The Devil Is a Gentleman (A Niki Slobodian Novel: Book 2) [Kindle Edition]

J.L. Murray (Author)

Book Description

Where Niki goes, death is never far behind.

Everyone Niki Slobodian knows hates Congressman Frank Bradley. He is the father of New Government, after all. He started the Registry, and the world adopted it. Bradley is the man who separated Abnormals and Normals, and made it a crime for Abbies to exist.

So when Bradley shows up at Niki's door bearing a terrible secret, then promptly disappears, she feels compelled to dig deeper. But the more Niki uncovers, the more danger she is in. A mysterious organization is out for her blood - literally - and her father's criminal past may not be as self-serving as she thought. There is also the matter of Niki's inscrutable employer Sam and the secret of his identity. With help from her partner Bobby Gage, Niki finds out just how little she knew about her family, and the truth of who she really is.

Praise for Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, book one of the Niki Slobodian series:

"Exemplary noir."

"A new kind of heroine."

"J.L. Murray...keeps you captive until the very last page. I didn't
want it to end."

"A legitimate page-turner."

"I can't wait for the next one."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

J.L. Murray grew up in Northwestern Montana in a rural logging and mill town. Like most writers, she started writing at a very young age. She overcame great odds before returning to college and focusing on her craft. A novella she wrote for her first creative writing class was published in an anthology, and another professor invited her to write a memoir about her life, to be published at the university. J.L. declined, being more comfortable with fiction, but the encouragement sent her on her way to writing her first novel. This she threw away immediately after finishing it, and started work on Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. She has never looked back. J.L. lives in Hawaii where she now writes full-time, with help from her husband, the writer and editor John Q. Murray, and two sons. She writes the Niki Slobodian series, and is currently working on several other series and standalones. She can be reached through her blog, http://jlmurraywrites.blogspot.com and her Facebook fanpage, www.facebook.com/jlmurraywriter

Product Details

• File Size: 315 KB
• Print Length: 190 pages
• Publisher: Hellzapoppin Press; 1 edition (May 25, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0086D3PM8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,802 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent follow-up to the original! May 30, 2012

By Rich Meyer

Format:Kindle Edition

The second part of a series, even a popular one, doesn't always turn out the way we would want it. For every The Empire Strikes Back or Iron Man 2, there are dozens of Highlander 2: The Quickening or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Devil is a Gentleman, however, harks back to the former, as this is a very satisfying book.

For the uninitiated, Niki Slobodian is an Abnormal. In the dystopic world she loves, that is a bad thing. This book opens with Niki having the man responsible for it being a bad thing dropping by for a chat. The result of that little talk is the springboard for the entire novel, which is one of the more action-packed paranormal novels that I've read this year. I hate to draw fictional comparisons, but imagine Hellblazer (John Constantine) combined with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Dresden Files, with just a touch of Raymond Chandler and Dante Alighieri. There's a good level of characterization and plot combined with a noir feel, or at least as noir-ish as you can get with ghosts and demons running around. This is what a good pulpy horror/paranormal novel SHOULD be. And, on top of it all, it was very well-written. I was a beta reader for this book and enjoyed the experience immensely.

I would definitely recommend The Devil is a Gentleman. I would also suggest you pick up Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, the first Niki Slobodian novel as well. You don't need to read that one to fully enjoy this book, as you'll get a good introduction to the world she lives in through immersion in this book. They are both great reads!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Non-Stop Action Urban Fantasy -- but read the previous book June 13, 2012

By Janet Samuels

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an urban fantasy book with a lot of violence (although no sex). The book picks up shortly after the previous book (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea). I had read the previous book and it made this book much richer - I do think that while you could read this book without the previous one, not understanding much of the backstory would detract from this book. Nicki Slobodian is an "abnormal" as she can see ghosts; her father was a famous abnormal in that he could summon demons. In this world, abnormals are discriminated against by the "New Government" (they are put on a registry, can't hold jobs, etc). The previous book was about Nicki stopping her father from summoning a really bad demon. In this book, Nicki is trying to track down people who belong to "The Blood" (they drink Angel Blood referred to as "Angelwine"). We also find out several things from the previous book were not what Nicki thought and she learns more about her father and his friends. The book ends with some unanswered items and foreshadowing of what is coming but does NOT end with a big cliffhanger.

This was a very fast-paced book with a lot of adventure. In fact, Nicki would have been completely exhausted from everything she went through during this book! The story is very action-driven; thus, if you don't like that type of story, you may not care for this book. Since the story was so action driven, I felt there was a lot missing on the various backstories (how did The Blood come about? How did they learn about Angelwine? How could they capture Angels? Why did the blood give them special abilities? Etc). A lot of information was thrown at us (The Blood, The Morrigan, the One War, Angelwine) without a lot of explanation. That is the reason that I knocked off one star from my review.

I liked Nicki a lot from the previous book and her character was generally consistent in this book. Regarding the supporting characters, sometimes I wish that we could have slowed down a bit and get more information on her caster (Eli) or the new police commissioner. I missed seeing Sofie (her grandmother) in this book as I felt that Sofie gave her more heart in the previous book.

Overall, while I wish there had been more information on various aspects of the story and the supporting characters, I really enjoyed reading about Nicki and will gladly wait for the next in the series.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast and Powerful October 19, 2012

By Nancy Lee Parish

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

JL Murray has a way of hooking the reader right from the start. You're not just reading the story - you're in the story. I was only going to peek at the beginning of this book for now, as I had read book one (and loved it), and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Fast-paced, powerful, and packs a punch. It's difficult to sum up the story without giving it away, so I won't. Just read it - but start with book one. Highly recommended!

More About the Author

J.L. Murray grew up in Northwestern Montana in a rural logging and mill town. Like most writers, she started writing at a very young age. She overcame great odds before returning to college and focusing on her craft. A novella she wrote for her first creative writing class was published in an anthology, and another professor invited her to write a memoir about her life, to be published at the university. J.L. declined, being more comfortable with fiction, but the encouragement sent her on her way to writing her first novel. This she threw away immediately after finishing it, and started work on Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. She has never looked back.

J.L. lives in Hawaii where she now writes full-time, with help from her husband, the writer and editor John Q. Murray, and two sons. She writes the Niki Slobodian series, and is currently working on several other series and standalones. She can be reached through her website at www.jlmurraywriter.com.