When the warden at the Nevada penitentiary is faced with a decision, she makes one no one could anticipate. A busload of staff and prisoner visitors has been taken ransom and the demand is to let everyone free. Faced with a calamity, the warden does the unimageable and sets free not only those in for fraud or drugs, but the inmates of death row, rapists and terrorists.

Most are caught right away, either on the road after stealing cars and heading for Vegas or in the desert practically begging for help. But some get away and they are some of the worst. A huge man who is a serial killer. A man who is in prison for killing his whole family. A white supremacist who wants to make a statement that will never be forgotten.

Celine Osbourne who is the death row supervisor is determined to catch the men who had been under her control. She especially wants to catch John Kradle, the man who killed his wife, son and sister in law because of a tragedy in her own past. She pairs up with a man in prison for fraud as her best chance of understanding what Kradle is about and where he might go. As she tracks him, she starts to think that maybe what John has steadfastly maintained for five years is true and he is not the killer of his family. Meanwhile, the white supremist has reunited with his group and they are ready to pull off a massacre.

Candice Fox is known in the mystery/thriller genre as an author who always delivers a fascinating tale that pulls the reader along. Celine is an interesting character due to her background and John Kradle is the man everyone will end up pulling for. The side stories of the other prisoners are interesting and give some insight into what a prison guard faces every day. I listened to this book and the narrator was perfect for all the action. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Exciting premise, a consistently tense aura, and an unpredictable roller coaster ride from start to finish. Candice Fox keeps you turning pages well into the night with crisp pacing and momentum.

John Kradle is on Death Row, convicted of the murder of his wife and teen son. Death Row Supervisor Celine Osbourne's dark history makes her hate him.

The Chase opens on a well planned mass jailbreak, releasing over 600 prisoners (the worst of the worst) into the Nevada Desert. A serial killer attaches himself to John, thinking he has a better chance with him. John tries to ditch him or at least prevent him from killing again. Celine is obsessed with catching Kradle.

The Chase, reminiscent of The Fugitive, continues with constant action and surprises. Those include what really happened to John Kradle's family. It's an engrossing read, highly recommended.

I adore this author and this book was no exception. The characters, as always, are beautifully written with detailed pasts and unique personalities. The book is fast paced and full of suspense and terror. Like a freight train, it’s pace increases until it’s full speed ahead and you can’t slow down till the last page.
I loved the idea of a (bad) good guy, and unearthing his own true story. A book filled with bad guys, with people who are not what they seem makes for a unique and amazing read

This book never sparked for me, this is not to say that there weren’t a few surprising moments where I didn’t see what was coming, but for the most part, I was frustrated with the characters who had been introduced and emphasized, and then 20’ish pages later were murdered and forgotten. I didn’t see their point and how they moved the story forward. Then other characters are introduced, seldom commented on, then showed up at the end of the book with a final ta-da so the author could run through her checklist and tie a neat bow around anyone she had forgotten.

Her previous book, co-written with James Patterson, the 2 Sisters Detective Agency, which I did enjoy, led me to this book. Unfortunately, I’m not sure, as a lone writer, Candice Fox is a match for me.

A friendly baseball game is about to take place between the guards and the inmates at a prison in Nevada, and family members of the guards are on their way to watch and cheer as they have done every year. But this year, something went horribly wrong, and the bus with everyone on it is held hostage until all 650 are released. As the men scattered across the country, death row inmate John Kradle sees this as his final chance to clear his name and find out who really murdered his wife, his sister-in-law, and his son.
Prison officer Celine Osbourne is determined to find John and bring him back to the prison to rot in his cell, and she is not someone to mess with. The Chase is now on.
Suspenseful storytelling at its best, Candice Fox has done it again. Thank you to #NetGalley, the author and the publisher of The Chase for my copy of this thriller.

Candice Fox has given us a mystery thriller that reads like an action movie. The Chase starts out with a scene that takes our breath away and an impossible choice Release all the prisoners or the bus load of family members die. When death row supervisor, Celine Osbourne is faced with everyone on her team that goes against her order, she is on a manhunt to get the most vile of inmates back behind bars. One prisoner, John Kradle, is on a mission to prove that he was wrongfully accused and an innocent man. The characters are interesting but at times hard to keep up with as there are several POV happening through out the story. Another thrilling crime drama! Recommend!

I received a complimentary copy of this book by Candice Fox from Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Forge Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity.

