I don't normally read spy type thrillers, but this book proved me wrong. It was gripping until the end, and I couldn't wait to see how it all ended. Will definitely add Mr Kaplan to my endless reading list.

Action packed thriller full of international intrigue.

A US presidential candidate on the cusp of winning the election commits suicide. Why? In France, an older male customer is killed in a jewelry store smash and grab that goes terribly wrong. The beautiful woman who was with him leaves with the thieves. Who are they? While intelligence agencies are scrambling to find answers, Homeland Security Special Agent Casey Ramirez is tapped to work with the French authorities when no one can identify the dead man in the store. What follows is an incredible chase through many different countries as Casey tries to figure out why so many others want answers and who will kill anyone who stands in their way.

I will start by saying that this novel has a huge cast of characters from many different parts of the world. Keeping them straight is difficult at times. The bad guys are super awful and the book is full of graphic descriptions of them doing horrible things — in other words — lots of deaths. Of course our heroine manages to escape most of the mayhem, puts herself in impossible risky situations and manages to find out the big secret without getting herself killed. The pace is fast but sometimes it seemed like the narrative just rambled and it seemed a lot longer than the page count. As I was reading, I often thought how dangerous the spy game is and know that no one can be trusted with all the activity that goes on behind the scenes of politics and governments.

This was a new author to me and it is likely that I would pick up another written by him though I’m really usually not that interested in espionage and foreign criminals or conspiracies of same. This definitely was written as if for a film or limited miniseries.

Thank you to NetGalley and Smugglers Lane Press for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Thanks to Net Galley , the publisher and author for an ARC of “Blue Madagascar.”

“Blue Madagascar” by Andrew Kaplan is an exciting, fast past thriller. It’s entertainment quotient is high as it hits all targets spot on. The plot is complex as it wends its way from the Mexican -US border to Europe and back again, strewing bodies in its wake. The first body is that of a wealthy and charismatic Floridian politician who is well ahead in the Presidential race just two weeks before voting day. Then, suddenly , he dies by a self- inflicted gunshot wound . Questions abound. That is only the first pages of the book.
Cut to: Casey Ramirez, a female Homeland Security agent who is beautiful, determined and brave, and of the type described in book cover blurbs as “ plucky”. Casey finds herself well outside of her usual duties when she is whisked from a recent successful operation that ends in freeing a girl held by Mexican Drug lord sex traffickers held in a Narco Cartel fiefdom of Mexico and shutting down that operation. Abruptly seconded to the CIA and sent off to France to look into the death of man who was a bystander at a jeweler store robbery in France, Casey finds herself in a maelstrom of swirling suspions. The dead man was thought to have been dead for years.
Casey meets a handsome French detective who gives off romantic vibes; a beautiful, mysterious woman who may be as deadly as she is beautiful. Add millions of stolen jewels, a possible CIA agent gone rogue with knowledge of a Secret That Will Shake Governments, the Russian Mafia, Serbian Mafia, Hungarian proto- fascists and more. But the time Casey’s journeys end, she will,have travelled through much of Europe, survived car chases, assassination attempts, love affairs and enough left luggage to supply a TJ Max.
Mr. Kaplan knows his work. His characterizations for Casey to the major supporting persons are vivid and interesting. The book is full of tension and thrills. The complexities of the plot never confuse the reader’s pleasure, mainly because the action never lets up . And if, at the end , it all seems just a bit contrived, well it certainly is a fun book to read. Casey Ramirez is right up there with the tough guy heroes found in many popular novels who survive against dark odds and bad men with style.
Of course one must not forget the twisty reveal- though it is not much of surprise, it does hint at further adventures of Casey in the future.
Cautions: violence and nasty people doing nasty things. Some romantic, not graphic, love scenes. Oh, and smoking ( which as one Frenchman remarks , “ Are Americans against all pleasure?”
“ Blue Madagascar “ a pleasure ready for television.

Blue Madagascar by Andrew Kaplan was a great read – well written suspenseful mystery. I am looking forward to reading more from Kaplan and plan to start reading the Homeland series soon. #BlueMadagascarThrillerSuspense #NetGalley

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of Blue Madagascar. This is a truly globe-trotting adventure with an interesting protagonist, Casey Rodriguez. It had a BIG opening scene, but then the switch to different characters in vastly different locations was a little jarring. Overall, the plotting was quite good, and the author tied up the various story lines in a clear and coherent final 20% of the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but would have preferred a little more linkage between the subplots a bit earlier in the book. I'd read this author again.

