Humor & Satire
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The Recovery Agent: A Novel (1) (A Gabriela Rose Novel)
#1 New York Times bestselling author and "thriller master" (Mystery and Suspense Magazine) Janet Evanovich returns with the launch of a "tense, suspenseful, funny, and wise" (Lee Child) series blending wild adventure, hugely appealing characters, and pitch-perfect humor.
Lost something? Gabriela Rose knows how to get it back. As a recovery agent, she's hired by individuals and companies seeking lost treasures, stolen heirlooms, or missing assets. She's reliable, cool under pressure, and well trained in weapons of all types. But Gabriela's latest job isn't for some bamboozled billionaire, it's for her own family, whose home is going to be wiped off the map if they can't come up with a lot of money fast.
Inspired by an old family legend, Gabriela sets off for the jungles of Peru in pursuit of the Ring of Solomon and the lost treasure of Lima. But this job comes with a huge problem attached to it-Gabriela's ex-husband, Rafer. It's Rafer who has the map that possibly points the way to the treasure, and he's not about to let Gabriela find it without him.
Rafer is as relaxed as Gabriela is driven, and he has a lifetime's experience getting under his ex-wife's skin. But when they aren't bickering about old times the two make a formidable team, and it's going to take a team to defeat the vicious drug lord who has also been searching for the fabled ring. A drug lord who doesn't mind leaving a large body count behind him to get it.
"A rollicking adventure and a great start to a new series" (Booklist, starred review), The Recovery Agent will have you clamoring for more and cheering for the unstoppable Gabriela Rose on every page.
Lost something? Gabriela Rose knows how to get it back. As a recovery agent, she's hired by individuals and companies seeking lost treasures, stolen heirlooms, or missing assets. She's reliable, cool under pressure, and well trained in weapons of all types. But Gabriela's latest job isn't for some bamboozled billionaire, it's for her own family, whose home is going to be wiped off the map if they can't come up with a lot of money fast.
Inspired by an old family legend, Gabriela sets off for the jungles of Peru in pursuit of the Ring of Solomon and the lost treasure of Lima. But this job comes with a huge problem attached to it-Gabriela's ex-husband, Rafer. It's Rafer who has the map that possibly points the way to the treasure, and he's not about to let Gabriela find it without him.
Rafer is as relaxed as Gabriela is driven, and he has a lifetime's experience getting under his ex-wife's skin. But when they aren't bickering about old times the two make a formidable team, and it's going to take a team to defeat the vicious drug lord who has also been searching for the fabled ring. A drug lord who doesn't mind leaving a large body count behind him to get it.
"A rollicking adventure and a great start to a new series" (Booklist, starred review), The Recovery Agent will have you clamoring for more and cheering for the unstoppable Gabriela Rose on every page.
