First published 2008
Stephanie Plum faces her strangest case yet when a brilliant young boy becomes marked for death by a merciless assassin. The bounty hunter must locate him before the killer does. Her search leads to an unlikely partnership with Diesel, an enigmatic tracker whose skills with both fugitives and romance are legendary. Their pursuit takes them deep into New Jersey's dangerous Pine Barrens, where cranberry bogs stretch endlessly and the mythical Jersey Devil lurks in shadows. Along the way, they encounter an army of escaped monkeys that complicate their mission. As Stephanie and Diesel close in on their target, they discover the boy's captor harbors ambitions of global conquest. The stakes escalate into a deadly chase where one wrong move could spell disaster for everyone involved. Stephanie must rely on Diesel's mysterious abilities while navigating her own complicated feelings about this magnetic stranger who seems to know more than he reveals.
Genres: romance, adventure, mystery, fantasy, adult-fiction, thriller
Vibes: action-packed, fast-paced, humorous, romantic, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, mysterious-love-interest, protect-the-innocent
Setting: New Jersey
309 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: kidnapping, violence