AMACAT

Donavan: Thief for Hire #2

by Chuck Bowie

Second in the Donovan: Thief For Hire thriller series, Sean Donovan is embroiled in a triplet of trouble.

His sister’s newly ex-boyfriend, an obsessed art collector, dumped an ugly, but valuable fish mask in her lap. A mask being hunted by a lethal insurance agent.

Beth McLean, barely an acquaintance from London, is being framed. She reaches out to the only person she believes can help clear her name. Who at the Canadian embassy is behind this treachery?

Or is it all connected to his nemesis, Gaia? And did the multimillionaire art dealer order the murder of Donovan’s ex-girlfriend as the ultimate payback?

All this falls into Donovan’s lap, and he still cannot stop himself from a small side trip to find a stolen cask of the last great batch of Provençal pinot noir wine. Too much baggage? Read A Mask, A Cask and A Task: AMACAT.

308 pages, ebook

First published October 17, 2014

About the author

Chuck Bowie lives on the East Coast of Canada, and his writing is influenced by the study of human nature and how people behave, habits he picked up as his family moved nineteen times in his first twenty one years. Chuck loves food, wine, music and travel and all play a role in his work.
His writing will often draw upon elements of these experiences to round out his characters and plotlines. He has just published this sixth thriller: Lost in London in the international suspense-thriller series: Donovan: Thief For Hire. This follows Her Irish Boyfriend, The Body On The Underwater Road, Steal It All, Three Wrongs and AMACAT. All of his published novels have been paperback best-sellers in New Brunswick. He has published the third novel in a new cozy mystery series: Old Manse Mysteries, set in a fictional town in New Brunswick, and is working on the follow-up in this series, due in October, 2025.
Chuck and his wife Lois live in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Email: chuck.bowie33@gmail.com

Reviews

[Ian McKinley]

Ever want to jet from tiny Montague to monstrous New York to London and the south of France via Montreal? Ever want to know the best way to disable unscrupulous villains via the creative use of poison ivy and peanut butter? Ever want the "juste mot" on what wine goes best with thwarting or being thwarted by an international crime syndicate or two ... a Pinot Noir from Arles or a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, perhaps? Well this fast-paced yarn will pull you through it all from the Palais des Papes to the industrial warehouses of suburban Laval as though Sean Donovan himself had grabbed your hand and was leading you to safety ... or was that leading you into trouble? Aw heck, what’s a stray bullet between friends?

[MJ LaBeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy, thriller packs a punch!

AMACAT (A mask, a cask, a task) book 2 in the Donovan: Thief for Hire series by Chuck Bowie has all the thrills you’d expect to find plus this one feels a bit like a cozy mystery rolled up within the multiple plots.

Sean Donovan has his hands full of trouble in this one. Although he walked away from his thieving ways in book 1 and is enjoying life picking grapes on a vineyard; he learns his girlfriend has been murdered and this leads him back into the world he thought he’d left behind when he sets out to find her killer. However, that’s only a third of the story: his sister’s boyfriend- a no good thief (unlike Donovan) leaves a priceless, albeit ugly sounding mask in her possession which leaves Donovan tracking down him and straight into the path of a few other unsavory characters, then he receives a desperate call from an associate we met in book 1 who pleads with him to help her find the person framing her for a crime at work she didn’t commit; the international journey has him working overtime and also leads him to a mystery over a rare white wine vintage; he’s compelled to help the winery find the lost bottle.

The author does an excellent job of weaving together the three storylines never leaving any loose ends. I enjoyed the various characters in this book from the sleuthing couple on the case, assisting Donovan find his girlfriend’s killer and the tough as nails associate of his being framed for a crime she didn’t commit to the unsavory business people and straight up thugs who are outwitted and outmatched every time by the oh-so, clever- Sean Donovan.

This unique, well-drawn character continues to pull me into his world of intrigue and crime. He reminds me a bit of Raymond “Red” Reddington from the Blacklist, at times cold and ruthless but loving and caring too, the kind of character who despite the bad things he often does; you just can’t help but like the guy.

The novel is full of action and tense moments, a thriller reader’s delight.

[Jane Tims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amacat is a great read, with interesting characters and a smart protagonist. The author juggles three sub-plots deftly, with the result a satisfying ending. His female characters are believable and capable. I like the Canadian setting (in Canada at least part of the time) and like when the author takes us to other locations. A brief respite on a cruise ship is a welcome rest for the reader. Can hardly wait to read first in the series.

[Jim Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought Chuck's first book "Three Wrongs' was good, but he assured me that AMACAT & Steal it All were better, and he certainly wasn't wrong about AMACAT! It is one of those books that you need (or want) to keep reading to see how it all works out. 5 stars!

[Harold Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amacat takes Donovan into the realms of art and insurance. Mucky stuff, to say the least. It seems that Mr. Bowie has done his research while preparing this story. I learned a lot about the art world and was left on the edge of my seat as each new page in Donovan’s sleuthing unfolded.