The Devil's Due

A Jack Carson Story, Book 1

De: CM Raymond, LE Barbant

Narrado por: Ben Smith

Doing the right thing ain't cheap...not when you've got to pay the devil's due.

After a lab explosion leaves him changed forever, wanted fugitive Jack Carson knows only one thing for certain - he's just one wrong move away from a fate worse than death. Struggling to make sense of life on the run, Jack assumes that middle-of-nowhere, Iowa would be the safest place to lay low. But small towns can hide big secrets.

When a free drink and a misguided act of chivalry blows the town's sleepy veneer straight to hell, Jack is left to deal with the mess. Blackmailed into criminal service by a backwoods gangster with delusions of grandeur, Carson finds himself faced with the ultimate choice...save the town or save his own skin.

Can Jack use his otherworldly powers to rescue the town's beautiful bar owner and bring the small town mob to their knees? Or will a pair of ambitious federal agents find him before he has the chance?

The Devils Due is a heart-pounding new thriller. If you like edge of your seat thrills, harrowing suspense, and nonstop action then you will love this new installment from CM Raymond and LE Barbant -The Devils Due!

Note: The Devil's Due is a novella with 34,000 words of action.

©2015 Smoke and Steel Press (P)2017 Smoke and Steel Press

The Devil's Due

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I think it needs to be longer. I am not a fan of being thrown into a story and not having a clue why things are like they are. It just makes the start a little confusing so maybe if it was longer we could get a little backstory first instead of having to get it as the series progresses.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I liked the narrator I thought he did a pretty decent job. he was easy to listen too.

Was The Devil's Due worth the listening time?

Yes, it's short and it was enjoyable and I am curious about what is going to happen next. If a person likes this type of novel then I think they will enjoy the audio. I know a few people who would enjoy this one.

Any additional comments?

I am a huge fan of action packed books but some times when it's all action and not a lot of backstory it can be a little confusing. We start out with the character on the run and trying to hid out in a town but things don't happen the way he wants and it seems like he is just always in trouble. It leave a lot of questions but I am guessing that was the point so that you would want to grab the next one to get some of those questions filled in. :)

Overall, I liked it.

Well written start. Good fun.

What made the experience of listening to The Devil's Due the most enjoyable?

The Story

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not entirely, but I don't think it was meant to be action packed throughout. It was a good story with good ups and downs. A story has to have exposition.

Have you listened to any of Ben Smith’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't think so

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The times spent with Maisie.

Any additional comments?

This was a fun listen and had a good ending. I liked that it was not just a straight forward Jack Reacher clone. While the story telling did resemble what you would hear in a Reacher story, which is not a bad thing, the Reacher books are great. It separates itself from them in the fantastic and supernatural. I would definitely recommend this book.

Intriguing!

Any additional comments?

I received a copy of this audio title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

How to describe the book? I think The Devil's Due is what you get when you throw Lee Child's Jack Reacher into a blender with a copy of Road House, perhaps a dash of 24, and a heaping spoonful of the XMEN, then mix on high for ten minutes. Let me just say that I am a fan of all the previously listed properties, so I was pretty much predisposed to like this story. But then the writers only poured me half glass of their wonderful concoction.

What do I mean? First off our hero Jack breezes into town and get's caught up in local trouble. (familiar theme to fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books). The trouble? One guy thinks he 'owns' the town. (instantly made me think Road House). Something is off about Jack, he is running from something and he is wanted by the FBI. We are lead to believe it is related to some kind of terrorist incident which he caused, which has something to do with some strange power he might not fully control. (this is the 24/XMEN bits)

The book instantly hooked me, the man on the run, the strange power..tell me more. Well, they don't. What happened? How did he get the power? What happened that set him on the run (besides the obvious of course, I mean what caused the 'terrorist' incent) And who is the girl in the polaroid? Lots of questions....but no answers. But I'll be honest. I'm not that mad about it. I've read other series where a ton of questions get asked, but aren't immediately answered. I would have liked a few questions answered or maybe a couple of things fleshed out a bit more, but as long the authors intend on eventually letting us know what happened I enjoyed the story enough that I'm willing to wait and come along for the ride. Already checked and I see that book 2 is available on kindle already, though I also see it's only 100 pages or so...so I'm pretty sure I won't be getting too many of those answers I'm looking for in this next volume. Seems the authors may be doling out the story in little bite sized chunks, which as long as they don't wait too long between installments won't bother me too much.

Now onto Ben Smith's narration. This is my first time hearing his work. For the most part he does a good job, but I do have one issue. I noticed a few times that when the action of the books picks up, his reading speed also picks up. I wouldn't normally consider this to be a bad thing, I've listened to other narrators do the same thing, attempting to help convey the intensity of the situation, but the problem is that when Ben does it he sometimes runs the sentences together too fast, with his delivery not being as clean/clear as it could/should be. Overall I think he does a fine job, but that was one issue I noted. It didn't bother me enough that I wouldn't listen to him again. In fact I already checked to see what else he's done and noted he's recorded a couple of David Dalglish novels that I've been thinking of checking out.

More than exceptional

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

The mystery of not knowing ahead of time what might happen. It was always a surprise.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jack. He was a mysterious person whose character evolved as the story progressed.

What does Ben Smith bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His narration was exceptional. His range of voices for different characters was superb.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Wherever I go.

Any additional comments?

I was surprised by the book in that it far surpassed my expectations when I started listening to it.

I received this book for free in exchange for a review. I got far more than I expected from it.

Road House if Patrick Swayze had super powers!

Jack Carson is on the run. The Government is searching for him, thinking he blew up an industrial complex, making hiim a huge terrorist. Theres a lot more to that story though. Jack rolls up on the Greyhound in to Ironwood, Iowa, a flea speck down on its luck town. He wanders over to the local bar, and meets the usual assortment of townies.After some drinks, he stops a local from beating the bartender, and avoids getting stabbed as the guy leaves, in an unusual way.

The bartender, the owner's daughter, agrees to put him up for the night. The next morning, he misses the Greyhound out of town and gets a job cooking in the bar. Of course, that leads to him getting jumped and captured by the brawler from the night before. This leads to the revelations of what Jack is (although its a slow reveal, and the true extent isnt revealed in this book).

This is where the the Road House similarities really kick off, as Jack has to fight the crime lord that has a piece of everything in town, and everyone lives in fear of. Its a wild, adrenaline filled thrill ride as Jack takes on the whole criminal underground in town to save the people he has come to care about, all while trying to avoid getting captured. I am interested in seeing where this series is going.

This is the first Ben Smith Narrated book I've listened to. He did a good job moving the narration along, and had a decent variety of voices for the different characters. I would listen to his narration on other work.