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csnurr's review against another edition
3.0
Third-person Stephanie Plum set in the jungle. It’s goofy and won’t be enjoyed by people expecting anything more than a silly jungle adventure. Personally I enjoy the mindless fun but I can see how people might absolutely hate this.
beltsquid's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Absolutely awful dreck. Lost World fiction is a subgenre that has more misses than it does hits, and while that's true for everything, the pool for this particular genre tends to stay pretty shallow so it's disappointing to find yet another bad one. And boy! Is this one bad! Finding out that the author has 30 years of bestsellers under her belt floored me because this is deeply unsophisticated writing, something you would expect from a high school student who is struggling through their creative writing class. The lion's share of this book is conveyed strictly through dialogue, and when it's not, you are treated to uncreative passive voice prose. In the final chapters where the dialogue finally thinned out a bit, paragraph after paragraph would start off with three consecutive sentences that were "[Noun] was [adjective]". I am against the brand of high school English teacher creative writing instruction that asks you to "kill" turns of phrase or the concept of adverbs, but reading this will make you a believer in employing the exercise at least once in a while to enliven a piece of text. Because Lord in Heaven, does this one need it.
Neither the plot or the characters make any sort of impression--it all comes off as the author copying other entries in this genre and arbitrarily changing some details as to not make it too obvious, and in doing so makes things worse. Gabriela Rose is an American Lara Croft in that we are informed that she's extremely badass and well-off enough that failing to complete a contract doesn't seem to be a problem for her bottom line, despite the fact that she lives in New York City and presumably rents an office space there and pays a secretary. But you see she's also Nathan Drake, because she's the secret descendant of the pirate Blackbeard instead of Francis Drake. Remember the plot of The Goonies? How the kids have to find secret pirate treasure to save their quaint coastal town from real estate developers? Guess what, that's Gabriela's motivation, as we discover that a hurricane destroyed her hometown in South Carolina, and her grandmother told her a ghost of her ancestor has told her to find the Seal of Solomon! All she has to do is go back to her Caribbean home that she left to her ex-husband in the divorce, and dig up Blackbeard's secret chest! What's in side? The journal of ... Francis Drake, just like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune! And look, her ex-husband, Rafer, is actually down to go treasure hunting with the ex-wife who just broke into his house. Now they can have endless 'fun' 'banter' as their estranged relationship gets mended of the course of the story, just like Nathan Drake an Elena Fisher in the Uncharted series! Did I mention that there's a Rafe in Uncharted 4?
No really, even though the contours of the plot don't hit the same as any of the Uncharted games, this book is cribbing so hard from them it even took level design cues from it. At one point they're in a cave that is full of other caves and what does the author do to describe how they figure out where to go? Notes that "yellow brick pavers covered the cavern floor and led to the caves" (p. 77). This is a video game level design feature that Naughty Dog employed in the Uncharted series and I was floored by that detail because I thought surely, this author isn't familiar with the games, she must have only seen the terrible movie and yoinked the 'related to a dead pirate' character detail from that.
That's the least of this novel's problems when it comes to using other genre entries as inspiration because hooo boy do we have Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom levels of racism going on here. You know how that movie makes awful caricatures of Indian people and scaremongers about Thuggee devotees of the Hindu Goddess Kali? Guess what! Instead we're in South America, facing up against a self-styled sorcerer named (sigh) El Dragon who worships the Incan god of Death, Supay. And of course he grows cocaine. So does nearly every South American character with a name in this book. They're all drug lords, and kind of dumb, and the author can't decide what level of broken English they speak. At one point the cocaine growers the protagonists side with are convinced to side with Gabriela because one of her contacts has told them all she gives head to Supay. And Gabriela just goes with it. What????
Beyond being derivative, poorly written, and racist, is it at least exciting?? No. It is not. The pacing is absolutely terrible, with little in the way of building tension. Characters will have repetitive boring excursions where nothing happens, and when something does happen it is resolved quickly, with little consequence, and then generally the characters go back to their hotel rooms to eat. This happens over and over again--wow! We exploded a car with a grenade! Welp, time to go back to our hotel room and eat some doughnuts. These aren't descriptions of feasts or local cuisine or anything--really, at one point a meal is described as "chicken and some sauces I don't know"--so you're not getting any sort of tantalizing insight to what dining in another country might be like, so they don't add atmosphere, they don't advance characterization in any way, and only pump the breaks on rising action at regular intervals so the book doesn't run the risk of having tension. Can't have that in a globe trotting adventure with guns and grenades and helicopters and magic rings, oh no no!
