An intriguing premise with army vet turned professional safecracker Monna Locke & her young son Evan being abducted from their Southern California home & taken to Miami. She is given 2 days to figure out how to open an impenetrable safe aboard a luxury yacht & commit the ultimate heist.

The mechanics of cracking the safe were a slow read. The actual heist scenes about the yacht were full of action. Definitely had to suspend disbelief in Monna's ability to survive the security team's attacks both on the yacht & overboard.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions are my own.

What a fun read! It dragged a bit in the middle but beginning and end were filled with action. I had never read a book about a safe cracker before so it was something new and enjoyable for me!

A fast paced thriller about a woman who finds herself in an untenable situation. Monna is a safecracker. She's also mom to Evan. Success on one job leads to a very bad situation - and now she's up against a group of real bad guys. This is a page turner that's heavy on the action and light on the characters (the bad guys are just really bad). I learned a bit about safes (interesting stuff) and rooted for Monna. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, A good read.

The Lock Box
Parker Adams
reviewed by Lou Jacobs


readersremains.com | Goodreads


Monna Locke isn’t even her real name—born Donna Maguire, she found the alias more fitting for a fully licensed safecracking expert. In Los Angeles, she is the go-to expert when discretion and skill are paramount. The Lock Box by Parker Adams, a riveting heist novel published on March 19, 2024, by Crooked Lane Books, entangles readers in its thrilling mystery, leaving no margin for error.

From a young age, Monna navigated life’s challenges with resilience. At six, she was nearly on her own, her single mother working tirelessly as a bartender. A life-altering knock on the door at sixteen revealed her mother’s death, yet, with her aunt’s support, she persevered. Excelling in the Army, her career was unjustly cut short due to her stand against harassment.

Her skills led her to a peculiar request from a local lawyer: break into a safe while its owner was away and retrieve its contents. Given the house codes, she executed the job flawlessly until an unexpected twist—armed men ambush, setting off a cinematic escape that showcases her prowess.

Fleeing with her son, Evan, to a secluded cabin, they encounter the lawyer—revealed as Huang, reminiscent of Oddjob from James Bond lore, flanked by henchmen Jack, King, and Queen. Evan’s life hangs in the balance, hinging on Monna’s acceptance of a daunting task: infiltrate the world’s largest yacht, the Helios, and secure an ancient artifact from an impregnable safe.

Adams crafts a masterful narrative, weaving suspense and intricate plotlines. The heist, fraught with challenges, unfolds through expertly choreographed action scenes, each twist and turn placing Monna in increasingly dire straits.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.

The writing is compelling and the book is engaging. The characters are interesting too. Author has introduced me to Safecracker. I wasn’t aware of any such thing. There were twists and turns. This is a medium paced story and action packed thriller. Monna Locke’s character is so interesting and the story is multilayered. Monna is an army vet turned safecracker. She was recruited in a heist. Her job was dangerous. While she has a son too and her world turns upside down when she and Evan are held captive. She can either find her way by cracking the code or she is on verge of losing everything.

Many thanks to Author, Publisher and Netgalley

The Lock Box by Parker Adams

Intense, interesting, immersive story that drew me in, made me think, and wonder what I would have done in Monna’s situation.

What I liked:
* Monna Locke: ex-army veteran, single parent, safe cracker, mostly raised herself, mother died when she was sixteen, taken in for a few years by a teacher, good friend, not a scholar, great with machines and mechanics, intriguing
* Evan: Monna’s child, five, smart, loves Monna, protective, had a tough time in this book
* Mule: high school shop teacher, good friend and mentor to Monna, a strong presence in her life
* Constance-Miss C: retired librarian, Monna’s neighbor, sometimes caretaker of Evan – wondered what happened to her
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* Learning a bit more about safes
* Being able to dislike Huang and understand the thugs he had on hand for the heist though most were rather unsavory.
* That the bad guys had some good qualities
* That one of the bad guys was not as bad as the rest
* The way it all played out and the conclusion of the story – did wonder if it might be a one and done or the beginning of a series
* That I could see this as a movie

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* The ease with which Huang could manipulate others and the darkness and evil emanating from him
* The oligarch on the yacht…and his henchmen

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

This can be an entertaining book, because the plot, the storytelling and the characters are OK. The main problem is the long descriptions, especially of things in the past. Another problem is a horrible situation with a child, and the implausible choice the main character makes.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This was my first book about a safe cracker and I didn't know what to expect. It is set during a pandemic . The book follows a safecracker who is hired to retrieve something from a client's home only for it to go haywire. Not only did she find the package she finds also armed men and when she gets to her house to find the client threatening her son . She is forced to do a job that is quite difficult to pull off. The premise was great, the character development okay but the pacing of the book was quite slow -fast paced at times and slow at times.

