Devil's Due (The Cards in the Deck, #1) by Robert Stanek

Devil's Due (The Cards in the Deck, #1) Reviews

• 
  Wanda Hartzenberg

  This is a fast paced easy read and one I am sure you will love as well!
  A bit weird the premise is still fun and adds rather than distract.
  WaAr
• 
  Ian Howe

  Fooled again.
  
  Didn't know it was part one of a multi part story. Shame really, I was getting into it, but I'm not buying all the rest to finish it. Adverts should state very clearly that the book is only part of a story if it is.
• 
  Trekscribbler

  Is It A Book? A Short? Heaven Knows It’s Fast, That’s For Sure!
  
  The boomtown that is so much of electronic publishing continues to churn out one new adventure after another in every genre conceivable. Despite there being a glut of good, bad, and ugly fiction and non-fiction out there available on Amazon and beyond, I’m all for it: I think authors in this day and age have a terrific opportunity to reach out and touch someone – that someone being a new reader. So long as these budding novelists turn out respectable but high-quality yarns, then the more the merrier!
  
  DEVIL’S DUE: THE CARDS IN THE DECK is precisely the kind of short fiction one would expect to find a foothold in today’s consumer-friendly market. It’s a quick read – a perilous adventure set on the high seas – where action remains front-and-center, and it’s easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad. The premise is that former NSA operative Scott Evers captains the Sea Shepherd, and, while carrying out the mission to disrupt Mediterranean fishermen, the boat comes under heavy assault from ‘unfriendlies’ …
  
  … and, basically, that’s it.
  
  ???
  
  While this statement is not meant as any insult, DEVIL’S DUE is hardly anything approaching a novel. To be accurate, it’s a short story – one whose intent is clearly to entertain – and, solely on that level, it kept my interest. Granted, it isn’t the kind of thing I’d normally pick up – I’m all for tales of crisp action and lethal derring-do, but I tend to prefer something with a greater personal investment. There’s little characterization here – in fact, I suspect some of that may be due to the fact that its author (Robert Stanek) has a series of works exploring Scott Evers’ life in print – and I always find it hard to sink my teeth (and brain) into something that’s driving intent is to serve up one action sequence after another.
  
  Who knows? If this is only one piece of a greater work, then that’s all well and good. I suspect that Evers has miles to go before he sleeps (as goes the old saying), and the way he conducts himself here certainly is the stuff similar to many military-style thrillers I’ve read throughout my years. Evers could prove himself a force to be reckoned with, but, in this short slice, it’s hard to see from what mettle he’s been truly fashioned.
  
  But as the kind of thing one could purchase and read, say, on a short plane ride from one city to the next? Why, I’d imagine you could do far worse than DEVIL’S DUE.
  
  One thing’s for sure, and that’s that author Stanek ratchets the excitement up as high as he can in DEVIL’S DUE. As a selling point, it certainly works.
  
  RECOMMENDED.
  
  In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the author reached out to me via email, asking that I obtain a free copy of DEVIL’S DUE via Amazon solely for the purposes of completing this review. His request has influenced my review in no way, shape, or form.
  
• 
  Lee Boyland

  The blaring alarm awoke Scott Evers in his bunk on the Sea Shepherd, a 201 feet ship with a crew of 45 operated by an organization similar to Greenpeace. Its mission was to disrupt illegal Tuna fishing in the Mediterranean Sea.
  
  On his way to the topside Evers, who’s job is security, discovered Libyans had sank a sister ship, the Bardot III. When he reached the top deck he saw the ship was circling one of five Tunisian fishing boats and their crews were hurling links of chain at the Sea Shepherd, who’s crew was responding with fire hoses and stink bombs, a repeat of previous battles. Divers in the water, Edie said to Evers. The divers were cutting nets to free the tuna. Then thinks went south.
  
  David Gilbert, a NASA senior data mining and analysis specialists at a super secret National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center (DC), Camp Williams, Utah was a troubled man. Gilbert was early because he wanted to review the latest D-Wave test results from the latest generation of super computers employing quantum computing. Gilbert’ super computer was one of three with super-cooled niobium chips. After studying the results he realized something was amiss in the Med. Now Gilbert had two things to worry about: What was not being reported in the Med, and his long time concern about super computers exceeding human intelligence and enslaving the human race.
  
  The “director” enters the story and the Evers and his gal pal Edie have rollicking, fantastical adventures as they chase the bad guys across the Mediterranean to Malta with the help of the CIA, NSA, SEALs and the Sixth Fleet.
  
• 
  Brian Bigelow

  Devil's Due is quite a good military thriller. Kind of sad ending to this first book though. I would like to see what happens to Scott later on in the other books. This one isn't a long read, part of it is because it's so well written.
• 
  W.C. Quick

  fast moving and action packed
  
  First in the series, short cliff hanger style well written military thriller that builds action and interest with every turn of the page. If there were any indie grammar issues, I roared right past them following the storyline.
• 
  Jeffrey Miller

  If you like you're reading hard and fast with lots of action, you're going to love Devil's Due. I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. This book is a real page-turner!
• 
  ryan michaels

  Great quick read
  
  Enjoyed the first part of this story. Different, intriguing. The end pulled me in and left me wanting more. I highly recommend it.