Category Archives: Candice Fox

Review: The Chase by Candice Fox

Title: The Chase by Candice Fox
Publisher: Forge Books
Genre: Contemporary, Crime Fiction, Suspense
Length: 336 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

The Chase is a modern The Fugitive with characters only #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author Candice Fox can write.

“Are you listening, Warden?”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to let them out.”
“Which inmates are we talking about?”
“All of them.”

With that, the largest manhunt in United States history is on. In response to a hostage situation, more than 600 inmates from the Pronghorn Correctional Facility, including everyone on Death Row, are released into the Nevada Desert. Criminals considered the worst of the worst, monsters with dark, violent pasts, are getting farther away by the second.

John Kradle, convicted of murdering his wife and son, is one of the escapees. Now, desperate to discover what really happened that night, Kradle must avoid capture and work quickly to prove his innocence as law enforcement closes in on the fugitives.

Death Row Supervisor, and now fugitive-hunter, Celine Osbourne has focused all of her energy on catching Kradle and bringing him back to Death Row. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading…

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Review:

Set in the Nevada desert, The Chase by Candice Fox is a thrilling crime drama that is quite engrossing.

A bold plan is set in motion to release all of the inmates from Pronghorn Correctional Facility by an unknown caller.  Warden Grace Stanter knows she has no choice but to follow the order if she does not want any innocent lives taken. Death Row Supervisor Celine Osbourne valiantly directs her subordinates to not set their inmates free. Defying her command, the convicted killers are allowed to leave with the rest of the prisoners. Celine is most concerned about ensuring John Cradle is quickly captured. But U.S. Marshall Trinity Parker is concentrating all of her energy on locating mass shooter Burke David Schmitz. Will either of them be successful?

Celine loathes John with every fiber of her being. He is convicted of murdering his wife and son but he has always proclaimed his innocence. Celine lives a solitary life and she is devoted to her job at Pronghorn. Although she is not in law enforcement, she is insistent they focus on Cradle. Her instincts are on track but will she find him and bring him back to prison?

John is adamant he did not kill his family and he is using this opportunity to find out who did. He has a plan at the ready and he successfully evades capture. With an unexpected (and unwelcome) sidekick, John finds stunning information that he hopes will lead to his family’s killer.

The Chase is a fast-paced crime drama that is full of suspense. Celine’s backstory is heartbreaking and explains a lot about who she is. Trinity expects her orders to be followed and she is very frustrated with Celine. John is industrious and single-minded as he searches for the person responsible for the death of his son and wife. Although there are numerous narrators, John’s and Celine’s chapters are the most compelling. With plenty of action, Candice Fox brings this tense crime drama to a highly satisfying conclusion.

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Filed under Candice Fox, Contemporary, Crime Fiction, Forge Books, Rated B+, Review, Suspense, The Chase

Review: Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox

Title: Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox
Crimson Lake Series Book Three
Publisher: Forge Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

#1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author Candice Fox delivers a compulsive new crime thriller with Gone by Midnight.

Crimson Lake is where people with dark pasts come to disappear—and where others vanish into thin air…

When Sara Farrow’s son goes missing from a locked hotel room, she frantically turns for help to Crimson Lake’s unlikeliest private investigators—disgraced cop Ted Conkaffey and convicted killer Amanda Pharrell.

Just the sort of twisted puzzle that gets Amanda’s blood pumping, the disappearance couldn’t have come at a worse time for Ted. He has just this one week with Lillian, the daughter he barely knows…but the clock is ticking for the lost boy.

Amanda and Ted’s search dredges up the area’s worst characters, and the danger they uncover could well put Ted’s own child in deadly peril.

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Review:

The third installment in the Crimson Lake series, Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox is a suspense-laden mystery about a missing eight year old boy.

Local police in and around Cairns are rather emphatic about NOT working with Ted Conkaffey and Amanda Pharrell.  Unfortunately for Chief Superintendent Damian Clark, Sara Farrow, whose son Richie vanished from a Cairns’ hotel, has requested Ted’s assistance.  He also gives in to Ted’s request that Amanda work with him on the case due to the urgency in locating the missing child. Ted and Amanda are soon reviewing CCTV footage, re-searching the hotel and questioning local men on the offenders’ list. As days pass without new information, will Amanda and Ted find Richie before it is too late?

Although the allegations against Ted have been quasi resolved, he still faces a great deal of animosity and disgust from the local police. But fortunately for Ted, his ex-wife Kelly is finally giving him the chance to spend quality time with their daughter Lillian.  While thrilled at the opportunity to get to get to know his little girl, the timing of  the visit could not be worse.  Unable to stay away from the investigation, Ted finds an unlikely babysitter to stay with Lillian while he and Amanda desperately hope for leads in Richie’s disappearance.

Amanda remains ratherquirky yet quite appealing. She still manages to irritate most everyone she meets and unbeknownst to her, she has become the target of revenge. Trying to ignore the increasingly menacing situation,  Amanda remains focused on solving the mystery of what happened to young Richie.  However, as that attacks on her becoming increasingly virulent, Chief Superintendent Clark is losing patience with Amanda. Can she convince him that she is telling the truth about what is happening to her?

The investigation into Richie’s disappearance is tense as his friends are questioned about the night he vanished. The stories from the three boys are creative yet implausible.  Ted is extremely sympathetic to  Sara but he is a little troubled by some of her reactions. Ex-husband Henry has little information about his son and some of his behavior is also questionable. A worker at the hotel catches both Ted and Amanda’s attention, but does the employee have anything to do with Richie’s disappearance?

Gone by Midnight is a multi-layered, compelling mystery. Mentally, Ted is in a much better place but his past still casts a long shadow over him. Amanda is not one to take threats lying down but the situation soon spirals into very dangerous territory. The investigation surrounding into what happened to Richie moves at a slow but steady pace. With both Amanda and Ted trying to uncover the truth about the young boy, Candice Fox brings this riveting mystery to an unpredictable and stunning conclusion.

The Crimson Lake series is delightfully unique and features two of the best crime-fighters in the genre.  I highly recommend both this latest addition and the previous novels in this superb series.

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Filed under Candice Fox, Contemporary, Crimson Lake Series, Forge Books, Gone by Midnight, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Suspense