The Picasso Job is book one in a brand new series from Avanti Centrae, and yet the players feel so familiar it’s as if they’ve stepped out of her previous worlds. I tried my darndest to connect them to the VanOps crew but no luck, though that same heartbeat of danger and intelligence is there. There’s a new player in the game now: Phoenix. And by the time you hit the last page, you’ll be ready to follow wherever this team goes next.
This is so much more than a cops and robbers thriller. A priceless Picasso painting has been stolen, and the notorious art thief Bijan Renoir Reza is locked away in Folsom State Prison. The feds think they’ve contained their problem, focused on Iran’s race toward nuclear capability, not a painting. But what if that masterpiece could bankroll the purchase of uranium? What if a single heist could fund catastrophe? When Reza gets wind of the plan, he knows he needs help and a way out. Enter Dakota Black, his cellmate so ordinary you can’t imagine how he ended up behind bars, and Winters, a man nursing a years-long vendetta. When the prison goes dark and chaos erupts, the three flee into a dangerous race for the Picasso, each driven by their own motives and an uneasy alliance that teeters between loyalty and betrayal.
FBI Agent Elizabeth Everett is the perfect counterbalance to their storm. Still reeling from the loss of her partner, she’s a sharp, determined agent with her own score to settle and nothing will stop her from finding Reza. Centrae threads the chase with her signature tension and moral complexity, weaving a story that asks not just who will survive, but what justice, freedom, and redemption truly cost. The Picasso Job is fast, clever, and cinematic . Firing on all cylinders, this is a fresh start to a series that promises even bigger things ahead.
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Barrington Books
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