Book Review: The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (Fox and O'Hare #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: And fun story with danger and humor

Cons: A couple of minor ones, but nothing serious

The Bottom Line:

Another fun job

Against a truly bad man

How will this con work?

Have I Got a Job for You

I have always felt like the Fox and O’Hare series by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg was a cross between Castle and White Collar with an international twist.  Reading The Job, the newest in the series, while new episodes of both shows are airing has only helped confirm that feeling for me.  But does it matter?  Not in the slightest because this book is fun all by itself.

If you’ve missed the first two in the series, they feature by the book FBI agent Kate O’Hare.  After years of tracking down conman and thief Nick Fox, she finally had him.  Unfortunately, he works a deal so that he and Kate are teamed up to take down even worse bad guys.  Their assignments take them all over the globe and to some very harrowing circumstances as they work on cons to catch these international villains.

Conman and master thief Nick Fox has just been spotted on camera stealing a painting from a museum in Tennessee.  FBI agent Kate O’Hare doesn’t think he did it, however.  First, there’s the fact that he denied it even before she heard about it.  Secondly, it wasn’t quite his style, and he was careless enough to let his face be caught on a security camera.

When Nick shows up as the prime suspect in another theft, this time in Turkey, Kate finds herself on the trail of someone trying to get Nick’s attention.  What might this mean for their secret partnership?  Is the real thief trying to communicate with Nick or get revenge on him?  And what will the answers let the duo to next?

The opening of this book captured my attention right away, and it never let up.  I always had a hard time putting it down when I had to get back to my real life.  The stakes in this book are the highest they’ve ever been, and that kept me turning the pages quickly.  Even so, I felt a few of the potential wrinkles could have been harder on our leads and their helpers.  Overall, this is a minor complaint.  The climactic scene was perfect and had me once again glued to the pages to find out how Kate and Nick would triumph.

My one constant complaint with the series is that the characters are paper thin.  There is little to change that here, although just based on following them for three books, they are getting stronger.  That’s not to say I don’t like them because I love them.  I just feel that could be better.  This applies equally to the team that helps run the cons with Nick and Kate.  Yet I still absolutely love these supporting characters.  They are a lot of fun and really add to the joy of the series.

Maybe I’m just not remembering the earlier books as well, but I thought this was the funniest books yet in the series.  The supporting characters are a hoot, and they are at their comic best here.  Nick and Kate also trade some fun barbs that had me chuckling.

If you are looking for pure escapist fun, The Job is the book for you.  My quibbles with the book truly are minor.  I enjoyed it from start to finish and am looking forward to seeing what happens to these characters next.

Looking for more?  Here are the rest of the Fox and O'Hare series in order.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.