Customer Reviews

Devil's Due (Silhouette Bombshell)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a big fan of Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series and so I decided to try this new series of hers. I really enjoyed the first book, Devil's Bargain, and this follow-up was just as good if not better than the first!

This story basically picks up where the first leaves off but instead of the story being told by Jazz's point of view, this one is being told by the POV of her partner, Lucia Garza. In the first book, Lucia comes off as a little cold and standoffish but this book really explores her character and shows a more humane and vulnerable side to her. By the end of the book, I really came to like her- she is intelligent, strong, smart and tough as nails. I also liked the character of Ben McCarthy, who was introduced in book 1 but really given the spotlight in this book. The interaction between him and Lucia was well-played out. Overall, Ms. Caine does an excellent job with the characterization in this book, much better than in the first, and by the end you are rooting for all the characters and feel they are indeed a family.

A second big plus was that the plot and storyline were tight. You understand more about the Cross Society, Eidolon and the role the characters play in the grander scheme. Secrets are revealed and big changes to the key players are introduced that you might not see coming. The book was action packed from beginning to end and keeps the reader hooked.

Overall, this was a great book! It has great characters, plot and a different and interesting premise. If you have read any of the author's other works, you should check out this series. I hope there is another book in the works.

Great Job, Ms. Caine!

As with the first book, Devil's Bargain, this second "red letter" book almost has it all.

Great romance - As we saw at the end of the first book, Ben and Lucia are intensely attracted to each other. However, despite some steamy romantic scenes, Ben walks out on Lucia (not once, but twice), leaving the reader to wonder "What the heck happened? What was that about? Does he not feel the attraction, too?" Well, he certainly IS attracted, but the answer on why he doesn't take Lucia up on it, doesn't come until the last couple of chapters of the book. Wow. Pretty inventive, Ms. Caine.

Great action - Once again the Eidolon Corporation and the Cross Corporation are fighting it out over who gets to use the two partners, Jazz and Lucia. Throats get sliced, noses broke, people get poisoned, and that's only in the first half of the book. As with the fabulous "Weather Warden" series, Ms. Caine delivers nonstop action and the plot advances at such a quick pace that there is no let up until she brings the story to its powerful conclusion.

Great characterization - Lucia is almost an anti-heroine. She is violent, manipulative, brutal and efficient. However, she is also completely loyal, emotionally vulnerable and totally protective of those she cares about. I really wish we could have got more background on Lucia. There was various vague references to a really bad time in Russia with a spy named Gregory, who by the way, I wanted to shoot, so I can't believe Lucia didn't. I waited the entire book for the story to be told, but it wasn't. Considering the fact that Lucia ends up being obligated to Gregory and promising him a return favor leads me to believe that this second red letter book may possibly not be the last one. Also, the character of Ben is too die for, no wonder Lucia falls for him!

The Plot - Eidolon Corporation and Cross Corporation are really two fronts for two major groups of people. The psychics in the group feed their various visions to the computer people, who then run the variables through major computers, coming up with several timelines of things that MAY happen. The Cross Corporation consider themselves the "good guys" and Eidolon is basically doing it for the power/money, the "bad guys". The only problem is the old saying, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". Neither corporation comes out smelling very good, while both of them use and fight over our two heroines, Jazz and Lucia. Both corporations wouldn't hesitate a minute - and didn't - to let thousands of people die in order to bring in a timeline they wanted. It's a little hard to swallow this concept, and it's slightly difficult to keep track of the many threads running through the book concerning the timelines. Just a little too much for a 300 page paperback.

Overall, I liked the book very much, despite the convoluted plot and the unanswered questions concerning some of the characters. I couldn't help but wonder why in the world they kept opening those stupid envelopes! I kept waiting for Jazz to pull a gun out of her desk and simply shoot the FedEx guy. Lol. However, I would recommend buying both books, and keeping an eye out of a possible third.

Book 2 in the Red Letter series.

Lucia Garza, the mysterious half of the Callender & Garza detective agency is tough, smart, beautiful, controlled and resourceful. She needs to be all that to deal with the Cross Society . . . and to deal with her partner, Jazz Callender.

Jazz and Lucia hire Jazz's former police detective partner, Ben McCarthy, to work for their agency. Ben was framed and sent to prison and, after two years, exonerated and released. He has secrets, big secrets.

Jazz and Lucia still receive the red envelopes (see the first book, DEVIL'S BARGAIN) and one has a nasty little anthrax surprise. The Cross Society is warring with Eidolon and Jazz, Lucia and etc are pawns.

I liked DEVIL'S BARGAIN more than this one. This story was confusing. But the dialogue flowed and the characters were well drawn. Ben was a nice man faced with awful, soul-destroying choices. Jazz was understandable, relatable; Lucia was too much of an enigma. Don't know if there will be a third book. Some plot lines were left unraveled so another book is possible. If yes, I'd buy it. If no, too bad.

