Since this is a collection of three novellas, my individual ratings for each one are: The Hellfire Club - 3 stars; The Succubus - 4 stars; The Haunted Soldier - 3 stars, making the overall rating for this book 3. Again, it's a solid adventure book and the writing is great for the genre. But the plot of the first and last stories had me clueless. I did like the middle story, and I do still love Lord John. I would welcome another book in his series, maybe involving a good romance for him. I liked him and Percy in the Brotherhood of the Blade, but I'd be interested to see him interact more with Stephan von Namtzen. Of course, Percy showed up again in Go Tell the Bees, so there might be more for Lord John in the next and final Outlander book. But I still would love it if DG wrote a sweeping romance for John Grey (I know he loves Jamie, and that's supposed to be the epic tragedy, but I really like how he is with Stephan, and I want more for John. As romantic as pining over Jamie for the rest of his life may be, it would be nice to see him grow and move on as best he can.)

Een korte opmerking, wat eigenlijk geld voor alle boeken uit de Outlander universe.
Er komen zoveel namen in voor en er wordt soms een naam genoemd waarvan ik weet dat ik hem zou moeten kennen. Maar wie het is? Soms duurt het een paar bladzijdes en soms kom ik er nooit achter.
Plus dat de lord John boeken natuurlijk niet in chronologische volgorde zijn (althans zo lees ik ze niet) en dat ik namen tegenkom waar ik een verhaal bij heb maar dat is dan nog niet gebeurd.
Irritant. Verder blijven het vermakelijke trash boeken.

Loved the stories!

I do not fully understand the title of the book as the ghost does not appear more than once…
But in general it is an interesting story and there's even a nice twist. It is weird though, what happens to the deadly metal inside John's body…

She's making me love John Grey. I really couldn't follow the resolution of the conspiracy in the Haunted Soldier though.

This is at least my 3rd time reading this novella -- and each time, it's quite fun. For fans of the Outlander series, these peeks into the life of Lord John are entertaining and enlightening, and will make you love John even more. For extra enjoyment, check out the audio version. The narration absolutely captures John's dry wit.

Merged review:

If you're a fan of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, then you have no choice but to read all of its varied bits and pieces. Lord John & the Hand of Devils is a collection of three novellas, which fit in (by a weird chronology) with the two novels by Diana Gabaldon which focus on Lord John Grey. These three stories are slight, but help to illuminate the society in which Lord John moves and the nature of his character. I'm glad to have read these, although they just leave me hungry for more... and alas, I'm afraid we're still a couple of years away from the publication of Gabaldon's next novels.

I love Love Lord John! I hadn't read any of the independent texts on him before Seven Stones, and I absolutely had to start once I had. Really enjoyed Diana's short story/novella style, too...I wanted each and every one to be a full novel.

This book is related to the outstanding Outlander series but just doesn't carry the same charisma in my opinion. Interesting to read if you're already a lover of the characters in Outlander, but know it just doesn't compare.