Review of The Devil Pulls the Strings

[Josh Lee 1]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Devil Pulls the Strings" by J. W. Zarek.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Devil Pulls the Strings by J.W. Zarek is about a man named Boone Daniels, a part-time Ren Fair knight from Missouri who works as a handyman for his aunt who is swept up in an unexpected world of magic, mystery, and evil when his friend Flynn is injured in a joust. Flynn sends him to New York to perform in his place as the lead singer in their band the Village Idiots at a charity performance and meet up with the sponsor of the band Professor Stone. There he meets Sapphire, an exceptional violinist who works as an assistant for Stone and soon both are embroiled in a life and death fight against the Dragon and Nymph Society to save New York.

One thing I liked about The Devil Pulls the Strings is it makes the characters relatable and believable. Boone doesn't know what is going on when he starts this journey and has a hard time believing he is even a part of it at first but the more he experiences the more he believes and wants to help out the friends. I also liked the use a real life material like the Paganini's violin pieces the bring the story to life.

One thing I didn't like was that some things were left unexplained by even the ones who now what is going on with the Lavender and Rose Society but they may be explained in later books (i.e. taxis Boone takes in New York City) as the ending of this book leads to expecting more from Boone and him helping the Lavender and Rose. The fight scenes could use more work as well and the language used when the people are injured is a little wacky, almost like a comic book feel rather than a novel, but overall were fairly well done.

Zarek brings many fantastical and believable aspects to life in this book when he tries to pull in the supernatural world of vampires, demons, mythical beasts and beings with the modern world of taxis, Ren Faires, college campus and old buildings of New York.

I would rate this 4 out of 4 stars. I found very little editing mistakes and errors so it feels professionally edited in my opinion. The book is written for YA and above as some features may scare little children. I would recommend this book to all who love music and fantasy as both concepts are well conceived.

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The Devil Pulls the Strings
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