Review by Priti Roy -- The Devil Pulls the Strings

[Priti Roy]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Devil Pulls the Strings by J. W. Zarek is a adventure of an amateur joustler/guitarist in the realms of magic, pocket dimensions and time travel that Boone Daniels did not know existed. In the very first chapter, while joustling with his close friend and partner Flynn Michaels, an accident occurs which leaves Flynn injured and unable to perform in New York City. He turns to his friend Boone Daniels and asks him to take his place in the band as lead singer and guitarist. Boone is not very welcoming to this idea, but somewhere feels guilty about Flynn's condition and, hence, agrees. A major plot twist ensures that Boone meets his destiny, unknown to him, which includes saving the New York City, destroying supernatural beings, confronting magic, and even saving himself. The unnatural turn of events not only challenges his present, but also brings out his past and shapes his future. The book is an amazing journey of science fiction, fantasy and myths that would leave the readers mind-blown, quite literally.

The positive aspects of the book is that it gives a variety of fictional fields for the readers to ponder upon, such as magic, myth, mystery and sciene. Throwing light upon the past, present and future of Boone Daniels, and the story of Paganini music gives the story an elevated vibe, which after reading the readers would fing quite engaging. Simple language makes it reachable to almost everyone.

However, the negative aspects of the book cannot be overlooked. The very beginning of the book, the prologue doesn't makes sense to the readers at first and is not very engaging. Initial chapters also won't attract much attention, and is harder to understand. The climax of the book kind of upsets me, and is not that great as compared to the rising action in the book. Also, the use of a lot of science and magic can at times be hard and confusing for the readers. Some part of the explanation given in the book for the same didn't make sense to me. At places, there were too much unnecessary details, and some places totally lacked them. I feel the author should have balance out details in a proper manner. Like why read sound and slashing of swords when you don't exactly understand their cause, even after reading the whole book.

All things being said, I would rate the book 2 out of 4 as somewhere I feel the negative aspects outweighing the positives of the book. If you are a sucker for magical adventures with a blend of science and mystery in it, you can totally check out this book. You might actually end up liking The Devil Pulls The Strings .

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The Devil Pulls the Strings
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[MsH2k]

The inclusion of music in this magical adventure with a blend of science and mystery is interesting, but the storyline sounds too ambitious for me. Thank you for your thorough review!

[Ruchi Raina]

Saving New York City, destroying supernatural beings, confronting magic seem like very interesting elements. I would like to know how this story progresses. Thanks for the awesome review.

[Kaushiki Parihar]

I like magical fantasy and the plot also sounds interesting, but your negative aspects of the book perplexed me. Nice review though!