You know how some books have trigger warnings that they’re never going to live up to? The Devil’s Redemption is not one of those books. By the end of the first four chapters, Murphy Wallace has so graphically justified those warnings that you begin to wonder if Sasha can ever come back from such a traumatic experience. Lesser women wouldn’t.
In fact, I was curious if Wallace would be able to do Sasha’s story justice with the mayhem of The Devil’s Skull MC in the background, or whether her ordeal would be swept under the rug?
Wallace captures pain and fear, the likes of which most of us will never experience. But, before she could do that, she had to lay the groundwork with a despicably harrowing experience. Sasha describes Jasper, the irredeemable villain of this story, as “an evil worse than Blade and the Skull,” “the kind of evil who believes he’s untouchable.” He isn’t just wrong in the head, he’s completely and utterly unhinged.
Once Sasha is back in Blade’s arms, the emotional rollercoaster only intensifies and Wallace lashes out with hit after hit. Jasper has torn apart Sasha’s world and everything has changed. Although she knows that she loves Blade, Sasha doesn’t want to be near him, yet the pain of leaving his side terrifies her. She’s confused, ashamed, scared, grief-stricken and unable to see how she will be able to move on with her life.
Wallace doesn’t just break down and rebuild Sasha, she attacks Blade as well. She teaches him how to love which only fuels his obsession with Sasha, but also makes him more conscious of her safety. It’s this love that helps her to heal but also lends her the strength to endure another interaction with Jasper. The story demonstrates how a torturous ordeal doesn’t just affect the victim. It shows that mental recovery isn’t a linear process and how the power of love and family can strengthen a person in their rehab.
For readers still remembering how they felt after reading The Devil’s Weakness, this isn’t a completely different book from its predecessor. Sasha’s sass is still in there and, given time for the story (and healing) to progress, the chemistry between her a Blade is still just as fierce but has evolved to include love.
If you can make it past the triggering content then The Devil’s Redemption has a beautiful underlying story of healing, strength and deliverance and is well worth a read.