Scan barcode
katrinaburch's review against another edition
3.0
This third book in the trilogy falls somewhere in between the first and second book in terms of likeability and story. While it's much better than the first book, I don't know if it is better than the second one. It does have unnecessary details that add nothing to the book and i wasn't really keen on the whole reason for [spoiler] being the the target in Tue first place. That part was honestly just unbelievable. Now writing this and thinking back over the book, I've changed my mind, this book does really belong after the second in terms of likeability and story. It is almost like the author was rushed in writing and added details that weren't really necessary. I did enjoy the story ( though a bit bloody, unnecessarily so, in parts) until the last quarter of the book.
cduggan89's review against another edition
4.0
Much better than the second book. I was worried about reading another in this series because of the repetitive storyline but this was a pleasant surprise and very good book.
canada_matt's review against another edition
4.0
While I expected the Templar series and its characters to deal with a Templar storyline, I was surprised and impressed with how Khoury took this away from its normal setting and made an electrifying story about drugs, the afterlife, and experimentation with both. I will not spill anything, but it all clicked into place, eventually.
Khoury has already shown how versatile that he can be with some of his other books, straying from the Templar theme (which was a hot topic for a while there), and yet I was not sure how he would make it work with characters we know so well in one form. He did it masterfully and threw in some great surprises along the way. I presumed that THE DEVIL'S ELIXER would have some drug connotation, especially since we were headed to the Mexican jungles, but even this surprised me.
I have waited a while for a great Khoury novel and, while it tends to be the choice of audiobook narrator that makes it hard to get through, I forged ahead and made the most of it.
KUDOS Mr. Khoury. Your talent is not lost on me!
Khoury has already shown how versatile that he can be with some of his other books, straying from the Templar theme (which was a hot topic for a while there), and yet I was not sure how he would make it work with characters we know so well in one form. He did it masterfully and threw in some great surprises along the way. I presumed that THE DEVIL'S ELIXER would have some drug connotation, especially since we were headed to the Mexican jungles, but even this surprised me.
I have waited a while for a great Khoury novel and, while it tends to be the choice of audiobook narrator that makes it hard to get through, I forged ahead and made the most of it.
KUDOS Mr. Khoury. Your talent is not lost on me!
skinnypenguin's review
4.0
A fast paced action thriller. The drug lord psychopath was definitely a scary character. Quite gruesome the way he killed people. The topics of tribal medicine and modern medicine along with hallucinogenic drugs was quite interesting. Felt bad for Sean's girlfriend having to put up with things from his past and finding out he had a son that is now part of her responsibility. The fact that she really wants more kids helped. Quite a shock for him to find out he had a son and it was good he was able to have feelings for him so quickly.
The kid sure went thru a lot, with his mom getting killed then being stuck with strangers. It was interesting to find out what had been done to him at the end. Sure did not see that end coming, it was a bit of a surprise.
Really enjoyed the book.
The kid sure went thru a lot, with his mom getting killed then being stuck with strangers. It was interesting to find out what had been done to him at the end. Sure did not see that end coming, it was a bit of a surprise.
Really enjoyed the book.
brettt's review
3.0
Capitalizing on the success of the 2009 TV miniseries based on his novel The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury turned FBI agent Sean Reilly and his girlfriend archaeologist Tess Chaykin into a franchise with 2010's The Templar Salvation. In 2011, Khoury moved the pair away from medieval-based Vatican intrigue with the southern-California-based The Devil's Elixir.
Reilly answers a call from an old girlfriend who has just been attacked, along with her four-year-old son Alex. He flies to San Diego to help her and soon finds himself involved in a deadly struggle with a sadistic and ruthless narcotics cartel leader who seems to be able to reach inside Reilly's law enforcement world at will. Reilly doesn't know if he can trust anyone -- including himself and his own past -- but he will have to find some way to take the cartel leader down before the leader gets to him and begins production of a lethal new psychotropic drug that could mentally cripple millions.
Khoury, who has worked extensively as a screenwriter, lays out great action scenes and has a style that doesn't get in the way of the narrative, even if it's not going to be on the the PEN prize people's radar. Elixir seems well-researched and has a good number of keep-you-guessing twists, but it also has some extraneous scenes and characters that start episodes which either never resolve or turn out to be incidental. Khoury also succumbs to the lecture temptation a couple of times as he explains some aspects of the drug trade as well as how many hallucinogenic drugs work in the body, and the last act of the book takes a sudden weird X-Files turn that makes that part of the ride a lot bumpier than it should be.
Original available here.
Reilly answers a call from an old girlfriend who has just been attacked, along with her four-year-old son Alex. He flies to San Diego to help her and soon finds himself involved in a deadly struggle with a sadistic and ruthless narcotics cartel leader who seems to be able to reach inside Reilly's law enforcement world at will. Reilly doesn't know if he can trust anyone -- including himself and his own past -- but he will have to find some way to take the cartel leader down before the leader gets to him and begins production of a lethal new psychotropic drug that could mentally cripple millions.
Khoury, who has worked extensively as a screenwriter, lays out great action scenes and has a style that doesn't get in the way of the narrative, even if it's not going to be on the the PEN prize people's radar. Elixir seems well-researched and has a good number of keep-you-guessing twists, but it also has some extraneous scenes and characters that start episodes which either never resolve or turn out to be incidental. Khoury also succumbs to the lecture temptation a couple of times as he explains some aspects of the drug trade as well as how many hallucinogenic drugs work in the body, and the last act of the book takes a sudden weird X-Files turn that makes that part of the ride a lot bumpier than it should be.
Original available here.
stephend81d5's review
3.0
enjoyable and easy read but was slow to get going and felt the ending was rather rushed like the author was wondering where to take the storyline/plot to maybe the next book will be better though
More...