Is the memoir purporting to be the confessions of the notorious serial killer actually that, or just a hoax? Carnac traces his path to infamy from his childhood, when he's traumatized by the murder of his mother by his father, who then turns the fatal knife on himself. He discusses his compulsion to kill, attributing it to his ancestral line of French executioners. In an appendix, Ripper expert Paul Begg does a good job of addressing and countering problems raised by the account, but in the end, it could be taken for simply a clever work of historical fiction.--Publisher's Weekly
