In the tradition of Gone Girl and Behind Closed Doors comes a gripping, twisted, furiously clever read that demands your attention, and keeps you guessing until the very end. For fans of the anti-heroine and stories told in unorthodox ways, Speak of the Devil delivers us the perfect dark and provocative villain. The only question–who is it? In the upscale suburb where Vanessa Bolton lives, she’s … suburb where Vanessa Bolton lives, she’s your average suburban housewife.
She does her grocery shopping on Tuesday, Thursday mornings are reserved for Pilates, Sundays for church. At home, she’s an impeccable housekeeper and a mother with a mediocre track record.
But in discreet hotel rooms throughout the city, she can be whatever you want her to be–provided you can afford the hourly fee.
In the rapidly expanding cult to which she belongs, Vanessa has been assigned the role of a “Siren”–a recruiter trained to use seduction to elicit compliance from her marks.
Vanessa’s latest assignment–an unsuspecting chemist merely looking for something without strings–proves to be her toughest yet. Unwilling to neatly slide into the roles society has prescribed for them, the two collide in a sensual and savage affair that threatens not only their own lives but also those they seek to protect most.
Featuring “tantalizing suspense, pulse-pounding danger, sex, and double-dealing,” Speak of the Devil is a timely and riveting psychological thriller that is impossible to put down.
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Britney King’s writing gets under my skin. Once I start reading it’s like an itch I’ve got to scratch.
This story centers around the New Hope church (read cult).
The women do as the men tell them.
Vanessa Bolton is a member of New Hope. A normal housewife. But she is also a “Siren” for the church. A Siren is a recruiter.
Sirens use seduction and sex to lure “marks”. Marks are anyone high-profile or who have money willing to donate to or join the cult.
They are not above blackmail.
Vanessa’s latest target is Elliot Parker, a unsuspecting chemist. The church wants something of his. The formula for a drug he has recently created. A pill that negates the affects of alcohol.
Vanessa may have met her match in Elliot, however.
Read on, dear reader, and find out!
This in one devilishly good psychological thriller.
Although this book is a work of fiction, Vanessa is a perfect example of what can become of a girl when suppressed in an organized religion. As a psychology major, there are often times when one is not given choices, the knowledge to make the right choice is forever lost.
Now with no means of supporting herself from lack of education and money, Vanessa is trapped in the bowels of a fictitious church, where she is trafficked only to serve as a siren. Sex and blackmail are now her only means of experience.
Elliot is an asset to the church, only he doesn’t know it. And it will be Vanessa job to gain access to what the church wants. His formula to the vitamins the church uses to control the girls used in their malicious and deviant scandals.
Both Elliot and Vanessa will be used and abused by the church. But when the right choice is to be made, will there be honor among thieves? But no matter the choice neither will be untouched and one will pay heavily for the crime.
Great suspenseful read and well written. Author of The Secret Series, Gina A. Jones
My Rating:
4.5
Favorite Quotes:
The thing about seduction is you can’t be someone’s fantasy and be real at the same time.
How long does it take for a dead body to start smelling? What’s the best way to dispose of a corpse? How deep does a grave need to be? What’s the best way to get blood stains out of cement? God, so many questions. Questions I can’t very well Google. I need answers, and somehow I don’t think Siri would be much help either. Quora, maybe? There are a lot of options. I can at least be grateful for that. I can’t imagine what they used to go through in the olden days.
My Review:
What an odious and loathsome cast of characters, there were no heroes in this story; while some were more monstrous than others they were all contemptible and doggedly manipulative. The New Hope church/cult practices were deplorable, the church leaders were unsavory and despicable, and their lifestyle and underpinnings of sex trafficking and blackmail, and the use of torture, brainwashing and drugging of their members were disturbingly abhorrent. Yet, despite all that, the remarkably talented Brittany King’s unique writing style and insightful and captivating storytelling kept me riveted to this provocative and twisted tale, and while I frequently flinched and cringed while reading, I could not put my Kindle down. I’m a bit worried what that says about me.
Speak of the Devil is a twisted psychological thriller and Britney King does them so well.
Stepford Wives has nothing on Speak of the Devil.
Vanessa has a staying sober trick….gross. I’ll never share a drink with her. lol
Why Eliot?
Why Vanessa?
And then they meet.
Sometimes things are so murky, I can’t see what’s really going on, but the picture is becoming clearer and I know neither the ‘church’ nor the pharmaceutical companies obey the rules.
How far will they go to get what they want?
Now all is being exposed, laid bare, for me to see the ugly.
For me, it started out slow, but I think Britney was setting me up for the punchline. I am never able to anticipate all the surprises she throws into her books, and Speak of the Devil is no exception. I love her ability to keep me in suspense, not letting me know what is coming next.
