The Chase by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg

Nicolas Fox is a thief.  He's very good at it and doesn't want to stop.  When he gets caught, he convinces the FBI to let him go undercover and work with the sexy detective who caught him on special assignments.  They work to retrieve artwork and put the wrong-doers in jail.  It's really almost too tempting for Nicolas to leave other genuine items in place but he gets to work with Kate, so it's not all bad.  At least it wasn't for a while.  Going after the former Chief of Staff and head of a private security firm is not easy...

Net Galley and Bantam Dell allowed me to download an ebook of this story for review (thank you).  It goes on sale tomorrow, so drop by your local bookstore and pick up a copy.

I like both the main characters.  Nicolas acts almost like a fox.  He's sneaky, slips in here and out there, and he's quick.  He also is hoping to sleep with Kate.  Kate is being very business-like, doing her job, stretching to disguises and role-playing to help Nicolas with his theft, and she's trying to ignore the romantic interest between them.  

This is a fast paced story with very real danger present.  Stealing from a collector and staying alive is a challenge.  The private security firm has mercenaries and natural killers on staff.  The boss has his own air support and missiles.  But Nicolas has friends to help hide him during the theft and Kate has her father and his friends to help protect them during a confrontation.

I enjoyed the banter between the characters and admired how the authors worked out the details of the plot.  It's believable, has political consequences if they fail, and it easily keeps you reading until the end.  I'm ready for the next book in this series.