Read Our Lips! Book Review Blog: Review–Devil Without a Cause by Terri Garey

Idle hands are the Devil's workshop...

Temptation and seduction are the tricks of the Devil's trade, and when offered the chance to regain his wings by playing guardian angel, he's hell-bent on doing things his way . . .

Faith McFarland is in need of a miracle. So desperate to save her sick child, she's willing to make a deal with the Devil: steal a ring worn by Finn Payne, the bad-boy rockstar who long ago sold his soul for rock 'n roll. Temptation and seduction become necessary evils, yet Faith's salvation means Finn's damnation . . . because the ring is all that stands between him and Hell. Falling in love was never part of the bargain, but now that they've tasted heaven in each other's arms, can they convince the Devil to give up his due?

My Review:

Rock star Finn Payne made a deal with the Devil years ago. In return for getting a powerful ring that inspires him to put out hit after hit, Finn promised to sell his soul whenever he died. However, the Devil is tired of waiting to collect his due and enlists the help of Faith McFarland, a single mother who’s only son is battling cancer, to help him.

The Devil, called Sammy, tells Faith that he will cure her son’s cancer if she gets him Finn’s ring. If she refuses, her son will die. Faith agrees, but when Finn comes to stay at the hotel she works at and she meets him, she starts to get a change of heart. Little by little, she starts falling in love with Finn – whom we find out she’s been a fan of when she was younger. Eventually, she’s caught between the love for her child and the love she’s starting to feel for Finn, since Faith finds out that once she takes Finn’s ring and gives it to Sammy, Finn will die.

I’m not going to lie, the first thing that attracted me the most to this book was the cover! *fans self* Good Lord, it’s gorgeous! However, what kept me interested in this book was Terri Garey’s amazing writing style and attention to detail. Right off the bat, I was enthralled with Sammy’s (the Devil) storyline and how he develops in this book.

We start the story seeing Sammy vexed as a human he fell in love with on Earth (Nicki Styx) is now with someone else. Sammy – who is in Hell – tries to put this out of his mind and concentrates on Faith & Finn who are on Earth.

I will admit to being so anxious in places, I desperately wanted to skip ahead on Finn & Faith’s story to see what was going on in Sammy’s world with his faithful servant, Nyx. Together, Sammy and Nyx start to search for a long lost demon son Sammy never knew existed and who is running around lost in Hell – a perfect distraction for Sammy and his troubled mind.

Thrown in the mix is also the Angel, Gabriel, who tells Sammy he can get back into God’s good graces if he helps out a soul. Of course, Sammy views ‘helping’ in a whole different light, LOL. But I believe that finding his son changes Sammy, and we get an unexpected surprise ending with Finn & Faith that I’m sure everyone will love!

The only things that ‘turned me off’ a tad in this book were all the satanic rituals and invocations used in the book, and being a mother, the storyline that Sammy threatened Faith with her son’s life also didn’t gather any points with me. However, with the word ‘Devil’ in the title, what would one expect? LOL

Sammy totally redeems himself in the end, and I can’t wait for Book 2, A Devil Named Desire – which comes out on January 31, 2012, to find out more about Sammy and his son, plus will Sammy get back in God’s good graces?

Samael stared bitterly into the pool, seeing now only his own reflection, and the blackness that surrounded him, as always.

Ariadne turned away, heading back into her cave, and he let her go, knowing himself a fool for wishing for things he could never have. Nicki Styx was beyond his reach, and part of him, Darkness help him, was grateful for it.

He stayed by the pool a long time, soaking in the quiet. There were no further visions, and he didn’t expect them—the pool revealed what it wanted to reveal, when it wanted to reveal it, and he had long ago ceded control of its moods to Ariadne. She was the Weaver, farseeing and complex, and the black pool her familiar. He did not begrudge it, for he had plenty of his own.