The closest thing you get to any kind of description in this book is when the author gives the brand name of whatever a character is wearing or using. The most egregious example of this is when a side character gets shot and Rafer asks Gabriela to use her bra as a tourniquette and Gabriela gets upset because she's wearing a "$495 La Perla Balconette bra". Now why would Gabriela, who has only ever been characterized as pragmatic and utilitarian, be wearing a five hundred dollar luxury brand bra to a gunfight? She planned this, by the way, what happens is that she called her coke growing friends and asked to be a part of this operation. It is perhaps the most nonsensical brand drop I have ever read or seen. It makes no sense for the character and it doesn't work as a joke. That's this whole book, nothing about it works. It is just bad.
If you like Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Indiana Jones, The Goonies, and the Mummy, do yourself a favor and just go and re-experience those, don't subject yourself to this. It's terrible. It's troubling that trees died for this to be printed upon the paper they produced.
Neither the plot or the characters make any sort of impression--it all comes off as the author copying other entries in this genre and arbitrarily changing some details as to not make it too obvious, and in doing so makes things worse. Gabriela Rose is an American Lara Croft in that we are informed that she's extremely badass and well-off enough that failing to complete a contract doesn't seem to be a problem for her bottom line, despite the fact that she lives in New York City and presumably rents an office space there and pays a secretary. But you see she's also Nathan Drake, because she's the secret descendant of the pirate Blackbeard instead of Francis Drake. Remember the plot of The Goonies? How the kids have to find secret pirate treasure to save their quaint coastal town from real estate developers? Guess what, that's Gabriela's motivation, as we discover that a hurricane destroyed her hometown in South Carolina, and her grandmother told her a ghost of her ancestor has told her to find the Seal of Solomon! All she has to do is go back to her Caribbean home that she left to her ex-husband in the divorce, and dig up Blackbeard's secret chest! What's in side? The journal of ... Francis Drake, just like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune! And look, her ex-husband, Rafer, is actually down to go treasure hunting with the ex-wife who just broke into his house. Now they can have endless 'fun' 'banter' as their estranged relationship gets mended of the course of the story, just like Nathan Drake an Elena Fisher in the Uncharted series! Did I mention that there's a Rafe in Uncharted 4?
No really, even though the contours of the plot don't hit the same as any of the Uncharted games, this book is cribbing so hard from them it even took level design cues from it. At one point they're in a cave that is full of other caves and what does the author do to describe how they figure out where to go? Notes that "yellow brick pavers covered the cavern floor and led to the caves" (p. 77). This is a video game level design feature that Naughty Dog employed in the Uncharted series and I was floored by that detail because I thought surely, this author isn't familiar with the games, she must have only seen the terrible movie and yoinked the 'related to a dead pirate' character detail from that.
That's the least of this novel's problems when it comes to using other genre entries as inspiration because hooo boy do we have Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom levels of racism going on here. You know how that movie makes awful caricatures of Indian people and scaremongers about Thuggee devotees of the Hindu Goddess Kali? Guess what! Instead we're in South America, facing up against a self-styled sorcerer named (sigh) El Dragon who worships the Incan god of Death, Supay. And of course he grows cocaine. So does nearly every South American character with a name in this book. They're all drug lords, and kind of dumb, and the author can't decide what level of broken English they speak. At one point the cocaine growers the protagonists side with are convinced to side with Gabriela because one of her contacts has told them all she gives head to Supay. And Gabriela just goes with it. What????
Beyond being derivative, poorly written, and racist, is it at least exciting?? No. It is not. The pacing is absolutely terrible, with little in the way of building tension. Characters will have repetitive boring excursions where nothing happens, and when something does happen it is resolved quickly, with little consequence, and then generally the characters go back to their hotel rooms to eat. This happens over and over again--wow! We exploded a car with a grenade! Welp, time to go back to our hotel room and eat some doughnuts. These aren't descriptions of feasts or local cuisine or anything--really, at one point a meal is described as "chicken and some sauces I don't know"--so you're not getting any sort of tantalizing insight to what dining in another country might be like, so they don't add atmosphere, they don't advance characterization in any way, and only pump the breaks on rising action at regular intervals so the book doesn't run the risk of having tension. Can't have that in a globe trotting adventure with guns and grenades and helicopters and magic rings, oh no no!
