Customer Reviews

The Devil's Shadow

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chicago Mafioso Big Jake Romano hires the world's greatest thief, Julianna "Devil's Shadow" Saint to rob safety deposit box 8697 inside an impenetrable bank vault. Julianna's job is to retrieve a tape that proves Jake murdered Mafia Don Mattoli, a form of fratricide within the community. Julianna succeeds in her endeavor, but a member of her staff kills a homeless man as they leave the scene. The police are a bit disconcerted because nothing of value has been stolen.

Not long afterward, Greg Ennis, a writer investigating the Mafia takes a dive from a skyscraper. Chicago Chief of Detectives Larry Cole and his lieutenant Blackie Silvestri believe someone pushed Ennis out the window. As they begin to investigate, they tie the two cases together, leaving Larry to track the brilliant DEVIL'S SHADOW.

In his eighth police procedural, Larry Cole faces two tough opponents with one having no conscience and the other brilliantly slippery. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action though some of the dialogue between the players feels contrived especially that of Big Jake and his soldiers. Larry and Blackie remain strong charcaters and Julianna is a fantastic femme fatale whose mind makes her the Valentine of modern day safecracking. Hugh Holton has written another powerful entry in a strong series.

Harriet Klausner

Hugh Holton strikes again. I have made a point of reading all of his books and Devil's Shadow proves to be another police thriller in the "can`t put it down category".

Buy this one.

I was shocked to read in a previous review on this book that Hugh Holton died recently in Chicago. Does anyone have more information on the circumstances surrounding his death? How old was he? I just discovered his books and had looked forward to many years of entertainment from this talented writer.

Hugh Holton is gone into the pages of history. He died recently in Chicago and I fear that The Devil's Shadow will serve as his last work. Any true fan of Holton should read this last novel and remember the genius of the south-side cop who let us, but for a moment, into the life of the heroic Larry Cole.

Perhaps I'm asking too much, but Hugh Holton is a much better writer than this book demonstrates. His earlier books were tight, works of art. Great police procedures. Lately, he seems to want to dabble in the mystical and otherworldly. For a writer of the quality of Hugh Holton who is a Chicago cop, there have got to be more interesting stories than this one to share with his readers.