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The Picasso Job: Phoenix Thriller Series, Book 1
One day he’s planning to marry his high school sweetheart and join the FBI.
The next, he’s behind bars.
Now, two thieves want him dead in…
THE PICASSO JOB.
Chasing justice left Dakota Black a convicted felon. Inside the gray walls of Folsom State Prison, the blond farm boy who wanted to become an FBI agent finds himself mixed up with bow-legged Renoir Reza—a Machiavellian art thief with a deadly hidden agenda—and Cody Winters, the revenge-minded brother of the man Dakota supposedly put in the grave. To escape Winters’s attacks, Dakota joins Reza in a fiery jailbreak. They embark on a kamikaze crime spree seeking a five-million-dollar reward.
Before the bright lights of Reno are in their rearview mirror, Special Agent Elizabeth Everett and her partner catch the scent of their trail. She arrested Reza before and won’t stop until his murderous global plans are snuffed out.
With loyalties shifting like the wind, will any of the three fugitives manage to re-steal a Picasso painting? Or will Dakota die trying to walk a tightrope between survival and virtue?
This striking standalone from international bestselling and fourteen-time award-winning author Avanti Centrae is a twist-laden crime thriller about humanity’s struggle for freedom, justice, and redemption. It delivers an explosive blend of art theft, crime, and moral reckoning that you’ll remember long after you stop listening.
The next, he’s behind bars.
Now, two thieves want him dead in…
THE PICASSO JOB.
Chasing justice left Dakota Black a convicted felon. Inside the gray walls of Folsom State Prison, the blond farm boy who wanted to become an FBI agent finds himself mixed up with bow-legged Renoir Reza—a Machiavellian art thief with a deadly hidden agenda—and Cody Winters, the revenge-minded brother of the man Dakota supposedly put in the grave. To escape Winters’s attacks, Dakota joins Reza in a fiery jailbreak. They embark on a kamikaze crime spree seeking a five-million-dollar reward.
Before the bright lights of Reno are in their rearview mirror, Special Agent Elizabeth Everett and her partner catch the scent of their trail. She arrested Reza before and won’t stop until his murderous global plans are snuffed out.
With loyalties shifting like the wind, will any of the three fugitives manage to re-steal a Picasso painting? Or will Dakota die trying to walk a tightrope between survival and virtue?
This striking standalone from international bestselling and fourteen-time award-winning author Avanti Centrae is a twist-laden crime thriller about humanity’s struggle for freedom, justice, and redemption. It delivers an explosive blend of art theft, crime, and moral reckoning that you’ll remember long after you stop listening.
Audible Audio
Published November 17, 2025
About the author
Avanti Centrae
8 books394 followersAvanti Centrae is the author of the international award-winning VANOPS thriller series. She's honored to have won fourteen literary awards, including a Chanticleer Genre grand prize for both The Lost Power and Solstice Shadows. The Doomsday Medallion won Best Political Thriller at the annual BestThrillers.com contest and Cleopatra’s Vendetta took home a gold medal in the Conspiracy Thrillers category at the Readers’ Favorite Awards ceremony.
Her books have hit the Top 100 bestseller lists in the United States, Canadian, and Australian Amazon Kindle stores as well as the Barnes & Noble Nook store.
She’s appeared on ten radio shows, including NPR, and has been featured in dozens of podcasts and interviews. Mystery & Suspense Magazine, Authority Magazine and Thrive Global have published her articles and she was mentioned in Newsweek.
She finds inspiration from her father, who served as a US marine corporal in Okinawa gathering military intelligence and her mom, who loves history. Avanti graduated from Purdue University and has spent time in a spectrum of professions, from lifeguard and raft guide to Silicon Valley IT executive. When not traveling the world or hiking in the Sierra mountains, she’s writing her next thriller in Northern California, helped by her family and distracted by her German shepherds.
Her books have hit the Top 100 bestseller lists in the United States, Canadian, and Australian Amazon Kindle stores as well as the Barnes & Noble Nook store.
She’s appeared on ten radio shows, including NPR, and has been featured in dozens of podcasts and interviews. Mystery & Suspense Magazine, Authority Magazine and Thrive Global have published her articles and she was mentioned in Newsweek.
She finds inspiration from her father, who served as a US marine corporal in Okinawa gathering military intelligence and her mom, who loves history. Avanti graduated from Purdue University and has spent time in a spectrum of professions, from lifeguard and raft guide to Silicon Valley IT executive. When not traveling the world or hiking in the Sierra mountains, she’s writing her next thriller in Northern California, helped by her family and distracted by her German shepherds.
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