I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Job
by
Lee Goldberg, Janet Evanovich
romantic suspense that was published by Random House on November 18, 2014 and has 304 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Heist, The Chase, Pros and Cons, The Pursuit, The Scam, "The Shell Game", Smokin' Seventeen, Love in a Nutshell, Explosive Eighteen, Wicked Business, Notorious Nineteen, The Husband List, Takedown Twenty, Top Secret Twenty-One, Two for the Dough, Stephanie Plum #3 – #7, Visions of Sugar Plums, Wicked Charms, Love Overboard, Stephanie Plums, Plum Spooky, , Tricky Twenty-Two, Curious Minds, Turbo Twenty-Three, Dangerous Minds, Hardcore Twenty-Four, Look Alive Twenty-five, The Big Kahuna, Twisted Twenty-six, Fortune and Glory, The Bounty, Full House, The Recovery Agent, Thanksgiving
Third in the Fox & O’Hare funny romantic suspense series and revolving around a most unlikely partnership between FBI agent and international con artist.
This ARC was provided by NetGalley and Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
My Take
Unlike Kate, I’m enjoying Nick’s sexual banter. Yeah, it can get to be a bit much sometimes, but…how can he resist when he has such fun with a “fish” who never fails to rise? It gets even better when Jake joins in! He has such a cavalier attitude about grenades and “properly booby-trapping” one’s apartment, lol.
It’s an interesting assessment of why people steal and who condones it. But these first chapters read more like a laundry list. It took awhile before I got into the rhythm of the story, and even then it had hiccups.
I do enjoy the cons Evanovich/Goldberg come up with. This one is simplistic, but the story is intended as a funny romantic suspense, so just go with the flow.
‘I’m eating prosciutto-flavored potato chips fried in olive oil.’
‘That’s not fine cuisine.’
‘It is where I come from.’
I can’t decide whom I adore more: Nick and all his innuendo or Jake with his approach to life. Both men have such a joie de vivre that you can’t help but laugh as you read. Kate…well, Kate is a downer. She’s so stressed about duty and career that you almost want to pull the rug out from under her yourself. I’m curious as to what Mom O’Hare was like, if she influenced Kate to be as she is. Or maybe it was Dad?
‘…I get to teach the kids important life skills.’
‘Like how to make explosives out of household cleaning supplies.’
‘They’re way past that now,’ he said.
‘They’re five and seven years old.’
‘They’re fast learners.’
And other useful field skills. Maybe not that one about the sandwich, though.
Omigod…and then there’s Boyd. I’m with Kate; he is a nut job!
Oh, yeah, that list of chocolates for Violante on the boat is such an insult. Then the meals that follow…? I couldn’t help laughing.
I do wish I felt more of the show in Evanovich/Goldberg’s description of the boat and it’s “special effects”. As cool as it sounded, it felt too detached. Actually, the whole story is romantic-suspense-light. Guess that fits in with its humorous side.
Oh, boy, and then there’s that switcheroo Kate and Nick have planned for London…
Man, you’ll keep reading if only to find out how Nick and Kate are going to run The Job, how they’re going to fool the world’s most paranoid, vicious, and psychotic pair of crooks ’cause you’ll want your own revenge. Even if it is vicarious, lol.
The Story
Seems that loose leash that Nick Fox is on might be a bit too loose as outrageous burglaries are happening all over the world. Robberies that are smearing his reputation!
And our Kate is in demand as she’s the only one who has ever managed to capture Nick Fox.
The Characters
Special Agent Kate O’Hare is trapped between the career she loves and the unwanted attraction she has for…
Nick Fox, world-class con man, has kept out of a prison through a slick and creative deal: pulling con jobs for the FBI.
The Crew
Tom Underhill builds custom, fabulous tree houses. Wilma “Willie” Owens can drive absolutely anything. Boyd Capwell is a suppressed method actor who yearns to shine. The very American Rodney Smoot at Magical Realism VFX is a genius with CGI effects. Too bad the Oscar didn’t help keep his business afloat.
Jake O’Hare is Kate’s retired, special ops dad. He loves being around his grandkids, and he loves getting a bit of, ahem, excitement. Megan is Kate’s younger sister who is married to Roger, an accountant, and their two kids, Tyler and Sara. Jake brings in a couple friends: Lou Ould-Abdallah, a.k.a., Billy Dee Snipes, an ex-Somali pirate, and Barnacle Bob Baker, an engineer.
The FBI
Carl Jessup is Kate’s boss; Fletcher Bolton is the deputy director. Special Agent Seth Ryerson is impersonating the bank’s manager. John Doggett handles Willie’s arrest.
Nashville, Tennessee
Special Agent Maxine Cutler ferries Kate about. Michael “Big Mike” Gleaberg is a big-time country music star promoter with a desire to be respected, although not by the kids he rooked. Alton Pruitt manages the Gleaberg Museum of Art. Alton’s description of himself is overly honest and will make you laugh.
Istanbul, Turkey
Erdin from the Aykut Demirkan Foundation picks Kate up. Chief Investigator Semir Atalay is with the police department, the Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü, and Bayan Ceren Demirkan, the Foundation’s director. Detective Giray.
Cologne, Germany
Heiko Balz, a mob-connected billionaire, lost a Vermeer.
Orléans, France
Commissaire Killian Bernard of the Office Central de Lutte Contre le Trafic des Biens Culturel (OCBC) had been skeptical. Maksud Attard is the assistant warden.
Lisbon, Portugal
Nick Hartley and his lovely wife, Kate, are very successful treasure hunters (read “greedy archeologists) in need of an unscrupulous investor. Diogo Alves is a fado singer, a descendant of an early 1800s serial killer, and a “talent agent for crooks”.
London, England
DCI Dennis Gooley is with Scotland Yard and runs the Flying Squad.
The Businessmen Bandits have been knocking over banks. Serena Blake is British and a cat burglar with a need for revenge. Her brother, Sean, was a plastic surgeon. Jean-Luc Picard is her lawyer. Duff MacTaggert is the brilliant thief with whom Nick apprenticed (see The Chase, 2).
Buck Breznick drives a Caterpillar 797F mining dump truck. Well, maybe not after he meets Willie… Delmer Pratt‘s life changed when he discovered Uberboner. Dr. Landry is the inventor of Uberboner. Bobby Sr. loves that spaceship treehouse almost more than his son, Bobby Jr., does.
Tattoo and his friends want to play, not nice. So Kate, Nick, Jake, and Billy Dee come out to play. Not nice.
Lester Menendez is a psychopathic thug who’s made billions off drugs and weapons. He’s also Demetrio Violante. The psychopathic Reyna Socorro is in charge of his security.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a puzzle in red with Nick and Kate as black silhouettes who are together, yet apart.
The title is The Job that needs doing. Imposing a life of misery in revenge for a torture-murder.