Editorial Reviews
"Tense, suspenseful, funny, and wise-no one does it better than Evanovich." -Lee Child
"I burned through The Recovery Agent…Just read and enjoy. I know I did." -Sarah Weinman, The New York Times
"The thriller master, Janet Evanovich, has launched a new series. Prepare for twists, action, and one of the best books of the year." -Mystery & Suspense
"An action-packed adventure that delights much like the Indiana Jones films and the classic Romancing the Stone. It has everything, from killer snakes, military-grade assault weapons, and human sacrifice to romance and some top shelf lingerie that comes in handy for treating the wounded. A rollicking adventure and a great start to a new series." -Booklist (starred review)
"Moves at lightning speed and never stops…This new series feels distinct from Evanovich's other hits, but every bit as addictive." -Mystery Scene Magazine
"Nobody cross-pollinates funny banter and unresolved sexual tension to better effect than Evanovich, and the mystery is all action, too." -Amazon Book Review
"A breezy, action-packed caper, told with JE's signature humor." -AARP
"I burned through The Recovery Agent…Just read and enjoy. I know I did." -Sarah Weinman, The New York Times
"The thriller master, Janet Evanovich, has launched a new series. Prepare for twists, action, and one of the best books of the year." -Mystery & Suspense
"An action-packed adventure that delights much like the Indiana Jones films and the classic Romancing the Stone. It has everything, from killer snakes, military-grade assault weapons, and human sacrifice to romance and some top shelf lingerie that comes in handy for treating the wounded. A rollicking adventure and a great start to a new series." -Booklist (starred review)
"Moves at lightning speed and never stops…This new series feels distinct from Evanovich's other hits, but every bit as addictive." -Mystery Scene Magazine
"Nobody cross-pollinates funny banter and unresolved sexual tension to better effect than Evanovich, and the mystery is all action, too." -Amazon Book Review
"A breezy, action-packed caper, told with JE's signature humor." -AARP
Readers Top Reviews
ARHuelsenbeckDavi
This book is the first of a new action adventure series about Gabriela Rose, a recovery agent who is paid to locate things for her clients. Followers of Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series first met the exotic Rose in Fortune and Glory, in which Gabriela competes with Stephanie to find a missing treasure (while also attracting the attention of Stephanie’s boyfriend, Joe Morelli). In The Recovery Agent Gabriela is tasked by her grandmother to find a treasure hidden by the Spanish conquistador Pizarro. The centerpiece of the treasure was the Seal of Solomon, a ring supposedly engraved by God and given to the Old Testament King Solomon. The ring allegedly gave Solomon the power to command demons and to speak with animals. It was priceless, and grandmother Fanny wanted the treasure to finance the rebuilding of her town, which was destroyed by a recent hurricane. Gabriela is forced to accept her ex-husband Rafer’s assistance in searching for the treasure, hidden somewhere deep in the Peruvian jungle. And, of course, she is not the only one seeking it. The Recovery Agent is action adventure “lite.” Evanovich has an absurd sense of humor, and of course things go wrong for Gabriela and Rafer. A lot of people die, mostly tattooed devil-worshiping drug dealers. I’m a little concerned that they are dispatched without a second thought, as if it’s okay to kill them because they are only less-than-human tattooed devil-worshiping drug dealers. Hey, tattooed devil-worshiping drug dealers are people too. I am addicted to Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, even though I admit it’s not great literature. The Recovery Agent is also not great literature. But it is a hoot. If your standards are high, read Tom Clancy; if you want a diversion, then this book may be for you. I’m not sure if I will follow this series or not. Maybe I’ll just borrow the books from the library.
Kathy M.ARHuelsen
Fun quick read, in true Janet Evanovich style. Crazy fun characters, wild adventures, cartel, crazy cults and buried treasure. What more could you want? Oh yeah, hot surfer guy side kick and fun grandma.
CatherinoKathy M.
I’ve missed the writing of Janet Evanovich since the Plum series jumped the shark, so I was looking forward to this book in hopes it would recapture some of what I loved about her earlier writing. And for the most part it does. The humor and good character development is there. But I have to agree with another Amazon reviewer who mentioned the constant product placement and brand name dropping. It’s so over the top that you start wondering if she’s actually getting kickbacks! If there’s a high end fashion, jewelry, or fragrance brand you can think of, she finds a way to unnecessarily name drop it. It’s distracting and off-putting to me. Despite that I did enjoy the book - just wish she’d cut that out in future writing.
Jen CatherinoKath
I'm a fan of the authors Stephanie Plum books and thought I'd give this a try with Gabs Rose. It was a good story.
Gabrielle Schmidt
I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked Gabriela she was a strong, smart, tough heroine. I liked the plot and the characters were good. I can't wait until I read the next story in the series!
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One CHAPTER ONE
Gabriela Rose was standing in a small clearing that led to a rope-and-board footbridge. The narrow bridge spanned a gorge that was a hundred feet deep and almost as wide. Rapids roared over enormous boulders at the bottom of the gorge, but Gabriela couldn't see the river because it was raining buckets and visibility was limited.
