THE RECOVERY AGENT - Janet Evanovich

Gabriela Rose is a Recovery Agent.  If you have something lost or missing, then Gabriela is your go-to person to recover it for you. In her first adventure, by popular author Janet Evanovich, Gabriela is working on behalf of her own family. She's in need of money to prevent her family from having their home wiped off the map. And big money means high risk and Gabriela is always willing to take that risk. For this adventure she's in search of the Ring of Solomon.

Gabriela has tracked legends and rumors regarding the Ring and she's confident that with the help of a rare map leading to a different archeological site that she believes holds the key to the final resting place of the Ring, she'll be successful. But that map is currently in the hands of her ex-husband, Rafer.

Gabriela and Rafer couldn't be more different - where she is driven, he is relaxed - and he insists on traveling with her in her search. But being together only serves to remind Gabriela just why he's her ex. And if personal conflict isn't enough to put the search in danger, the fact that a vicious drug lord wants that ring, and he isn't afraid to leave a trail of bodies to get it, might prove to put an end to this series before it even begins.

This book is just begging for comparisons to Indiana Jones and/or Lara Croft. Seriously - given the strength of the two iconic series', is his simply a jumping on the bandwagon, trying to capitalize on their success?  There is VERY little difference between Gabriela Rose and the aforementioned characters with one exception ... the others are actually quite exciting while Gabriela Rose is quite vanilla.

The Recovery Agent reads like one of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels in the jungles of Peru.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, except that this isn't a Stephanie Plum novel. This is billed as an adventure series, but the focus is not on the adventure, it's on Gabriela Rose (which normally I'd really appreciate since I like character-driven stories) and Ms. Rose, for being a 'recovery agent' is pretty tamed and dull.

Although I'm far from a Stephanie Plum expert, I've been reading the most recent volumes in that series and I'm not seeing much difference between the characters. I had presumed that this new series was intended to be different, more adventurous than Plum, but it's got the same silliness and fun, similar supporting characters, and other than a tropical location, the same general feel.  In the Plum novels I've read, I've never truly felt any danger for Stephanie and friends, and while this has the potential for greater danger, even the cruel drug lord would fit in a cozy mystery without any trouble.

Still ... it is written in Evanovich's easy style, making this a breeze to read, and sometimes that's just the ticket. I would read another volume with the hopes of the excitement level to be increased, but if it reads the same, it would be my last.

Looking for a good book? The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich is a new series that combines the general appeal of Stephanie Plum with the concept Lara Croft and Indiana Jones, but the similarity to Evanovich's Plum character is all too obvious making this series not particularly new.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Recovery Agent

author: Janet Evanovich

series: Gabriela Rose #1

publisher: Atria Books

ISBN: 9781982154912

hardcover, 320 pages

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