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The Devil Pulls the Strings
The Devil Pulls the Strings is a dark fantasy novel with the pulse of a supernatural thriller and the sweep of an adventure story. It follows Boone Daniels, a Missouri musician and Ren Faire jouster who has spent twelve years trying to prove that his parents did not simply vanish, but were taken by something monstrous and tied to cursed Paganini music. When Boone is pulled from his small-town life into New York, secret societies, occult history, Slavic myth, and a dangerous search involving three pieces of forbidden music, the book turns into a chase through music, memory, grief, and fate.
The author writes like he wants every chapter to move, and they do. Boone’s voice has an authentic roughness that makes the story feel immediate, especially because the novel leans into his synesthesia, eidetic memory, panic, and stubborn need to be believed. That choice gives the book its identity. Music isn’t just background here. It becomes texture, pressure, color, taste, and threat. I liked that a lot. It makes the fantasy feel embodied instead of decorative. At times, the novel throws a huge amount at the reader, with lore, organizations, artifacts, and side characters arriving fast, but I also think that abundance is part of its charm. It feels like opening a big old trunk and finding it packed with strange objects, scraps of legend, and one more story than you expected.
The mix of themes is bold. Slavic mythology, Paganini lore, fairy tale logic, secret archives, vampire assassins, Renaissance fairs, and a hero from a trailer park should not fit together this smoothly, and yet a surprising amount of it does because Boone is such a sincere center of gravity. He’s bruised, funny, desperate, and often overwhelmed, which gives the story heart. The romance thread with Sapphire and the idea of cursed music could have tipped into melodrama, but the book usually keeps itself grounded by returning to Boone’s grief and his need to make sense of what happened when he was six. That gave the bigger fantasy machinery some emotional weight. I was especially interested in how the novel treats talent as both a gift and a burden. Music opens doors here, but it also asks for blood.
I would recommend this most to readers who enjoy genre fiction that is earnest, busy, imaginative, and unafraid to go big. If you like dark fantasy, occult thrillers, myth-soaked adventures, or stories where music itself becomes dangerous, there is a lot here to enjoy. I think readers who want ultra-minimal prose or a very restrained plot may not click with it in the same way. But readers who are happy to follow a wounded, sharp-edged hero into a world of cursed art, hidden histories, and supernatural conflict will probably have a very good time with this one. It feels like a book written by someone who loves stories enough to pack in everything that fascinates him.
Pages: 252 | ISBN : 978-1736401309
The Devil Pulls the Strings
Boone Daniels is your typical knight in shining armor. His sense of justice and loyalty is strong, especially after a terrible accident at a jousting match that puts his best friend, Flynn, in the hospital. Unable to perform with his band, the Village Idiots, Flynn asks Boone to take his place in New York at a charity ball. Provided with an address and time, Boone heads to NYC to meet the Village Idiot’s benefactor, Professor Stone. Boone soon stumbles upon his true purpose for being in New York – to stop Sinti from summoning the devil and stop Baba Yaga, an immortal being who has been trapped in a deep sleep for centuries, from destroying NYC. Along with his new friend, Sapphire, Boone helps a secret organization fight a long-time war with the Dragon and Nymph society.
In The Devil Pulls the Strings, Joseph Zarek brings to life magic and monsters found in European lore. This is an exciting story that I found to be fast-paced and full of action. The author hits on thrilling plot points rapidly, moving Boone through his next steps to stopping Sinti quickly with just enough time to digest what happened before moving on.
Readers are immediately introduced to intriguing magic and mythological creatures before the main character, which sets readers up to know what kind of imaginative story they are delving into, but I feel like this prevents readers from discovering this secret world along with the main character.
Some of the information the author uses is factual and conforms to the original mythology, which I loved, but in some areas the author bends mythological rules in unique ways, which I love even more. For example, Wendigos prey on people who are socially disconnected or corrupt, greedy and/or weak. I enjoyed the author’s fresh take on these mythological creatures.
The Devil Pulls the Strings is a quirky epic fantasy adventure that is relentlessly moving forward and never forgets to entertain the reader. The modern reimagining of old mythologies and the mash-up of multiple mythologies makes this a one-of-a-kind fantasy that readers will surely enjoy.
Pages: 254 | ASIN: B09435JJ67
The Steampunk Vampire Assassins
The Devil Pulls the Strings follows a young man with uncontrollable panic attacks and time travelling abilities that send him on a race through time to capture a cursed melody. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
1) Honor the hero’s journey and infuse Slavic mythology and Baba Yaga in a modern day epic fantasy adventure.
2) Paganini’s association with the Devil.
3) The Rule of Three.
4) David Henry Sterry and Bonnie Solomon.
I wrote Chapter One Promise Me, because David Henry Sterry with The Book Doctors, read my first twenty-five pages, and said “You have to show the inciting incident, the joust, before Boone and Sapphire meet outside Stone’s brownstone.”
