Alexander's 1979 novel, Time After Time
, and the movie based on it offered an intriguing concept—Jack the Ripper steals a working model of H.G. Wells's time machine in the 1890s and uses it to travel to the late 20th century. In this pallid sequel, the Ripper has traveled from the year 2353 to 2010, and has in the process somehow transformed into a woman. Wells's beloved wife, Amy Catherine Robbins, who accompanied him from 1979 to 1893 at the end of the first book, has disappeared. Wells follows Amy's trail to 2010, ending up in Los Angeles at the same time as the Ripper, who resumes slaughtering and mutilating multiple victims. Subsequent events quickly vitiate the one shocking plot twist. Neither the Whitechapel murderer's gender change nor Wells's new role as a bohemian married man adds enough to make this a distinctive story in its own right. (Nov.)
