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This story follows Thomas Litchfield, a powerful oligarch living in England, along with his wife Gunara and bodyguard/friend Mikhail. Thomas has some business dealings in an up and coming country in Africa through the Russian government, mainly securing oil rights and building a Russian base, even though it is near the American base in Djibouti. Throughout the story tensions build as a possible coup reveals itself in this country and Thomas, along with his faithful bodyguards and friends, are forced to resolve tensions amongst many different countries throughout the political upheaval.
The plot of this book is rich and action packed. Reagan does a fantastic job of giving the reader tons of backstory and information, while still keeping the action coming. Most of the exciting action moments (shootouts etc.) occur towards the end of the story, with much buildup leading up to the action. That being said, there is still plenty of excitement throughout the beginning of the story to keep the reader reading. The characters spend much time at events and dealing with political and business conflicts that the reader is kept engaged, waiting to see what trials the characters will face next.
Speaking of the characters, the characters “The Devil’s Handshake” are were my favorite part of this book. Full of lifelike charisma and heart wrenchingly true emotions, the characters in this story are some of the best characters I have ever come to know in a story. The characters all act in incredibly realistic manners throughout the story. It is easy to imagine the characters as real people. The emotions that the characters exhibit are also very raw and lifelike emotion. There are a couple of points during the story where I could almost feel the emotions of the characters seeping through the pages.
The only true fault or downside within “The Devil’s Handshake” is the authors writing. Reagan, while a marvelous writer, demonstrates a pattern for bad or awkward grammar throughout the story. The most noticeable were places where an apostrophe and an “S” were missing at the end of names showing possession. The unpolished grammar made this book choppy to read and interrupted the flow of the story. The writing almost seems as if it comes from a story that wasn’t properly translated or by someone who didn’t have a complete grasp of the English language, which might actually be the case. I don’t wish to blow the grammar issues out of proportion as there were many times throughout the story that I was able to ignore the awkward grammar because I was so absorbed in the story itself.
I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars. While I truly loved this story, I had to knock off a star for poor and inconsistent grammar throughout the book. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a deep political thriller, especially one with amazing and lifelike characters.
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