Friday 3 January 2020

Book ~ "The Big Kahuna" (2019) Janet Evanovich and Peter Evanovich

From Goodreads ~ Straight arrow FBI Agent Kate O'Hare always plays by the rules. Charming con man Nicholas Fox makes them up as he goes along. She thinks he's nothing but a scoundrel. He thinks she just needs to lighten up. They're working together to tackle the out-of-bounds cases ordinary FBI agents can't touch. And, their relationship? Well, there hasn't been so much explosive chemistry since Nitro was introduced to Glycerin. 

Next on the docket: The mysterious disappearance of the Silicon Valley billionaire, known as the Big Kahuna. Kate's been assigned to find him but no one seems particularly keen on helping. His twenty-six year old adult actress wife-turned Instagram model wife and his shady Czech business partner are more interested in gaining control of his company. For that they need a dead body not a living Kahuna. 

The only lead they have is the Kahuna's drop-out son, who's living the dream in Hawaii - if your dream is starting your day with the perfect wave and ending it with a big bowl of weed. To get close to the Kahuna's son, Kate and Nick go undercover as an engaged couple in the big wave, bohemian, surfer community of Paia, Maui. Living a laid back, hippy-dippy lifestyle isn't exactly in Kate's wheelhouse but the only thing more horrifying is setting up house with Nick Fox, even if he does look pretty gnarly on a longboard. If they don't catch a break soon, waves aren't the only thing she's going to be shredding (or bedding). 

Everyone thinks Nick is a con man and thief and Kate, an FBI agent, is trying to catch him.  But in reality, Nick had been caught and is now secretly working with Kate and the FBI.  Only a handful of people are aware of this.

A billionaire businessman nicknamed the Big Kahuna has disappeared while flying solo over the ocean.  His young wife wants him declared dead so she can access his money.  His business partner wants him declared dead so she can take control of his business.  Kate and Nick don't think he's dead so head out to Hawaii, where his adult son lives, to see if he's hiding there.

This is the sixth in the Fox and O'Hare series ... I've them read all and liked them.  I liked the writing style and thought the story was okay.  It's far-fetched at times so I had to leave my sense of belief at the door and go with it.  I liked Kate and Nick and liked their interactions and banters.  I liked the other supporting characters like Kate's dad, Jake, and her colleague, Cosmo ... they were fun and quirky.  One thing annoyed me, though, was the use of "on account of" ... it is an awkward phrase so it stood out to me and is used five times.  Lulu in Evanovitch's Stephanie Plum series uses it a lot too.

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