It’s a strange comment to make, but there’s something oddly soothing about a thriller. Even the most gruesome, gory ones have a resolution at their end. I think it’s why we enjoy reading them; we know that no matter how horrific the crime or how puzzling the mystery, we will get some kind of answer.
It’s why I was so interested to read Candice Fox’s latest book, The Chase. It’s no simple murder mystery, but in fact follows a mass prison outbreak which sees the release of 600 convicted criminals into the Nevada Desert, and the attempt to recapture them.
As with all thrillers, the storyline pulls the reader along by ending chapters on cliffhangers and the allure of a good mystery. However, it did at times feel as though Fox was struggling to maintain the pace and consistency of the story across the numerous threads which comprise it. There is the central criminal figure of the story, John Kradle, who is using the opportunity of his unexpected liberation to seek exoneration for the crime for which he was sent to jail: the murder of his family. Kradle’s story is quite interesting, although the payoff felt a little underwhelming. Without giving away spoilers, to my mind, the satisfaction of a really good thriller and mystery arrives when the previously introduced elements contribute coalesce into an explanation at least part of which you think to yourself ‘gosh, how did I miss that!?’ and that isn’t really the case here for Kradle’s story. Then we have the prison guard, Celine Osbourne, whose fixation on Kradle is due to her tragic past, despite the fact that she should be assisting the search to round up the other escapees, and help to find out why they were let out in the first place. The interaction between Osbourne and Kradle was interesting, and an enjoyable read. However, they aren’t the only narrative elements across the story.
Fox structures the book so the chapters range across a variety of perspectives, including several of the escaped prisoners. While some are interesting, they drew away from the urgency of the central narratives, especially as they were largely self-contained with no significant effect on the development of Kradle or Osbourne’s narrative. While I can understand the intent to provide more nuanced insight into the variety of criminal mindsets, I actually just found it a bit too confusing to keep track of everything.
Feeding into this issue is the mystery of who engineered the mass release of the prisoners amid a neo-Nazi storyline. While I’m all for a story which vilifies Nazis of any kind (and really, who isn’t?), the two narratives (Kradle and the Nazis) felt at times as though they could have belonged to separate books altogether. Moreover, it felt as though the ‘whodunit’ of the mass outbreak at times competed with the ‘whodunit’ of the murder of Kradle’s family.
With all that being said, this is by no means a bad book as I quite enjoyed The Chase. Fox’s writing is competent and has the efficiency of someone who knows her craft (among the eleven books to her name are titles co-authored with James Patterson). The setting is well drawn, and the characters are engaging. Despite the fact that the various perspectives felt a bit redundant, I was also engaged by the mysteries and read on with the keenness of someone who really wants to know the answer. While it seems somewhat grisly to say that I love to read thrillers while I’m on holiday, this would be a perfect book to take away with me and read while lying in the sun (with a generous covering of SPF50, of course).
The Chase is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
When more than 600 of the world’s most violent human beings pour out from Pronghorn Correctional Facility into the Nevada Desert, the biggest manhunt in US history begins.
But for John Kradle, this is his one chance to prove his innocence, five years after the murder of his wife and child.
He just needs to stay one step ahead of the teams of law enforcement officers he knows will be chasing the escapees down.
Death Row Supervisor turned fugitive-hunter Celine Osbourne is single-minded in her mission to catch Kradle. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading . . .
