Devil's Due

*I got a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

This and other reviews can also be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews.

This was so fast paced I'm actually out of breath now! The writing is excellent, I love most of the main characters, and I think the mystery and suspense parts were so expertly done I could have never guessed any of what happened... Then again, my name isn't Simms ;)

Devil’s Due is even better than Devil’s Bargain, with not only one, but two strong female protagonists! I also loved where the story went, both with the mystery of the psychics and with the way Jazz and Lucia interacted with each other and the other characters.

As McCarthy is liberated from prison, only Lucia is there to greet him, because James and Lucia made sure Jazz was far away from the courthouse during the hearing. To keep her safe – or so they convinced themselves. When Jazz realizes that McCarthy is no longer in prison, the first thing she wants to do is to find him, to let him know how happy she is that he was finally cleared of murder. She quickly understands that something is going on between her ex-partner and her current partner, her keen sense of observation never slowing down.



( )

Continuation of the story started with Devil's Bargain staring the same cast of characters (less those killed off earlier) and new lethal characters added as needed to further the story. This episode starts with the startling disclosure of photos of photo's with date stamps that prove McCarthy couldn't have been the killer for the crimes that he was imprisoned for. A judge sets him loose and Lucia meets him as her is released. The story evolves with the warring forces, Cross Society and Eidolon with their respective lead psychics, Max Simms and Kavanaugh leading their separate teams to promote their individual visions of how the future should evolve by taking direct actions or deliberately avoiding actions that could cause different results. Jazz and Lucia and their individual support characters agreed to stop acting on the red letters and not support the would be puppet masters by following their directions. This action made them targets of both organizations. Rather than wait like acters, Jazz and Lucia resolved to take the action to the Cross Society and Eidolon, vowing to eliminate these two social manipulators, bringing random choice back to the people. The remaining action including the ensuing pairing of extremely talented couples and the support of the detectives associates and friends leads to routing of the bad guys. There are some strange twisted corners and characters taking strange paths to the end of this story. An enjoyable, twisted, entertaining fast read! ( )

The 2nd Book in the Red Letter Series, follows on well from Devil's Bargain.

'The money Lucia and her new partner recieved to open their detective agency had come with strings: any assignment delivered via red envelope had to be top priority. No Sweat. No one could make Lucia do something she didn't believe in - right?

Wrong. Lucia soon learned that every choice she made meant life or death for innocent people. No one could be trusted, not even the ex-cop she'd hired - and fallen for. In fact, Ben might be her fatal weakness, if the powers warring to control the future used him to control Lucia...' ( )

Ok, just not as good as the first. ( )

I feel dirty, I finally own a Mills and Boon book and I like it.

OK, it's not your typical Mills and Boon bodice ripper, or at least not as I imagine one - the heroines are feisty, strong women - an ex-spy and an an ex-cop, the men aren't simpering idiots (although one is relatively simpering, he's a lawyer rather than an assassin or similar, but he has a go for his lover's life). The story isn't really a love story, although there is a degree of attraction that develops and is consummated after overcoming various obstacles. But... when the obstacles include breaking into the headquarters of an organisation that is trying to manipulate the world through the predictions of their psychics with an EMP device you might forgive me if I find the rest of the story, well far-fetched, to be pretty important too. ( )