Romantic Fiction Themes, Thrillers, Crimes - Fiction, Crime Fiction

Devils in Exile

Name: Devils in Exile
Author: Chuck Hogan
ISBN: 9781416558873

by Chuck Hogan

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Overview

From the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE STRAIN and PRINCE OF THIEVES, the basis for the recent Warner Bros. film THE TOWN

Neal Maven returns to Boston from his tour in Iraq only to discover that the country he vowed to protect has little use for him now. The men and women who remained Stateside are years ahead of him both personally and professionally, which embitters him and pushes him toward his breaking point.

And then he meets Brad Royce. Royce is everything Maven wants to be: a fellow vet, charismatic and confident, principled, wealthy, and with a beautiful woman on his arm. Not just any beautiful woman, but Danielle Vetti—the most stunning girl from Maven’s high school. Literally, the girl of his dreams.

Royce offers Maven a much-needed job, and Maven soon finds himself a part of Royce’s team of “sugar bandits,” a group of fellow veterans who use their military skills to intercept major drug deals, taking the dirty money while destroying the product—a get-rich scheme with a clear moral imperative. Though exceedingly dangerous and certainly illegal, the efforts of these modern-day Robin Hoods provide Maven with the adrenaline charge he’s craved since his decommission. Besides, Maven can’t resist the chance to be in Danielle’s orbit once again.

Suddenly, Maven’s life is better than he ever thought possible: a soldier in a civilian’s world, he is once again able to do something he excels at and rediscovers the camaraderie he’s sorely lacked since his return. He can get into any club, eat at any restaurant, be with any woman he wants—except, of course, his dream girl. It’s almost too good to be true. In fact, it is too good to be true when Maven learns that nothing is as it seems, but he’s in too deep and can see no way out. . . .

About the Author, Chuck Hogan

Chuck Hogan is the author of The Standoff, The Killing Moon, and The Town (originally published as Prince of Thieves), for which he received the 2005 Hammett Prize from the International Thriller Writers of America and was made into a major motion picture starring Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm. He lives with his family outside of Boston.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

In this fast-paced crime thriller from bestseller Hogan (The Strain with Guillermo del Toro), Iraq war veteran Neal Maven faces a series of dead-end jobs and little in the way of hope for the future back in his hometown of Boston. Then he catches a glimpse of his old high school heartthrob, Danielle Vetti, and his life is changed forever. Shortly after this sighting, Neal fights off a robbery attempt, an attack witnessed by Danielle’s boyfriend, who decides to hire Neal to join his gang of Iraq war vets in their enterprise of ripping off drug dealers. Neal has morals, but he decides because they’re doing good, i.e., destroying drugs and hurting drug dealers, this is an honorable career move. Things go well for a while, but after Neal starts sleeping with Danielle, the whole deal starts to unravel, with explosive results. This is a compelling portrait of a good man who makes bad choices and in the end must battle his way out of a destructive and deadly life. (Feb.)

Kirkus Reviews

From Hogan, co-author of The Strain (2009) with Guillermo Del Toro, comes the story of a down-and-out Iraq war veteran who joins another in a thriving criminal operation. Boston native Maven has been home for nine months and is living hand-to-mouth. He has a low-paying job as a guard on the graveyard shift at a parking lot, skimming a little off the top. A chance encounter with high-school crush Danielle sends the unstable vet into a recurring loop of far-fetched romantic fantasy. A unexpected lifeline comes in the person of Royce, a fellow soldier home from Iraq who becomes Maven's valued friend by being a sympathetic listener. At length, Royce enlists him in a risky but profitable scheme to pose as police and bust up drug deals in progress, pocketing the money and destroying the dope. The fact that Danielle is Royce's girl certainly influences Maven's decision, though he's also turned on by the element of danger in every theft. In the beginning, need makes Maven ambivalent to the operation's legal and moral implications; he seems to accept Royce's rationalizations about the lives they're saving. Maven also gets closer to Danielle, who is more flawed and more endearing than his unattainable high-school crush. Once she dreamed of becoming a model and making enough money to care for her handicapped sister; now she's a coke-sniffing "kept woman," and he knows he could fall dangerously in love with this damaged beauty. Months pass. In deep, Maven wonders where he stands: Is he Royce's partner or his employee? With the success of their operation comes more risk and more attention from legitimate law enforcement. Pursuit comes in the person of jaded but dogged DEA agent Marcus Lash. Groundedin a complex, nuanced portrait of Maven and a heartbreaking combination of grit and pathos, this character-driven thriller has more mainstream appeal than Hogan's previous efforts (Prince of Thieves, 2004, etc.).