READ FOR AUGUST & September.

Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son by Gordon Burn,

first published by Faber and Faber in 1984.

Most of us love a great crime thriller. There is something fascinating about them, the why, the how, the when and perhaps even where the crime happened are all curious details most of us with a narrative and inquisitive mind love to know.

Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son, is a biography on the late serial killer Peter Sutcliffe -- AKA The Yorkshire Ripper -- a man or monster most of us living in the United Kingdom know about well.

This novel was presented to me on a module while studying for my undergraduate degree at university. Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son, was included on the booklist as one of the novels on the "Test of Evil" module put together by my law-loving lecturer on a series of serial killers living and operating in England between the 1940s and 1990s.

The lecturer had chosen eight novels, The Sleep of Reason: an investigation into the death of James Bulger, a two-year-old boy abducted and killed by two young boys aged ten and of course, Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son. The others I cannot remember, but I can recall they were all as disturbing yet enthralling at the same time.

Photos of the Yorkshire Ripper with his wife, Sonia, and Jimmy Saville who perhaps visited him in prison.

The lecturer's intention was to get us to think about the person behind the crime and decide whether or not they are entirely evil.

If you were to judge Peter Sutcliffe just by looking at the photographs above, what you might see is a man on his wedding day that looked completely normal, decent and even a little shy.

You would not be able to tell the man in the photos could kill thirteen women (this figure is disputable) and tried to kill a further seven.

John Burn did a phenomenal job after moving to Bingley in Yorkshire, where Peter Sutcliffe lived. He spent eight to twelve months interviewing those who knew the Ripper and reading Sutcliffe's case file.

John later presented to the reader a full scope of the man being the shy smile.

The reader gets to see Sutcliffe as a young boy clinging to his mother's dress and moving through the house he shared with his mother, father and other siblings without making a sound. Sutcliffe was noted for his silence -- his ability to be present in a room without anyone noticing.

Sutcliffe is shown to us as a troubled and clinging child and later as a young man digging graves with his friends for his living. Sutcliffe was the first of his friends to own a car, which he took great pride in. He was considered handsome and had his share of girlfriends and later married a school teacher, Sonia, who remained faithful even after his conviction.

The question the lecturer wanted us to answer was, was Peter Sutcliffe completely evil?

In order to answer this question, you would have to read the book yourself.

Please give it a go and see what your conclusion is.

-CRW.