#Mystery #BookReview | The Bounty by Janet Evanovich and Steve Hamilton

FBI agent Kate O’Hare and charming criminal Nick Fox race against time to uncover a buried train filled with Nazi gold in this thrilling adventure in the “romantic and gripping” (Good Housekeeping) Fox and O’Hare series from the #1New York Timesbestselling author Janet Evanovich.

Straight as an arrow special agent Kate O’Hare and international criminal Nick Fox have brought down some of the biggest bad guys out there. But now they face their most dangerous foe yet—a vast, shadowy international organization known only as the Brotherhood.

Directly descended from the Vatican Bank priests who served Hitler during World War II, the Brotherhood is on a frantic search for a lost train loaded with $30 billion in Nazi gold, untouched for over seventy-five years somewhere in the mountains of Eastern Europe.

Kate and Nick know that there is only one man who can find the fortune and bring down the Brotherhood—the same man who taught Nick everything he knows—his father, Quentin. As the stakes get higher, they must also rely on Kate’s own father, Jake, who shares his daughter’s grit and stubbornness. Too bad they can never agree on anything.

From a remote monastery in the Swiss Alps to the lawless desert of the Western Sahara, Kate, Nick, and the two men who made them who they are today must crisscross the world in a desperate scramble to stop their deadliest foe in the biggest adventure of their lives.

My Review

Goodreads’ Rating: ☀️☀️☀️☀️

This is a tough review for me to write as I see the book from two different perspectives – as a standalone novel and as part of the series. Since the series has changed the co-author from, originally Lee Goldberg to now, Steve Hamilton, I will review it by talking about each perspective separately.

As a Standalone Novel

The Bounty is a fun and action-packed treasure hunt mystery that appeals to the puzzle lover in me. I was glued to this fast-paced story as Kate and Nick worked with their fathers and an Oxford professor to solve each clue and faced peril at the hands of a criminal group who also wanted to find the treasure, $30 billion in Nazi gold. The setting is ever-changing as each new clue takes them to a new location, mainly in Europe. From the Eiffel Tower to a monastery in the Swiss Alps and a few stops in between and after, this story is perfect for a book vacation – especially if you love adventure. Kate and Nick are working on this case with their fathers, which adds a whole new dimension to the story. I do not remember Nick’s father ever being mentioned in past novels, so to get to meet him is fun. If you are looking for complex characters, this plot-driven story is not the one for you. But, if you are looking for a fun weekend read, you will love this story even though it ends up being a bit formulaic in its approach to the treasure hunt. The novel is mainly about action and adventure, and it provides those things superbly.

As the 7th book in a Series

I have been reading the Fox and O’Hare mysteries since book 1. What I initially loved about the series is how it took a conman and a law enforcement agent and put them together to solve cases in a way that used both of their skills. Kate – along with her ex-military father and his ragtag group of fellow ex-marines – is the brawn. She can take on any man or woman with strength, finesse, and a mastery of weapons, while her father provides even more muscle in the form of bigger, more explosive weapons and covert transportation needs. Nick, on the other hand, steals things in a way that is crafty and utterly ingenious. Utilizing his conman skills, he sets up elaborate fake situations to lore in their mark (the bad guy) and eventually trap and arrest him or her. And together, they have palpable chemistry. Nick and Kate in the 7th novel are such a watered-down version of their previous selves that I barely recognized them. Nick did not set up an elaborate scheme. And though Kate is still a powerful female character – the chemistry between them no longer had the same spark or intensity.

Seeing as how the book went through a writer change, this was the perfect time to reintroduce the characters – to take the time to develop them more naturally and thoroughly and clue the reader in on what to expect from a new writing team. I would be much more accepting of the changes if I were not led to believe that I would be reading about Kate and Nick that I quickly grew to love in the first book of the series because the characters in this story were not those characters. Even meeting Nick’s father failed to offer any significant insight into his character, and that was a perfect opportunity to do just that.

I also missed the Nick-ness in the story. His con jobs provided the entire plot in the early books, but there is no con job in this story. The ingeniousness of those cons made the stories fun, intelligent, creative and enabled me to forget that there was not a lot of character development to grab on to. I wanted more of Nick’s clever situations, even though I think that a treasure hunt is exciting. I always love a good treasure hunt story. But a treasure hunt is not the same thing as a con job. Kate and Nick did not even solve the clues other than physically looking where the professor who was solving the clues told them to look.

To Read or Not to Read

As a standalone book, The Bounty offers a light, fun, action-packed treasure hunt story that is the perfect weekend getaway. As the 7th book in a series, I found it very disappointing, as it offered only a watered-down version of the team I’ve grown to love.