The Big Kahuna by Janet Evanovich and Peter Evanovich

The Big Kahuna by Janet Evanovich, Peter Evanovich
Narrator: Scott Brick
Series: Fox and O'Hare #6
Published by Penguin Audio on May 7, 2019
Source: Library
Genres: Light Thriller
Length: 7 hrs 8 mins
Pages: 303
Format: Audiobook
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A stoner, an Instagram model, a Czech oligarch, and a missing unicorn. Nick Fox and Kate O'Hare have their work cut out for them in their weirdest, wildest adventure yet in this latest entry in the New York Times bestselling series by Janet and Peter Evanovich.

Straight arrow FBI Agent Kate O'Hare always plays by the rules. Charming Con Man Nicholas Fox makes them up as he goes along. She thinks he's nothing but a scoundrel. He thinks she just needs to lighten up. They're working together to tackle the out-of-bounds cases ordinary FBI agents can't touch. And, their relationship? Well, there hasn't been so much explosive chemistry since Nitro was introduced to Glycerin.

Next on the docket: The mysterious disappearance of the Silicon Valley billionaire, known as the Big Kahuna. Kate's been assigned to find him but no one seems particularly keen on helping. His twenty-six year old adult actress wife-turned Instagram model wife and his shady Czech business partner are more interested in gaining control of his company. For that they need a dead body not a living Kahuna.

The only lead they have is the Kahuna's drop-out son, who's living the dream in Hawaii - if your dream is starting your day with the perfect wave and ending it with a big bowl of weed. To get close to the Kahuna's son, Kate and Nick go undercover as a married couple in the big wave, bohemian, surfer community of Paia, Maui. Living a laid back, hippy-dippy lifestyle isn't exactly in Kate's wheelhouse, but the only thing more horrifying is setting up house with Nick Fox, even if he does look pretty gnarly on a longboard. If they don't catch a break soon, waves aren't the only thing she's going to be shredding (or bedding).

The Big Kauna is the 6th in the Fox and O’Hare series, but can totally be read as a stand-alone. And maybe should be. It’s a good adventure, just doesn’t fit well with the rest of the series. Kate is FBI forced to team up with Nick, a con man/crook. Throughout the series, the relationship between those two has been the draw. They are attracted to each other, and equals in intelligence and toughness, but their different morals cause the tension. Here the chemistry wasn’t as charming. It was more Nick makes a pass, Kate blows him off. I didn’t buy it. They banter wasn’t amusing, it was awkward. And I thought their relationship was a little close after #5 than it appears here, but I could be misremembering.

In addition to Nick and Kate, we always have a rag-tag crew. Kate’s dad is along to provide all the necessary explosions and big weapons. We’ve also got an instragram celebrity, her lawyer-photographer, the missing man’s stoner surfer son, and another FBI agent who’s usually behind a desk. Honestly, I missed Nick’s old crew, they were way funnier and yet also more competent.

Even worse, there also wasn’t much of a con here until the end. Most of the time they’re trying to find The Big Kahuna and being chased by the baddies. There should be an elaborate con/heist, that’s what the series is built on, why Nick is teamed up with the FBI.

Overall, this was just not as much fun as I had been expecting. Or maybe I’m just getting bored with the series. I’ll probably listen to the next one and then decide if I’m done with it.