NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
Narrator January LaVoy shines in the third installment of The Diviners series. In 1920s Harlem, the Diviners, a disparate group of preternaturally gifted young people, work to discover the source of their powers as a new threat to the equilibrium between good and evil emanates from a local asylum. The story is a striking blend of history, magic, horror, and romance, and LaVoy's narration highlights each element through clear enunciation, careful pacing, and dramatic flair. Despite the considerable number of characters and their intersecting storylines, LaVoy never misses a beat, demonstrating a wide range of vocal dexterity and skill that creates the impression of an ensemble. Listeners are encouraged to begin at the beginning of this planned four-audiobook series and enjoy LaVoy's mastery. A.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
Praise for Before the Devil Breaks You:
* " [A] gripping, unsettling read that peels back the shiny surface of the American Dream. Like the ghosts facing the Diviners, Bray's novel has teeth."—Booklist, starred review
Kirkus Reviews
2017-10-26
This third installment in Bray's speculative historical-fiction series continues to spin the stories of its large ensemble of supernaturally gifted characters in 1920s New York City.The patients and staff at the fictional Manhattan State Hospital for the Insane (Bray discusses mental illness in an author's note) are terrorized by murderous ghosts as the novel opens, quickly setting the tone of atmospheric horror that has characterized this epic. This draws in the Diviners, who must confront a menacing otherworldly figure called the King of Crows. The tale is told in two parts, and details of imagined government conspiracies are laced with heartbreakingly realistic injustices such as racism, anti-Semitism, and maltreatment of the mentally ill. The diverse protagonists are intricately developed; poet Memphis and his young brother Isaiah are black; Ling is Chinese and Irish-American, uses leg braces and crutches, and is both demisexual and lesbian; Sam is Jewish; Theta and Evie are white, as is Henry, who is gay. While readers might be surprised that what seems like the lead-up to a showdown between dimensions doesn't materialize, there is no shortage of action to keep them going: ravenous ghosts, Shadow Men, secret bands of anarchists, and first sexual experiences, among them.A solid middle entry that will satisfy readers hooked on this series—and leave them eager for the next. (Historical/paranormal thriller. 14-adult)
