I had a difficult time with this book, making it about 40% in before deciding I couldn't finish. Many of the characters felt the same, and the jumping back and forth between their points of view caused me to constantly check and see who was the narrator at that time. The premise is interesting, and you get the impression that Stevens has some great ideas for his novels; this one just felt like it could use some serious editing to maneuver it into an easier-to-follow story.

In all honesty, I didn't finish this book. I really tried because from the blurb this should be right up my alley with action, morality questions, strong female characters and a hint of paranormal. But unfortunately I couldn't get past the confusing writing style which disappointed me since I liked where the story was going. But maybe different names for the same characters that are used at random combined with a non-chronological order of telling this story made it too confusing. Normally I really don't mind "having to work" for a book, but I couldn't make sense of this and gave up.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

The military thriller I didn't know I needed. An engaging cast of characters and an intriguing storyline pulled me in and although I would have liked a more linear timeline I did enjoy the story for the most part. All in all it was and enjoyable read and I will be on the lookout for more from this author.

*I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley*

I loved this very much! The characters, the actions and even the plot itself! Very inspiring for my own book too!

2.5 stars
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and here is my honest review. I feel bad rating this book so low because I think the premise is really intriguing, but honestly it was a bit confusing. The books is told from multiple different perspectives and many of the characters have multiple names and references and the names they are called in the story vs. the names on the title of the chapter really threw me off. It took me like a quarter of the book in to confirm who was actually who. Also, the book time jumps and since it was already a bit confusing, I think I would have preferred chronological order.

This book is like a mafia / paranormal crossover, but you don’t actually get much of the paranormal stuff until the end, and when you do, it just creates more questions. I get that it is suppose to add to the mystery of everything, but in all honesty, I wish we would have been given more explanations so I could form opinions, instead of just being a jumble of questions.

I do like two of the main characters, Jack and Tyler, and their complexity of ruthlessness and compassion. I can’t believe how how selfless and caring they were towards each other and their significant others when they were raised with such violence. I think it really showed the bond of brotherhood and sticking together. However, I hated what was done to them and their upbringing, so I cannot, in good conscience, like the many of the other characters so they better have one hell of a redemption arc later on lol.

Overall, I really wish I would have liked this book more because the premise and genre of it are 100% up my alley; the execution just fell a little short for me. Maybe it is just me and I didn’t read between the lines well enough, but I don’t like to be confused for so long while reading. I encourage you guys to give this book a shot, because maybe it was just me? Who knows? Though I will say, I am intrigued to see how everything turns out so I would consider reading the sequel. This book is available on October 20, 2020.

Sympathy for the Devil is a unique military/science fiction/action book that grabbed my attention with the super cool cover and then held it with the uniquely interesting plot.

Tyler and his former military unit, consisting of his brother Jack, former fiancé Diana, and wildcard Jin were interesting and mysterious right out of the gate. The story follows them as they work to clear Tyler's name of a murder he didn't commit, subsequently throwing themselves into a war with the supernatural and those in power.

While the plot was super uniquely and interesting, the language and the dialogue often came across as forced and overly formal to me. This made it somewhat hard to really immerse myself in the story and I often found myself having to force myself to continue reading.

The pacing and character development were high points for me, and I really enjoyed seeing how the team interacted with each other.

Overall, solid read and really good for those interested in military thrillers or action based sci-fi.