Deal with the Devil

A Mercenary Librarians Novel, Book 1

By: Kit Rocha

Narrated by: Lidia Dornet

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

Deal with the Devil is Orphan Black meets the post-apocalyptic Avengers by USA Today and New York Times best-selling author duo Kit Rocha.

Nina is an information broker with a mission - she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America.

Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he's fighting to survive.

They're on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process....

Or they could do the impossible: team up.

This is the first audiobook in a near-future science-fiction series with elements of romance.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

©2020 Kit Rocha (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Great new series by Kit Rocha

This is the first book in the new Mercenary Librarians series by Kit Rocha. I’ve been a fan of Kit Rocha going back to the early years of the Beyond series. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon the writing team, but I really love their stories and always look forward to new books. And more importantly, new characters.

These two authors write really fun characters I can always relate to in one way or another. Their characters always have their flaws, but want to be good people as a whole. They always surround themselves with friends that are more family. Many have blood relations that leave a lot to be desired. And things are no different here.

Here we get to meet the unofficial leader of a group of women in Atlanta which is much different from what we know now (this is set in the same world as the Beyond and Gideon’s Riders series, though you can read this without having read either of those series. There’s just a teeny Easter egg towards the end of the book). Years ago, there were solar flares that changed the world as we know it. And now Nina and her crew are just trying to survive and do some good along the way. They like to collect information in many forms. They share books, music and videos with the people of their community. But they also collect other information for money, because something has to pay the bills.

Garrett Knox is a leader of super soldiers on the run from their elite unit. They all have implants which increases their abilities in one way or another. However, those implants require maintenance or they can die a horrible death. That’s one of the ways they are kept in line. Though they are working on how to survive.

These two groups come together on a mission. They don’t trust each other. However, as they travel along the back roads from Atlanta to Tennessee, they learn to trust and more between the two groups. They truly become friends, which makes this all a bit harder for Knox and his group. But one of their own is in trouble.

I had no doubt starting this book that it would be a fun read. As I expected, I fell in love with the characters of this story. Even the villain, I found I liked. I found the plot of the story and the mission to be a good one, as well. I’m really excited for the second book to come out.

Narration:
This is my first time listening to Lidia Dornet. At first, I thought her voice was a bit too soft for a book that was more on the darker side. But the more I listened, she became the character voices for me. I found that all the voices really did fit each of the characters. I look forward to getting the second audiobook with her at the helm.

Great Dystopian Adventure

A future world where the infrastructure has broken down and corporations have stepped into fill the void of law and order. Premise is pretty scary, add super soldiers, and genetically enhanced humans, and your have a Deal with the Devil. I read Kit Rocha’s first Beyond series book, the world in Beyond is the same one the Deal with the Devil takes place. Unlike the Beyond series this book has more than scorching hot sex to get me on board. The book has an intriguing plot, lots of action and twists. I will definitely be reading/listening to more of this series. All the characters are fully formed in this series, non are just place holder type characters. The world is fleshed out and the bad guys are really bad. This is one really good dystopian adventure.

Librarians Rock

Good story and character development. LOVE Librarians as kick ass heros!! Sex scenes too long, maybe save some material for another encounter. Reader's lack of pauses at end of sections made it hard to follow shifts in character and location.

Interesting premise, narration flawed

Although I love audiobooks, this is one book I wish I'd read rather than heard. The narrator made an attempt to give the characters individual voices, but if speaking for more than a sentence, the narrator's voice slid to a neutral register that made it impossible to tell if the first character was still the one speaking. Additionally, there was some odd pacing as well as word mispronunciation,.
As for the story, I'm a little disappointed. I realize I had an entire series to get to know the characters of the "Beyond" series (love the product placement with the bottle of booze!), so I'll be hanging in for the next book. I'm also hoping the characters will be having more sexy times .

Not the target audience?

This was boring. I had no empathy for any of the characters. I made it a couple hours into the book and still didn’t care what was going on. The synopsis suggested this book would be more action oriented. I got bored listening to it. It was well written, but I just didn’t care.

great start to a new series

This is my first listen (or read) by Kit Rocha. They had me at mercenary librarians. The plot kept my attention with a couple of interesting twists. The driving force is really the characters and their enhanced abilities. They all have different skills and, more importantly, different back stories that come into play.

While this book focused on two characters, I appreciated some chapters from the perspective of other characters. it helped build personalities in my mind. The narration was good, but I felt like there was less differentiation between the male characters than the female characters.

dreadful book, sort of sexy YA novel

what a waste of hours, kept waiting for it go somewhere but no. two dimensional single note characters, all super something with fa faw. useless sex scenes that i could not be bother to listen to so I started skipping. random side bars about tech core and lab notes that never matter to the story. Save your time and credits for something worthwhile. reads like the kind of novel a 20 year old would write over long summer and then get shredded by everyone they let read it.

Just a No… possible plot spoiler ahead

I found the pairing nausea inducing. I’m trying to keep things vague but I may not do a good job so be forewarned.

When a betrayal runs deep, then “romantic scenes” just arouse my disgust. Basically a damsel love-mentality disguised as a strong, genetically enhanced heroine. It was hard trying to get past the ending. Gave up with 35 minutes left. There are love conquers all books that I sometimes am in the mood to read but when I feel like it’s been disguised as something else it’s too hard to choke down. The author did try to make a scenario where it was plausible to “forgive” but, for me, miscommunications leading to huge misunderstandings are forgivable, consciously choosing betrayal over and over again. That’s a huge and hard nope. The narrator was fantastic and had me listening for a lot longer than I would have tolerated reading it myself but I just couldn’t take the romantic scenes any longer.

