“How can Fountain, a male writer, put such a wide range of complex, intelligent, nuanced and competent female characters, Black and white, into one novel? … Not only a skillful author, but a brave one, Fountain is drawn to difficult subjects. An earlier novel, the award-winning “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” featured a damaged veteran of the Iraq war who was promoted, by the news media, as a conquering hero. It takes courage to set an extremely complicated work of fiction in Haiti, to write across the lines of class, color, gender, ideology and nationality…. I was grateful for the old-fashioned pleasure of immersion in a long book with engaging characters, a sense of history and place, and a multifaceted vision of people trying to figure out what to do when the world around them is changing.”
—Francine Prose, The New York Times

“It’s a big, deeply humane political thriller that proves the flame of Graham Greene and John le Carré is still burning…. This is a novel of ideas in the best sense. Fountain’s trenchant analysis of the geopolitical situation is not only subordinated to an intricate plot, it’s deeply embedded in the conflicted minds of these characters, who know and love this besieged place.”
—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“[A] bold tale… Fountain brings a Graham Greene-like approach to Haiti’s vagaries and wonders. This sweeping, bracing, and sobering exploration of the troubled island nation’s perennial, heartbreaking turmoil and geopolitical complications is topical yet timeless, elaborate and nuanced, laden with political intrigue and immersed in cultural rituals.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“A sprawling, fierce exploration of violence and corruption in the Caribbean… Readers of international thrillers should pounce.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[A] sprawling and sardonic work of geopolitical intrigue….[a] juicy and provocative story…fascinating.”
—Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

“The book is packed with Haitian history and culture, politics and scenery. The writing is so vivid you can close your eyes and see the technicolor sunsets, smell the fetid air of Port-au-Prince. Woven throughout is a spy-thriller-worthy plot, complete with buried treasure, double-crosses, gun-running, drug-dealing and deadly factional feuds…. For anyone as invested in Haiti as the author — or deeply curious about the country — Devil Makes Three will be a rewarding read. It’s an immersive look at one of the most troubled places on Earth.”
—Dallas Morning News

“A sprawling, wildly ambitious book, Devil Makes Three combines elements of suspense/adventure writing, cultural history, socio-political critique, and romance…when I asked myself what was the last novel I’d read that struck me as being so wholly distinct in the urgency, ambitiousness, and exuberance of its author’s voice, the answer was Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, by — you guessed it — Ben Fountain. The man writes with a kind of reckless daring and a passion for life and language that seems all too rare these days.  Devil Makes Three may be a hard book to classify, but it’s an easy book to love, and nearly impossible to put down.” 
—Ed Tarkington, Chapter 16

“A confident masterpiece of tropical romance, high adventure and smart political intrigue, set to muted vodou (voodoo) drums and passionate Kreyol (creole) whispers.”
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Ben Fountain’s powerfully written novel is many things at once—a spy thriller, a family saga, a love story, a treasure hunt, and a tale of brutal political repression, all set in the charged atmosphere of early 1990s Haiti. By succeeding at all of these, Devil Makes Three reminds us not only of the ways an ambitious, fully engaged novel can further our understanding of the world, but also of how pleasurable and satisfying reading such a novel can be.”
—Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers and How Beautiful We Were

“Ben Fountain portrays with precision the native and foreign devils of Haiti in this extremely well-constructed novel. All must endure the intractability of this complex country, an intractability…that sometimes yields in proportion to one’s willingness to risk everything.”
—Yanick Lahens, author of Moonbath, winner of the Prix Femina

“Woven artfully into the fabric of Ben Fountain’s literary thriller Devil Makes Three is a scathing indictment…Reflective and prescient, stunning in its narrative complexity and nuanced characterization, the novel is at once timely and timeless, working double duty as a reminder of the sins of America’s past and a warning of those to come.”
—John Vercher, author of Three-Fifths and After the Lights Go Out

“Devil Makes Three is the sort of expansive, heartbreaking, thrilling novel I didn’t realize I was missing until it grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. Writing at the peak of his considerable powers, Ben Fountain makes a harrowing period in Haiti’s recent history come wonderfully and tragically alive. This morally complex novel is why we read fiction.“
—Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cold Millions and Beautiful Ruins

“Devil Makes Three brings the relentless intimacy of great literature to the quest to understand Haiti. In this sense, the novel is both an act of wild faith and an act of mad love and, finally, a triumph.”
—Bob Shacochis, author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul and The Immaculate Invasion

“Devil Makes Three is a fast and riveting read, a gripping thriller braided with a couple of credible love stories. This novel will pin your ears back with some of its hard-won truths.”
—Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls’ Rising

Haiti, 1991. When a violent coup d’état leads to the fall of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, American expat Matt Amaker is forced to abandon his idyllic, beachfront scuba business. With the rise of a brutal military dictatorship and an international embargo threatening to destroy even the country’s most powerful players, some are looking to gain an advantage in the chaos–and others are just looking to make it through another day.

Desperate for money—and survival—Matt teams up with his best friend and business partner Alix Variel, the adventurous only son of a socially prominent Haitian family. They set their sights on legendary shipwrecks that have been rumored to contain priceless treasures off a remote section of Haiti’s southern coast. Their ambition and exploration of these disastrous wrecks come with a cascade of ill-fated incidents—one that involves Misha, Alix’s erudite sister, who stumbles onto an arms-trafficking ring masquerading as a U.S. government humanitarian aid office, and rookie CIA case officer Audrey O’Donnell, who finds herself doing clandestine work on an assignment that proves to be more difficult and dubious than she could have possibly imagined.

Devil Makes Three’s depiction of blood politics, the machinations of power, and a country in the midst of upheaval is urgently and insistently resonant. This new novel is sure to cement Ben Fountain’s reputation as one of the twenty-first century’s boldest and most perceptive writers.