All the pieces fell into place and no one walked away undamaged or unchanged and some didn’t walk away at all.
I found the review difficult to write. I felt something is missing. I didn’t feel that extreme sense of urgency I normally get from her work. That white knuckled, can’t wait to find out feeling. Did I need more details of how they were feeling while they were being tortured? Was I having an off day? I can’t pinpoint what it is, but I would still recommend reading Speak of the Devil.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Speak of the Devil by Britney King.
See more at http://www.fundinmental.com
Alright folks, Britney King has done it yet again with Speak of the Devil! This is a continuation of the books involving the New Hope church and even though I didn’t like it as much as the first 2, it was still a major binge read and page turner extraordinaire.
What it’s about: Vanessa Bolton is a mother and wife, plus a member of the New Hope church. On the outside she appears to be a dedicated mom and wife, but that’s not all she is. She is also a “Siren” for the church who basically uses her body to bring men into the church… and help them stay there. Her new target is a chemist that is dealing with his own issues, but this one may prove to be her hardest recruit mission yet.
As always, this book starts out with a gripping prologue that you come back to later in the book. You would think I would hate seeing something repeated, but it just WORKS when King does it. And I love how the beginning of this book gets you hooked so you need (that’s right, NEED) to know what is going to happen next and how the scene came to be in the first place.
I think my favorite of all King’s books so far is The Replacement Wife, with The Social Affair being a close second. As far as this spin-off goes, it was really good, but it felt like something was missing for me. I don’t know what that thing would be, but that’s the best way I can put it.
The writing was still on point for me, and I’m a huge fan of the short chapters and quick pacing.
Final Thought: If you have read The Social Affair and The Replacement Wife then you definitely need to go ahead and read this one soon. If you haven’t read any of them, I highly recommend starting with The Social Affair and ending with Speak of the Devil. They can be read as standalones if necessary, but I don’t recommend it. As a fan of Britney King, this book didn’t disappoint me all that much. It was intense and crazy, and the church cult is as bad as ever. Definitely a must read for King fans.
Vanessa Bolton is talking right to the reader – almost like she wants to tell us her secrets. Elliot Parker also speaks to the reader. These characters want us involved with whatever is going on. They both seem cynical and it draws my attention because I want to know what our author has planned for them.
I loved how this author got my mind involved. With these characters it’s all a mental game. They’re also visual – what the eyes see. People are always watching. Vanessa has an outside persona that people see but she allows the readers to see what she hides from outsiders. But is it total control? The sad part is that someone dictates what she does. She also makes me question what her husband’s story is.
Elliot is a man who likes to control things in his life. He’s a hard man to figure out – he does things that seem so out of character. Then he has me furrow my brow when he lets us in on something in his life. What a great way to hold my attention. If I even think of putting the book down it would feel as if I’m going to miss something – especially since I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I had a hard time deciding who was worse at teasing me Vanessa or Elliot. But in the end Elliot was nice to me and I’ll leave you to figure out how that happened.
I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Vanessa Bolton looks and acts like your normal suburban housewife. Not because she wants to….she has to for the church. Her husband, Sean is trying to climb the ladder in the church, and Vanessa must do what she is told to do…..which is actually being a hooker for the church. Her job is to snag rich, important people of Austin so the church can blackmail them or worse into joining and do what they want. But Vanessa’s latest ‘assignment’ doesn’t go as planned. She is punished by being sent back to The Rejuvenation Center. Trust me, that is the last place anyone wants to be! Then there is Elliot, he is separated from his wife and daughter. He is also a chemist, and he has something the church wants, something they want very badly. Elliot’s wife has a restraining order against him. She is keeping him from his daughter. He is obsessed with getting her back. Things start to go very wrong for him when he refuses to sign over his latest drug he has created. The church wants that drug and will go and do anything to get it! He is threatened by his own lawyer to sign over the drug or else he will be ousted of his own company! Things get even worse. Both he and Vanessa are in trouble, but where can they go for help? Who can they trust? This turns into a life and death problem for both of them. Who will survive? The ending is completely out of left field, I never saw it coming! You will need to read the book to find out what I am talking about. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
This is the third book in this amazing series, and can be read as a standalone. This is a fast paced read, with a complex plot and characters, and this talented author spins her stories in such a way, that they instantly draw in the readers. This is a well written flawless story, which is dark, thrilling, gritty, intense, complex, and with suspense, danger, twists, and secrets, which all lead to a fantastic story, which had me completely intrigued and captivated throughout this addictive page turner. I cannot wait to read more of this authors’ work, and I highly recommend her work for all readers.
Britney King does not disappoint!
Speak of the Devil is a psychological thriller that keeps you on your toes, and gives you that twist when you least expect it. Britney King does not write your typical thriller, it’s a bit different from others in the way that it’s written, but the way she writes her stories has you captivated by the first page. It is book 3 in the New Hope series. These are standalones but best read in order.