She was deep in the Ecuadorian rain forest. Her long dark brown hair was hidden under an Australian safari hat, its brim protecting her brown eyes from the rain. She was a martial arts expert. She ran five miles every morning. She was a crack shot and a gourmet cook. None of these skills were keeping her dry. She was wet clear through to her La Perla panties. Her camo cargo pants and Inov-8 Bare-Grip hiking shoes were caked with mud. She was carrying a Glock .38 in a Ziploc bag tucked into a hip pocket. Other pockets held her passport, a folding Buck knife, and moisturizing lip gloss. Her daypack held a useless waterproof poncho, protein bars, her Ziploc-bagged cell phone, and assorted other necessities for jungle trekking.
She was with two local guides, Jorge and Cuckoo. She guessed they were somewhere between forty and sixty years old, and she was pretty sure that they thought she was an idiot.
"Is this bridge safe?" Gabriela asked.
"Yes, sometimes safe," Jorge said.
"And it's the only way?"
Jorge shrugged.
She looked at Cuckoo.
Cuckoo shrugged.
"You first," she said to Jorge.
Jorge did another shrug and murmured something in Spanish that Gabriela was pretty sure translated to "chickenshit woman."
Let it slide, Gabriela thought. Sometimes it gave you an advantage to be underestimated. If things turned ugly, she was almost certain she could kick his ass. And if that didn't work out, she could shoot him. Nothing fatal. Maybe take off a toe.
It had been raining when she landed in Quito two days earlier. It was still raining when she took the twenty-five-minute flight to Caco and boarded a Napo River ferry to Nuevo Rocafuerte. And it was raining when she met her guides at daybreak and settled into their motorized canoe for the six-hour trip down a narrow, winding river with no name. Just before noon, they'd pulled up at a crude campground hacked out of the jungle. They'd immediately left the river behind and followed a barely there trail through dense vegetation. And it was still raining.
"Insurance Fraud Investigator" was printed on Gabriela's business card, and she had an international reputation for excellence in the field. As an independent contractor she had the luxury of accepting jobs not related to insurance fraud, whether because they paid well or because they were fun. Her current job had checks in both boxes.
She'd been hired to find Henry Dodge and retrieve an amulet he was carrying. She didn't have a lot of information on the amulet or Dodge. Just that he couldn't leave his jobsite, and he'd requested that someone come to get the amulet. Seemed reasonable since Dodge was an archeologist doing research on a lost civilization in a previously unexplored part of the Amazon Rain Forest. The payoff for Gabriela was a big bag of money, but that wasn't what had convinced her to take the job.
She was possibly a descendant of the infamous pirate Blackbeard, and she was fascinated by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century pirates and the civilizations they touched. The opportunity to visit the site of a lost city was irresistible. It was also her thirtieth birthday. What better way to celebrate it than to have an adventure?
"How much further?" she asked Jorge.
"Not far," he said. "Just on the other side of the bridge."
Twenty minutes later, Gabriela set foot on the dig site. She'd been on other digs, and this wasn't what she'd expected. There was some partially exposed rubble that might have been a wall at one time. A couple of tables with benches under a tarp. A kitchen area that was also under a tarp. A stack of wooden crates. A trampled area that suggested it might have recently been used as a site for several tents. Only one small tent was currently left standing.
There were no people to see except for one waterlogged and slightly bloated man lying on the ground by the rubble, and a weary-looking man sitting on a camp chair. The first was clearly dead. The second stared at them as they approached.
"This is not good," Jorge said. "One of these men is very dead and something has eaten his leg."
"Panther," the man in the chair said. "You can hear them prowling past your tent at night. This site is a hellhole. Were you folks just out for a stroll in the rain?"
"I was sent to get an amulet from Henry Dodge," Gabriela said. "I b...
