Great story by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison!! Really thrilling read, great characters and an enjoyable story. Highly recommend to others!!

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Special agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine start their new role as heads of a top-secret team for the FBI, but when the enigmatic thief known as the Fox makes a dramatic plea for help, will their first case be their last?
Special Agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine are the government’s Covert Eyes leading a top-notch handpicked team of agents to tackle crimes and criminals both international and deadly. But their first case threatens their fledgling team when an old adversary calls from Venice asking for help.
Kitsune, AKA The Fox, has stolen an incredible artifact from the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, and now the client wants her dead. She has a warning for Nick and Mike: she’s overheard talk that a devastating Gobi desert sandstorm that’s killed thousands in Beijing isn’t a natural phenomenon, rather is produced by man. The Covert Eyes team heads to Venice, Italy, to find out the truth.
From New York to Venice and from Rome to the Bermuda Triangle, Nicholas and Mike and their team are in a race against time, and nature herself, to stop an obsessed family from devastating Washington, DC.

*3.5 stars*

So let me get this straight:

Thief is hired to steal priceless object. Then those who hired thief want her dead. She escapes. Overhears the bad guys talking about controlling the weather for nefarious reasons. Calls the FBI when her husband is kidnapped. Investigation ensues...

Despite the plot (or, maybe, in spite of it), I kinda enjoyed this story. The characters, I think, made this worth the read. FBI agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela (Mike) Caine are a great pairing (for those who haven't read the earlier books) and they are up against it from the very start, trying to convince their superiors to follow up on this case. The character of 'The Fox' (real name, Kitsune) was well written as well and found myself actually liking her. Even though she wasn't really meant to be liked (I don't think so, anyway...)

The biggest issue I had with this story was the fact that it felt like it was trying to be too many things at once - a James Bond style spy thriller; a Dan Brown historical thriller; a Clive Cussler action novel; an Indiana Jones installment; a Rachel Caine paranormal story; with a little bit of Tomb Raider thrown in for fun. It all became just a little too much for me.


Paul
ARH