I am seriously loving this series (although I suspect this may have been the final book??). The writing in fantastic. The plot was engaging and original (but maybe a bit all over the place at times). The characters were interesting. I maybe would have liked a bit more details about Elliot and his background in regards to his “wife.” I was a bit confused (and remained confused) on that front. Overall though, It was a very enjoyable read, and I look forward to seeing what this author has up her sleeve next.
A cult church’s leader has the members under his control, including his wife Vanessa. There are camera everywhere in the house so he can watch his wife. Vanessa is trained to be a Siren, kind of a prostitute, to seduce prospective people for a fee to join the church. Vanessa meets up with Elliot, a chemist who also has issues. This novel will keep your interest. It is a thrilling adventure that will keep you turning pages to read more. Murder and seduction.
FLAWLESS! GRIPPING! SPEECHLESS!
Voluntarily review
One heck of a gripping read that grabs hold of you by the throat squeezing the life out of you yet giving you the chance to breath as it rips you open surging through your senses keep you on alert fueling through the pages loving every chaotic twisted word! An adrenaline fueled mind blowing must read that will have you shearing off your finger nails without a second thought as you nibble your way the pages with the hair standing up on the back of your neck and an empty dark pit in your stomach as the suspense takes you on a ride your not sure you want to partake in but your anxiety verses adrenaline sends you surging forward wanting more needing more finally coming up for air shaken, flabbergasted gasping trying to wrap your mind around every flawless word you just read realizing stunned in awe that you flipping LOVED IT! Suspense?, heck yes, twisted as all crazy get outs, exciting, intense, enjoyable and hard to put down! A fantastic must read!
Britney King is a fairly new author to me as I have only read two of her books in the past (those include the interconnected standalones to this one; The Social Affair and The Replacement Wife). So to say that I am addicted to her work based on three books is quite amazing- normally it takes more books to officially “hook me”. Speak of the Devil is a dark psychological suspense. It deals with people who are essentially a part of a cult because of a church they attend which puts men above all else and women below everything. Most of the POV’s are via the women who are being domineered by these men, and let me tell you, being inside their head is intriguing. If I were to compare the women of the church to anything I would say they are as close to Stepford Wives as you can get! Britney writes it better than that though and it’s almost indescribable.
Now, don’t let the idea that this book (and the others) is all about religion and such because it’s based around a church- it’s not. This church is not one that preaches scripture. Rather, those who are a part of it are more interesting in money, power, and keeping their women young, beautiful, and submissive.
With that, this is a series that stands apart from all other psychological thrillers out there as Britney King uses unique concepts and slays character roles. If you are a fan of twisty reads and books with spectacular endings that make you gasp and cheer, then this is the book (along with the others that I will mention again) that you should be reading. I highly recommend them.
An Intriguing Thriller that kept me turning the pages. The New Hope Church is a “Devil in sheep’s clothing” It is more like a cult where the women do as their husbands tell them. Who get their orders from the top of the church. Vanessa and her husband Sean are members. Vanessa is a “Siren” she has to recruit new members to the church and also keep her husband happy and their home and son in order. This is a great book and I enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend this book. I read this book as an arc program.
Vanessa and her husband are members of the New Hop Church , disguising itself from the religious cult it really is. Vanessa systematically cleans her house thoroughly every day … her husband loves to watch her clean via the cameras all over his house. She only grocery shops on one certain day a week .. heaven help her if she forgets something and has to go back. If that happens, she can expect her phone to ring as soon as she walks back into her house.
And then there are other days that she spends recruiting new members of the church .. in hotel rooms all across the city, being anyone her target wants her to be. She has been assigned the role role of a “Siren”—a recruiter trained to use seduction to elicit compliance from her marks.
Her latest assignment is a man named Elliott, a man who she grows to love and respect. A sensual and savage affair ensues, threatening their lives and the lives of people close to them.
I found the inner workings of this religious cult fascinating at the green and control exerted over its members. Break a rule … there is severe punishment. Have an affair with someone not associated with the church … could lead to death for those involved.
The characters are credible, well-drawn, full of the issues and flaws as most people. Having not read the first books in this series, I found SPEAK OF THE DEVIL to be an excellent stand alone.
This is quite a page-turner, full of suspense, leading to worn down fingernails and bags under my eyes from reading until the early morning hours.
Many thanks to the author for the digital copy of this Psychological Thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely own.
Awesome! I started this book last night, woke up and had to finish this book! Britney King definitely knows how to draw you in and keep you hooked with her writing and how she brings her characters to life. If you’re looking for a book that has twists and turns this may be one for you, I cannot wait to read more from this author!