8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What is going on at Bold Strokes Books?, August 14, 2010
This review is from: The Devil Be Damned (Cain Casey Devil Series) (Paperback)
To tell you the truth I have enjoyed Ali Vali and Radclyffe's writing for a long time. Way back to the time the posted their work on fan sites. I have also enjoyed many of the stable of very good writers they have published in the last few years. Recently however I have been disappointed with books like The Devil Be Damned novel. Also Radclyffe's Trauma Alert. It seems that any book that is part of an established series is dedicated to setting up the next book in the series. Leaving only twenty pages at the end to provide only the most unsatisfactory of plot resolution. This leaves the reader a year before they can get any resolution to several of the plot twists. We readers are being teased unmercifully with books that only offer 264 pages hardly an appetizer for the solid reader. It would be nice to read one of your fine books and close it with the satisfaction I have enjoyed from so many of your past offerings.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It helps if you've read the previous books in the series, September 6, 2010
This review is from: The Devil Be Damned (Cain Casey Devil Series) (Paperback)
The Devil Be Damned is the fourth book in the Casey Family Saga and picks up where Deal With the Devil left off.
Cain Casey should be enjoying her life. Her wife Emma is pregnant with their third child, her family is at the height of its power and the FBI is still running in circles trying to prove that Cain has done something illegal. Problems abound however. Cain's organization is still searching for the men who harmed Emma in the last book, drug lords are trying to form a partnership with the Casey empire, cousin Muriel is sleeping with the FBI agent charged with catching Cain and Remi Jatibon, Cain's friend and business partner, is trying to help her lover Dallas Montgomery overcome shadows from her past. Further complicating matters is the arrival of a woman who wants to control New Orleans and unleashes a brutal wave of killing that shocks even the Caseys and the Jatibons. Cain may have met her match this time.
Ali Vali is one of the best writers in the genre and has created a unique character in Cain Casey. It's not often that the head of a crime family, who doesn't hesitate to use torture and murder when necessary, is used as the definition of honor, tradition and heroism. Vali uses stereotypes in some areas, specifically making FBI agents fanatics, bumblers or criminals, and plays against type when she gives women dominant positions in an environment that usually expects women to stay in the shadows. The use of women in non-traditional roles gives a lift to the story and a different flavor.
The Devil Be Damned illustrates the strongest and weakest aspects of a series. For those fans who have read the previous books, this gives them a chance to catch up with the latest chapters in the lives of some favorite characters. It moves the story forward and allows the reader to reacquaint with Cain, Emma, Remi and the others. Where it falls down is that it's weak as a stand alone novel. There are references to past events with little explanation to set them in context and some of the behaviors in the book don't make sense or seem overblown if the reader doesn't know what's happened before in the saga. The plot lines in this book are also not all resolved. Instead this book is used as a set up for the next in the series. That may be good for selling books, but it's frustrating for a reader.
This is an above average book and worth reading; however, for total enjoyment, it really would be good to start with the first book and work forward. That isn't mandatory, but it will increase the appreciation of the book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
where's the rest of the book?, August 25, 2010
This review is from: The Devil Be Damned (Cain Casey Devil Series) (Paperback)
i have been looking forward to this book FOREVER. now that i have finished it, i'm a bit disappointed by the delivery.
while the writing is okay, it's not as tight as the previous books in the series.
bit of a SPOILER:
was so looking forward to a wrap-up of the events that occurred at the end of Deal w/ the Devil. there is no wrap-up on that major cliffhanger. there are additional plotlines that begin and end in this book, despite the fact that the book is significantly shorter than all the others in the series. i feel like it ends a little abruptly. where is the rest of the book? when will cain get her revenge? when are cain and emma getting married? why is muriel still with shelby? i am happy however, that remi and mano got to go "snake eyes" on a fool and deliver some street justice.
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