Another solid three and a half stars. If you like the mystery-scifi combo maybe it's a four. Ending was a bit too pat for me, but with the build up, I'm not sure how it could have been anything else. ( )

Chase Kolpath and her employer Alex Benedict find themselves hired to do something by a mind wiped women. They don't know what, but they decide to try to figure it out which leads them to a planet known for its ghost stories.

This is a mix of aliens, mystery and thriller, all in a Science Fiction environment more than 9,000 years into the future when humanity has settled large parts of the galaxy, though we share it with another intelligent bipedal species, "the mutes".

This is a fair book in the series but there are things that annoy me a bit. The author seems to like undressing Chase for instance, and Chase "feels" more like a guy than a women. ( )

This one took a slightly different turn from the rest of the series, and I think it worked out very well. There was a very, very nice horror subplot going on about an actual horror author, and then it becomes the well-known mystery/space-opera I've gotten to know and love with the rest of the series.

The suspense was killing me. :) Oh, and the horror ideas were quite nice, too. :)

It turned into quite a good mystery with some pretty impressive stakes, and it was actually surprising. I like mysteries that surprise. It didn't continue as a horror, but it was still very satisfying.

I'm very glad to be reading this series. :) Simple, or some not so simple, fun. :) ( )

In the fourth book of the Alex Benedict series our favourite heroes first have to solve a literally cosmic mystery and after that have to help with all of the diplomatic upheaval this caused. The description of the Mutes, as a totally different species, interesting but sometimes illogical and naive. ( )

The Devil’s Eye


I’m really enjoying these Jack McDevitt novels, regardless of the somewhat familiar formula of these stories. This is the fourth book I’ve read in the Alex Benedict stories.

Alex and his assistant (and sometimes lover) Chase, run Rainbow Enterprises, a company that specializes in buying and selling (and acquiring at archeological sites) special items of historic significance for sale and profit.

But Devil’s Eye diverges from this and has Alex trying to solve a mystery. A mystery that leads to the lives of a planet. That’s all I can say without ruining the plot!

Story and Plot:

Vickie Greene, horror novelist 9,000 years in our future, a contemporary of Alex and Chase, sends a cryptic message when Alex is returning from an adventure on the Belle Marie, a ship run by an AI (artificial intelligence). Vickie says “they’re all dead.” What’s it mean? Is Vickie on the verge of mental collapse? Or something more?

Our heroes discover Vickie had her personality replaced – contact with her brother reveals no information as to why, but that is pretty serious, as a mind wipe is usually reserved for criminals and malcontents.

Why would Vickie do this? Perhaps the answer lies on the planet Salud Afar, a planet that is at the far reaches of the galaxy, with no moon and not a lot of stars except for one particularly bright one that Vickie called “The Devil’s Eye.”

The story has humor, as when Chase goes topless at a swimming pool and the men applaud. Hilarious. And her usual string of boyfriends who lament that she’s gone so long piloting through the galaxy with her employer.

As in other novels, they have their lives threatened more than once and are urged to abandon their investigation but that makes them even more determined to find out who is trying to kill them and solve the mystery of Vickie Greene.

Bottom Line:

The story does not end at its natural conclusion but tries to wrap up all its points at once near the end – a method that makes the story seemed rushed.

However, the story runs well overall, not too many slow points as in earlier McDevitt novels, and it’s always a pleasure to imagine another Chase/Alex adventure.

Recommended.


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