A grisly page-turner set on the gas-lit streets of late Victorian Manhattan. A reporter and psychologist (with a little help from Teddy Roosevelt) chase down a Jack-the-Ripperesque killer who's preying on boy prostitutes. Sensationalism (and contrived ending) aside, the novel is especially strong on period detail, evoking the corrupt politics, raucous brothels and smoky train stations of turn-of-the-century New York in all their seedy glory.  (NYC69, $7.99)