Gabriela Rose was standing in a small clearing that led to a rope-and-board footbridge. The narrow bridge spanned a gorge that was a hundred feet deep and almost as wide. Rapids roared over enormous boulders at the bottom of the gorge, but Gabriela couldn't see the river because it was raining buckets and visibility was limited.
She was deep in the Ecuadorian rain forest. Her long dark brown hair was hidden under an Australian safari hat, its brim protecting her brown eyes from the rain. She was a martial arts expert. She ran five miles every morning. She was a crack shot and a gourmet cook. None of these skills were keeping her dry. She was wet clear through to her La Perla panties. Her camo cargo pants and Inov-8 Bare-Grip hiking shoes were caked with mud. She was carrying a Glock .38 in a Ziploc bag tucked into a hip pocket. Other pockets held her passport, a folding Buck knife, and moisturizing lip gloss. Her daypack held a useless waterproof poncho, protein bars, her Ziploc-bagged cell phone, and assorted other necessities for jungle trekking.
She was with two local guides, Jorge and Cuckoo. She guessed they were somewhere between forty and sixty years old, and she was pretty sure that they thought she was an idiot.
"Is this bridge safe?" Gabriela asked.
"Yes, sometimes safe," Jorge said.
"And it's the only way?"
Jorge shrugged.
She looked at Cuckoo.
Cuckoo shrugged.
"You first," she said to Jorge.
Jorge did another shrug and murmured something in Spanish that Gabriela was pretty sure translated to "chickenshit woman."
Let it slide, Gabriela thought. Sometimes it gave you an advantage to be underestimated. If things turned ugly, she was almost certain she could kick his ass. And if that didn't work out, she could shoot him. Nothing fatal. Maybe take off a toe.
It had been raining when she landed in Quito two days earlier. It was still raining when she took the twenty-five-minute flight to Caco and boarded a Napo River ferry to Nuevo Rocafuerte. And it was raining when she met her guides at daybreak and settled into their motorized canoe for the six-hour trip down a narrow, winding river with no name. Just before noon, they'd pulled up at a crude campground hacked out of the jungle. They'd immediately left the river behind and followed a barely there trail through dense vegetation. And it was still raining.
"Insurance Fraud Investigator" was printed on Gabriela's business card, and she had an international reputation for excellence in the field. As an independent contractor she had the luxury of accepting jobs not related to insurance fraud, whether because they paid well or because they were fun. Her current job had checks in both boxes.
She'd been hired to find Henry Dodge and retrieve an amulet he was carrying. She didn't have a lot of information on the amulet or Dodge. Just that he couldn't leave his jobsite, and he'd requested that someone come to get the amulet. Seemed reasonable since Dodge was an archeologist doing research on a lost civilization in a previously unexplored part of the Amazon Rain Forest. The payoff for Gabriela was a big bag of money, but that wasn't what had convinced her to take the job.
She was possibly a descendant of the infamous pirate Blackbeard, and she was fascinated by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century pirates and the civilizations they touched. The opportunity to visit the site of a lost city was irresistible. It was also her thirtieth birthday. What better way to celebrate it than to have an adventure?
"How much further?" she asked Jorge.
"Not far," he said. "Just on the other side of the bridge."
Twenty minutes later, Gabriela set foot on the dig site. She'd been on other digs, and this wasn't what she'd expected. There was some partially exposed rubble that might have been a wall at one time. A couple of tables with benches under a tarp. A kitchen area that was also under a tarp. A stack of wooden crates. A trampled area that suggested it might have recently been used as a site for several tents. Only one small tent was currently left standing.
There were no people to see except for one waterlogged and slightly bloated man lying on the ground by the rubble, and a weary-looking man sitting on a camp chair. The first was clearly dead. The second stared at them as they approached.
"This is not good," Jorge said. "One of these men is very dead and something has eaten his leg."
"Panther," the man in the chair said. "You can hear them prowling past your tent at night. This site is a hellhole. Were you folks just out for a stroll in the rain?"
"I was sent to get an amulet from Henry Dodge," Gabriela said. "I b...