The closest thing you get to any kind of description in this book is when the author gives the brand name of whatever a character is wearing or using. The most egregious example of this is when a side character gets shot and Rafer asks Gabriela to use her bra as a tourniquette and Gabriela gets upset because she's wearing a "$495 La Perla Balconette bra". Now why would Gabriela, who has only ever been characterized as pragmatic and utilitarian, be wearing a five hundred dollar luxury brand bra to a gunfight? She planned this, by the way, what happens is that she called her coke growing friends and asked to be a part of this operation. It is perhaps the most nonsensical brand drop I have ever read or seen. It makes no sense for the character and it doesn't work as a joke. That's this whole book, nothing about it works. It is just bad.
If you like Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Indiana Jones, The Goonies, and the Mummy, do yourself a favor and just go and re-experience those, don't subject yourself to this. It's terrible. It's troubling that trees died for this to be printed upon the paper they produced.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism
courtagonist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
First in the Gabriela Rose humorous suspense series and revolving around a recovery agent, Gabriela Rose.
My Take
It's a beach read and funny with plenty of adventure, the excitement of Indiana Jones, and the coziness of family, even if one of them is an ex, using third person protagonist point-of-view from Gabriela's perspective.
I gotta confess that there is a lot of silly decision-making. It's almost as if Gabriela were a character in a book with few day-to-day responsibilities and unlimited funds. Oops, wait, she is. Gabriela (and Rafer) jump from one adventure to the next in this partnership between the drug runners and Gabriela, with no sense of time passing. Life is too easy.
As for how Rafer is described as such a lazy slob with no ambition, how is it he runs a successful dive shop with three employees?
Rafer and Gabriela "hooking up" was too easy as well. Okay, Rafer figures he's still in love with her — he does remind me of Diesel from the Stephanie Plum series. He's an easygoing hunk, who refuses to take no for an answer. I do like how succinctly he sums up Gabriela's character, lol.
The whole treasure hunt was too easy as well. In fact, all the action surrounding this story is more about the interactions between Gabriela and Rafer. As for the wealthy El Dragón — Pepe does point out that El Dragón is into corporate diversification, *grin* — talk about a comical stereotype and such a dichotomy. Although I do want to know how the green smoke action works.
It seems as if Evanovich wants Gabriela to be a practical Indiana Jones and yet she has her making these crazy decisions, giving money and treasure away, her fascination with pirates — she may even be a descendant of Blackbeard!
Oh, yeah. Coca leaves are a major food group. Is that like chocolate? As for hiking through the Amazon jungle, I would definitely be wearing La Perla panties. Not.
Hmm, there is an environmental issue here, but Jorge explains it:
The Recovery Agent is full of clichés and humor . . . and honest drug dealers! Read it when you need a laugh.
The Story
It's a disaster. Literally. A storm destroyed Scoon, and the cost to re-build is encouraging too many to sell out and leave. Except the Roses. They don't want to leave and Fanny has a crazy idea to rescue the town.
It's an idea that plays right into Gabriela's fascination for Bluebeard as well as her worries for her crazy family.
The Characters
Gabriela "Gabs" Rose is an independent recovery agent for insurance companies and private clients. G.R. McDuck is the name of Gabriela's business in honor of Scrooge McDuck. Marcella Lott is Gabriela's personal assistant and sole employee. She sounds like a gem! Jimmy has done some surveillance for McDuck.
Rafer Jones is Gabriela's ex-husband who now lives on St Vincent and runs a dive shop in Kingstown. It was a lifetime friendship from kindergarten on, but marriage was not a good idea. His employees include Jaimie, Victoria, and Fluffy.
Scoon, South Carolina, is . . .
. . . Gabriela's hometown. Maeberry Rose is Gabriela's mother. Fanny is her grandmother, who speaks to Annie, a ghost ancestor. Her father owns a charter fishing boat, Mugs, on which Gabriela worked as mate, starting when she was 10 years old. Cousin Andy now works as mate. Grandpa used to supply half the town with illegal hooch. Aunt Sofie enrolled Gabriela in the fruit-of-the-month club. Jenny Gooley got Gabriela a job with her uncle. Old Man Gustavson had a prize bull. Eddie and Marge Dugan are gone; he closed up his auto body shop and they moved in with Marge's sister in Atlanta. Scoots Bartlet loved to drive the ambulance, running the lights and sirens . . . even when he drove Mr Ratkowski to the cemetery.
St Vincent's
Great-auntie Margareet, great-grandmother's sister, had a house on the island that she left to Gabriela.
Costa Rica
Evan is a dive friend of Rafer's. Dan Thompson runs a day boat, the Julie Dear, for fishing and diving. He's also a descendant of Captain Thompson's and owns Juliet Island. Mickey Forbes, a descendant of the first mate, has a helicopter service. Gracie's Place is a nice hotel. Gloria is Dan's ex-wife; Adele is Mickey's ex. Manny Ortega has a henhouse and a boat. Raymond is Manny's son.
