Name: Hell Bent
ISBN: 9780451417923

Devon Monk

In the first book in a new series spun off from the author's Allie Beckstrom novels, Shamus Flynn and Terric Conley must prevent the secret for empowering magic from falling into the hands of a dead-gorgeous assassin—whom Shamus just happens to be falling for. Original. 40,000 first printing.

Hell Bent

Sarah Escorsa

► BR with my MacHalo Freaks, starting November 1, 2015.

Up until the 80% mark I thought I was going to give this book a 4.5-star rating. Or at least a 4-star one. Up until the 80% mark, I felt like this:



After the 80% mark? I felt like this:



What happened? Let's start with the most heartbreaking part of it all, shall we? Here we go.

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Shamus Flynn, aka ex book boyfriend #12458 ← can someone please pass the booze? I'm on the verge of tears here. Thank you. Damn I was so in love with Shamus at first. I was so so so in love I wasn't even annoyed that everyone called him Shame. Which, you have to admit, is one of the stupidest nicknames ever. But hey, I was young, naïve, carefree (this was a week ago, I've changed a lot since then) and so so so in love at the time that I couldn't have cared less. So, here I was, happily scheming away, planning Shame's Shamus' abduction and subsequent transfer to my high-security harem, when this happened:



Note to self: DO NOT CONVULSE. DO NOT CONVULSE.

I was still young, naïve, carefree and so so so in love at this point so I thought to myself: "it's okay Sarah, it can't be as bad as it seems. This must be an evil trick of some kind. Surely something will happen. Devon Monk will not let this stand. She will pull a wicked twist out of her sleeve and make all the silly lovey-dovey stuff (view spoiler)[I need vodka! I need vodka! (hide spoiler)] disappear!" And so I waited. And I waited. And I waited. Called off the goons I had sent to kidnap Shame Shamus and told them to stand by. But things only got worse. WHAT. THE. BLOODY. HELL. DEVON. MONK???????? What the fish were you thinking????!!!!!! How could you have a dark, brooding, woe-is-me, loner of a hot guy fall in fucking instalove with some stupid chick 5 minutes after meeting her for the first time???!!!! OUT OF CHARACTER, does that ring a bell, Devon Monk?! At all?! Obviously not. We wouldn't be here if it did. Bloody hell, woman, to think Shame Shamus had made it to my harem top 10! You ruined him ruined him ruined him ruined him ruined him. SHAME ON YOU! ←yes, I am aware this is a pathetic (yet totally intended) pun. That's the combined effect of grief, sorrow and despair on my two remaining grey cells. Hey Devon Monk, you know what this means, right? Yep, it means I'm pulling my favourite nun on you.



But you know what? My Shame Shamus isn't all that was ruined here. Oh no. Devon Monk also managed to ruin one of the best bromances that ever was. So here we have Shame and Terric: Shame has Death magic and Terric has Life magic and they have a magic bond thing going. So they're pretty close, if against their will. And they don't really get on that well. They are supposed to work together but when the story begins, Shame has been doing the loner thing for a while and hardly ever shows up at work ← and he still gets paid?! Damn, I want that job! Anyway, shit happens and they are more or less forced to work together again. What I really love here is how complex their relationship is. That complexity is partly due to their respective magic (no I'm not about to explain this here, things to do, places to go and all that. If you want to know more about this, just read the bloody book (view spoiler)[I suck, I know (hide spoiler)]). But it also comes from their past and their reluctance to admit how important they are in each other's lives and that they care for each other. You know what's really cool about their relationship? Terric is gay. And what's so cool about that? The way Devon Monk handled it. No stupid "oooh my friend is gay" crap here. None of the usual gay clichés, either. It's just a story about two guys, it doesn't matter if one of them if gay and the other is straight. Pretty refreshing stuff. Too bad Monk made a mess of it towards the end of the story. 


	
No, Yoda does not approve. So. Terric has been in this abusive relationship with a total dick of a guy for some time. Things escalate but does he do anything about it? Oh now, don't be silly! Why would he do anything when Shame is there to play knight in shining armour and rescue him from Mr Prick! Sigh. You know what bothers me here? It's the whole "poor little gay guy can't fend for himself and needs big bad REAL MAN to come and save him" thing. Pathetic much? Yeah, you could say that. I don't know, maybe I read it all wrong once again. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Anyway, one thing is sure, this really makes no sense as far as characterization goes. Why? Because Terric is a pretty tough guy who takes no shit from anyone. Ever. So it's completely out of character for him to behave the way he does here. Sigh. 

You'd think Devon Monk would have left it at that. I mean, she'd ruined a potentially AWESOME story already, you wouldn't expect her to make an even bigger mess of it. But, lo and behold, she did! Yay! That final twist? It's probably one of the most pathetic things I've ever read. Manufactured drama, here I come! So ridiculous. (view spoiler)[Yes, this is a BIG BAD spoiler, do NOT read this if you are planning on reading the book (hide spoiler)] (view spoiler)[So after realizing he had a heart after all poor old Shamus is a human wreck and out for revenge because you know, his GIRLFRIEND of two hours just died. And he LOVED her so he's out for blood. And the bad guy escaped, too! All set for book 2. GAH. One more cliché and I would have shot myself in the head. (hide spoiler)] You know, Monk had done a pretty good job of ruining Shame's character so far, but this? It really killed it for me. Plain stupid. Completely out of character. Ridiculous. What? I already said that? Well watch me say it again: RIDICULOUS. But. I have to say there is something really positive about this twist. Yes there is. Because reading book 2 is now completely superfluous. Yes it is. Why bother to read it when what is going to happen next is so painfully obvious and predictable? Warning, I'm going to sigh again. SIGH.
 
Damn. Before writing this review I had given this book a 3-star rating ← I must have been in a really good mood that day. I love the world this story is set in. It has huge potential. But I just can't forgive Devon Monk for ruining it all the way she did. So 2 stars it is. 

Shamus Flynn. I wanted your ass. Now you could die and I wouldn't give a damn.