Review of Devil Among Us

[Jennifer Coxon]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Devil Among Us" by Jack Winnick.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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With the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, Devil Among Us by Jack Winnick is topical.

On Yom Kippur, the Jews in Brooklyn attended the services at their synagogue. There was a massive security presence around the place of worship due to safety concerns. However, despite this presence, an explosion erupted from within the building. The impact of the explosion killed and injured a majority of the congregation. Who could have committed such an act?

Lara Edmond is part of the Joint Terrorism Taskforce brought in to investigate along with Uri Levin, a Mossad agent she has worked with previously. Will they uncover who is responsible and prevent any further catastrophes?

Jack Winnick is an expert at the opening catastrophe to capture the reader’s attention. He can create the feel of the horror of the situation yet stay shy of directly describing anything too gruesome or graphic. He uses the descriptions of people’s reactions at the scene to convey the severest aspects, which I think is a clever approach.

I was extremely excited to read this book after recognising the series as book of the day so often. However, I was disappointed with many aspects of the book. I perceived several things to be confusing. Firstly, I was frequently confused about who was speaking or who should have been speaking. In Chapter 13, Uri outlines the movements of the opposition. Then Uri asks a question about his original statement, which Shimon should have posed. Secondly, I found it hard to keep track of the “bad guys”. There were many characters from various nations. I struggled to comprehend when the story moved between countries and organisations with only reference to the character names. The use of subheadings for locations could have helped with this. Thirdly, I struggled with when the events all took place. There were instances where the story backtracked to share historical discussions or activities before returning to the present. Again, the use of subheadings could have helped clarify for the reader and keep the reader immersed in the atmosphere of the story. Further, additional clarification of the timing and location may have helped the author avoid inconsistencies in the timing of events.

I was disappointed in the general editing and formatting of the book. I identified many grammatical and typographical errors. In addition, there were formatting issues relating to line spacing between and within paragraphs. Further, the level of repetition throughout the book requires another round of professional editing. I could identify phrases the author wanted to use but had moved around during the editing process, which resulted in unnecessary repetition. For example, in Chapter 30, following an air battle, Shachar saw the parachutes of the survivors. Shachar described these survivors as the lucky ones but identified they would be prisoners upon landing. Shachar repeated this thought following a second air battle in the same chapter.

Based on the points outlined, I can only rate this book three out of five stars. I enjoyed the story, and the plot came together at the end. However, the confusion and editing required did not permit a higher score.

I recommend this book to lovers of terrorist-driven thrillers. There was some profanity and references to intimate scenes, which should be a caution for potential younger readers.

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Devil Among Us
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Sarah Zain]

I am not a fan of this type of book, but I loved reading your review and how you summarized the book and its points beautifully.

[Jennifer Coxon]

I am not a fan of this type of book, but I loved reading your review and how you summarized the book and its points beautifully.

Thanks, Sarah. I appreciate the feedback.

[Cara Wilding]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Devil Among Us" by Jack Winnick.]

Jack Winnick is an expert at the opening catastrophe to capture the reader’s attention. He can create the feel of the horror of the situation yet stay shy of directly describing anything too gruesome or graphic. He uses the descriptions of people’s reactions at the scene to convey the severest aspects, which I think is a clever approach.

I was disappointed in the general editing and formatting of the book. I identified many grammatical and typographical errors. In addition, there were formatting issues relating to line spacing between and within paragraphs. Further, the level of repetition throughout the book requires another round of professional editing. I could identify phrases the author wanted to use but had moved around during the editing process, which resulted in unnecessary repetition.

We are clearly into the same books! I haven't gotten to this one yet, but it's on my ever-growing list! I've enjoyed a couple of Jack Winnick's books and I've appreciated them immensely so I'm dying to know why this one didn't get a super high rating! Oh nooooo - I'm disappointed to hear that there were so many issues with this book, especially since I did not encounter these in some of his other books that I've read I wonder if they were edited by different people?! I might still read this one, for the plot, but I'll keep your thoughts in mind while I'm reading. Thanks for your honest evaluation of this one, as always - a pleasure to read!

[Jennifer Coxon]

Oh nooooo - I'm disappointed to hear that there were so many issues with this book, especially since I did not encounter these in some of his other books that I've read I wonder if they were edited by different people?! I might still read this one, for the plot, but I'll keep your thoughts in mind while I'm reading. Thanks for your honest evaluation of this one, as always - a pleasure to read!

I know what you mean Cara. I've read reviews of the other books and seen that there weren't any/many errors. I will have to try others based on your comments here as this must be an anomaly.

[Abraham Ozo]

Clarifying character dialogue, adding subheadings for locations, and addressing timing inconsistencies would greatly enhance the reading experience.

[NetMassimo]

I read this novel and I have to say that I liked more than you. Possibly, it requires some knowledge of Arab countries and their positions to avoid getting confused during the parts in which people from different countries are involved with their differences. Thank you for your honest review!

[Jennifer Coxon]

I read this novel and I have to say that I liked more than you. Possibly, it requires some knowledge of Arab countries and their positions to avoid getting confused during the parts in which people from different countries are involved with their differences. Thank you for your honest review!

I can understand that, and I was disappointed that I didn't enjoy it more. I read quite a lot of this kind of book, but for some reason I just really struggled with the cutting about in this one. I'm still willing to try another in the series as I've seen other people's reviews and individuals with similar likes and dislikes have given them a positive review.