Hotwire (A Christy Novel #2)

SUSPENSE/THRILLER:  A Division 57 team is hired to find a stolen 1959 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupe. At nineteen, Christy goes undercover as Amber Smith at A.G. Bell Academy, an engineering prep school in New York City, backed by Jeremy (her handler), Ace (tech support), and Halluis (field agent).  “Amber”, on scholarship, needs money. Thanks to a photographic memory, she joins Jericho, Victor, and Mikado to learn the art of stealing cars. She serves as the Division’s trained agent on the inside and, though she is professional, she feels the other team members are overprotective.

A stolen Mercedes is just the beginning. The real story emerges when the reader finds out who the car theft ring is working for and what other merchandise is shipped with the vehicle.

The characters don’t strike the reader as being cookie cutter. They play well off one another, eliciting sympathy and/or hatred. One may find the writing style repetitive; belaboring points that are either understood through the actions of the characters, or have been explained previously. It is in the last half of the book that the pace really picks up. The book truly becomes a page turner, with thwarted attempts, and one wonders if there are enough pages left to come to a satisfying conclusion. There are.

Heather R. Nielsen