In The Devil’s Hand you’ll find a decidedly large amount of death, detail, and deliberation. A seemingly odd trio that only an author with Jack Carr’s writing skills can combine in an enthralling novel that is as much a discussion of history and policy, as it is an outright action thriller.
If there is one thing that fans have come to expect from any Jack Carr book it is violence of action. The intense brutality that James Reece brings down upon his enemies is second to none in the genre. It is not any particular level of destruction or gimmicky Hollywood stunts that make Carr’s fight scenes so visceral, rather it is the personal nature, the blow by blow explanation of how the fight unfolds, as well as another of Carr’s trademarks… the description.
As the saying goes… the Devil is in the details. Carr continues to craft scenes with an insanely high level of detail that rather than bogging down the story, it does the opposite and helps readers create an even clearer mental picture of what is happening on the page. As all great writers do, Carr touches on each of the five senses as he describes the circumstances his characters find themselves in. Along with scene setting, Carr excused an almost professorial tone in his explanations of the history, policy, and people that have influenced the world he builds in his books. I often find myself making notes on items to research further on my own when I finally put the book down.
With a story set in a post-COVID world, including the President of the United States and a terrorist plot to ramp up an already hyper partisan US citizenry against itself, it would be almost impossible for some political deliberation and discussion not to find its way onto the pages. In the current political climate and while COVID still impacts daily life, a book about a viral bioweapon and scheming politicians may cause some readers to second guess picking this book up. That would be a mistake. A very BIG mistake. This is an incredibly entertaining read that thriller fans pre-order ASAP. The only reason I bring it up is that the action and real story do take a bit of time to get going and a large portion of that initial part is heavy on the political discussion.
That being said… there is one particular stance that Carr holds that nearly ruined the book for me and is something that I guarantee will be brought up next time we chat. His anti-soccer rhetoric must be denounced and a full discussion about the merits of the beautiful game should be scheduled with all deliberate speed!
Other than the soccer stuff… it is a fantastic book that both new readers and diehard fans will enjoy.
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Purchase The Devil’s Hand
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Barrington Books
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