Portrait of a Killer vs The True Face of Jack the Ripper: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Jack, Serial murderers, Serial murders, London, True Crime
Portrait of a Killer
“Monday, August 6, 1888, was a bank holiday in London.”
"Between August and November 1888, at least seven women were murdered in London's Whitechapel area. The gruesome nature of their deaths caused panic and fear in the East End for months, and gave rise to the sobriquet…
vs
The True Face of Jack the Ripper
Melvin Harris, the man chiefly responsible for exposing the "Ripper Diary", now reveals the true face of Jack the Ripper. Harris disposes of all previous candidates and by using FBI techniques he tells the story of how…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The True Face of Jack the Ripper is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 7 for Portrait of a Killer.
- Portrait of a Killer has the widest readership — 36446 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Portrait of a Killer | The True Face of Jack the Ripper | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.5 (36446) | 3.3 (42) |
| Hardcover | 2.8 (39) | — |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
Reception
| Portrait of a Killer | The True Face of Jack the Ripper | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 36446 | 42 |
| Editions | 37 | 5 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 20488 | 24 |
| Reading it now | 442 | — |
| Written reviews | 1719 | 3 |
| Wikipedia attention | 469 | — |
| Pages | 391 | 220 |