First I'd like to thank the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC of Blue Madagascar. Did the front runner for the presidency really just commit suicide? Yes, that is the question that kicks off this absolute thrill ride. Given that beginning, I must admit to being completely surprised by where the story went from there. I couldn't see how the characters and their personal stories, while interesting in their own right, had anything to do with those initial events. But fear not Mr. Kaplan wove a masterful tale that kept me intrigued from start to finish with more twists and turns that I'd ever have expected. Would make an excellent mini-series for Netflix or the like.

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‘The only person you can ever really trust is yourself.’

If you enjoy reading Fast-Paced Cat & Mouse Spy Thrillers, (Yes, Please!) then I you’re going to like BLUE MADAGASCAR.

‘She was a throwaway kid from the mean streets of Central Los Angeles. Now a Homeland Security Special Agent [Casey Ramirez], the future of America may depend on what she does next.’

The lead-in scene of the book immediately hooked me in, followed by murder, mystery, and puzzling clues that Special Agent Ramirez must solve before it’s too late.

I LOVE Casey Ramirez, the main character in this book, and that ending! Please tell me this is Book One in what I hope will be a series.

The only issue I had was I struggled a bit with the timeline regarding the sequence of events. Also, there are numerous characters to follow throughout the book; many of the key players are discernible while others, not so much.

Overall I enjoyed reading my first Kaplan Book, and I look forward to reading more.

Thank you, NetGalley and Smugglers Lane Press, for loaning me an eBook of BLUE MADAGASCAR in the request of an honest review.



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This was a little hard to get into at the start because of the parallel storylines but it was atmospheric &, as long as you can suspend disbelief at certain parts, it’s an incredibly satisfying read. Half way through, i was hooked. Extra points for treading the line between fact and fiction re: politics.

What is Blue Madagascar? That is what Casey is trying to discover in her work for Homeland Security. She has been sent all over the world. Her interest in puzzles helps her with the clues she finds and the people she meets. You have many different countries looking for the same thing. The young lady she keeps missing could be her long lost sister, but is she? Interesting story if you can just keep track of the players.

Just finished Blue Madagascar by Andrew Kaplan. This was a very fast paced book set over a six week period. A very enjoyable book that kept you guessing on what was going to happen next and the ultimate outcome.

The novel starts with a prologue describing the suicide of the leading presidential candidate several days before the election and a mystery woman shown in headlights of a cell phone video. The start of the novel is set six weeks earlier in a jewelry story in Nice, France where one of the customers is killed and his girlfriend joins the robbers in their exit. The story then jumps to a Homeland Security agent in Zamora, Mexico where she is trying to find links a Thai girl that was abducted. These seemly random events are tied together into a fascinating story involving an ex-CIA agent and something called Blue Madagascar. Don't want to say to much more about the plot, because I don't want to spoil an excellent plot and well told story. There is a whole laundry list of alphabet agencies from CIA, DHS, Secret Service, FBI, KGB/SVR, Russian mafia, French Intelligence, French police, etc. that are involved in this story.

Yes, we are. The story tells of a complex and interesting plot to capture a bunch of bad guys who are involved in many nefarious undertakings – from murder to theft to kidnapping to sex trade and every other kind of evil. For example, there is the character: “He was El Pintor, the Painter. The head of the Black Knights drug cartel. A psychopathic killer whose cruelty was legend. It was said he once had a rival skinned alive and then had the skin tanned for a chair for his study. Once when a police chief in Zitacuaro arrested two of his men, he had the police chief, the chief’s wife, and every member of his family, thirteen of them children, cousins, grandmothers, down to a three-month-old baby, killed, their bodies hung from a road overpass.” And on the side of good we have Jean-Pierre Brochard, “Athletic, dark-haired, handsome, a graduate of ENS, the highly-selective École Normale Supérieure, and the equally exclusive Pantheon-Assas University, Brochard was a rising star, a procureur, or investigative criminal prosecutor to keep one’s eyes on. And though he had expressed no immediate interest in politics, he’d already been approached by political parties from both the right and the left to run for the National Assembly.”

And the good guys? Well, a clever, good looking woman working for the USA government, Casey. (Even her name, “Casey” came from Jessica [her older sister] who began calling her “K.C.” when she was still an infant, after her first and middle names, Katharine (after Erica’s late mother, Katarina) Charlotte; Jessica, the one who took her to school, so her kindergarten teacher put it down as “Casey,” and she was “Casey” ever after.) She is constantly thinking of her older sister, who raised her, and quoting her sister’s wise sayings. For example, “Chance happens, but evil is a hunter. You can either be prepared or prey.” In fact, the sayings are collected at the end of the novel, so the reader can easily find them and think about the wisdom of the older sister.