I knew that I wanted to read The Lock Box as soon as I read the blurb. I do love a good heist/action thriller, and this story screamed exhilarating rollercoaster ride to me... Add the fact that it's going to be published on my birthday, and I saw it as a sign that I HAD to read it. I'm glad I gave in now, because I ended up having an excellent time with this thriller! There is no doubt that the premise would work perfectly as a Hollywood blockbuster movie.

I was a bit surprised to discover this story was set during the pandemic; it's not something I usually enjoy in my thrillers and I tend to stay away. Somehow, the pandemic element does make sense in The Lock Box though, because it's basically the main reason they are possibly able to pull of the heist (and kidnap the main character Monna Locke so easily). This made it so much easy to tolerate the COVID references, and you will find yourself soon distracted by other things in the first place.

The Lock Box is what you can call a high speed, high octane action thriller, and like I said before: it has Hollywood action movie written all over it. There are a lot of tense and dangerous action scenes where Monna has to fight for her life while she is trying to escape and/or pull off the heist. Things can be said about the credibility of it all, but the entertainment level is through the roof so I personally didn't mind having to suspend my disbelief. I do have to say that the pace and plot could have been more balanced, as there were parts that were considerably slow compared to the more high speed action scenes.

This story is without doubt all about the action, and as a result the character development isn't as thorough. While we do get to know the basics about Monna and the other characters in play, the whole situation was too urgent for the plot to allow us to truly get to know them... If you enjoy more character-driven stories, this might end up being a bit disappointing, as the cast itself is intriguing enough to want to know more. The writing itself is engaging and it's really easy to keep turning those pages, although there is something about the dialogues that didn't always hit the mark for me. I like how everything was wrapped up in the end though.

If you enjoy a high octane and tense action thriller, The Lock Box is without a doubt a great option. A kidnapping, safecracking, a healthy of near escapes and fighting scenes, a race against the clock; this heist plot is no picnic!

Thank you for the opportunity to preview The Lock Box.
I love heist movies and books. This has some good parts in particular the heists. What I found was a lot of dialogue and not as fast paced as I like.
That’s said it is good plot with a strong female lead.
3 stars

I loved the use of a safecracker and how it worked in this story. The characters were what I was expecting and worked well with the story being told. Parker Adams has a great writing style for this and I was invested in what was happening.

Monna Locke, a safecracker (legal and licensed, thank you very much), is hired to break into a safe belonging to someone incredibly wealthy. Not unusual for Locke – until four people in a plumbing van start shooting at her. Before she knows it, she’s the captive of a mysterious group who want her to crack the world’s most technologically advanced safe – in under ten minutes. And the consequences should she fail are dire.

Including so much about COVID precautions fixes the setting at a very specific time period, and including the unique circumstances of the pandemic in the setup for the heist was clever. It kept the book from feeling like it was set in the pandemic for no reason. When authors do that it just makes the story feel dated.

Unfortunately for this book, safecracking scenes are not the most riveting – at least not for me. The heist part was much more interesting. The dialogue didn’t quite seem realistic in some places. The writing in general is not the best, but overall the book is fine.

Representation: Asian character, LGBTQ+ characters(??? I can’t remember if this was explicit or something I read into it)

CW: domestic violence, mention of sexual assault, child in danger

QUICK TAKE: loved the concept, though drags a bit in the middle (reading about someone cracking a safe is just not that exciting). Overall an enjoyable action thriller!

This book definitely kept me gripped at points but not all the way through. If it kept me gripped more it woulve been 5* as the moments that hooked me were immense.

Master thief, Monna, is recruited/forced to put her skills to use in this caper which moves at an uneven pace. Lots of good writing is punctuated by sections that seem to drag. Would make a better movie than book.

Wow! That was a great shocker! I absolutely loved this book! Wow! What a read! It was filled with high suspense, intrigue, action packed, murder, mystery, safe cracking, huge shootouts , some double crossing, and some crazy twist and turns! The storyline was so very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book!! It was a fantastic read! I will definitely be on the lookout for more from thus author! I can't say enough about this book! Definitely don't miss out on this one! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!