Random House: 2/25/2014
Hardcover, 320 pages
ISBN-13: 9780345543080
Fox and O'Hare Series #2
www.evanovich.com
Internationally renowned thief and con artist Nicolas Fox is famous for running elaborate and daring scams. His greatest con of all: convincing the FBI to team him up with the only person who has ever caught him, and the only woman to ever capture his attention, Special Agent Kate O’Hare. Together they’ll go undercover to swindle and catch the world’s most wanted—and untouchable—criminals.
Their newest target is Carter Grove, a former White House chief of staff and the ruthless leader of a private security agency. Grove has stolen a rare Chinese artifact from the Smithsonian, a crime that will torpedo U.S. relations with China if it ever becomes public. Nick and Kate must work under the radar—and against the clock—to devise a plan to steal the piece back. Confronting Grove’s elite assassins, Nick and Kate rely on the skills of their ragtag crew, including a flamboyant actor, a Geek Squad techie, and a band of AARP-card-carrying mercenaries led by none other than Kate’s dad.
A daring heist and a deadly chase lead Nick and Kate from Washington, D.C., to Shanghai, from the highlands of Scotland to the underbelly of Montreal. But it’ll take more than death threats, trained henchmen, sleepless nights, and the fate of a dynasty’s priceless heirloom to outsmart Fox and O’Hare.
My Thoughts:
The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg is a highly recommended fast paced thriller that features an abundance of personality conflicts between mismatched cohorts Kate O’Hare and Nicolas Fox.
In The Chase FBI Special Agent and ex-Special forces Kate O’Hare thief and con artist Nicolas Fox are back for the second novel in the Fox and O'Hare series by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg.
Fox is now working undercover with the FBI, specifically O'Hare, to help catch the most wanted criminals or do the messy jobs on the other side of legal that no one else can touch. "[The] FBI had sprung him from jail and was using him to help nail major crooks, even as he’d become one of the Bureau’s Ten Most Wanted criminals. Kate’s job was to be Nick’s handler and protector while, at the same time, leading the FBI’s manhunt for him. Only Jessup and Deputy Director Fletcher Bolton, who picked their targets and ran the secret slush fund that financed Nick’s swindles, knew the truth." Location 204
This outing begins when the Chinese government wants one of their priceless artifacts, a bronze rooster on display at the Smithsonian, returned. The Smithsonian agreed to return it, at the president’s personal request, but there is a problem. Unknown to the Chinese, the president, and the current director of the Smithsonian the bronze rooster on display is a forgery. The real artifact was stolen years ago. Fox and Kate must uncover who has the real rooster, recover it, and switch it with the fake one before the Chinese arrive to transport it back to China. Of course, no job is quite as simple as it seems and the lengths and illegalities Fox and Kate must go through to do the right thing seem to grow exponentially.
Kate and Fox have a chemistry between them. It's that yin and yang, mismatched partner, Moonlighting feeling that helps propel the interpersonal play with the high stakes action. Kate is tough talking with an abundance of snarky humor and revels in eating fast food, such as In and Out's 3x3 burger. In contrast Fox is smooth and refined. He takes great delight in flirting with Kate and trying to get her flustered and upset with him. The action has Fox and Kate traveling near and far at a frantic pace and pulls in several reoccurring characters that are hilarious.
Naturally the writing is superb and up to the task of this new series. There is a healthy amount of humor in the dialogue that should have you laughing aloud at times. The Chase has a light-hearted tone, rather than a dark atmospheric feeling, and is a pleasure to read. While I haven't read The Heist yet (the first novel in the series) it wasn't a problem at all to start the series with this second novel.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Random House for review purposes.
Excerpt
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