86 The Chef

by Adam K. Watson

Trey Chapman may just be the most famous chef in the world. But his culinary empire and the constant spotlight have turned into a pressure cooker he desperately needs to escape. When Trey learns that he can’t just walk away from his celebrity, he enlists the help of his rogue little brother to devise a plan. Joey Chapman, though, has problems of his own. He’s being hunted by a federal task force after a wheel of illegal, maggot-ridden cheese, that he smuggled into the country, has taken social media by storm. It’s a culinary caper for anyone who loves food, family and a touch of edible anarchy.

285 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 16, 2025

Reviews

[Delphia Von Heeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

86 The Chef is A Thriller by Adam K Wstson. I thought that this was an interesting story. Trey has all of the fame and money a person could want. Biv, his business manager, has built him into one of the most famous chefs in the world… Trey hates his life. The family dynamics is interesting and I thought the ending was perfect. I felt that the author did a great job of laying the foundation of characters and although the family centers around food, everyone does something different. I found the book interesting and am looking forward to reading book 2. I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was funny in many places. I felt sorry for one of the main characters in the book but I had a good feeling at the end of what he did for his family. Great writing about the Chapman father and sons. I want to continue reading about the family.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Book Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam K. Watson’s 86 The Chef is a razor-sharp and soul-searching novel that follows Trey Chapman, a celebrity chef whose once-brilliant culinary empire is now cracking under the weight of ambition, exhaustion, and emotional disconnection. The book paints a vivid picture of the entire Chapman family, all tangled up in the food world. From Trey’s aging critic brother Jackson to the elusive fixer Joey, each with their own dreams, demons, and disappointments. Through a swirling cast of chefs, critics, smugglers, and hustlers, the story unpacks the tension between art and commerce, legacy and identity, all wrapped in the steamy and cutthroat chaos of the restaurant scene.

I loved how real this story felt. The writing is cinematic, funny, and biting. There’s this effortless flow to Watson’s sentences, some clipped, others lush, that mimics the chaos of a kitchen and the pacing of an exhausted heart. The characters are layered and messy, especially Trey, who is both brilliant and broken. Watching him claw his way through ego, fatigue, and physical pain was gut-wrenching but deeply compelling. I could feel the weight of his fame pulling him apart. And yet, the story never becomes a pity parade. It's sharp, darkly funny, and full of those little observations that make you pause, laugh, or wince.

What really hooked me wasn’t the food, the fame, or the drama, it was the grief. Not loud, tear-soaked grief, but the quiet, creeping kind that sneaks in when success costs you yourself. Trey is a man haunted by what he’s lost, time, purpose, connection, and that quiet sadness echoes through every chapter. Watson’s ability to explore that without spelling it out or dragging it into melodrama is fantastic. The supporting characters, like Jackson and Erica, aren’t just props, they have their own bruises, their own bitterness, and it makes the world feel lived-in and raw. The whole book is a balancing act between fire and finesse, and it sticks the landing.

I’d recommend 86 The Chef to anyone who loves stories about ambition and the emotional collateral it leaves behind. Foodies will be thrilled by the behind-the-scenes grit of the industry, but it’s not just for chefs or food lovers. It’s for anyone who's chased a dream and realized too late they were running from something else. This is a book about burnout, brilliance, and the blurry line between building an empire and losing your soul.

[Nancy M · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of a family of brothers with a shared interest in food is a good one. But the character development is a bit thin, and there needs to be more of a love interest. There’s a missed opportunity with the efficient assistant. The eldest brother’s ultimate choice (trying to avoid spoilers) would have real life consequences that would be a real deterrent. Seemingly desperation rather than the obvious intelligence he possesses led him to a poor choice. The sentences are sometimes poorly constructed, falling on the ear awkwardly. Needs some more proofreading as well with some misspellings. This book could be 3 1/2 stars if that were a choice. It held my interest and was a quick easy read during a long flight. But ultimately forgettable.

[Susanna]

Well written, and a good example of why spellcheck will never replace knowledgeable human editors and proofreaders. . .

That aside, it's an interesting story about the way people inhabit cages of their own making.