This book by Kaplan is a bit of mystery, a bit of a spy novel and an amazing character study. We meet a number of interesting people, but the book starts off with the suicide death of the front runner for the presidency of the United States. Then we are introduced to Casey, a strong willed, highly motivated government agent who becomes involved in a search for a former CIA agent who has gotten mixed-up in the robbery of a jewelry store in France. Casey travels the world, from Paris to Serbia to Greece and finally home trying to find a secret hidden that everyone from the Russian mafia and FSB, to criminal elements in both Serbia and France are trying to uncover. There's a mysterious woman who is a key to discovering the secret, a French thief, a handsome French prosecutor with marriage difficulties and a Homeland Security director all with various pieces of the puzzle, all trying to stay alive and find something worth 100 million Euros. Kaplan does a great job of juggling a diverse group of characters and keeping the reader spellbound trying to decipher the clues to solve this puzzle and wonder who will be alive in the end. This is a fascinating story which shows how truly fragile the world is and how fragile are the people who live in it. If you enjoy intricate plots and well fleshed out characters then you will definitely love this novel. It's not for the faint of heart, but we'll worth the time invested to discover the mystery of Blue Madagascar.

Complex,intricate story with many strands. Took a long time for all the various stories to come together and make some sort of sense.

This is from an experienced author who knows how to put together a good story, and good characters. It also included some great suspense and a lot going on. Kaplan is a safe bet if you're a thriller fan.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

The most captivating story I have read in a long time. Andrew Kaplan has written a mystery thriller that involves so many twists and turns it will make your head spin. I loved Casey the main character, so determined to complete her mission despite the odds against her. A best selling novel for sure and I hope Andrew continues to write more novels that include Casey. I certainly hope so as I will search out every one.
A must read, I highly recommend it, but be warned once you start it you won’t to put it down. The kind of thriller I love.

Thank you NetGalley, author Andrew Kaplan, and Smugglers Lane Press publishing for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
4 stars
This was my first book by this author and it will not be my last.
From the premise of the book, I knew I was in for a wild ride and I was not disappointed! From start to finish, this book held my interest so well that I had to finish it in less than a day!
The story has a little bit of everything. From jewelry heists, drug cartels, human trafficking, politics, and clues that lead to traveling to various countries to find the reason for the apparent suicide of a potential presidential candidate. The story line had a lot of moving parts and characters that did not seem to fit the story, but as the events and characters began to cross paths, the plot unfurls to reveal a cliffhanging ending! The author did a wonderful job creating twists and turns that kept me guessing how it was all going to come together. I would recommend this story to those who are fans of spies and political intrigue! I can't wait for another new release by this author!

A jewelry heist gone bad leads to a International Thriller. Bourne style with subtle differences.

Several governments are on high alert when a man with a beautiful woman is killed at robbery in France. The woman walks away with the men who killed him. Who is she and who is the victim. What comes up in the early investigations puts the global security on its axis. It is called the Blue Madagascar.

The main characters is a U.S. Homeland Security Special Agent Casey Ramirez and special agent of France Brochard. One has much to lose with his family and Ramirez pushes on with the strength of her sister Jessie. She draws from her courage and wisdom and being one step ahead of her enemy. She is a problem solver, math wiz, and basically as no fear. With Brochard, they must find out who was killed, what pandora box he opened and how it becomes a race between Russia and the United States.

There is a little bit of everything in this thriller. Chemistry, intrigue, and what each character breaking point is. Interesting characters and a political plot.

A special thank you to Smugglers Lane Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This was a fun read that reminded me of a Dan Brown thriller. Casey, a fearless heroine, must help solve the mystery of Blue Madagascar in a quest that takes her to many European locations and ends in Maine.

Blue Madagascar by Andrew Kaplan is a thriller about a US Presidential candidate who commits suicide just days before the election and a jewel heist in France where an American bystander is killed. How are these connected? What kind of years-long conspiracy is about to be exposed? This book had a lot going on, so it did keep my attention. However, there was so much going on that the story ended up being too over-the-top for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

What a fantastic and gripping thriller! The chase between the Russians and Bulgarian goons, French and American government agents kept me on the edge of my seat.

Unputdownable! Mind-blowing!

Excellent character portrayal and storytelling. The mystery behind the death of a presidential candidate turned out to be much more than a 'suicide' or revenge.

I hope this is a first in the series and we readers get to see more of Casey and Bouchard's adventures.

Highly recommended!