The King’s Ransom: A Recovery Agent Novel

Bestseller Evanovich’s fun, frothy sequel to The Recovery Agent follows contractor Gabriela Rose on a globe-trotting quest for stolen treasures. Gabriela’s latest client is Harley Patch, cousin of her ex-husband, Rafer Jones. Recently promoted to interim president of a privately owned bank in New York, Harley spearheads a new program to insure rare artworks and artifacts, including the Rosetta Stone, a couple of Van Goghs, and a sarcophagus, collectively valued at $12 billion. Then those masterworks go missing, and the bank has insufficient funds to make the necessary payouts. Unless the items are retrieved soon, “someone is going to jail, and Harley is set up perfectly to take the hit,” as Gabriela puts it. She, Rafer, and the hapless Harley set out to retrieve the items from whoever swiped them. Their pursuit takes them to London, Cairo, Paris, Athens, and Milan, each of which Evanovich renders with dazzling precision. Gabriela, meanwhile, is an ideal action protagonist: resourceful, daring, shrewd, and sexy. The result is a swift and enjoyable adventure that proves this series has legs. Agent: Celeste Fine, Park & Fine. (Nov.)