Why the Devil Stalks Death
Jack Reardon uncovers secrets for a living, and the Meta-State spy is pretty good at it. Or rather he thought so until he met Ethan Blade-assassin, warrior, enigma. The unlikely pair have decided to give living together a shot, but Jack's not entirely certain what he's gotten himself into-or exactly who he's in it with.Jack's worries are compounded when he's assigned to a police strike force hunting a serial killer.
With each new puzzle piece, Jack considers the true nature of a serial killer-and how similar it is to an assassin. To one particular assassin who's having trouble adjusting to retirement. Jack's unsure how to help Ethan-or if he even can.When the killer strikes close to home, Jack must race against the clock to stop another murder, despite the price someone has put on his head.
Could the matters be connected? Is a certain assassin at the centre of both? Surrounded by killers, the only one Jack wants near disappears, leaving Jack drowning in secrets.
He'll have to do what he does best-unravel the secrets, including Ethan's-to stop the killer and save the life he and Ethan have only just begun to build.**Content Warning**Child abuse and child sexual abuse in a character's history and not depicted directly on the page.
- Pages
- 348
- First published
- December 5, 2018
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 1 Litcadian
Reviews
Started September 24, 2026 · Finished September 26, 2026
I think this book became more interesting to me after finishing Dealing in Death (book #2.5), because in retrospect I understand much better what Why the Devil Stalks Death was actually doing with its perspective. My advice would be to read the novella right after this and to rate and review this once you have read both books. Also, this review shouldn't be read before reading Dealing in Death! I actually liked this a lot, and the more I think about it, the more impressed I am by how much of a red thread there seems to be running through these books. I genuinely don't know how much of this was meticulously planned from the beginning and how much developed naturally as the series went on, but the character development feels remarkably consistent. I really enjoyed the dual timeline again, although this time I could see the machinery (not the mystery!) behind it a little more clearly. From the beginning, we're supposed to know that something has gone badly wrong without knowing exactly what happened. An old acquaintance is back, Ethan is clearly hurt, and the book very deliberately leaves enough gaps to make us wonder whether Jack crossed a crucial line. And I think that uncertainty actually fits something much bigger the series is doing with Jack and Ethan! They've chosen each other by this point, but that doesn't mean they've suddenly become good at relationships. They still don't tell each other nearly enough. Ethan withholds enormous parts of himself because secrecy, compartmentalisation, and control are how he has survived his entire life. Jack has become much better at reading him, but loving Ethan does not suddenly grant him access to everything happening inside Ethan's head. And because Jack doesn't know, we obviously don't know either. I think that's probably the most interesting thing about keeping us out of Ethan's POV.