by me at the bar. Fortunately, for both my tiny contribution to the authors royalty fund, and my enjoyment, I didn't hold “I'm Jack” up to such a rigorous purchasing process. After all, the plot line of “It’s written by a bloke, pretending to be a bloke, who pretended to be another bloke, writing letters to a dead man,” may not have been enough to propel my finger to click the buy button. And, oh, how wrong I would have been.

“I'm Jack” is pure class and the reason that 5 star reviews exist.

Not that it’s an easy read, and certainly not at the start (I read the first few pages about 7 times before I got there), as the author, like any fine scribe, makes us work for our enjoyment, but trust me, once you get “Jack’s” voice inside your head, the pages begin to sparkle.
The protagonist, and pretty much only voice in the novel, is not an easy man to love. He may even struggle to gain the title of “anti-hero,” as many would settle more for “scum-bag”, “loser,” or for those who are more guardian-esque in their reading material, “a man let down by society,”. However such is the power of the authors writing, that we are let into his complex mind, his frailties’ and his outlook on life. I can’t say I came to like him, but incredibly, I felt I understood him.

It’s a true page turner, all the more riveting, as it taps into a particularly gruesome and distasteful part of our modern history. The manner in which he recreates a time and place, through letters, police reports, and other inventive inserts, is a major theme of the book and works wonderfully well. I am not from Sunderland, nor am I of an age to remember too much about “Wearside Jack”, but the feeling of how the case took a hold in the area, pervading every male resting place, from home to pub, and even Rocker Park, is done as well as if the reader was watching a documentary (as an aside, for football fans the Pop Robson mention is pure terrace humour.)

For those who think, such a gushing review could only come from the author, I did not write this book, but I wish I did.

5 people found this helpful

Jack Flash

Very interesting book exposing the truth behind the Sunderland hoaxer ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very interesting book exposing the truth behind the Sunderland hoaxer who misled the Yorkshire Ripper enquiry by his own stupidity rather than a really malicious attempt to pervert the course of justice. You can't help but feel a little sympathy for this not very bright, alcoholic given an 8 year custodial sentence. It seems to smack of revenge from the authorities to divert attention away from their own incompetence

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