|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
NAME OF THE DEVIL isn't so much about the supernatural as it is about making events seem supernatural. This second in the Jessica Blackwood mysteries, by world-acclaimed magician Andrew Mayne, is chockfull of technological, pharmacological, and physical tricks. In it, the reader will find psychoactive fish, possession and exorcism, induced speaking in tongues, apparent flying demons, sleight of hand, and much much more. There's also a very high mortality rate, a great deal of violence, and both a computer and physical stalker involved. To say that this book is plot driven would be an understatement.
That said, the plot is highly engaging, and once started the book is hard to put down. The story alternates between Jessica's childhood during which she was raised by her father and grandfather, both performing magicians, and the present when several murders and a church explosion in rural West Virginia pull FBI Agent Jessica into an amazingly complex plot. As she fights both the bad guys (a drug cartel) and new FBI case leadership, Jessica discovers the name of a demon in several unlikely locations. The more she digs into the past that has apparently resulted in the present mayhem, the broader the web is cast, until even the Vatican is implicated in the evil.
As Jessica works to solve the case of the exploding church, the reader is informed about a wide variety of technological "tricks." She encounters a hidden computer hacker who has amassed a database that NSA would kill for and a drug lord who has the funds to buy and use weapons that would inspire envy in the denizens of the Pentagon. Thoroughly engaging the reader by not only employing these plot devices but also explaining the technology and background behind them, Mayne drives the plot forward. The roughly 400 pages fly by.
The downside to such a plot driven book is that there is little time or space for character development. Jessica Blackwood is the only character who is developed at all. All other characters are stereotypes who appear to be placed in the book to advance the plot. The FBI agents are difficult to keep straight, since none of them has much to distinguish him/herself. Each has one main characteristic: power-mongering, hubris, etc. Although much time and space is given to Jessica's background, even she comes across as rather flat. She is lonely, and she is independent. That's about it, other than that she uses her illusionist background to uncover evil.
The book was very engaging, and readers who love plot, conspiracies, and violence will love it. Those who prefer a nuanced character-based mystery will not find as much to love.
§ Sharon Mensing is the Head of School of Emerald Mountain School, an independent school in the mountains of Colorado, where she lives, reads, and enjoys the outdoors.
Reviewed by Sharon Mensing, September 2015
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
|
