Book Review – The Chase by Candice Fox – Compelling Thriller
Table of Contents
My Rating – 4 out of 5
Plot Summary – The Chase
I discovered Australian Author Candice Fox’s work through her collaborations with James Patterson – The Harriet Blue series and a standalone – The Inn and absolutely loved her writing (it did come through despite the collaboration). Then I got to reading her solo novels and my faith in her talents was vindicated. The Chase is also one of her solo efforts and a sizzling page-turner! Her Ted Conkaffey – Amanda Pharrell series was also a winner but much to my dismay, she has stopped that after three installments. Currently, I wait with a lot of anticipation, for her solo standalone work as well as her collaborative efforts with James Patterson.
Cutting to the chase (pun intended!), this book is based in mainland US – specifically in Nevada. Out in the desert, is the mixed facility prison Pronghorn. Among the medium and low-risk prisoners are the Death Row inmates – amongst the most vicious and inhuman killers! On the Annual Pre-Christmas Softball game day between medium-security inmates and the Officers’ families, disaster strikes! A few meters from the prison gates, the bus carrying the Officers’ families is disabled and the Warden gets a call asking her to release all 600+ prisoners into the desert or people in the bus will be killed! The Warden has no option but to do as the caller says.
In a short time, all prisoners escape into the desert, including the most notorious serial killers, murderers, and rapists from Death Row. Among them is John Kable, accused and convicted of killing his wife, teenage son, and sister-in-law and then burning the house down. John Kable claims he’s innocent and this sudden chance at freedom, gives him the opportunity to prove it. But Death Row Officer Celine Osbourne’s focus is laser-guided, she will not let John Kradle escape. She’s convinced Kable is as guilty as the others, and she hates family killers with a passion – not least because incidents in her past have left her a damaged person.
US Federal Marshal Trinity Parker is leading the multi-agency manhunt, the likes of which Nevada has never seen before. She is a no-nonsense leader and has no time for Celine’s obsession with John Kradle. She will hunt down every one of the escapees, beginning with the most abhorrent of the pack. The Neo-Nazi mass murderer, the North Nevada Strangler, etc. are her primary focus. But despite Trinity’s positional supremacy in the hunt, Celine is not willing to give up on her quest for Kable. But as the story progresses, Celine is more and more veering around to the fact that John Kable may actually be innocent and a victim of wrongful conviction. Will she now help John prove his innocence??
Conclusion – Book Review of The Chase
The novel sets a blistering pace from start to finish and Candice Fox displays why she’s called the Queen of Australian Crime Fiction! The alternating chapters which take us into flashbacks of the central characters’ past lives are a nice touch. At no point does the story sound ridiculous or far-fetched. Though it does start off as a mass escape from a prison orchestrated by a vicious criminal, it is ultimately about one man’s journey towards truth and redemption and another woman’s journey towards finding herself and reconciling with the tragedies of her past and moving onto a new life, free of the burden.
For fans of the genre, a must-read. She’s one of the most exciting writers to have come to prominence from the Southern hemisphere and is worth following in the future as well. Happy Reading, people!
*I hope you have enjoyed reading this book review as much as I have enjoyed writing this! Do watch this space for more such reviews and navigate through the links below for more… Thank you!! *
