Teen Tuesday: Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray. The Diviners book 3. Unabridged audiobook on seventeen compact discs. 21 hours and 21 minutes. Read by January LaVoy. PenguinRandom House, October, 2017. 9780449808832. (Reviewed from finished recording borrowed from public library. Print copy purchased.)

This Teen Tuesday is not for the faint of heart or the average middle school reader. Additionally, don't read Before the Devil Breaks You without reading the first two books of The Diviners series, The Diviners and Lair of Dreams. This paranormal horror story is set in New York City during the Roaring 20s. Evil has been unleashed on the world and the ghosts are restless. They are being amassed by The King of Crows, aka The Man in the Stovepipe Hat, and it's up to The Diviners to get to the bottom of the mystery of who was responsible for releasing the king. Spectral menaces are not the only danger for the crew. The Shadow Men are also after them. As the Diviners move closer to uncovering the meaning of The Buffalo Project, their lives are at risk. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for the next installment.

I adore this series. I read The Diviners as an arc with my eyes and reread it with my ears when the book released. I was positutely tickled by January LaVoy's performance. She really brought an already amazing story to yet another level of brilliance. I made a conscious decision to read Lair of Dreams with my ears. Again, the range of LaVoy's voices and her consistent excellence in keeping track of all those distinct voices is just astonishing. Before the Devil Breaks You hits the ground running. New characters are introduced. The suspense ratchets up. Surprises are unfolded. All-in-all, quite magnificent and chilling.