Deal with the Devil is Orphan Black meets the post-apocalyptic Avengers by USA Today and New York Times bestselling author duo Kit Rocha. Nina is an information broker with a mission–she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America. Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to … the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive.
They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…
Or they could do the impossible: team up.
This is the first book in a near-future science fiction series with elements of romance.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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An explosive start to a brilliant new series. Tough, gritty, and smart, with sharp sparks of humor, and overflowing with heart and hope. I loved it. I can’t wait for more.
An exhilarating start to what promises to be a compelling series… bring on the next Mercenary Librarians adventure!
The sizzling sexual tension is simply the icing that makes Deal with the Devil one of my favorite SF reads ever.
Whew. I need a cigarette.
Hot. Sexy. Fast-paced. Epic.
That just about does it.
Oh, hang on….
Knox. Battle-scarred. Slightly questionable. Definitely dangerous. All round sex on legs.
For readers who like their post-apocalyptic with some super-soldier sexy action.
A full-throttle read! I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Hard-hitting, unflinching, brutally, beautifully written, and surprising even in the last act. It pulls off a few tricks I would have called cliches past redeeming. I am SO impressed.
You had me at “mercenary librarians.” I love the world, love the action, and love the romance. On my way to get the next book in the series!
My advice? Cancel your plans so you can get swallowed up in Kit Rocha’s exciting new world.
I really enjoyed this first book in a new series. Story plot is set in a apocalyptic universe with enough story details and good characters delevolp. I am really Looking forward to seeing were this series goes. I freely voluntarily review this book for my honest opinion.
This book blew me away. Kit Rocha writes one hell of an ensemble cast, and Deal with the Devil just highlights that amazing skill. We have two teams of really deadly misfits in their respective found families. One are super soldiers intent on their freedom. One are librarian types who are pretty damn super, too. Not to mention this romance is prime sunshine one + grumpy one, except the sunshine one can whoop anyone’s ass who threatens her people.
If you like dystopian worlds, badass characters with heart, road trips, sex in thunderstorms, found families, and some seriously sexy good times, you’ll want to grab this book.
I was really excited about this book going in. Mercenary librarians, what could be better? Throw in a post-apocalyptic world and some romance and it’s a perfect mix.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. All the elements were there, yet something was missing; excitement, energy, or heart. At no point did the story draw me in even a little, even though the set-up for betrayal and heartbreak was perfect. There was no library action, just mercenary. The worldbuilding felt unfinished, even though (according to other reviewers, as this is my first Kit Rocha book) there are other books set in the same world.
But the biggest disappointment were the characters. I didn’t connect with any of them in any level. Nina was an odd combination of super-killer and do-gooder, and neither side of her felt believable. Her angst about her past bored me. Knox was just a bore. Their attraction and romance felt forced. The side characters were all the same–men and women alike–and I couldn’t really tell them apart, even though they had their own pov chapters.
In the end, what kept me reading was the action and the good pacing. It wasn’t a bad book. Just a bit unexciting.
I got an early copy from NetGalley for an honest review.
Complicated characters, complex stakes, and worldbuilding on a grand scale, I loved this book. Pre-order–and get multiple copies for friends, too!
DwtD by Kit Rocha is book one in their new Mercenary Librarians Series and introduces the reader to a new dystopian world. Just like their O’Kane universe, DwtD tells the story of the post catastrophe era where law and order have another meaning than before.
The storyline is set in former Atlanta and tells Nina and Knox’s story.
It’s a fast paced read, action packed, raw and gritty – an unputdownable, hanging on the edge of my seat read that kept me in suspense from chapter one til the end.
I recommend the book. 5 stars.
I couldn’t pass up a book about mercenary librarians — what the heck?!
In this post-apocalyptic story, the world went digital before it was wiped out by solar flares, so the greatest of all prizes is knowledge, especially if you can find it in real books/on paper.
The librarians are actually genetically modified to outperform humans: a super soldier, an assassin, and a gal with perfect auditory recall. They could do a lot of crazy things with their talents, but they also need to stay under the radar so they aren’t found/captured by the government/big tech. That works well until they’re targeted by a group of AWOL soldiers who need the leader of the librarians to save someone’s life.
I love the mix of suspense, sci-fi, humor, and complex characters. It reminds me a lot of the Charley Davidson series, where it would be perfect if not for the graphic sex. I’m not a huge fan of play-by-play sex scenes. I don’t mind the swearing, but the sex scenes make me a little uncomfortable. If not for those, I would have given this five stars.
