Blake Dresner
Blake Dresner is from a family of authors in Charlottesville, VA. He lives in Mexico as a freelance writer, where he trains in boxing and studies history in his spare time.
A Chilling Thriller Blending Fiction With Fact
A Chilling Thriller Blending Fiction With Fact
In Jack Carr’s latest masterpiece, the reader realizes something disquieting; the danger in this book echoes in reality.
How did a relatively new writer enter the crowded novel scene, and so instantly make such an explosive impact as Jack Carr did with Terminal List? It’s not luck; it’s authenticity.
With a decorated career as a US Navy SEAL and a deep understanding of America’s Department of Defense- as well as the culture and mindset of those who might oppose the United States- Jack had all the tools he needed to create a masterpiece. That’s exactly what he did, once again, with The Devil’s Hand — where the reader might get more than they bargained for.
The reader is greeted by a solemn preface, asking a heavy question- what, exactly, have America’s enemies been learning in the long span that they’ve been studying us? This question tells us what we’re really in for. This isn’t a whimsical story that we get to read as purely detached observers. This is a story that- to a small extent- we may be living through right now.
The narration in The Devil’s Hand begins in New York, on the morning of September 11th, 2001. We go through the gut-churning horror experienced by so many Americans on that morning- including that of future war hero and United States president, Alec Christensen, who loses his beloved fiancé in the attack.
Christensen is a rich young man who rejects a life of luxury, preferring to join the military and fight America’s enemies. He has motivations beyond patriotism, however; he’s hellbent on revenge. Some 20 years later, he is elected to the presidency. As he advanced in life, he never forgot about his fiance, nor had he paused his mission to avenge her. Soon after being elected, he requests a private audience with James Reece at Camp David, where our story kicks off in full.
Former Lieutenant Commander and US Navy SEAL James Reece wants to put his past behind him, and build the rest of his life with Katie, a beautiful journalist he’d fallen in love with — but that would have to wait. When the president wants you, personally, to execute his blood vendetta against America’s enemies in a covert assasination, it’s hard to say no. Reece is sent to track down a handful of men with connections to the perpetrators of 9/11: Iranian sleeper agents, living peacefully in the nation they despised.
Reece accepts the assignment, which takes him to various places across the country to confront men who thought they’d escaped their past. But, as he stalks his targets, he realizes there’s something terribly wrong when he notices a mysterious man visiting places he should not be in — a man named Ali, carrying out his own life-long vendetta against ‘The Great Satan’, the nation that murdered his family back home in Iran.
When a hit team of 11 Iranian sleeper agents try to kill Reece- and even worse, try to kill his beloved Katie — former Lieutenant Commander and US Navy SEAL James Reece gets mad, and this mission suddenly gets very personal for him.
What unfolds from there is an astounding sequence of twists, surprises, and heart-racing action. An Iranian terror attack, ferocious and furtive, is carefully plotted for years- until finally, it rears itself in its full terror and strikes. A bioengineered airborne hemorrhagic virus- reminiscent of Ebola- is deployed in a ruthless and brilliant coup de grace aiming to destroy ‘The Great Satan’, collapsing a teetering United States from within.
On his top-secret mission of revenge for the United States president, James Reece suddenly finds himself as the only living man in a position to save the United States- and perhaps millions of lives — from destruction.
The Devil’s Hand is set in the modern day United States with incredible realism. We get a birds-eye view of the United States that we know well — a military colossus pockmarked with poverty and wealth disparity, torn by racial and class tension, and populated by angry citizenry who deeply distrust their institutions. To top it off, the America of Jack Carr’s novel is just as ravaged by Covid-19 as it is in real life.
As Jack Carr’s story reaches its heart-racing climax with a startling conclusion, the terribly realistic plotline haunts us, giving us an unnerving thought: this story is not quite 100% fiction, and it’s certainly not over for us.
The Devil’s Hand is an exhilarating and intensely authentic thriller that keeps you on your toes all day… And, it’s more than that. It’s US Navy SEAL Jack Carr’s warning about threats America may face… And, the weaknesses that Her would-be enemies might exploit, to horrific effect.