After a time, in no hurry to return to the eyes that watched him constantly in Sheol, he climbed the narrow path that led from the cavern into the bright light of day, thinking he might wander down to the sea and watch the waves beat against the cliffs. Ariadne’s isle was isolated, a hard little rock in a chain of larger rocks, remote from the rest of the world. He’d brought his favorite pair of Ray-Bans just for the occasion, and slipped them on just as he reached the top.

“What do you think you’re doing, Samael?”

Sammy whirled, shocked to hear another voice. He’d been coming to this island for millennia, and never seen another soul save that of the Weaver’s. His old friend Gabriel stood at the head of the path, emanating light, radiating disapproval.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Samael snapped, not at all pleased to see him.

“I’m here to speak with you,” Gabe said, taking a step forward. “Without your army of darkness behind you, hiding in the shadows.”

Sammy drew in a breath, reining his temper. “How did you find me?” he demanded.

“You’re not the only one who knows of this place—we found it together, remember?”

He remembered. They’d circled it, eons ago, he and Gabriel, on a beautiful day just like this one, sea winds holding them aloft, the sun warm on their wings. The skies surrounding them had been cloudless, but a gray fog had clung to the island, shrouding it, marking it as different. It had appeared so barren, yet so alive; its sinister aspect had drawn him like a lodestone. Gabriel hadn’t wanted to explore, but Samael had been unable to resist. He’d come back one day, alone, and it had been then that he’d met the old woman who lived in the cavern, and learned for the first time that he and his brothers were not the only immortal creatures in the universe.

“What do you want, Gabriel?” he asked shortly.

“I want to know what you’re doing to Faith McFarland,”

Gabe answered grimly. “You were supposed to help her, to look out for her—instead, you’ve turned her into a thief.”

Sammy felt his temper rising—he answered to no one. “And a whore,” he agreed, flatly. “I made her into a whore, too. Don’t forget that part.”

Gabriel’s eyes flashed, for even angels were capable of anger, particularly when it was on someone else’s behalf. He was dressed as he’d been in the temple, khaki pants
and chambray shirt.

“You were supposed to stay out of it, mind your own business, remember?” Sammy ignored Gabriel’s anger, and brushed past him to the head of the path, following it
downward to the sea. “She’s unharmed, and the boy is in remission. More importantly, we agreed to do things my way.”

“You could heal the boy in an instant,” Gabriel stated, stopping him in his tracks. “True,” he agreed, eyeing Gabriel over his shoulder. “Is that what guardian angels are supposed to do? Remove every trial from life and grant every wish as though they were someone’s fairy godmother?”

Gabriel made an exasperated noise, and Sammy knew he’d made his point. He turned and started again down the path. A moment later he heard the clatter of stone as his former comrade followed. They made their way in silence, single-file down a narrow track through the rocks. Soon the scent of the sea surrounded them, clean and sharp, and their ears became filled with the rumble of crashing waves, growing louder until they reached the end of the path, which opened onto an empty beach.

There Sammy stopped, feeling the wind whip through his hair, watching and listening to the thundering waves. The wind and the waves did only as they pleased. Nature had no need of a conscience, and neither did he. It was several minutes before Gabriel, who watched the waves in silence beside him, finally spoke.

“What are you up to, brother?”

His anger had passed, or Sammy might’ve struck him for using the word. As it was, he merely shrugged, still watching the waves, and stated, “I’m helping her. Her son is
home from the hospital, isn’t he?”

“You’re using the child to get something you want. That was never part of the bargain.”

“Speak to me not of bargains,” Sammy said, not realizing how he’d fallen into a much older speech pattern, “for you know nothing of them. Everything you have has been given to you with an open hand.” He demonstrated, opening a hand to the cool touch of the wind, though his eyes stayed on the waves. “Beloved of the One, the universe your playground,” he added, without heat. “You know nothing of struggle, of pain, or of loss.”

“That’s not true,” Gabriel said firmly, but Sammy chose not to hear him, listening only to the crash and boom of the sea, pounding stubbornly against the rocks that surrounded the island.

“I told you I would do this thing my way,” Samael repeated, keeping his eyes on the ocean. “Go back where you belong, Gabriel, and don’t come here again.”

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