A review by books_and_cha
Where Death Meets the Devil by L.J. Hayward

3.0

Where Death Meets the Devil was an entertaining, action-packed read with a good bit of romance. I loved that Jack is half-Indian, and I liked how L.J. Hayward threaded in anti-war sentiment into the story and discussed the difference between a soldier and an assassin: virtually none - both get paid to kill, regardless of worldviews that propose otherwise (see: nationalism, patriotism). However, that only takes up a sliver of the story. The rest is dedicated to a lot of running, shooting, the occasional explosion, and a discussion on weaponry preferences (am I the only one that doesn't know about different kinds of guns? Because I couldn't tell you what they were talking about).

The story is told in a non-linear fashion, with chapters alternating between past and present. I feel like non-linear storytelling, while creative, only works for certain kinds of plots. Fortunately for Hayward, this style did wonders for the book: it added to the suspense and made the plot more exciting.

The romance - if you can call it that at this point - develops over time, and really picks up towards the last quarter of the book. There's mutual attraction from the start, but it isn't acted upon immediately. I liked the pacing of it, but I wasn't very invested in what happened to the relationship, simply because it was hard for me to connect to the characters.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but there was nothing that urged me to keep on with the series.