Devil's Bargain by Rachel Caine (ARC Review)

Release date: October 7 2012

Publisher: Mira

Number of Pages: 304

My rating:2.5/5

Devil's bargain is one of those books where the beginning is absolute crap, but the end becomes awesome. For the first two-thirds of the book, my mind was begging for me to put it down. And then in the end, I probably couldn't have put it down if I tried.

Devil's Bargain is told from the perspective of Jazz Callendar. When a mysterious stranger, James Borden, comes up and offers her money to start her own investigation company, she accepts it and starts an investigation company with another woman called Lucia. They can do whatever they want, but when they get delivered a red letter, they must complete the task as quickly as possible. Other stuff happens, but it can't be revealed without giving away spoilers.

The action starts very late in the book. Sure there are a few fights and some conflict in the first half, but the REAL action starts very late.

I also found the title and synopsis of this book misleading. Based on the title and synopsis, I expected a paranormal book. I was quite surprised when I realised that most of the book was about crime, lawyers and stakeouts

The characters in the book were alright. Jazz is your typical kick-ass girl, also an ex-cop. Lucia is your typical hot kick-ass girl. Borden was your typical hot, mysterious, guy. The main three characters were pretty common stock characters. Not very unique or interesting.

In my opinion, it was Manny who really stuck out. He was only a minor character, but he was very strange and paranoid, insisting that his house be kept entirely safe, and only giving Jazz the address at their secret drop off.

I was confused through a lot of the book. Maybe I just skimmed it, or I wasn't paying attention, but I didn't get anything the first half. There was a lot of stuff relating to lawyers and random stakeouts that I didn't get. I didn't get the concept of the red letters.

The most confusing aspect of the book was the concept of Actors and Leads/Extras/The Chorus. This was the main plot aspect, and it came in very late. Even after reading the entire book, I have no idea what the hell Actors and Leads are.

This book could have been improved in a lot of ways. It needed better explaination of plot points, and the action needed to start earlier. Despite hating the start, I enjoyed the ending. I look forward to reading the next book.

A free copy was provided by the published via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.