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3.5 

Devil's Bargain

By Rachel Caine
Devil's Bargain by Rachel Caine digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

First in a supernatural series from the acclaimed bestselling author: “Filled with murder, mystery, bad ass chicks and a good ole kick in the head twist.” —Under the Covers Book Blog
 
A disgraced former detective walks into a bar and . . . gets funding for a private investigation agency? If it didn’t happen to Jazz Callender, she wouldn’t believe it either. All she has to do is partner up with a national security risk known as Lucia Garza, accept one-hundred thousand dollars, and take on assignments that seem to have no purpose. Easy-peasy. 
 
But when Jazz gets shot and one of their surveillance subjects winds up dead, the women aren’t so thrilled. They need answers—fast. And what they uncover about their mysterious new employer will rock their worlds. For Jazz and Lucia have become pawns in a psychic game of chance with much more than their own futures on the line . . .  
 
“Rachel Caine gives us a major savvy, swift and smart heroine in a tense, fast-paced story that demands to be read in one sitting! I’m addicted for life and can’t wait for her next book!” —P. N. Elrod, author of Drawing Dead and Other Stories
 
“A fast paced, action packed thriller with a paranormal twist.” —Book’d Out
 

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63 Reviews

3.5
“Rating: 3.7 stars An advance copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley. 'Tis true, what they say- Deals with the devil never go well.. Emotionally tortured by the iniquitous condemnation of her partner with the charge of murder, and his resulting arrest, Jasmine aka Jazz Callender never expected life to turn out the way it did. At least, the psychic mumbo-jombo part she never imagined.. she already new life as a conniving bitch. Approached by an enigmatic lawyer, James Borden, with an outrageous business offer and a check with a damning amount, she finds herself getting tangled deep into an unbelievable world where nothing is as it seems. The first thing that disconcerted me about this book was that it wasn't the paranormal romance I was expecting it to be. I mean, I'd anticipated a hefty chunk of the story to be filled with paranormal gore and suspense, but what I found was a mystery/suspense with a paranormal underlining. Not exactly disappointing, but slightly restive nonetheless. I also thought that the romance was lacking. Intending no demerits to the characters- as they were pretty much up to it- I just thought that there could've been more intimate or romantic scenes between the leads. Lastly, I couldn't really pinpoint some particular fault that finally sealed my opinion, but I just believed that there was quite a room for improvement with the suspense and romance. Especially with the suspense, cause more often than not, I found myself getting so engrossed in the criminal, ass-kicking parts(cause hello, they were made to shine into an almost perfection), that I didn't even care what the mystery about those red-envelopes was. Although, I would like to mention, the story was good.. sometimes really good. I loved the criminal parts most, you know where either Jazz shot someone or someone else shot Jazz or when Lucia and Jazz chased someone. Very interesting, that, hehe. Anyway. The writing.. The writing was clean, flowing and meticulous, totally suiting the theme and characters. It gave the descriptions a sort of intimate tone with an undertone of a clipped and well-informed voice, totally befitting the main leads' personalities. Let's talk about the characters now. James Borden. I like him. I mean when the fight broke out in the pub and he got pummeled, I thought- okay so not my type, can't even hold his own, but then his character was made to stand in light, and we see that he's an attorney-at-law, and easy to like. I don't know, there's something immediately engaging about that guy, of course after you get over his introduction that began with a creaky 1000$ leather jacket and no bad-boy vibe which is actually pretty easy to do once you focus on the washboard abs and the high-wattage smile and oh, the kind eyes. He's smart. I guess that's a word especially tailored for him. Adorable with the uncertainty and the quiet caring. Not to forget the beguiling fact that he's sharp as a shark's molar(if they have one.. they do, right?), and slick as a seal with business dealings. I say that's a guy who knows how to work it, in and out of a bed. Jasmine Callender. Hmmm. I gotta admit.. the girl is bad-ass. Like, hell yeah bitches! I liked her. From the beginning. And then fell halfway in love with her when she kicked the sexist, biker-guys tattooed fat ass. And that was all in chapter one. What comes next, is nasty, hardcore, I-mean-business, we're-all-badass-here pages of "Fuck, this is great" moments. Later on, as the story progressed, I realized that apart from being totally awesome, she was also a person who appreciated justice. But the downside of this placement of faith was that she ended up being a little narrow-minded towards the paranormal. Not wrong, not exactly, but still insular. Lucia Garza was an amazing character- beautiful and