This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Stephen Reney is a future award-winning author, uncertified expert on everything, and master embellisher. Devine’s Providence is his first published novel, so better to buy it early before collectors drive the price up. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and collection of wine corks which he swears he’s going to do something awesome with someday.
Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite
Devine's Providence: A Novel by Stephen Reney is a crime thriller with a good plot and memorable characters. Harry Devine is a private detective and a former cop, a man who suffers from depression and alcoholism. When Chelsea Woodstern, a true-crime blogger who is not a fan of law enforcement, turns up at his door asking for his help in an investigation, Harry’s world comes alive. An investigation into government corruption unveils other ills in the system, including kidnapping and murder. The plot gets twistier and the crime more complicated than they had thought. Can they get to the bottom of it and can Devine, even with the help of an old partner, Jake, overcome his feelings for Chelsea and get to the bottom of the crime?
Set in the city of Providence, Devine's Providence is for fans of sleuth and crime thrillers. I adored the characters. Chelsea is a complex character, opinionated and driven, and I enjoyed the effect she has on Harry. The characters are real and the journey that Harry makes in the story, from a broken, depressed alcoholic to finding balance as he investigates a crime, is interesting. I love characters who are genuinely flawed and Stephen Reney has the gift of creating such characters. The plot is twisty, with surprises that delighted me. The story is written in beautiful prose and with dialogues that augment the drama through every page. The descriptions, especially of the setting, are stunning and vivid, like the stench of the river, of the city, and rotting trash that hangs so heavy it clings to your skin as you walk through it. The author makes readers feel, see, and experience the environment in the same way they feel the characters. And that first-person narrative voice wouldn’t let me go. Fabulous story.
