The Bounty: A Fox and O’Hare Novel

Bestseller Evanovich’s underwhelming seventh Fox and O’Hare novel, with Hamilton (after 2019’s The Big Kahuna), takes Nick Fox, a former world-class thief who now works for the FBI, and FBI agent Kate O’Hare, who’s responsible for keeping him on the straight and narrow, to Vatican City. There they join Interpol in an effort to foil the attempted theft of a diamond ring that once belonged to Pope Paul VI. The thief, Nick’s father, Quentin, arrives at the Vatican, but bypasses the ring and instead makes off with a historic treasure map. Nick and Kate set off to track down Quentin, who Interpol believes is working with a neo-Nazi organization known as the Brotherhood. With Kate’s father, a muscular former Marine, in tow, they head from Rome to London, and then to Paris, Vienna, Casablanca, the Alps, and the Sahara. On and on they go, alternately chasing and being chased, on the trail of hidden Nazi gold. Full of clichéd action scenes and stock characters, this reads like an Indiana Jones movie knockoff. Only established fans are likely to have fun. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory. (Mar.)