Name of the Devil
Ratings5
Average rating3.4
"In this electrifying sequel to Angel Killer, magician-turned-FBI-agent Jessica Blackwood must channel her past to catch a killer consumed by a desire for revenge. When a church combusts in rural Appalachia, the bizarre trail of carnage suggests diabolical forces are at work. Charged with explaining the inexplicable, the FBI's Dr. Ailes and Agent Knoll once again turn to the ace up their sleeve: Agent Jessica Blackwood, a former prodigy from a family dynasty of illusionists. As the death toll mounts, Jessica discovers the victims share a troubling secret with far-reaching implications that stretch from the hills of West Virginia to cartel-corrupted Mexico to the hallowed halls of the Vatican. Everyone involved in what happened on that horrible night so long ago has tried to bury it except for one person, who believes that the past can be hidden, but never forgiven. Can Jessica draw on her unique understanding of the power and potential of deception to thwart a murderer determined to avenge the past?""--Provided by publisher.
Series
Featured Series
3 primary books4 released booksJessica Blackwood
Jessica Blackwood is a 4-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2014 with contributions by Andrew Mayne.
Reviews
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Reviews with the most likes.
Beware - the author doesn't explain any of the central mysteries of the book.
The major problem with this disappointing follow up is that it bulges with MacGuffins. Problems arise and are just resolved arbitrarily and with little sensible explanation.
Jessica's holed up in an impossible position, surrounded by an army trying to kill her. How will she get out of it? Ah yes, the mysterious, all powerful boyfriend will just show up and chop off their heads.
A reverend blows his brains out on live TV, and leaves behind a tape that suggests something awful happened in his past. What awful thing? How can we recreate an entire scene from audio? Oh, it's cool, the FBI have a clever machine that can detect the tiny sound of a child's ribcage being crushed, and where the people in the room are standing whilst watching it.
But who is the boy? There is no information. Oh, yes there is, here comes the mystical boyfriend again with some cryptic numbers on a mirror, leading to a library and a name. That is then cross referenced against a special secret super database curated by a rich tech geek - friend of the mysterious ex boyfriend! - who runs some algorithm to get the answer...
And on and on. How does clever Jessica solve it? Well, she doesn't. The boyfriend does. Seems he knew what was going on all along. Which kinda makes me wish I could read his story, since he's got all the answers.
Maybe he could tell me how the first crime was committed, what happened to the murderous cop, how was he controlled? How did Grandfather do his bullet trick, and how did it help them prepare to save the pope? How did it save the pope? Did it even save the pope?! (Clearly the pope is saved but no one seemed to actually care about it at the time.)
Reading thrillers and crime writing is a little like experiencing a magic trick and then having the secret revealed. There's a puzzle, and you enjoy watching the detective work backwards to piece it all together. The lure of this series is to see even more magical and impossible murders solved by a magic expert and thereby get some insight into the mind of a magician.
However, there was nothing to learn here and no clever twists to marvel at. Shame.
