The Devil be Damned
Master storyteller Ali Vali does it again with her fourth installment in the Casey Family saga, The Devil be Damned. Although time has passed since the previous installment, Deal With The Devil, readers will quickly find themselves once again caught up in the lives of Derby Cain and Emma Casey and their soon-to-be three children, set against the intriguing backdrop of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Perhaps the best thing I can say about this series and Vali’s writing is that there is always more than just the one, most obvious story taking place. In the previous three books, readers have not only joined Cain Casey on her business dealings as head of one of the largest, old-school crime families, but also on journeys steeped in Cain’s fierce passion about her wife, children and other family members. Readers of the series have watched as a relationship developed between Cain’s cousin and trusted attorney, Muriel, and Shelby Phillips, a die-hard, by-the-book FBI agent who also is charge of the Casey surveillance team. This relationship has been an on-again, off-again love affair that leaves Cain and her Uncle Jarvis, Muriel’s father, wondering if Phillips’ intentions are true or just a way to get closer to the Casey family.
Another FBI agent, Anthony Curtis, whom readers will remember as going rogue and teaming up with Cain’s long-time enemy, Juan Luis, is back again in true fashion as he and Luis, along with help from Luis’ mother, Gracelia, plan yet another attempt at taking down the Casey family, one body at a time.
While the romance between Cain and Emma continues and the romance between Shelby and Muriel is potentially rekindled, another romantic lesbian back story between Cain’s associate Remington Jatibon and actress Dallas Montgomery continues to grow.
Whose love will soar? Whose love will prove to be a means to an end? Can Cain manage to keep her perfectly-balanced life and family safe? The answers to these questions and more lie within these 279 pages and proves nothing is easy in the Big Easy.
The Devil Be Damned
Ali Vali
Paperback
Bold Strokes Books
(as published in Phoenix Magazine)
Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici
Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici is Ali Vali’s ninth effort, which includes The Cain Casey Saga. This 280-page book begins in Egypt in the year 1482 BC, with Asra, Captain of the Pharaoh’s elite forces, readying for battle until she receives a beautiful and mysterious visitor. This visitor brings her a message: Asra’s brother has been turned into a blood-thirsty demon who has killed their father. The visitor goes on to explain how the vampires came to be and then offers Asra a “gift” – everlasting life to fight demons in order to maintain balance in the universe. The ultimate battle – avenging her father’s death. And that’s just chapter one.
Chapter two opens in New York City, present day, where we meet Kendal Richoux and quickly learn Kendal is the modern-day Asra. A phone call from Morgaine, the visitor from that night 3,500 years ago, informs Kendal it is time to return to New Orleans and prepare for the ultimate battle of her life.
Needing a reason to travel to The Big Easy, Kendal, now a successful business woman, decides to take over a floundering company, Marmande Shipyard and Construction Company. In the process Kendal meets a top executive in the family business, Piper Marmande.
If you want to know what happens next you’ll have to read the book, which I read in one sitting.
I’ve never really been much of a fan of tales centered around vampires, werewolves and the like, with the exception of the movie Nosferatu, but once again Vali’s characters seem to dance from the page into your heart and mind.
And it’s not just her characters that seem so vivid, but the intricately woven story, and back story, are uncovered in such a way it all feels so real. And no one uses New Orleans as a backdrop quite the way Vali does, of course the fact that she lives just outside the city helps. Vampires and New Orleans, although Vali certainly isn’t the first woman writer to place the creatures in The Big Easy, she just might be the one to do it best.
If you missed its release in 2011, you’ll find it at www.BoldStrokesBooks.com And this is one book I recommend you read, even if you’re not into vampires.
Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici
Ali Vali
Paperback
Bold Strokes Books
(as published in Phoenix Magazine)