Email: DaniReadsTooMuch@comcast.net
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Imagine the following scenario:

A high maximum security prison filled with prisoners from petty thieves to the brutal serial killers on death row. A bus with the family of the prison officers hijacked just outside the prison and an ultimatum given to the prison officers.... you either release all the prisoners or we kill your family. This sets in motion catastrophic events and all just to free one man. A man who wants to start a war with a terrorist attack.

We meet a mixed bag of characters in the story. There is Celine Osbourne who is a death row supervisor. The only 1 who tried to stop the release of the prisoners. She hates John Kradle and is always trying to find ways of making his life hell. Why is she so bitter and why is she specifically targeting John who is on death row for killing his wife, son and sister in law. Did he do it or was he framed? Circumstances force him to "team up” with Celine while he is on the run to try and get to the bottom of what happened to his family.
Finally, there is the feisty US Marshal, Trinity Parker a no-nonsense agent whose main focus is to get all the prisoners back where they belong.....behind bars.

I'm a huge fan of Candice Fox and this is another superb thriller. There's always a lot of depth to her characters and some jaw-dropping twists.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan -Tor/Forge for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

The Chase is a mystery/thriller/action movie in book form. That's the best way I can describe it. It's fast-paced from the beginning and had me hooked from the first paragraph. I started reading and then looked up 30 minutes later wondering where the time went (yes, one of THOSE books, don't you love 'em?!).

I found the premise to be both unique and realistic - at least for a book, I don't watch a lot of action movies. The story follows a bunch of different characters that go their separate ways after a mass breakout from a maximum-security prison, but this comes at the expense of real character depth and development. The two main characters, John and Celine, both feel slightly more extreme and less nuanced than I'd expect from this author. The more prominent of the many side characters are VERY extreme with little to no development or depth. Normally I'm okay with this for side characters, but in this case, the two characters I'm referring to (not naming for spoiler reasons) had more air time and significant roles in plot development. At times, their lack of depth distracted me from getting lost in the story. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but definitely keeps this a 4 rather than 5-star read for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Chase. It's a great read for the pool, for travels, or just to escape the humdrum of a long week.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC!

Shades of CON AIR

This was a fun, fast read that in a lot of ways reminded me of the movie CON AIR, a favorite of mine.

Because of unlikely circumstances, 600+ inmates of the Pronghorn Correctional Facility in Nevada are mass released in a prison escape. Most are minimum or medium security prisoners but a handful are from Death Row and are the worst of the worst.

Captain Celine Osbourne was the supervisor of the condemned row section and she especially wants to get one prisoner back - John Kradle - because of circumstances in her own earlier life. Kradle just wants to stay free long enough to prove his innocence.

Great characters (both good guys and bad), and a fast, snappy storyline. This is a story I recommend.

I received this book from Forge Reads through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

4★
“Burke’s recruiter hadn’t provided anything more than a gentle nudge into the online world of neo-Nazi groups and their plans for a race war, and Burke fell in love. He liked all the serial killer angles and the calls for disruption, chaos. Black-and-white photographs of a short, angry, determined Charles Manson, his beautiful, waif-like followers, his legions of admirers.”

It’s more of a hunt than a chase, with ‘prey’ running off in different directions. Someone has opened the gates of the Pronghorn Correctional Facility in Nevada, letting loose all 600+ inmates, including those in maximum security on Death row. Captain Celine Osbourne has been in charge of them.

“She slowed as she neared Burke David Schmitz’s cell. The neo-Nazi terrorist, an unrepentant mass shooter, had the highest number of confirmed victims of all the men on Celine’s row. There was a kind of thickness in the air around him. A coldness. The feeling touched the cells on either side of his, which for now were empty. She peered sideways as she walked by and saw him sitting on his cot, straight-backed, looking at nothing, as he often did. The young blond man gave Celine the sense that he could see her even beyond the reach of his line of sight as she passed by.”

When Celine crosses paths with a minimum security inmate after everyone's gone, the story takes a turn. Her boss, Warden Grace Slanter, and US Marshal Trinity Parker are major parts of the action as well. It isn’t girls against the boys, although when I write it this way, it seems like it.

The story follows several inmates, but I could have done without a couple. The most interesting is John Kradle, whom Celine has known for years and hates because his crime mirrors so much of what happened to her in her childhood (not a spoiler). She is determined to track him down, which gives the story a very personal edge.

There are certainly some terrifying scenarios, and there’s no guarantee who will make it out alive. The worst part for me is the part I’ve quoted about the neo-Nazi terrorist who represents a growing threat everywhere. Neo-Nazis are only one part of the anti-government, anti-establishment groups attracting disenchanted people around the world.

Nobody loves you? We’ll be your new best friends. It’s no longer just religious extremists promoting a glorious afterlife for suicide bombers. These people promote themselves as some kind of rebel army, and your enemies are their enemies. Of course this is done subtly, quietly, moving from mainstream social media to smaller chat rooms and later ‘off-grid’ where you and I don’t see them at work.

That’s what makes it scary when someone like Burke is set loose. Who are his people? What are they planning?

How would Celine have any idea where to even look? Sometimes it takes one to know one, so to speak.

Personally, I prefer Fox's Aussie stories (but I'm biased). Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishing for the copy for review.

When the inmates of Pronghorn correctional facility are released, a huge manhunt begins. The story follows a couple of inmates that escaped death row and the corrections officer who is desperate to bring them back to prison. This is a fast paced, easy read with interesting characters.

Another great read by Candice Fox.

Thank you Candice Fox, Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Forge Books for the opportunity to review this ARC? #TheChase # Netgalley.

Thirty-four relatives of employees at a Nevada state prison are traveling by bus to the prison’s annual inmate vs. guard baseball game. The bus driver is shot and the bus veers off the road before coming to a stop. A man calls the prison’s warden. He wants all the prisoners to be released or the bus’s occupants will be shot. The call is heard throughout the prison through an open PA. Guards start opening prison doors to save their families. All 653 prisoners, including two convicted terrorists and several serial killers, flee on foot and in stolen cars. The Chase is on!

Captain Celine, in charge of the prison’s death row inmates, is fixated on one specific prisoner, John Kradle. Kradle killed his wife, son and sister-in-law then set his house on fire. Despite Kradle’s protestations of innocence, something in Celine’s past is making her think he is more dangerous than the other killers in her charge.

The Chase is an adrenaline-fueled ride! You can see the future movie adaptation in your mind’s eye. Both Celine and Kradle’s pasts are revealed in flashbacks as they fight to achieve the ending they each believe they deserve. But only one will get justice. Overall, just a great book. 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to Forge Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ⭐️‘s
When the impossible happens and 600 violent inmates escape from Pronghorn Correctional Facility, an uproar ensues and no one is safe. Celine a death row supervisor is determined to capture John Kradle. Incarcerated for killing his family, he’s proclaimed his innocence for ten long years, but Celine knows he’s guilty and wants nothing more than to recapture him. Kradle has been waiting for a way to clear his name and this is his opportunity. He’s not going to waste it. As the story progresses we learn why Celine is so set on recapturing Kradle. Is there even the slightest possibility she could have let her past influence her? Interspersed with the other inmates, it’s a fast paced story, but disappointing in audio. Told in two voices, Celine’s had no inflection and came across quite stilted, John’s was OK until he voiced another character and it had a Fred Flintstone vibe. I just couldn’t do it, so turned to the pages. Do yourself a favor and skip the audio on this one and read it instead.

*slaps hood* Now that's how you write a story! Listen, I was a bit nervous about reading a standalone from Fox, since I'd enjoyed the Crimson Lake series so much. I was also curious to see what a story set in not-Australia would be like. The result, as I hope I've already made clear, was fantastic--propulsive, with enough twists and side quests to keep it from being "this happened and then this happened and then this," like another prison break book I read.

Excellent plot, which opens up for a lot of drama, and the characters are fantastic. It's a very entertaining book, if it wasn't for all the unnecessary jumping back in time. Some description is OK, but this is just too much and there's no need for reading it all.

When 600 inmates, from minimum security to death row, are leashed into the world, havoc ensues. Death row supervisor Celine wants to get this prison back on track. She’s intent on tracking down her nemesis, John Kradle. He’s the man who has grated her every nerve since day one. He’s the worse kind of prisoner who has killed his entire family. Or is he? Celine’s past skews her perceptions, and she’s taking her job above and beyond. We follow Celine’s quest to take down Kradle and Kradle’s quest to prove his innocence.