I wrote The Prologue, because Bonnie Solomon, Producer of Dreamworks’ SHREK and Walden’s THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, read my story and said “You have to show both secret societies before the joust occurs.”
For awareness purposes, there wasn’t a prologue in the first draft. However, without Bonnie’s suggestion, I never would created the prophecy scroll, or incorporated the domovoi into this story, or shown upfront the centuries old war between two opposing secret societies, or revealed why the horn gets blown at the joust, or created Pep, the runt domovoi, or Laureus the Scottish Warrior Laureus, or Lahash and Zakun, the steampunk vampire assassins.
Boone is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
1) Failure is not an option for Boone because all he’s ever known his entire life is failure and setback.
Boone’s development throughout the story shows he turns moments of failure into the catalyst for his success.
2) Boone discovers as the story unfolds it’s possible to work with, power through and overcome a circumstance, a condition, a disease or disorder.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
1) You can overcome insurmountable obstacles.
2) No one is defined by their circumstances, condition, disease, or disorder.
3) The power of a promise.
4) Everyone has a choice.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The next book Flynn’s Folly is a heist job gone wrong and its availability is TBD.
Author Links: Website | Amazon | Facebook
The Devil Pulls the Strings
Confusion is the name of the game for poor Boone. Most of the time, he doesn’t know where he is, who he is talking to, or why he is there. Boone’s life is one strange adventure after another, but none of these adventures are planned. Boone Daniels is a time traveler and an unwilling one at that. A tragic event involving his best friend, Flynn, has placed Boone in the very awkward and frightening position of finding someone called “the Professor.” Nothing about his task is appealing, but Boone is not in a position to argue. He’s on a mission to make things right.
The Devil Pulls the Strings is an imaginative science fiction tale by J.W. Zarek. Main character, Boone Daniels, has happened upon his time-traveling abilities quite by accident, and he remains in a perpetual state of overwhelming confusion when his travels take him to one century and one part of the globe after another. While he is not thrilled at the idea of going to New York to take Flynn’s place in a gig, he knows he owes Flynn and owes him big.
Boone’s travels from place to place and time to time happen quickly–very quickly. Zarek has the book’s main character moving rapidly through time to complete the mission he has been given. Readers are treated to numerous tidbits of history as Boone races through time to prevent events he knows will occur. There seems to be nothing left out when it comes to major historical events, famous names, and easily recognizable points of interest. The blend of present-day Boone and time-traveling Boone make for an engaging storyline.
The first-person point of view really makes Zarek’s book a truly engaging adventure novel. Hearing Boone describe his apprehension and his insecurities in his own voice really make the story all the more relatable. He struggles with his strange gift, and he is in a constant battle trying to figure out which way is up and how to solve the never-ending puzzle before him.
The Devil Pulls the Strings is a wildly thrilling time travel adventure. Readers who love a good underdog will find Boone Daniels the perfect main character–his constant trepidation is endearing. Zarek’s unlikely time-traveling hero, Boone, brings an element of humor and normalcy to an otherwise magnificently spun urban fantasy adventure tale.
Pages: 252 | ASIN: B09435JJ67
The Devil Pulls the Strings
Boone’s life has changed, and it changed in the time it takes to blow an air horn. What should have gone without a hitch turned into an event that could easily have taken his best friend’s life and left Boone standing as the guilty party. Boone, not exactly one for making a spectacle of himself, is now doing his best to pull it together and stand in for Flynn and take his place in the upcoming gig. Boone is prepared, but is he really ready for what lies ahead? There is something Flynn has been hiding from him, and he can’t quite put his finger on it.
The Devil Pulls the Strings, by J.W. Zarek, is the story of Boone, a young man left with a unique set of abilities following a freak accident. Boone now experiences panic attacks and is able to time travel–all out of his control. The big city seems like the worst possible place for Boone, but his debt to Flynn is a big one and must be paid. When he finds himself without the advantage of having a cell phone and being pushed around on the bustling streets of New York City, Boone realizes exactly how far out of his element he really is.
I really love Boone’s character. He’s confused. He’s genuine. And he’s one determined guy. His challenges are beyond those of most main characters you could name, yet he somehow persists. The fact that he is not quite at ease with his abilities makes him even more endearing. The vulnerability given him by the author makes him that much more relatable.
The world Zarek has created for readers is a wonderful blend of science fiction and present day reality. The contrast between the two is amazing and gives readers the best of both worlds. Science fiction fans will enjoy wonderful descriptions of the altered reality Boone is forced to face–vivid scenes, well-drawn characters, and enthralling plot lines. I was especially taken with the way Zarek incorporates the wendigo into Boone’s storyline.
The Devil Pulls the Strings is an enthralling epic fantasy novel. Readers looking for an exhilarating storyline steeped in fantasy and science fiction will become instant fans of Zarek’s work. The plot is involved but will have readers on the edge of their seats rooting for its main character, Boone.
Pages: 252 | ASIN: B09435JJ67
