The Chase

January 24, 2022
A mass breakout from the Pronghorn Correctional Facility in Nevada, orchestrated by someone with inside connections, drives this uneven thriller from Fox (Crimson Lake). The desert quickly fills with hundreds of convicts heading to Vegas and surrounding communities for their first taste of freedom in a long time. Meanwhile, U.S. Marshal Trinity Parker is particularly concerned about one fugitive, Burke David Schmitz (aka the Mardi Gras Shooter), and death row supervisor Celine Osbourne is obsessed with recapturing John Kradle, who “came home from work one day and blew his wife and kid away.” The main story line involving the purpose of the breakout and its primary beneficiary is soon overshadowed by the subplot featuring Celine and Kradle, the book’s best-developed character. Trinity is a caricature of a lawman, Schmitz is a stock mass murderer/domestic terrorist, and chapters featuring other assorted convicts come across as little more than filler. The backstory chapter in which Celine visits her grandfather in prison, however, is superbly written. As a whole, this novel reads like an underdone pie—tasty morsels in a bland filling, surrounded by a doughy and undercooked crust.

Starred review from March 1, 2022
The 653 inmates in a Nevada prison that's surrounded by desert have been set free in order to spare a busload of hostages. A wild premise, but Fox makes it work. The largest manhunt in U.S. history includes death row supervisor Celine Osbourne--all ""five foot nothin'" of her--who is determined to return John Kradle, the monster convicted of murdering his family, to his cage. The resourceful Kradle is desperate to gather the evidence he needs to prove his innocence, while Osbourne, fueled by personal pain that has "formed and deformed her," has her own reasons to hate Kradle. Kradle's story is effectively interwoven with those of other escapees, including the engineer of the devil's bargain that won their freedom. Several wicked twists and turns enhance a fast-moving, well-constructed narrative arc. Cleverly defined characters, ranging from an Elvis impersonator and a ruthless mastermind to law-enforcement officers both good and bad, carry the seductive story to a satisfying conclusion. This engrossing new variation on The Fugitive sets a female U.S. marshal every bit as relentless as Sam Gerard against a runaway prisoner as compelling as Richard Kimble. Fox has coauthored several books with James Patterson and penned two series of her own set in her native Australia. This one is her best yet.

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