Couldn't put the book down. I adore Rachel Caine's writing and found she doesn't have a pattern like most authors. I literally gobbled it up.

It was a very cute story, but seemed written more for teenagers. Although all of her books so far are light, quick reads, I have hopes that she will delve into stories with a little more meat to them, because I like her writing style. I will still get the rest of the books in the series to see how it turns out, and I can depend on them not taking up too much time.

Rachel Caine's Red Letter Series, of which "Devil's Due" is the second book, is up to the high standards she set in her on going Weather Warder series.

She delivers contemporary novels that combine suspense and action with believable fantasy premises. Her characters are very real, and the reader is pulled in and identifies with them.

The books themselves should come with warnings. Don't start at 9:00 pm, because you will be up all night.

I like hard-core SF space opera, like Weber's Honor Harrington Series, and alternate history stories like Eric Flints Ring of Fire series. Rachel Caine's writing is just as good!

This is a very good read and definitely worth the price of admission.

I bought this book because I LOVE Rachels Cains Weather Warden series, but this one was missing something. I just didn't care what happend to the caracters. I finished but don't think I will continue reading the series.

Devil's Due by Rachel Caine is a fast paced thrill ride of a read. I kept wondering when the heroine would get a chance to catch her breath. Devil's Due takes place right after Devil's Bargain. It follows along from Lucia's point of view. Jazz and Lucia still are involved with the Cross Society and growing more disenchanted with it as time goes on. Jazz's old partner, Ben, is now out of prison being exonerated of the murder charge, and is working with their firm. Ben and Lucia are undoubtedly attracted to each other as they continue to try and fight the good fight.

I'm not sure what genre these books fall into. I wouldn't necessarily classify them as Urban Fantasy. The only supernatural element seems to be a psychic character. The rest follows along more as a spy thriller. Ms. Caine imbues her characters with complex emotions and hints at deep back stories without bogging down the action. I found it easier to connect with the cool and controled Lucia than to the loose canon that is Jazz. I think that is why I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series.

Firstly, let me say, I - an adult male, am greatly embarrassed to admit that I have purchased and happily read a Mills & Boons novel. Ahem! Yes, indeed, it was pleasurable. Well, to start off, at the bookstore chain they were giving away M&B for Rs.99 each, which is like USD 2. So I saw through those tempting names and fixed my gaze on `Intrigue Series'. This was about a detective, a female one of course. So I said to myself, why not, I like crime (not in a criminal way). Plus the cover was indeed intriguing with the `Red Letter Days' series stamped on the back.

So Devil's Due, I realized is a second book in a series and even though I never read the first one, this was very much unabridged and easy to follow. Told from the perspective of Lucia Garza, a strong, fashionable, desirable, cold femme fatale; who manages to get her way most of the time; she is loaded and rich by her past experience and now working as a private eye due to a benevolent gift of finance from a secret agency - the Cross Society. Now all is normal till half of the book is over. Then you realize about timelines and leads and how events in the future are being manipulated. Lucia and her partner Jazz have to give priority to any red letter order they receive from the Cross Society. This does some good and some bad. They are joined by relevant male love interests. Ben McCarthy joins their operation and falls for Lucia like moth on flame. There is good chemistry described in these pages.

All the characters are well developed. The plot also moves swiftly and there is plenty to worry and wonder about. Eidolon the rival time-future manipulator is planning a big hit. Our heroes are losing faith in Cross Society. A nerd with a vault like residence and Hummer for commute is also present. It is all very well-done mix with plenty of thrills in intermittent spaces.

The last four chapters are exhilarating to say the least. These had me on edge. It was unfolding events and info like an ocean with an upset stomach. I was very much engaged during the last few chapters and was happy with the way everything took place. It's a Mills and Boons so no one reads it for tragedy-news. Things were kept real and yet pleasant. The concept of changing or altering future is very interesting background and how the characters affect or force changes is very entertaining.


As my first Mills & Boons novel - it was very enjoyable popular fiction. Not what I usually read but would check out similar things from Mills and Boons again.

What Jazz Callendar has worked for is now reality; her former police partner is now a free man, but Ben McCarthy's fresh start at life means more to her detective partner, Lucia Garza. Over the past few months, Ben has become dear to her. His release comes just as the Cross Society and the Eidolon group have begun turning up the heat on them. It seems like their benefactors want them and Borden, the Cross Society lawyer who is Jazz's lover, out of the game they play. Anthrax, knives, and psychological warfare are just a few of the punches thrown. Lucia and Jazz are on the verge of finding out how twisted the people they work for are, and how complex the plot they are in the middle of is.

**** This is a fascinating book. If you enjoyed the Matrix, or if you didn't, you'll love it. Illusions and counterplots abound. You never know what will happen next. Reading this book will wake up your mind and keep you on the edge of your seat. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews.