A variety of characters intertwined lives leads to some interesting twists. Firefighters robbing business, mob kidnappings, undercover agents....I mean, what more could you want.

I thought the book was ok. I am a little bummed as Fox is an Australian. I was hoping for a story that took place in Australia. This is her second latest release that takes place in the US, which is ok, but I want Australian stories!

This is only the second novel by Candice Fox that I’ve read. Given how much I enjoyed this and Gathering Dark, it’s a bit strange that I haven’t read more. Devil’s Kitchen is a fast-paced, engaging mystery with great characters. I enjoyed this a lot.

A highly-skilled arson crew has been pulling off impressive and dangerous jobs around New York City. They’ve been getting away with it for years, covering up their heists with actual fires. You see, when you’re a member of the FDNY, you have pretty good access to fires, and every reason to be there. A member of the crew, however, is suspicious of his teammates and believes they have killed his partner. To get to the bottom of the mystery, he connects with Andy Nearland, an undercover investigator of prodigious talents (and a difficult past of her own, which we learn about over the course of the novel). Nearland’s FBI handlers decide that she should also investigate the crew’s crimes, and build a case to bring them down. Nearland’s a great guide to these worlds (the FDNY and also criminal underworld), and she’s a solid protagonist — she’s driven, highly-gifted, but also not always capable of separating herself entirely from the cases she takes on. She has a penchant for crossing lines, getting involved with people she shouldn’t, and takes incredible risks to find the information she needs. But, as readers will see, she has the talents and smarts to back up these risks.

What follows is an often tense story as Andy insinuates herself into the crew, and spies on them all as she tries to get to the bottom of what happened to the missing woman, and also an ever-more-dangerous investigation into the lives and jobs of Engine 99’s members. Readers are introduced to a world of toxic masculinity, hazing, and disregard for rules and the wellbeing of outsiders. The different personalities that make up the crew are well-drawn and distinct. The various side-characters we meet along the way are likewise realistic, and nobody feels like a cookie-cutter, central-casting actor dropped into the story.

If you like fast-paced stand-alone mysteries and thrillers, then I would certainly recommend Devil’s Kitchen. I have the author’s two previous novels, The Chase and Fire With Fire, already, and I’ll have to get to those as soon as I can.

As in her previous novels, Fox gives us leads on both sides of the law in this one, painting all of them in shades of grey.

The law breakers this time are also first responders, the legendary crew of Engine 99 who've fought New York City blazes for years. They've also set them, as cover for heists of banks, jewelry stores and art galleries.

Investigator Andy Nearland goes undercover with the crew to bring them down, but also to find out what happened to a mother and child.

It all comes to a violent crescendo as they embark on their final job.

Thanks so very much to Netgalley and the publisher for kindly providing me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I do reviews on my main social media platforms and will be providing my full review there as I get through my TBR blacklist. Thanks again!

Candice Fox is another auto buy author for me & this was something else.

A close group of firefighters who have worked together years, led by a 9/11 firefighting hero, are not just first responders but long term skilled thieves.

One of the group member's partner and her child are missing and he suspects his "brothers" may be involved. An undercover investigator joins the crew to look into the heists and try to find the woman and child.

Fast paced, mysterious, original and really just edge of your seat stuff - this is packed with drama and action.

Candice Fox's writing always keeps me engaged and I highly recommend checking her out.

Publication date: OUT NOW, I'm late!

⚠️ Please check TWs online ⚠️

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! What a fast paced gripping thriller! I enjoyed reading this. It kept my interest so well. I would definitely recommend!

Devil's Kitchen by Candice Fox is one of those novels you want to talk about as soon as you've finished reading it.
The character development is superb. Her writing is amazing and the story is truly captivating.
This is well-written, suspenseful, distinct and unique characters, funny at times, leaves you wanting MORE.

Thank You NetGalley and Forge Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I cannot remember how I came across this lady but. I am so glad I did. Her books are fabulous, each one better than the last.
Devils Kitchen reminds me a bit of Karin Slaughters (another author fav) Cop Town in that they both have strong female characters in a male dominated profession.
Andrea ‘Andy’ Nearland isn’t really a firefighter. She is an undercover agent for the FBI sent into NY Engine 99 firefighters squad to uncover alleged corruption including theft and murder. She has to train hard and be convincing enough to pass muster. The 99 don’t want new recruits in their tight knit group and push her beyond the limit to make sure she isn’t a cop. And for sure the 99 are corrupt, this you find out early on. They start fires in buildings where they are scoping out a heist then use the fire as a divergent while one of them gets into the targeted shop, usually a jewellers and finds out what alarms etc they have and disarm them. Ben Haig is the firefighter sent in to do these jobs and he was the one who left a note on homicide detectives car saying he would trade information about the rogue team if they would look into the disappearance of his de facto and her son as he is sure Engine 99 are behind it to make sure he tows the line. Andy tells Ben who she really is and persuades him that they should act as a couple which Ben can’t get his head around.
It’s just a fantastic read, a nail biting journey through the world of a firefighter plus that added tension of will Andy be found out and will Ben get used to this crazy lady who insists on sharing his bed to make the romance seem real.
I absolutely highly recommend.

#DevilsKitchen. #NetGalley

In this fast paced, action packed thriller, Candice Fox has taken us into the world of firefighters with a twist. The squad of Engine 99 of the NYC Fire Department are very good at putting out fires. They’re also very, very good at using them as distractions to carry out carefully planned crimes. Now they’ve been infiltrated by specialist undercover operative, Andy Nearland. She has two tasks to achieve. Firstly, to discover how the crew are carrying out their crimes and secondly, to find the missing girlfriend and son of Ben, one of the team.

With alternating chapters from Ben’s and Andy’s perspectives, the temperature is turned up as the situation becomes more and more dangerous with the planning of the team’s biggest heist yet, especially for Andy who can’t afford to have her cover blown. Her background, in training and preparing for each operation she undertakes makes for intriguing reading, especially her ability to appear as a fully formed persona with a verifiable background and them just simply melt away when the job is done. She is one tough cookie who likes to do the job solo and rely on her own wits. I’d love to see her pop up again in a sequel and can also imagine her featuring in a TV series. From the outset, the tension is high with an intensely suspenseful plot and some tough, colourful characters who’ll stop at nothing to complete this job.

This is the first book I have read by Candice Fox as a standalone author, I have read several where she has collaborated with James Patterson.

The Crew of Engine 99 spend their days saving lives fighting fires and it is in their blood. But they are doing more than fighting fires. They have a strong skillset, and it is this that assists them in pulling off some very large jewelry and art heists, gaining access to businesses through their knowledge and the tools of their daily jobs.

Millions of dollars have been seized by the pact but one of them is about to go rogue and set up the others up for failure and capture. Ben is struggling after losing his girlfriend and her son who he had built a strong relationship with and had finally found happiness, deeply in love but he is sure that one of his partners in crime is responsible for the circumstances he is now in. He is now determined to bring them down.

Enter Andy a woman that works undercover and freelance alone for a price and she infiltrates the gang after Ben contacts the police. She is accepted into the group although the other members are initially suspicious, but she proves her worth as a force to be reckoned with and the new group soon attempt to pull off one of their biggest ever heists.

I enjoyed the book and there are definitely some hearts stopping moments which lead us to the dangerous end of this thriller that will have you holding your breath.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy, all opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Candice Fox has obviously done a lot of research to write the dark and gritty thriller Devil’s Kitchen in a way that is completely believable, turning heroic seeming firefighters into criminals. The book takes place on New York City, an unspeaking character itself in its significance and the vivid way it’s written. All characters are masterfully built up so that you see them across the spectrum of dark to lighter souls, their flaws and motivations tying together the story.

Unlike the many popcorn thrillers I read, Devil’s Kitchen goes well beyond the surface. Initially seeming like an investigation story filled with suspense with Andy, an investigator, taking a cover to join a close knit firefighting team to expose their robberies and hopefully help Ben find his missing girlfriend and her son, this quickly becomes so much more. If you enjoy thrillers of substance, I’d recommend this book.

Fox is a terrific thriller writer. She writes tales that keep the reader turning pages without stop, unable to not stop. It's hard to see heroic figures like fire fighters as villains. Andy is an amazing character, a super woman who chameleon like turns into whomever is needed to right the wrongs she takes on. I would recommend this to readers who are fine with amoral characters and can deal with graphic grit.

Excellent crime caper that derives much of its excitement from the setting. The characters are excellent as well, but the FDNY action adds so much more.

I am new to Candice Fox's writing, but after inhaling Devil's Kitchen, I'll be reading more of her work. I know this sounds like hyperbole but, truly, I could NOT put this one down.

The setup is irresistible: New York City's fire department, especially after 9/11, is known for their heroism and skill and one team, Ladder 51, is no exception. But the crew, Ben, Jakey, Engo and their leader Matt, are also a ruthless group of brilliant thieves who use their intimate knowledge of the city's architecture and their willingness to do whatever it takes to steal millions from banks, jewelry stores, and art galleries. Their city's trust in them as well as their very jobs have made them some of the most successful criminals on the East Coast.

Devil's Kitchen kicks off with the tension cranked up to eleven and never lets up. As the book begins, a woman named Andy, a new member of the team, kneels on the ground, as does Ben. Engo, Matt, and Jakey have accused her of being a cop and Ben of knowing that. Guns have been drawn, and Andy thinks It would look like an accident. 

The story then jumps three months in the past. Ben is sitting at his local diner, thinking about how everything has gone to shit. He's been part of Ladder 51 since he was young--Matt is a father figure to him. Their loyalty to one another must be absolute. But Ben’s girlfriend and son have disappeared. Desperate, and convinced Matt knows something about this, Ben's sent the cops a letter ratting out his friends which results in Andy appearing at his local diner.  She is a freelance investigator whose jobs involve going deep undercover to solve crimes--in this one, she's loosely partnered with the FBI. Andy is keen to help Ben find his missing family but her handler Tony--not a great guy--is much more interested in putting the crew away for the robberies.

Andy has a plan, one that makes Ben very very nervous. She'll get herself on the crew and, once the guys accept her, she and Ben will document their next big heist. Whether or not this will work, what it will mean to Ben if it does, well, Fox spools out this story of secrets and betrayals brilliantly. 

All of the lead characters, with the possible exception of Tony whose true nature remains a bit too elusive, are fascinating. Some are outright evil, others have their reasons for why they do the morally iffy things they do. I genuinely had no idea how the novel would end or whether and how those who sinned would pay.The fire scenes are, well, fire. Fox, who is Australian, gets New York down pat--one has the sense she spent months there following some hopefully non-criminally inclined fire company as they worked.

As I devoured the pages, I kept thinking, Whoa,  this needs to be a movie. With its audacious plot, intense fire fighting scenes, and darkly accurate portrayal of New York City, Devil's Kitchen is a wild ride of a read.

If you're a fan of smart, fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled thrillers, Devil's Kitchen is your jam.

This book seemed predictable at first, but gave a wild ride once it took off. I appreciated the indepth character development and the non predictive ending.

Devil’s Kitchen is a fast paced thriller with a cast of intriguing characters. Those who are relied upon as rescuers, perpetrate horrors, and heroes become corrupt criminals. The novel has a gripping plot with exciting twists. Highly recommended. Thanks to Tor Publishing Group (Forge), NetGalley and the author for the ARC.