WHITECHAPEL: THE FINAL STAND OF SHERLOCK HOLMES is the most controversial book written about the Great Detective in history. It depicts London’s infamous East End in a stark, brutal fashion that does not flinch away from the realities of the times. Picking up where Arthur Conan Doyle left off with Holmes’ increasing dependence on cocaine and morphine, Bernard J. Schaffer has delved deeper into the characters of the canon than any author would dare.
Schaffer’s elegant prose, even when using the most vulgar terms of the times, shines through like a light in this darkest of times.
The murders committed by the world’s first celebrity serial killer are shown in explicit detail, but it is the author’s willingness to face those horrors that makes us understand the odds against our heroes.
By the book’s end, readers will have survived not only the events of Whitechapel, but are given a glimpse of what becomes of Holmes and Watson in their final years. The book is not for the faint of heart, or for those expecting another rehashing of simple Victorian mysteries. If you are looking for a living, breathing hero who must overcome insurmountable odds, then look no further.
(This is the original, unrated edition of WHITECHAPEL)
APIARY SOCIETY EXCLUSIVE!
The Author Discusses His Debt to Morrissey in the Creation of
Whitechapel: The Final Stand of Sherlock Holmes
In 2008 I was living in a dumpy little apartment, plunking away on an untrustworthy laptop. The apartment was okay, I guess, if you didn't mind doing without little things like heat. On a good day, the water coming out of the bath spigot was light yellow. On bad days, it was much darker.
I've written and re-written this next part a few times, wondering how much I should say, but this time I think I'll just say something true.
I'd broken up with my wife and only had my kids half the week. The reason I'd moved into such a crappy little apartment in the first place was because it was right next store to my little boy's elementary school. I wanted him to know I was still right there.
The rent was high, the neighbors were horrible, and the amenities were non-existent. But he knew I was right there.
The nights without them were soul-crushing. I missed them so much that it eventually drove me to attempt a project so difficult that it consumed my every waking moment without them. There was a ton of research involved and the insane attempt to marry two fully realized genres in a way that had never been done before. WHITECHAPEL began as a notebook full of scribbles regarding my take on the actual Ripper investigation.
On those lonely nights, I would play Morrissey's WHO PUT THE 'M' IN MANCHESTER dvd over and over. Moz's perspective on living a solitary, sexless existence informed my view of Sherlock Holmes and also echoed many of the things I was experiencing at the time.
I love that video. The song too. As I wrote the book, it seemed fitting to pay tribute to Morrissey by including him. Stephen Patrick Morrissey, the reporter, really has no resemblence to Mozzer the rock star except in name. I just did it as a tribute.
For me, the Apiary Society would be the enduring light Holmes gave to the world that would never go out. It would shine against the darkness for all eternity as long as there were brave souls willing to keep it lit. When it came time to name the other Acts for the book, I had to look no further than the Morrissey playlist on my iPod.
So here, just for fun, is my Top Ten Mozzer/Whitechapel Playlist
1. Will Never Marry
2. Death of a Disco Dancer
3. Come Back to Camden
4. I Know it's Gonna Happen Someday
5. Used to be a Sweet Boy
6. Dear God Please Help me
7. The Headmaster Ritual
8. The Queen is Dead
9. London
10. To Me You Are a Work of Art
My Other Influences and Research Material For This Project Include
