I'm a big fan of Raymond Khoury's novels. In The Devil's Elixir, Khoury returns to his series focusing on FBI Agent Sean Riley (begun in The Templar Legacy and continued in The Templar Salvation), this time with a story blending 1700s Mexico with present day drug traffickers.The book is a page turner, with Riley leaping from one action sequence (if this were a film, they'd be called "set pieces") to another; there's character development of his protagonist and love Tess Chaykin; the villain is ruthless and suitably menacing; and there's plenty of factual detail that fans of Khoury (not to mention of Steve Berry and Brad Thor) will relish too. But there's something missing - or maybe a new ingredient weakens the mix.
While mysticism and magic have undergirded Khoury's earlier works, that element in The Devil's Elixir seems far more improbable than in in past books. The resolution to this novel, while intermixed with all the successful elements Khoury has blended before, just felt a little too far fetched and too far removed from the realism he otherwise paints.
Not a bad read by any means, but definitely not one of my favorites. Of course, I'll be eager to see what he has in store for us next, but this elixir just was not as palatable as his previous brews.
-Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment