Cover Image: The Chase

The Chase

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Member Reviews

This book took a little to really come together for me, but enjoyed it in the end. The story really flipped back and forth to keep you guessing on how it was going to finish off. Overall, I’d recommend!

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From the publisher's description, we know that the Kradle storyline is the primary one. However, there are several subplots, causing me to engage in a bit of internal debate. Were these other storylines necessary? Maybe the book could have been shorter—and somewhat less confusing—but, would it seem plausible? I think including several other storylines adds to the whole. If this happened in real life, they wouldn't be looking for only one escaped prisoner. Public service announcement: If I had known how busy the action was going to be, I would have set up a chart to keep track of the characters and timeline in each subplot.

The audio edition has two narrators: Lisa Negron and David de Vries. Negron's reading was almost entirely monotonous, which made it harder to enjoy and follow the story. I don't tend to look for particular narrators' work—that is, my reading choices are based on topic and author, generally. An excellent or poor narrator will sometimes color my purchase choices or even my borrowing choices, if my choices are plentiful. David de Vries' narration was quite good, for both male and female voices.

This is my first experience with this author. I will gladly read her work again. The story was engaging. Once I was involved, I didn't want to stop reading.

Content warnings include violence, racism, homophobia, and misogyny. The book didn't strike me as gratuitously violent—it's probably in line with what most mystery and thriller readers encounter regularly.

Thank you, NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Forge Books, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected March 8.

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I found this audiobook to be interesting enough to wonder where it was going to end up, but I definitely had some concerns from the get-go.

My Concerns
There were so many questionable actions that took place from the start, that I’m pretty sure I continued with the story only because it was an audiobook. And unfortunately, the narrators were a problem that certainly didn’t help the flimsy plot. Negron started in a rather clipped monotone voice that didn’t really improve. When the second narrator David de Vries, started I thought it would be better, and it was. Yet the two narrators didn’t feel like they complimented each other, they just added to an already hard-to-follow-story. Lastly, I didn’t connect with any of the characters. And at times their actions were over-the-top foolish.

Final Thoughts
In the end, it just wasn’t my cup o’ tea. But it’s wonderful that we have lots of good authors and lots of people who like all flavors of tea and even coffee.

You may like this story. I’d suggest you give it a try. My three rating means it is a flip of the coin. Don’t pass it up because it didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ability to listen to this and post my thoughts about it.

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I thought the book synopsis sounded interesting but I held my expectations low due to some recent book disappointments. I was blown away!!! I’m not normally a fan of multiple POVs and timelines in books- this one had both and they were done phenomenally well. I think this would make the perfect script for a tv series or even a movie. I listened to the audio version and the narrators were spot on. Best book I’ve read for awhile!

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The Chase by Candice Fox
David de Vries (Narrator), Lisa Negron (Narrator)

After enjoying Fox's Crimson Lake series, I wanted to try another of her books. Fox has a wonderful way of writing animals into her books and I love that about her four books that I've heard. But The Chase wasn't a good fit for me for several reasons.

When 600 of the world’s most violent criminals are released from Pronghorn Correctional Facility, due to a hostage situation, no one is safe. For personal reasons, Death Row Supervisor Celine Osbourne is determined to catch family annihilator, John Kradle, putting his crime of murdering three family members above the crimes of convicts that murdered many more people. This puts her at odds with US Marshal Trinity Parker, who is in charge of the round up of these criminals and who has a much more clear headed plan of action. Sadly, both women are presented as if they are cat fighting young teens, childishly sniping at each other until Trinity punches Celine in the gut to show her who's boss.

My favorite character was John Kradle, who is determined to prove his innocence by ferreting out who really did kill his family. His already impossible task is made even harder when one of the escaped serial killers latches onto him and won't go away. Now John has to keep others from being killed by this leech while trying to avoid capture and being killed himself. I wish the book could have focused more on Kradle and less on all the other characters that are thrown into the mix because I think that would have made a tighter and more interesting story.

The audiobook has two narrators and that decision just made the book even harder to follow. With way too many characters, we also have to deal with the characters having two different people narrating their lines. The female narrator handled things from Celine and Trinity's POV and the male narrator handled things from the viewpoint of the convicts. Once these people start interacting with each other, the characters literally have two voices. For instance, Kradle sounds like a rough voiced old guy for most of the book until the female narrator has to voice him and then he sounds like a soft voiced young guy. The audiobook would have worked much better, for me, with one narrator.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

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A wild ride reminiscent of Baldacci with intertwining plots that definitely keeps your attention!

This was a wild ride with multiple viewpoints that held my attention from the start. I loved that there were so many women depicted in law enforcement and in strong positions.

I also liked that one inmate was particularly focused on finding the truth - no matter what.

This is a book that delivers action, twists and turns, as well as compelling stories woven together. At a few points it was a little confusing (perhaps due to the fact it was an audiobook) to remember who was who, but I enjoyed the conclusion a lot in this one!

A recommend for those who like Baldacci, fast-paced but fleshed out storylines, and good winning in the end 😉

My rating: 4*

‼️Language and some adult situations in this one. Also some violence depicted.

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Thanks to NetGalley for this audiobook advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

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This was an epic Chase— no pun intended. It felt like criminal minds meets prison break but with more character depth. Highly entertaining.

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The Chase starts with a heart in your throat scenario. A bus containing the families of prison guards is being “held hostage” if the prison doesn’t release all 653 of its inmates. Before the warden has the ability to make a decision, the officers start opening up the gates. And thus, a whole slew of violent men, including a group of death row inmates, are released.
One of those men is John Kradle, erroneously convicted of the deaths of his wife and child. He sees this as an opportunity to prove his innocence.
The story flows fast, never really pausing for a breath. It came across like an action movie, and I could see this being translated for the screen. This will not appeal to those that like their stories to go in a straight line. There are a multitude of characters and the plot will detour into these side stories, mostly about other escaped convicts.
It took a long time to explain why Celine had such an obsession with Kradle to the exclusion of worrying about some other, much badder guys. A part of me thinks it might have worked better to move this up in the timeline. I, at least, spent a lot of time obsessing about why she was obsessing over him.
I liked that Fox isn’t afraid to make her female characters unlikeable. Trinity is definitely high on the jerk spectrum. And sparks tend to fly whenever Celine is forced to interact with her. And John isn’t the typical action hero you would expect from an action movie (think Con Air or The Fugitive). He’s more nuanced. Although, it says a lot that a stray dog attaches himself to Kradle.
Overall, this is good fun entertainment. There are several gruesome scenes, so be aware going in. I loved the ending and how everything got tied up. Lots of karma.
David De Vries and Lisa Negron are the two narrators. I struggled with Negron’s accents, which bordered on cliches.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.

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Story starts when a sniper attacks a bus full of relatives of correctional officers. These relatives are heading to the prison for an annual event and everyone is looking forward to a good time.
The sniper threatens to kill everyone unless all the prisoners are released. Yes ALL!

So the Pronghorn Correctional Facility in the Nevada desert is the site of a mass prison outbreak~ over 600 prisoners is on the run. As the chase begins there is the realization that the minimum security offenders will probably head to Vegas and easily picked up; the prime goal it to track down the ‘Death Row’ inmates. One such inmate is John Kradle.
Kradle believes this is his chance to prove he did not murder his wife five years ago.

The genre of mystery/thriller caught my eye. I was curious how Kradle was going to clear his name. The promo for this story mentioned the modern day “The Fugitive” with characters only Candice Fox can write. ~ Hmmm ~ Not exactly “The Fugitive” I watched. As for the characters ~ there are far too many foul mouth, unlikeable, characters for me to find this an enjoyable read.

I am sure there are other readers who will like it and think it is great! We all have different taste and are lucky to have so many great choices

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio ~ for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 8, 2022

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I listened to the first half in audio and read the second half.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. However, it's a bit too close to A Small Town by Thomas Perry for me to have truly loved this book. While there are some big differences, this book seemed like a remake of Perry's book.

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I didn't finish this book, but I believe this would appeal to the thriller listeners out there. The narration was good and the author had great deal and descriptions.

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While it take me a little bit to get into this book and adjust to the narrators, the second half of the book really picked uo and I found myself sneaking in a few minutes here and there trying to find out what happens next. I think I would really enjoy reading this book as well. I did find it challenging to keep all the characters and details straight. I loved the premise of the book - an innocent man on death row. I would recommend to anyone who likes a slower build up and then a fast paced ending.

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I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this. This is my first Candice Fox read and I wasn’t disappointed. In fact I hope it’s not my last!
A quick easy read with some fun twists and turns throughout. What resonates most is the strong female characters and how those were developed throughout the book

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4.5. This book just kept drawing me in. I had to know how it was going to come together. The ending felt a bit rushed, but also open for a book two.

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Good enjoyable unpredictable story. It moved fast with interesting characters and action. There are some parts and conversations in the beginning that stretch my limits of suspension of belief, but I'm glad I got through them.

You can tell the author is not American. She throws in some britishisms - petrol, bonnet - here and there but it doesn't hurt. It just seems out of place in an American setting and American accented narrators.

The male narrator was excellent. The female narrator is good and has potential, but at times sounded robotic. She spoke too fast at times.

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4.5 Stars
I liked the intensity and fast pace of the book. A great thriller. I will definitely will be reading more novels by Candice Fox. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review the book.

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The Chase was exactly the chase. From start to finish it was moving forward. Not all conclusions were as expected but that just made a good mystery. Looks like this story has been set up for a second book. I’ll be on the lookout for this author as she continues to write suspense mysteries. Loved all the different narrators as they gave the story added character.

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While I enjoyed the plot and action in the book. I just couldn't get into the story all the way. I had a hard time listening to it, because it just didn't appeal to me. It was slow and while again the plot was good, it was slow to start

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As is typical with Candice Fox books, there are great cat and mouse scenes in this book!

A caller threatens to kill prison guards’ families if all the prisoners are not released from Pronghorn Correctional Facility and into the Nevada desert. The book covers the recovery of some of those inmates. It focuses on Death Row supervisor Celine Osbourne and one of her inmates, John Kradle. To say their relationship inside was contentious would be an understatement. That is why she is individually obsessed with his capture.

The book is fast paced and exciting, while still providing enough information for the characters to be three dimensional and well developed. The story like is not unique but does provide some unusual situations that enhance the progression of events.

I highly recommend this book. The author has once again written a fine story. The narrators are perfect for the characters they portray. Of course, I could listen to David De Vries read the phone book and be content. Lisa Negron add personality to Celine that allows her to engage in situations that the reader know she would never find herself in realistically.


I received an ARC audiobook from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

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Brief Summary: When more than 600 of the world’s most violent prisoners escape from a correctional facility in the Nevada Desert, the biggest manhunt in US history begins. For one of those inmates, this is a chance to prove his innocence, but he must stay ahead of the fugitive hunters.

Thoughts: This book started out very action-packed and suspenseful. The characters were realistic, but I found the storyline itself to be a bit unrealistic. There were also a lot of little side stories to keep straight which makes the book/plot as a whole a bit forgettable. That said, I remained engaged in the narrative because the suspense level remained throughout.

Thank you to Candice Fox, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an audio copy of this book.

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