Celine is a tough character to get behind. Unable to separate her personal life from her job, her singular focus on Kradle is pretty toxic. Fox wrote her character extremely well because I couldn’t cheer for her. I liked Kradle and empathized with him from the start. I enjoyed how the story is told in alternating viewpoints from each character, so when you think you cannot stand Celine anymore, we switch perspectives to one less skewed. The Chase is a fun and fast-paced read, and I like how it came together. Thank you, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, for sending this along!

A big thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of The Chase by Candice Fox. The blurb of the book was really interesting and I got into it as soon as I received the book. So, without further ado, let’s get into what it’s about, what works, what doesn’t, and why you should (or shouldn’t) read this book.

Genre:
Mystery/Thriller

Length:
432 pages

Overall Rating:
6.5 out of 10

Plot:
7 out of 10

Characterization:
5 out of 10

Primary Element:
9 out of 10 for its mystery; 7 out of 10 for its thrill

Writing Style:
6 out of 10

Part of a Series:
No. Although, it could become the first of a series.

Highlighted Takeaway:
Candice Fox weaves an engaging tale of how personal demons and traumas can both make and break people, influencing everything big and small that they do.

What I Liked:
The main story – that of John Kradle, Celine Osbourne, and their interactions – was the most interesting part of The Chase. While the rest of the book covered the other criminals’ storylines, with a large part of the book focusing on non-Kradle stuff, the main pitch remained the strongest.

What I Didn’t Like:
While the characterization of Osbourne and Kradle was good (with Kradle’s being better), I found the rest of the characters to be very limited. Plus, some of the characters were incredibly unlikeable and, in my opinion, probably more so than intended. There were so many story arcs that the book couldn’t really get into too much detail of anyone, but at the same time tried to share a lot of information. The end result was that the story seemed very choppy in quite a few places, being more ‘telling’ than ‘showing’.

Who Should Read It:
Anyone who likes manhunt-style stories will definitely enjoy The Chase. You’ll probably also like it if you like the ‘justice seeking vigilante’ stories. I read The Chase without too many breaks – it moved along briskly, kept me engaged, and definitely kept me wanting to discover the truth. In spite of the few issues it had, it was an interesting read and I’d definitely read more from Candice Fox.

Who Should Avoid:
If you don’t like stories that have numerous arcs, multiple storylines, and a few unstable characters, I’d recommend avoiding this one.

Read It For:
A fast-moving, easy-to-read page-turner that is perfect as a travel-time read or to curl up with while the storm rages on outside.

4.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat suspense novel by Fox! I could easily envision this as a movie or miniseries.

“The Chase” begins with an astonishing and successful scheme to break out every prisoner from the Pronghorn Correctional Facility in the Nevada Desert. 653 inmates in all were set free. Right away, some 291 were rounded up on the roads to Las Vegas, Utah, or Arizona, but the most dangerous were still at large.

Trinity Parker, a US Marshal, is spearheading the team effort to contain the damage and re-arrest the escapees. The team quickly ascertains there had to be someone inside helping orchestrate the escape plan, and was able to narrow down the culprit pretty quickly. But that didn’t help get the inmates back inside.

Celine Osbourne, who is the supervisor of death row, is determined to get her charges back, because the thought of what these dangerous men might do when back out in the world terrifies her. She is especially obsessed with recapturing John Kradle, sentenced to death for the murder of his family. Celine is focused on him because when she was 17, all the other members of her family were killed at a Christmas gathering by her grandfather. In her mind she has equated Kradle with her grandfather, and harbors a keen hatred for him.

In alternate chapters we follow what is happening with several of the escapees, including not only Kradle, but the truly frightening serial killer Homer Carrington; Abdul Hamsi, a failed terrorist; and Burke David Schmitz, a neo-Nazi white nationalist killer. Most of the men who got out are interested in stealing money and making new lives, or getting revenge, or finishing the crimes they were prevented from carrying out before they were incarcerated. But Kradle is determined to prove his innocence and find out who killed his family and why it happened. He starts calling Celine to enlist her in the effort. Celine in turn asks for the help of Walter Keeper, called Keeps, a con man who doesn’t hesitate to add Celine to his victims.

In a tension-filled denouement, we find out the truth about all of the characters, and while this particular plot line is wrapped up, readers are left hoping that those still living will be featured in future work by Fox.

Evaluation: Candice Fox excels in writing tense thrillers with nuanced characters, in which it is never clear who may or may not survive. This makes for a very entertaining read.