What sets this book out, is the light language and a myriad of facts and descripions, and they're good. The characters are excellent and the plot is very good and intricate. The story may seem a little long and slow, but it's never boring.

I struggled with this book. Take Richard Castle and make him a celebrity tv chef. Still kinda goofy and immature but now he has a tv show and a lot of knowledge about cultures and food. And I did enjoy the Richard Castle books, but that was because it was like reading an episode of a tv show I enjoyed. It was supposed to be campy and light. Chef Sebastian and entourage don't have the foundation and the ability to ignore a lot of what is needed to establish characters and a story. This leads to the first of my issues. Supposedly Chef is heartbroken over his dead fiancé but then immediately starts drooling over his CIA handler. What? And the whole set-up between him, his show, and the CIA is more like a Keystone Cop routine. Finally, the story is written more as the starting of a script rather than a reading experience. Descriptions for most scenes, etc are basic, unless it is providing some type of prop for Chef Sebastian and Cammie. I expected a more hardcore thriller and that isn't what this was.

This book was quite a bit of fun. It hits many of my favorite things: cooking shows, travel to amazing destinations, betrayal, revenge, a good murder mystery, and a twisty, espionage plot. It’s a quick read and thoroughly entertaining.

Imagine Anthony Bourdain as a CIA operative who ends up allowing the CIA to use his show as a background for an operation. Unbeknownst to Sebastian Pike, his culinary show is the perfect cover up for espionage. They call him the MVB: Most valuable bystander. Although he does not take that name quite to heart because there is danger, real bullets firing from real guns and a budding romance between him and his producer-CIA handler, Cammie Nova. This book has everything you could want, romance, cooking, thrilling adventures and a beautiful backdrop from Provence to Paris. Straw did a brilliant job of making me fall in love with Pike with all his flaws and the budding romance between him and Nova.

I loved the idea of a chef working in the mystery genre, it had a great overall feel to it and worked with what I was expecting. I enjoyed getting to read this and was hooked from the first page. Tom Straw has a great writing style and creating interesting characters that worked in the story. I’m glad I got to read this and look forward to more from Tom Straw.

I was looking forward to reading this spy thriller about a celebrity chef brought in as a cover for the CIA in a world of espionage as I enjoyed the Richard Castle written by this author. It is an interesting premise, fast moving and exceptional writing, but no fault of the author, the formatting of this book in my Kindle made for a difficult read. Also, I couldn’t get into the characters or the storyline and I really wanted to.

A fun cheesy romp. A film version of many light espionage films I grew up watching in the early 2000s. Pretty much throwing in many of those tropes Paris is the place, Russians are the enemy and the USA are the heros… etc. It works though.

The dialogues are sassy and witty. However, the fire just fizzles for me as it progresses further. It is kind of 'been there, done that' kind of read for me. The storyline has been used multiple times before with little tweaks here and there.

I understand that nothing is original anymore but on a personal level, this is just not for me.