sophie_gillespie's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
tenshinyc's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
taylorjmorton's review
2.0
Fell Short
After reading the two books released so far in his underwater investigative series and the first book in this series, Angel Killer, and absolutely loving them, I had high hopes for this book.
It fell short. Way short.
The plot was hard to follow, and the ending, THE ENDING, was absolutely terrible, anti-climatic, and very disappointing .
After reading the two books released so far in his underwater investigative series and the first book in this series, Angel Killer, and absolutely loving them, I had high hopes for this book.
It fell short. Way short.
The plot was hard to follow, and the ending, THE ENDING, was absolutely terrible, anti-climatic, and very disappointing .
tboofy's review
4.0
I like Andrew Mayne as a writer. This one may not have been quite as good as the first Jessica Blackwood, but it still draws you in. Lots of creepy things going on, people blaming on the Devil. Things get pretty twisty, and a little unrealistic once you get the Pope involved, but still very interesting.
jnbell2012's review
3.0
I think this book hit all the bells and whistles I was looking for from paranormal to things getting blown up. I enjoyed the character development and was at times confused with the twists and turns but the author lead the way to a very justified ending. This might be a series that I return to.
smokedavocados's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
immerjones's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, and Murder
minipanda's review against another edition
2.0
Meh.
Went in blind and from the beginning of the story I thought this was going to be some kind of paranormal/horror novel. It's not.
I like the concept and idea of having a FBI agent with a background in illusions and stage magic but I didn't care for the execution. I found the story dragging and unbelievable.
*Read as a standalone.*
Went in blind and from the beginning of the story I thought this was going to be some kind of paranormal/horror novel. It's not.
I like the concept and idea of having a FBI agent with a background in illusions and stage magic but I didn't care for the execution. I found the story dragging and unbelievable.
*Read as a standalone.*
ed_kay's review against another edition
2.0
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.
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.