Devil’s Due By Rachel Caine

Title:  Devil’s Due

Series:  Red Letter Series

Author:  Rachael Caine

Genre:  Romance, Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Blurb:  The psychic world will never be the same again…

Lucia Garza is trapped in a supernatural power struggle. To save a friend she agreed to work for sinister psychic organization The Cross Society. But after a death threat that almost succeeds, she’s starting to think they want her out of the way. Forever.

Worse, as Lucia uncovers the society’s most dangerous secrets, she discovers that she’s being used as a pawn between two warring paranormal factions. Caught in a battle no-one can win, Lucia’s only choice could be to go against long told prophecy to destroy both the Cross Society and its sworn enemies. But what are the consequences of defying destiny?

Thoughts:  Prior to reading this book, I was not that familiar with Rachael Caine.  I had not read the previous book in the series, Devil’s Bargain, which starts off the story from her partner Jazz’s point of view.  I found that this hindered my reading of the story only slightly.  The story itself was easy to get engaged in, and definatly kept your attention, but alot of the time I did find myself wondering about events that had happened and some of the back history on both Jazz and the Cross Society.  So, I will certainly go back and read the first book in this exciting series.

In Devil’s Due, we start out with the exoneration of Ben McCarthy.  He is expecting his ex-partner, Jazz, to be there for him, since they have always been close.  Unfortunately, after Jazz’s experiences in the first book, Lucia and another friend are still worried that Jazz may be a target, so Lucia appears in her place.  She also proceeds to offer him a job with their private detective agency, since he was a prior cop before he was framed for murder.

It turns out that the same group who was responsible for sending McCarthy to prison has funded their new detective agency – the Cross Society.  They are a rich, secretive society run by psychics who are pretty much playing chess with the world – manipulating people and events in order to obtain certain results.  McCarthy, Lucia, Jazz, and everyone they know is caught up in the game – which sometimes has deadly results.

I thought Lucia was a strong female character.  She was tough, smart, capable of taking care of herself, yet she still had an air of vulnerability to her that made her very compelling.  However, I would have loved more details regarding Lucia’s past.  While things are explained enough to satisfy the storyline, I found myself eager to read more about her and what had happened to her in the past.  McCarthy was very stoic, yet likeable, and he fights his attraction to Lucia from the beginning.  He’s a complex character that is hard to understand sometimes, yet you come to realize  and comprehend more about his actions the closer you get to the end of the book.

Basically, this book has everything you need:  a great storyline, fascinating characters, intrigue, a touch of romance, and enough twists and turns to keep you eager for more!

Rate:  B-