dangerous, isn't that a combination we all love? I loved her sharp professionalism along with her loyalties that soon came to lay with Jazz. And did I mention how kickass she was with that attitude that said, "I kick ass like I was born doing it". The rest of the supporting characters, Manny, Ben and Pansy provided a nice backing, if slightly cliched. Till the very last minute I was sure I was going to give it a 3.7 stars, I mean really- you know all the faults that I found with it, but the ending somehow pushed it to 4. I am like, wow. O-kay. But then I slept over that decision and I realized, no.. It has to be 3.7. It lacks the certain.. awesomeness of 4, and like I mentioned before, has quite some room for improvement. Overall, quite an interesting plot(that would've been more interesting if the story had delved more into the paranormal, but oh well) and a good book, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for paranormal, suspense reads. This review can also be read on- http://www.thedarkdeliciousanddreamtastic.blogspot.in/ .”
“I requested this book on NetGalley because I liked the cover and it was tagged Romance & Sf/Fantasy. After reading about 50% of the book I was sure that there was some error in tagging and that I am reading standard detective novel. This was a surprise, I was expecting paranormal romance. So be warned: there is a little bit of romance and light paranormal elements in second half of the book but nothing much, so don't get your hopes up. So what is this book about? Jazz Callender is ex-cop who has a rough time finding next job. Then she gets a dream job offer from lawyer James Borden in the name of some never-heard-before company: 100 000$ for founding a private detective agency, partner with perfect credentials and only conditions is that when they send a case it will have top priority. Sounds too good to be true and Jazz stopped believing in fairy tales long time ago. We get to discover the truth and lies behind this offer together with Jazz and her new partner Lucia. This is the mystery that has a focus of the book, not some specific criminal case. I did not feel any special connection with any of the characters, but I liked that they are ordinary people who have just their strength and intelligence to rely on. I could best describe Jazz as female version of Bruce Willis from 'Die Hard'. While I was reading I expected to hear her say 'Yipikaye Motherf****r!' (although it never happened). Lucia, her partner, is her opposite. It was interesting watching them interact. The book was very easy to read. The writing is clean and straight-forward - perfect for a detective novel. I never read anything by Rachel Caine before, but after reading this one, I will definitely keep reading this series and check out her other books. Rating this book was hard. I was in the middle between 3 and 4 but in the end I went with 4 because the book held my attention and kept me intrigued and interested although mystery is not one of my favorite genres. Disclaimer: I was given a free ebook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. This text is also posted on Amazon and http://bookwormdream.blogspot.com .”
“Jazz is a former cop who is determined to clear her ex-partner of a murder charge, unfortunately she needs money for that. Luckily for her, James shows up with an offer of $100,000 to start up her own PI company with a partner of their choosing. All she has to agree to is to take on the assignments they send her - all of them in a red envelope. Soon Jazz and her partner, Lucia, start to wonder about their benefactors and their seemingly useless assignments. So it seems this is a series I didn't know about from Rachel Caine but I'm assuming that the publisher (at least the UK one) is re-releasing it, perhaps just to give it a new cover that matches the Morganville covers? Who knows. Jazz is a very likeable character, as are Lucia and James but I think Manny is my favourite. He's just so paranoid that he's instantly loveable, plus his friendship with Jazz is also an instant seller for me. And as usual for Caine, this book is a page turner (or button presser for me since it was on my Reader) with an awesomely intriguing storyline and a lead that can kick ass. The only thing that's bugging me right now is that Amazon & Goodreads list this as having 300+ pages but my copy from Netgalley had 199. So I don't know if I actually got the full book or not so I now have to wait until the release date to make sure I have it all ..... *sigh* Man, that seems like a very long time.”

About Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine (1962–2020) was the New York Times–, USA Today–, and #1 Wall Street Journal–bestselling author of more than fifty books across multiple genres, from adult thriller to urban fantasy/science fiction, as well as works for young adults. With millions of copies sold, she was a frequent guest at conventions in the United States and around the world. Her popular book series include the Morganville Vampires novels, the Great Library series, and the #1-bestselling Stillhouse Lake books. Caine lost her fight with a rare and aggressive cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, in November of 2020.

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