The Scam ---With a Cliffhanger Ending (Yuck!)

The Scam: A Fox and O'Hare NovelSep 15, 2015

by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

 “Nicolas Fox is a charming con man and master thief on the run. Kate O’Hare is the FBI agent who is hot on his trail. At least that’s what everyone thinks. In reality, Fox and O’Hare are secretly working together to bring down super-criminals the law can’t touch. Criminals like brutal casino magnate Evan Trace.

 
Evan Trace is running a money-laundering operation through his casino in Macau. Some of his best customers are mobsters, dictators, and global terrorists. Nick and Kate will have to go deep undercover as high-stakes gamblers, wagering millions of dollars—and their lives—in an attempt to topple Trace’s empire.
 
It’s a scam that will take Fox and O’Hare from the Las Vegas strip, to the sun-soaked beaches of Oahu’s North Shore, and into the dark back alleys of Macau. Their only backup—a self-absorbed actor, a Somali pirate, and Kate’s father, an ex-soldier who believes a rocket launcher is the best way to solve every problem. What could possibly go wrong?”

This is the fifth book in the Fox and O’Hare series:

Fox & O'Hare Series With Lee Goldberg

1.     Pros and Cons (2013) – ebook (short story 32 pages)

2.     The Heist (2013)

3.     The Chase (2014)

4.     The Job (2014)

5.     The Scam (2015)

6.     The Shell Game (2015)- ebook (short story  28 pages and has already been released)

This was a fun romp as far as the continuing story of Nick and Kate.  Nick is a con man, Kate a successful FBI agent.  They work together taking down the evil scammers. 

With this book the scammer (Even Trace) scams gamblers.  (Try saying this three times fast!) Kate and Nick are going to catch the scammer by scamming him.  (oiy!)

This book brings back some beloved secondary characters like Kate’s father and introduces some new character’s that may not make it out alive.  They travel back and forth and live high on the hog ( on the governments tab of course) while scamming the scammer’s. 

This has a lot of shoot ‘em up, high stakes gambling, yummy buffet food and exciting scenes. There is a bit of romance (Kate is definitely, maybe,probably going to take Nick to her bed…eventually).

This book is a lively, fast and entertaining read –however the ending of this particular book leaves something to be desired.  I never thought that this writing team would stoop to something like this –there is a cliff hanger that is sure going to force you into buying the next book just to see what happened to Nick.

Sadly this makes me think much less of the writing team of Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg and makes me question whether I am going to buy the next book in this series or not.