I’ll probably read the rest of the series (I DO love the characters), but I do sometimes wish authors would write PG-13 versions of their books for those of us who could do without the sex. 🙂
R-rated for language and sex.
Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha is part of the new Mercenary Librarians series. The first book in the series focuses on introducing us to new characters: Nina and Knox and their motely crew of others. Nina is an information broker and leader of her mercenary librarians living in a dystopian world after numerous wars and technology crashes. She helps her local community to survive and stay safe from roughs and those that would do them harm. What makes her and her crew different is that she has been modified. Having escaped from places years before that were experimenting on people, they are trying to keep under the radar of the government organisation that is trying to find them and to control society.
Enter Knox, A Silver Devil soldier and mercenary who is trying to find one of his people who have been kidnapped. The only complication is that they want Nina instead. What follows is a lot of secrecy on Knox and his crews’ part as they try to stay separate from Nina and her people whilst learning more about them and realising that they are good people.
If you’ve read the Beyond series, you’ll know that the authors write dystopian romance really well and this book is no different. Being the first book in the series there is a lot of background information on all of the characters and how they have ended up where they have and what they are doing in order to survive. Nina and Knox’s relationship grows quite quickly, but they are suited. What makes the books though is the other characters in the story and it will be interesting to see them have their own book and how their community develops over time and with the weight of the government trying to look over their shoulders.
There is definitely a lot going on in this book with science, people’s backgrounds, betrayals and figuring out where people fit. But it is an enjoyable read and it will be intriguing to see what happens next.
More of my reviews can be found on my blog: http://thehotmesslibrary.blogspot.com
This was a great post-apocalyptic story with a great cast of characters. Two rival teams of mercenaries after the same goal, a found-family theme, and lots of adventure, along with a beautifully woven romance.
This felt like the structure of a romance complete with sizzling tension between the leads and lots of sarcastic banter with their crews. With an overlay of evil corporation dystopian future. The author duo really made it work. Fast-paced thriller with a hot romance and some twists and turns that have me impatient for the next book.
I was first drawn to this book because of Nina, Dani, and Maya. These three ladies literally kick ass and take names. Each of them are the result of extensive experimental modifications. They may look sweet and innocent, but they are anything but.
Meet the retired Silver Devils headed up by Knox. They used to be the hired guns, but now they’ve gone rogue for their own mission. They need the help of Nina, Dani, and Maya, but that requires double crossing them in the future. Can they pull it off in order to complete their secret mission?
Alright, I was super hype about this book, and it was neither great nor terrible. I’m pretty much indifferent. I really enjoyed the post-apocalyptic world and learning about all of the experimental modifications the characters went through leaving them with superhuman abilities.
I didn’t mind the romance story line between Knox and Nina, but the graphic sex scenes just seemed out of place. This was by no means a romance but yet their romance came to be. I’m still figuring that one out.
The last third of the book is when the action kicked up, but I felt the most disappointed. I don’t want to comment on it though because spoilers. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy with the way things turned out.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Tor Books for a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
Not UF as I thought, but dystopian romance. And, where is the librarian/library part of the story? Yes, books are mentioned here and there, but the female main characters are in no way librarians. Nor is it explained why they may be interested in finding the library of congress or go in search of books as a personal mission.
This is basically a romance about a female team of enhanced women combining forces with a team of male enhanced soldiers and going on a mission together and falling in love/lust.
I was able to finish the book, but there was nothing new here except the fact that both genders were enhanced instead of just the studly males. The chemistry between the characters wasn’t written in a way that I found exciting. This way be partially due to the author giving more page time than expected to the two other couples, one of whom appear to be featured in the next book of the series.
If I see the next book (due out Aug. 2021) on the new books shelf in the library, I may consider picking it up, but I can’t say I’m really excited to read Maya and Gray’s story.
This was honestly amazing. I never thought I would see a day when the words mercenary and librarians would be in the same sentence, but it worked so well! I loved the fact that it was futuristic but it wasn’t too far into the future, both of our main characters were actually amazing, and the plot was gripping.
Win:
– the characters were very well put together. Knox was an interesting addition
-the risk that payed off. Again I wouldn’t expect mercenary librarians to work, but I loved it
Opportunities
-I want to see more of this world. It’s America, but it’s a completely different America than what we’re living in
-2 authors didn’t mesh completely. There were parts where I could tell that it was completely different writing from the page/ chapter / paragraph before. It didn’t take away much but it was noticeable
So all in all, I enjoyed this. It started off with a bang and didn’t let up afterwards. The plot wasn’t super interesting, but it was still very fun to read. I can’t wait for the next book!