Name of the Devil

May 18, 2015
In Mayne’s exciting second Jessica Blackwood novel (after 2014’s Angel Killer), the cunning FBI special agent applies her magician training to investigating a bizarre explosion, which tears apart a church in Hawkton, W.Va., and leaves all but one of the congregation upside-down and naked in surrounding trees. Missing is Sheriff Carson Jessup. An early hint points to the man who is now the pope. The FBI uncovers clues that suggest a supernatural link, in particular to the demon Azazel. Jessica, who becomes the target of the dangerous gang X-20, survives more than one attempt to kill her as she tries to figure out the motive behind the Hawkton attack. The death of a young boy, a plot to kill the pope, and the powerful reach of a vengeful drug cartel leader test Jessica’s abilities in a fast-moving thriller in which illusions are weapons for both good and evil. Agent: Erica Spellman-Silverman, Trident Media Group.

Starred review from July 1, 2015
Science supersedes the supernatural in this action-packed follow-up to Angel Killer (2014). When a mysterious explosion destroys a small church in Hawkton, West Virginia, demonic forces seem to have been at work: the naked bodies of the several persons who were in the church are found hanging from trees, some with mutilations, and one with a demon's name written in blood in Hebrew on his chest. The town sheriff has vanished, but forensics link him to attacks on the victims and reveal an unusual psychedelic drug in play. Then a minister commits suicide during a live broadcast, leaving an audiotape that connects himalong with one of the most powerful and revered men in the worldto the Hawkton event. FBI Agent Jessica Blackwood avidly pursues all leads, even though she faces some resentment for her role in the events depicted in Angel Killer. But having grown up in a family of magicians, she thinks outside the box and is relentless in her quest for answers. With snappy prose and a smart protagonist, this is an adrenaline-fueled procedural with an unusual twist. Great reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)