Not what I was expecting at all, but two thumbs up

I admit that I wasn’t paying attention when I bought this on sale. When I saw a YA looking cover, the series moniker of “Mercenary Librarians,” and the summary promising Orphan Black meets Avengers…
I thought this was going to be a fast paced, quippy variation on Tomb Raider. This wasn’t that.

Yet, once I recalibrated, I really enjoyed this listen and have wishlisted other books by this author duo. While occasionally pulpy, this was more of a dystopian thriller. Sort of like The Postman meets the Jason Bourne world of enhanced soldiers as cities and corporations leverage tech to maintain power in a post-solar apocalypse. Only, instead of focusing on a lone man, this book gives us two great teams and a working with the enemy plot that steadily builds tension as we wait for the crossing and double crossing.

I loved the unique personalities on both teams, and especially loved the gals on team Nina. As much as I love my alpha men, what I really love is the “who’s the better killer” style chemistry between alpha men and women. And, all the ladies here are forces to be reckoned with.

Minor downsides include the scarcity of action for the length of this story, too many plots revolving around death fake-outs, and two slightly clunky get-togethers (at 5.5 and 12 hours). There are occasional F bombs. I also think I might have rated the story higher with a different narrator because this one had a really weird cadence with oddly placed pauses and syllable-emphasis.

For similar books, I recommend:
📍Lifelike trilogy by J Kristoff (if you like the ensemble, tech enhanced cast in a pulpier dystopia)
📍Hell Divers series by NSSansbury (if you want your dystopia to lean further into horror and grit)
📍Hunt the Stars by J Mihalik (if you like the working with the enemy vibe, but in a space opera)

Future dystopia sci-fi with a romance twist

This is a decent story with plenty of action, but the explicit sex was a bit much. Maybe because I was not expecting it out of this story, but aside from the scenes themselves, it was a good story.

Action packed, steamy fantasy adventure

I loved this audiobook! The story is pacy, funny, gripping and romantic. Love and literature make life worth living in post apocalyptic Atlanta. Characters you’ll care about, plus bright, witty seamless writing and a gasp! happy ending!

Fantastic Dystopian Novel

I have read a lot of Kit Rocha books, and really enjoyed the ‘Beyond’ series. This isn’t like that, but I knew that going in. Unlike the ‘Beyond’ books, this is a dystopian adventure with some romance thrown in to help move the plot along, rather than an erotic romance dystopian novel. I imagine this book will appeal to a much wider audience.

Firstly, I have to say that the narrator, Lidia Dornet, was really good, verging on the excellent. My only very minor criticism is that sometimes during sections of dialogue where there was no reference to who was saying what, it was difficult to differentiate between the characters voices, almost like she was hedging her bets as to who was speaking. Other than this minor niggle I was very impressed with her style, which was relaxed and natural with enough emotion to allow you to connect with the characters. I enjoyed the audio version of this book I finished it in two days, because I couldn’t stop listening to it.

On to the story itself, which was really gripping. Set in the future, after the collapse of civilisation, Atlanta is ruled by The Tech Corp, a huge technology company. The city is divided between the have and have nots and there is no one looking out for the have nots, except for in one section of the city there is a warehouse where three unusual women live, who have created a library for the local residents. To fund their work and add to their library these women go hunting for information in dangerous and dark places, being paid handsomely by rich collectors.

When Nina, their leader, is approached by Knox, a rogue Tech Corp Protectorate Captain, for a job she is reluctant to trust the source. However, when the Rogue Library of Congress is dangled in front of her, she finds it hard to resist because of the reward of obtaining such a prize.

This book is woven on a rich tapestry of world building. The society is constructed with a fine eye for detail. Then the characters are placed carefully into that society and given a wonderful plot to follow. All the characters are wonderfully interesting and given space to grown and show themselves through the course of the book. Though the story focuses on Nina and Knox, there are also multiple points of view shown in different sections, which gives a well rounded picture of the story.

Nina is a fascinating character. She believes in the inherent goodness of people and the possibility of a better life and making a difference. She came from a truly horrible place and when she gained her freedom she wanted to make the world a better place for others, even at risk to herself. She’s an idealist, but she’s a ruthless one. She plans carefully and weighs up the dangers and seeks to protect her loved ones at each step of the journey. It’s an interesting counterbalance to her idealism.

Knox is someone who started out an idealist and had it knocked out of him over decades working for The Tech Corp, as he was experimented on and sent out to do their dirty work. Finally unable to carry out one last horrific order, he and his team went rogue, even knowing they were risking their lives. His only motive is to secure freedom for his team from the consequences of leaving that The Tech Corp ensured to install in their employees. He has to decide whether it’s worth giving up his eroded principles for his men at every step of his journey. His internal battle throughout this book is fascinating to watch as it’s handled with a delicate touch by the authors.

Throughout this book the characters’ internal struggles are front and centre, and they are as important as their physical conflicts. All the characters are damaged in some way. They all seek some form of freedom and happiness and have gone some way along the journey already, but they still have a long way to go.

This really is an excellent book, and I would happily re-read it, especially when new books in the series come out. I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait, but I’ll be waiting with excitement of the possibilities with this amazing cast of characters.

Looking forward to More

I enjoyed this book very much , i love Kit Rocha books and hope this is first of many in this new series.