The Devil's Eye

An Alex Benedict Novel

By: Jack McDevitt

Narrated by: Jack McDevitt, Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Interstellar antiquities dealer Alex Benedict receives a cryptic message asking for help from celebrated writer Vicki Greene - who has been mind-wiped. She has no memory of her past life, or of her plea for assistance. But she has transferred an enormous sum of money to Alex, also without explanation.

The answers to this mystery lie on the most remote of human worlds, where Alex will uncover a secret connected to a decades-old political upheaval - a secret that somebody desperately wants hidden, though the price of that silence is unimaginable.

Bonus Audio: Includes an exclusive introduction by author Jack McDevitt.

©2008 Cryptic, Inc. (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke". ( Stephen King)

Moderate Departure from Previous Books

The Devil's Eye represents a modest departure from the preceding volumes. The earlier novels all involve the tracking down of a variety of clues, many being dead ends, that are quite engaging, and feel like you're peeling through the many layers of an onion to eventually arrive at the truth (the best of the group being the excellent "Seeker"). The Devil's Eye does not involve so many onion layers, and in fact is pretty well solved about half-way through. The remainder of the book focuses on interracial relations, and concludes with a rather obvious twist that was apparent well before the end. However, it is still a typical McDevitt novel - good dialog and a pleasant story line (and always involving a boobytrapped air vehicle of some sort!). I hope McDevitt continues to write these novels, but I prefer the earlier plotting technique.

They just keep getting better.

We're listening to the series, and each is better than the previous. We stop during the story to comment to each other and try to predict what's going to happen. Mostly feels realistic. Good pacing.

If you're a fan, go for it

This is a perfect read. Jennifer VanDick is Chase Kolpath ! She's a fantastic reader !!!!

In terms of book, if you are not a fan of Jack McDevitt, listen to other books first. It's not his best.

If you are already a fan and you wonder if you should go or not (which was my case reading other reviews), go for it ! The setup and story is amazing but you see most events coming long before they occur. It's just that the way they are handled are awesome !!!

Nicely done

I have read most of Mr. McDevitt's work. This is the first I have listened to as an audio book and I found that nothing was lost in the experience. The narrator did an admirable job. The story loses a bit of steam two-thirds through, but I still enjoyed the whole.

Below average for Jack McDevitt. 78 out of 100.

Story is not that original. I was glad when I finished it so I could move on to a better book. 78 out of 100. I'm not putting it in the insomnia category, but I wouldn't put it in the page turner category either. There are several books out there that are superior.

very good

What did you love best about The Devil's Eye?

the completeness of it. it is a well rounded book. it almost felt like more than one book because of the way the plot goes. Thats a dangerous move, sometimes i find that to be the downfall of a book. but it was done very well all loose ends tied up and brought back around.

What did you like best about this story?

The mutes. I like the amount of thought put into their race and the shared conciousness.

What does Jennifer Van Dyck and Jack McDevitt bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the ai voices. i think i would have made them smooth and more human sounding. But i like the idea that they sound like computers while also being so human like.

Any additional comments?

i usually steer clear of future space traveling books. i don't know what made me get into his works, but i am really glad i did.

A Slight Departure

This is the first of the Alex Benedict novels I have listened to vs. physically read. Right off the bat, it did take me a while to stop expecting "Boss" to show up. This is due to the narrator, as I have listened to all of the Diving Universe books she has narrated via Audible.

The story itself was ultimately satisfying, yet a departure from the previous books. I can only assume that redoing the same old troupe was getting old for the author. Although I would like him to go back to what make's Alex a great series. But overall, I was well satisfied and will listen to the rest of the series.

I hope there's more to come

Jack McDevitt is one of my favorite science fiction authors. I consider his work A Talent for War to be a masterpiece by any definition. It matters little that as the series evolves, one of the two main characters, Alex Benedict becomes slightly less likable, more avaricious and given to duplicity. Polaris and Seeker continued the tradition of an interstellar antiquities dealer with an eye for profit. The Devil's Eye commences with some conundrums and poses the problem of why a gifted author would allow herself to be mind-wiped, losing all traces of her original character and remembering nothing of the terrible events experienced far from the center of the galaxy. In the printed form, this is a book that you can't put down and in audio, you can't stop listening. There are rumors of another Alex Benedict novel and I hope they are true because there is hope for the old rogue and perhaps, his rather sexy pilot.

Good Book

I have enjoyed the Alex Benedict series. This was not as good as Polaris or Seeker. I wold recommend reading those first and then coming back to Devil's Eye. I enjoy having the stories told through the eyes of the assistant, Chase Kolpath. It gives us an honest look at Benedict.

Very Entertaining

Where does The Devil's Eye rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the second Alex Benedict story I listened to and it was very emjoyable. Great reading again.