I would like to thank Headline Publishing for sending me a copy of The Devil’s Assassin by Paul Fraser Collard in exchange for an honest review.

Jack Lark’s past is discovered by the Devil—Ballard, the army’s intelligence officer—who forces Jack to become his spy-hunter in Persia. The Shah, with the Russians whispering in his ear, is moving against British territory, and the Empire’s strength is under threat. As the army marches to war, Jack finds crucial secrets are leaking into the enemies’ hands. But who is the spy?

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REVIEW

I love when I’m surprised by a book! Going into The Devil’s Assassin, I wasn’t too sure what to expect.
I hadn’t read the two previous novels in the ‘Jack Lark‘ series (I know. Shame on me. I’m adding them to my to-read pile as I type) and I was initially quite worried about not being able to follow the plot. However, I had no trouble keeping up with story. With some series that I have read in the past it is absolutely fundamental to read the predecessors. But with The Devil Assassin, I personally feel like it works as a stand-alone novel.

I must confess that I was quite blown away by how much I enjoyed reading The Devil’s Assassin. As a fan of historical fiction books, I was very excited to read this.

From the get-go it pulled me in. I feel like I should just point that the actual Devil (Satan, your main man Lucifer, whatever you call him) does not make an appearance, much to my disappoint there is no red man with horns in this novel. No, the Devil is a nickname for the army’s intelligence officer, Ballard who hires Jack to find and assassinate the spy amongst them. Hence, the title!

The Devil’s Assassin is fast-paced, action packed and can often have its comedic moments. The action parts were amongst some of my favourites. Collard’s writing is truly magnificent and has you at the edge of your seat. It was truly nail-biting stuff.

In addition to this, it was also quite sad. Knightly 🙁

Without spoiling anything, I truly was not expecting the ending. What I loved was that the book didn’t overly allude to who the spy was going to be which is what made the reveal so intense.

I definitely recommend that everyone pick up a copy. It’s such a fun and thrilling read. The way in which Collard writes definitely doesn’t make it hard to immerse yourself in Jack Lark’s world.

RATING
★★★★