Book Review - Speak of the Devil: A Novel of Suspense

Speak of the Devil: A Novel of Suspense
Richard Hawke
400 Pages

Fritz Malone is a private investigator on his way home with bagels when he gets caught up in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Next thing he knows he sees a lone gunman in the crowd and takes off after him. This launches him into a world of high profile blackmail, police corruption, and revenge. Working on direct orders from the Mayor and Police Commissioner, Fritz sets off to find out who the real “Nightmare” is.


Overall, I am very impressed with this debut novel by Richard Hawke. The story was fast paced and kept me engaged. Every time you think you know who the killer is, he sends you in another direction. Malone is a wise ass, but not too much. He is jaded and haunted, but not too much. There are a lot of characters met along the way, which can get confusing. Some are given full back stories, some none at all, and other’s you get a taste but then it gets dropped. I am forgiving this though, as it is the first novel, and hopefully some more of this will be fleshed out in future books.

I know it is just part of the genre, but I do find it comical when the main character, usually a Private Investigator, lawyer, or retired cop, are able to circumvent the law and get the bad guy easier than the real men in blue. Fritz can sneak into buildings surrounded pretty much with swat teams, unnoticed, and get close to the bad guy, meanwhile 4 or 5 cops have already been shot and wounded in the process. I’ve always wondered if these authors just do not like police in general, or if there is just no way else to get the main character to be the ultimate hero. There is a lot of description about NYC, which some people will either like or find useless. I personally enjoyed it.

I look forward to starting his next chapter, Cold Day in Hell, which seems to take a more darker turn.