Devil Winds Dance


Fiction - Thriller - General
390 Pages
Reviewed on 06/20/2019
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite

Devil Winds Dance by Tracy Thorne is a spine-chilling thriller. Abbey Brennan, divorced and bringing up her son, starts a new job in a bid to get her life back on track. Taking on a job as a Child Abuse Investigator, Abbey soon finds herself in more trouble than she could have dreamed possible. Her colleagues are not what they seem and Abby is not happy with the way some of them carry out their work. Transferring to a different job, she hopes she can move forward but the death of a child changes everything; lives are inextricably intertwined and nobody is safe anymore. Drugs, murder, a vicious attack; is Abbey in real danger? Is her own son safe? Or is it just the panic attacks that make things look worse than they are?

Wow! Devil Winds Dance by Tracy Thorne was an amazing story. At first, I thought it was too involved but it didn’t take long for me to become engrossed in the story, to the extent that I really didn’t want to put the book down. This is a story that is packed with suspense, packaged with every emotion you can think of and trust me when I say that you will feel every one of them. This is a real page-turner, an edge of the seat thriller with an amazing plot and every word, sentence, paragraph adds to it. This is written so well and there are plenty of twists and turns – it all makes sense in the end. The characters are colorful, developed very well throughout the story, and you soon become attached to the main protagonist. The saddest part about this book is that it is all too real and Tracy demonstrates a working knowledge of how child protection works – or doesn’t as the case may be. I got the impression that there may be a sequel to this. I hope so because there is more of this story to be told.

K.C. Finn

Devil Winds Dance is a gritty work of thriller fiction penned by author Tracy Thorne. Though not excessively graphic in nature, this adult urban thriller does contain explicit language and themes of abuse. Our central character is Abbey Brennan, whose life takes a dramatic turn when she takes on the role of Child Abuse Investigator. A single mother herself, Abbey is beset by panic attacks and unsure if her new suspicions are brought about by the sheer madness of the new world she finds herself in. Crime, murder, and drugs abound, all surrounding the death of one young woman, and there will be more causalities if Abbey can’t get control of her mind to solve the case.

One of the most compelling things about this novel was the sheer strength of its central heroine Abbey despite the enormous pressure put upon her by the can of worms she opens in Child Protective Services. Facing a mental break from the strain, we still stand by Abbey thanks to author Tracy Thorne’s commitment to character development, weaving her heroine into a dangerous plot and giving her the grit to persevere through it all. The criminal underbelly where teenagers from the system find themselves is heart-wrenching and realistically portrayed, giving an undertone of the reality for many children in state care in the real world, which only adds to the tragic and compelling nature of the novel as a whole. Overall, Devil Winds Dance is a powerful, character-driven mystery which comes as a highly recommended read.

Ruffina Oserio

Devil Winds Dance by Tracy Thorne begins with a dramatic moment in which Abbey Brennan is attacked in her home. “There is a gun in your ribs. Do you want to die? Scream or fight and I'll shoot you.” The emotional and psychological intensity of the moment opens the narrative about a humanly flawed, compelling female protagonist who works as a Child Abuse Investigator. Abbey never thought about the whole scale of what she was getting into when she signed up for the job, but this single mother is about to discover that the Child Protection business hides pitfalls and secrets behind the lofty name. Abbey is plunged into a world she never knew possible, involving all kinds of child abuse, ranging from drug peddling to prostitution. She experiences problems of her own and her personal life is about to go through a crisis like never before.

Tracy Thorne is an incredible writer who opens a world up to readers they will hardly believe exists. The writing is great and from the very opening of the novel, the vivid descriptions capture the state of the mind of the protagonist, the sense of fear and apprehension that grips her soul and the uncertainty in her mind. The scenes are carefully written and they are focused. Readers will be shocked at how young and helpless kids get manipulated and hired into illegal trades. But their eyes open when it is too late. Devil Winds Dance captures the minds of the characters with forensic clarity. Readers will enjoy the depth of character development and will appreciate the author’s mastery of the world she describes. There is emotion, and a dash of realism that provokes readers to reflect on the reality of many homeless kids or those from foster homes.