Peru
Pepe will be Gabriela and Rafer's guide with his Angelina, a Citroën. Ralph Grinty is Pepe's cousin. The family has a coffee plantation in Peru. Cousin Maria runs a cafe in Quillabamba. Caballo will accompany them. Cousin Raymond gives them a ride. Cocinero is a good driver but a better cook. Miguel is uncle's first lieutenant, his first son, and Pepe's cousin. More of uncle's men include Luis, Philip, Eduardo, Leonard, Marko, and Cesare. Bucky takes care of passports in California; he's also the mayor. An uncle in California runs Happy Acres, a cemetery and crematorium, which Cousin Ralph manages.
Supay is the Incan god of death. El Dragón the Sorcerer, a.k.a. Leon Nadali, is his priest.
Ecuador
Jorge and Cuckoo are local guides. Henry Dodge is an archeologist with an amulet and bad luck. Cameron is part of the archeological dig.
New York City
Simon Gitten teaches antiquities at Columbia, works on restorations at the Met, and consults on private issues.
Mary Jane Cooney was a slut. Baker Fidelity has a case. Nan and Bill Wisneski — he's the president of Consolidated Construction — may be the reason for the case. Vincent Krauss, a billionaire in South Africa, has a request. Back in the day, Norman Fuzcinski won the spelling bee. Mr Rachet taught history.
Sir Francis Drake was the first Englishman to sail around the world. The Treasure of Lima originated with Pizarro. Captain William Thompson, a trader, was the commander of the Mary Dear; James Alexander Forbes was his first mate.
The Cover and Title
The cover has vivid colors with a black and royal blue background and spears of green leaves pointing toward the middle where an orange and red oval creates a glow to silhouette Gabriela, her hair up, jeans, and a gun holstered at her hip. At the very top is an info blurb in white. Starting at Gabriela's neck is the author's name in white with the title just below her waist in yellow and white. At the bottom is another info blurb in yellow.
The title is all about Gabriela, The Recovery Agent.
My Take
It's a beach read and funny with plenty of adventure, the excitement of Indiana Jones, and the coziness of family, even if one of them is an ex, using third person protagonist point-of-view from Gabriela's perspective.
I gotta confess that there is a lot of silly decision-making. It's almost as if Gabriela were a character in a book with few day-to-day responsibilities and unlimited funds. Oops, wait, she is. Gabriela (and Rafer) jump from one adventure to the next in this partnership between the drug runners and Gabriela, with no sense of time passing. Life is too easy.
As for how Rafer is described as such a lazy slob with no ambition, how is it he runs a successful dive shop with three employees?
Rafer and Gabriela "hooking up" was too easy as well. Okay, Rafer figures he's still in love with her — he does remind me of Diesel from the Stephanie Plum series. He's an easygoing hunk, who refuses to take no for an answer. I do like how succinctly he sums up Gabriela's character, lol.
The whole treasure hunt was too easy as well. In fact, all the action surrounding this story is more about the interactions between Gabriela and Rafer. As for the wealthy El Dragón — Pepe does point out that El Dragón is into corporate diversification, *grin* — talk about a comical stereotype and such a dichotomy. Although I do want to know how the green smoke action works.
It seems as if Evanovich wants Gabriela to be a practical Indiana Jones and yet she has her making these crazy decisions, giving money and treasure away, her fascination with pirates — she may even be a descendant of Blackbeard!
Oh, yeah. Coca leaves are a major food group. Is that like chocolate? As for hiking through the Amazon jungle, I would definitely be wearing La Perla panties. Not.
Hmm, there is an environmental issue here, but Jorge explains it:
Annie sounds very convenient for Fanny, a very useful bogeyman."'Very bad to shoot panther,' Jorge said from the canoe. 'They are on critically endangered list [but] humans aren't endangered,' . . . 'Okay for panthers to eat them.'"
The Recovery Agent is full of clichés and humor . . . and honest drug dealers! Read it when you need a laugh.
The Story
It's a disaster. Literally. A storm destroyed Scoon, and the cost to re-build is encouraging too many to sell out and leave. Except the Roses. They don't want to leave and Fanny has a crazy idea to rescue the town.
It's an idea that plays right into Gabriela's fascination for Bluebeard as well as her worries for her crazy family.
The Characters
Gabriela "Gabs" Rose is an independent recovery agent for insurance companies and private clients. G.R. McDuck is the name of Gabriela's business in honor of Scrooge McDuck. Marcella Lott is Gabriela's personal assistant and sole employee. She sounds like a gem! Jimmy has done some surveillance for McDuck.
