Chasing the White Lion | Book Review
Late night book review content coming at ya! Y'all, this quarantine stuff is really helping me catch up on my reading! :)
Back Cover
In Talia's world everyone has an angle and no one escapes unscathed.
CIA officer Talia Inger may have reconciled with the man who assassinated her father, but that doesn't mean she wants him hovering over her every move and unearthing the painful past she's trying to put behind her. Still, she'll need him -- and the help of his star grifter, Valkyrie -- if she hopes to infiltrate the Jungle, the first ever crowdsourced crime syndicate, to rescue a group of kidnapped refugee children.
But as Talia and her elite team of thieves con their way into the heart of the Jungle, inching ever closer to syndicate boss the White Lion, she'll run right up against the ragged edge of her family's dark past. In this game of cat and mouse, it's win . . . or die. And in times like that, it's always good to have someone watching your back.
My Thoughts
Chasing the White Lion is the sequel to The Gryphon Heist -- click HERE to read what I thought about that book!
Talia Inger, Eddie (especially Eddie), Adam Tyler, Mac, Finn, Darcy, and Val stole my heart in Book One. I couldn't wait to get my hands on their newest adventure, and it far exceeded my expectations!
This is one of those sequels that does not stand alone -- you must have all of the character development in book one to appreciate it, so go read The Gryphon Heist first if you haven't yet. If you love quality spy fiction with a great storyline, humor, and even better characters, you'll love it.)
The team has what can only be described as a high-powered, modern Robin Hood and His Merry Men vibe, which I adore. Chasing the White Lion has a plot that is better than ever, with a villain who has created his own eerily-real-life battle royale game that climaxes in a tower built of a maze of glass hallways and staircases. Kill or be killed.
I mean, come on. That's cool.
This book is a story of building a massive con for the greater good, and the stakes are the lives of children. Brilliantly done.
I love Talia and A Certain Aussie's budding, ahem, friendship, and Talia's relationship journey with Valkyrie, the grifter, was unexpected. All in all, I still connect more with the secondary characters in the team than Talia herself. Although that actually works in a story like this, (because as the reader you are more focused on the adventure plot than her personal inner struggles) it still isn't a perfect novel in my opinion.
So! I give it a solid 4.5 stars (taking the half point off just because of the lacking connection with the main character)
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher and was happy to provide my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.*