3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Speak of the Devil, September 2, 2008
This review is from: Speak of the Devil (Mass Market Paperback)
A fun supernatural thriller. Psychic Greer is a massage therapist in a boutique near Los Angeles. She sees visions of the future, and draws information about people through their auras. Her 18 year-old son sees spirits around people in the present. They both keep their gifts secret, believing that one shouldn't profit from such things.
Then they get drawn into a suspenseful plot involving land-developers, and a young gang member who may be headed for prison if not for the son befriending him. Someone is starting fires in the dry countryside near Los Angeles.
The multiple third-person viewpoints include Greer, her son, a pregnant friend of Greer's who may be in danger, and another friend who is trying to start a new life after escaping an abusive marriage.
Negatives: the writing style is workmanlike, the beauty and wisdom of Greer are emphasized a little too frequently, and the first chapter set in a baby shower with fairly uninteresting women is a little slow.
Positives: the story involving the psychic son grabs the reader. The book gets better and better as you read. The psychic stuff is detailed, believable, and interesting. The subplots are handled with skill and the mystery is well-plotted and involving. Recommended.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Barb's review, February 27, 2011
This review is from: Speak of the Devil (Mass Market Paperback)
I didn't get this book. I gave the vendor a bad rating but after talking to him it was not his fault. he got robbed. I have read small articles on this book and feel it would be great to read. I do think that communication is necessary between seller and buyer if problems arise.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Tommy Lightfoot Garrett At Canyon News Loved Shari's Mystery, June 27, 2009
This review is from: Speak of the Devil (Mass Market Paperback)
BEVERLY HILLS--Reviewing Shari Shattuck's latest novel was both exciting and surprising. Her writing style is like none other. You feel like these are real people in her mysteries and I couldn't make the beautiful diva admit that she's actually writing about real people. Her response, after laughing, "Come on Tommy, you know these are all characters I made up in my own head." Sure Shari, but they say truth is better than fiction. Except when the fiction is dished out by Shattuck herself.
Knowing Shari as a beautiful lady and actress for years, I didn't know she had so much wit and intrigue rolling around her head. "Speak of the Devil" follows the path of Greer Sands, who has a unique talent for seeing glimpses of the future and reading auras-especially those of her friends and neighbors.
While at her friend Jenny's baby shower, Greer has a terrifying premonition of a devastating wildfire. The frightening vision is interrupted by Jenny, asking Greer to predict the gender of her unborn child. Greer envisions a lovely baby girl, but she also sees that the mother may be in mortal danger. Now Greer needs to follow the clues and her visions before everything she loves goes up in flames.
What is amazing about the book as well as other Shattuck novels is that you really feel a strong bond with her protagonist in this story. Greer is someone we already feel we know and care about and we can see the haunting dangers she sees when she's viewing them. Other times when you are reading a story, you can't become engrossed in the storyline and situations going on in the story because you don't feel you know or even like the protagonist. Not in Shattuck's books. You find yourself more worried about Greer in this story than the neighbors and friends she seems alarmed over. Greer is a woman that can do it all, but her guiding factor is protecting her loved ones. Maybe Shattuck being such a great mother is the reason we find this quality so believable in her novel?
This book is 400 pages and not one page is boring. There is something on each page that makes you want to continue reading. I finished this book in two nights because I didn't want to put the novel down. Now we see what makes Shattuck such a brilliant and talented actress, just imagine what all is going on in her head while she's working. We know while writing, it's always something exciting in her mind.
Greer Sands has a supernatural ability about her. Shattuck has a supernatural ability as a writer and this is a must-read for anyone interested in fiction writing and mysteries.
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