Rose Wilding

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book.

I had high hopes for this book and it started out great. Seven women sitting in a circle in a room with a man's severed head in the middle. They all know him and have some sort of history with him and one of them murdered him.

I thought "wow, this is going to be good". it was meh. I read the book but there were so many characters that I was thinking I didn't really care who killed him because he was an awful person.… (more)

The story begins on New Year’s Eve,1999 with seven women in a hotel room sitting in a semicircle with a severed head in their midst. The head belongs to Jamie Spellman a man who is no stranger to any of them. Each of these women has been wronged by him in some way and they have been plotting to get their revenge but decapitating him wasn’t quite what they had planned. None of them is aware of who amongst them is responsible for the same but each of them harbors suspicions of who it might be. However, they are not interested in outing the culprit and focus on covering up the crime and protecting one another.

As the narrative progresses we get to know more about each of these women, how their stories intersect with the deceased, the events that led to their being in the hotel room with Jamie’s decapitated head, and what transpires in the two weeks following that fateful night as the women try to maintain their innocence. Complicating matters further is the fact that the investigator in charge of the case has a history with one of the women in question.

Narrated from multiple perspectives (in the third-person), Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding is a well-crafted, immersive read. The narrative moves fast and at no point did I lose interest in the narrative. I enjoyed trying to figure out who the culprit could be (It’s not too hard, but I thoroughly enjoyed the build-up to the end!). What makes this story interesting is that Jamie was truly a despicable character and not only at no point do you feel sorry for what happened to him, you also can’t fault these women for wanting him dead. The novel does venture into dark territory, touching upon themes of rape, police negligence in investigating crimes against women, gaslighting, manipulation, abuse, gender politics and transphobia among others. Not all the characters are explored in equal depth but I did like the diverse cast of characters and how skillfully the author weaves their distinct backstories into the narrative. The ending was a tad abrupt but overall, I enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I paired my reading with audio narration by Colleen Prendergast which certainly elevated my experience with this novel. The narrator does an impressive job of voicing the characters, setting the mood and bringing the story to life. Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. I would not hesitate to recommend the novel, the audiobook or pairing both for an intense immersion reading experience.… (more)

Let me start off with a disclaimer; I don't read thrillers! The last one I read was god knows how long ago, and I generally don't have the patience for them. And yet, I had all the patience in the world for Rose Wilding's debut novel, Speak of the Devil.

Speak of the Devil is a tricky novel to write; it's not just that Jamie is despicable; the women are whole people. Each of them is the perfect victim for Jamie because, well, in the eyes of the law, each of them has a reason to be lying. Each of them is not the perfect victim for the legal system, as shown time and time again. She shows us why these women were easy for him to manipulate, and she doesn't inadvertently slut shame as she depicts them as human beings. Doing that is hard, and it takes a solid writer to do that consistently throughout the book. That whole thing with Ana and Olive; very few writers have the guts to play it like that and to play it well!

So with that, I don't want to write more on this book and inadvertently spoil it for you. You should go ahead and read it, even if you don't usually read books in the thriller category. It consistently maintains the voices of these very different women and doesn't confuse you because each is shown to be a very different person.

And sadly, we all know men like this. Perhaps not to the same extent, on a much lower level, but just as ready to assume that we deserve less and can be dominated and bullied, and that's what we owe him because we're in his presence.

With that being said, the ending was one thing that I didn't vibe with. That's just a personal thing because I feel like a lot of people will enjoy that!… (more)