As humans, we have wants and needs. Even the most selfless among us has desires. The latest novel by Lou Yardley comes with the tagline “Everyone has a price…what’s yours?” By the time that you reach the end of The Deal Maker, you may find yourself thinking twice about just how badly you desire something.
The Deal Maker primarily follows Ted and Kelly, two characters that for their own reasons, find themselves mixed up with a demonic creature who goes by the name “Jack”. Jack has a penchant for bartering. A service for a price. As you might imagine, deals with a demon come with a steep price, and Jack will utilize his customers' desperation to his advantage. The premise of Yardley’s latest is a fascinating one, and both of the main characters' plights were intriguing enough to keep the reader hooked. During my time reading The Deal Maker, I found Kelly’s story to be a bit more interesting than Ted's. She’s on a quest for vengeance and the book does a good job of fleshing that out. Ted’s story begins with his girlfriend missing, but I found it tougher to care as we hadn’t gotten to know either her or Ted yet. Having never really connected with Ted, I found it unfortunate that his character had more page time than Kelly, although when you come to the end of this book, you’ll have discovered your time with Ted pays off. As far as Jack is concerned, he the trickster you’d expect a demon bargaining with humans to be. Yardley does a wonderful job of describing this grotesque creature. Once you visualize him, you’ll wish you didn’t. Gore fiends will find something to love in The Deal Maker, as I found myself cringing on more than one occasion. My only complaint with the novel is that Ted and Kelly’s parallel paths seemed a bit repetitive at times. There were also a few occasions where I felt that a scene had spent too much time describing the same thing, adding to the repetition. It’s worth noting that these minor issues didn’t really hamper my enjoyment of the book, and as I approached the fantastic conclusion of The Deal Maker, I hadn’t been able to guess where the story was going.
The Deal Maker, by Lou Yardley, uses a simplistic question to tell an entertaining story. What is your price? For the right reward, you may find yourself willing to pay
4/5 Stars
John is a native of Cranston, Rhode Island. He served 4 years in the United States Marine Corps, deploying twice to Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s a lover of all things horror, pizza and cheeseburgers. When he’s not reading or watching boxing he spends his time with his amazing wife and two beautiful sons.
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