Rafer Jones is Gabriela's ex-husband who now lives on St Vincent and runs a dive shop in Kingstown. It was a lifetime friendship from kindergarten on, but marriage was not a good idea. His employees include Jaimie, Victoria, and Fluffy.
Scoon, South Carolina, is . . .
. . . Gabriela's hometown. Maeberry Rose is Gabriela's mother. Fanny is her grandmother, who speaks to Annie, a ghost ancestor. Her father owns a charter fishing boat, Mugs, on which Gabriela worked as mate, starting when she was 10 years old. Cousin Andy now works as mate. Grandpa used to supply half the town with illegal hooch. Aunt Sofie enrolled Gabriela in the fruit-of-the-month club. Jenny Gooley got Gabriela a job with her uncle. Old Man Gustavson had a prize bull. Eddie and Marge Dugan are gone; he closed up his auto body shop and they moved in with Marge's sister in Atlanta. Scoots Bartlet loved to drive the ambulance, running the lights and sirens . . . even when he drove Mr Ratkowski to the cemetery.
St Vincent's
Great-auntie Margareet, great-grandmother's sister, had a house on the island that she left to Gabriela.
Costa Rica
Evan is a dive friend of Rafer's. Dan Thompson runs a day boat, the Julie Dear, for fishing and diving. He's also a descendant of Captain Thompson's and owns Juliet Island. Mickey Forbes, a descendant of the first mate, has a helicopter service. Gracie's Place is a nice hotel. Gloria is Dan's ex-wife; Adele is Mickey's ex. Manny Ortega has a henhouse and a boat. Raymond is Manny's son.
Peru
Pepe will be Gabriela and Rafer's guide with his Angelina, a Citroën. Ralph Grinty is Pepe's cousin. The family has a coffee plantation in Peru. Cousin Maria runs a cafe in Quillabamba. Caballo will accompany them. Cousin Raymond gives them a ride. Cocinero is a good driver but a better cook. Miguel is uncle's first lieutenant, his first son, and Pepe's cousin. More of uncle's men include Luis, Philip, Eduardo, Leonard, Marko, and Cesare. Bucky takes care of passports in California; he's also the mayor. An uncle in California runs Happy Acres, a cemetery and crematorium, which Cousin Ralph manages.
Supay is the Incan god of death. El Dragón the Sorcerer, a.k.a. Leon Nadali, is his priest.
Ecuador
Jorge and Cuckoo are local guides. Henry Dodge is an archeologist with an amulet and bad luck. Cameron is part of the archeological dig.
New York City
Simon Gitten teaches antiquities at Columbia, works on restorations at the Met, and consults on private issues.
Mary Jane Cooney was a slut. Baker Fidelity has a case. Nan and Bill Wisneski — he's the president of Consolidated Construction — may be the reason for the case. Vincent Krauss, a billionaire in South Africa, has a request. Back in the day, Norman Fuzcinski won the spelling bee. Mr Rachet taught history.
Sir Francis Drake was the first Englishman to sail around the world. The Treasure of Lima originated with Pizarro. Captain William Thompson, a trader, was the commander of the Mary Dear; James Alexander Forbes was his first mate.
The Cover and Title
The cover has vivid colors with a black and royal blue background and spears of green leaves pointing toward the middle where an orange and red oval creates a glow to silhouette Gabriela, her hair up, jeans, and a gun holstered at her hip. At the very top is an info blurb in white. Starting at Gabriela's neck is the author's name in white with the title just below her waist in yellow and white. At the bottom is another info blurb in yellow.
The title is all about Gabriela, The Recovery Agent.
rosemwood's review against another edition
4.0
This is a quick suspense mystery and the first book in a soon to be series. I love the Plum series that Janet Evanovich has wrote and I feel like I can get into this new series too. It has a good combo of characters with some comedy and the main character reminds me of Tomb raider, Laura Croft.
kiala's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Trafficking, Blood, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Violence
gamboadeb's review against another edition
1.0
I love the Stephanie Plum novels...but this feels too much like a version of the Plum novels. Could not get into the character.
sgreen2307's review against another edition
5.0
This was another quick read from Evanovich. I've always liked her Stephanie Plum novels, her new book has the same feel to it. I love her new characters of Gabriella and Rafer, as well as some of the side characters as well. It was a little hard to get into just because I'm so used to Stephanie Plum, but it starts with action and continues all the way through the book. Definitely recommend it!