I don't understand why they are doing this, why they are trying to forcefully resurrect this series, which clearly ended with Goldberg's departure after the fifth book. I mean, I know why they do it, for the money. But after the failure of the sixth book, they should mercifully end the suffering of this series and stop publishing any more books against better judgment.
This is not a bad book. Steve Hamilton did what he could, and it's obvious that he is the author of this story. It is also increasingly apparent that the first five books in this series were mainly written by Goldberg. Unfortunately, while it's not a bad book, it's not really a book in the Kate and Nick series. Of course, that's what the main characters are called, but the tone and style of writing are completely different.
Fortunately, this is no longer the silly comedy from the sixth book, but sadly it turned out that this last story used all the humor provided for both of those books, and there wasn't enough left for the seventh one. Still, this book at least has a storyline. It is quite mediocre and boring at times, but at least there is some. It's a pity this is not the plot about the scam we know well from the first five books. The storyline of this book is more like National Treasure than Ocean's Eleven, but at least it stopped resembling the failed sequel to Bridget Jones, and this is some progress. There are also many more scenes of fighting and violence than we've seen so far in this series.
In this book, we meet Nick’s father. Sorry, but for me, missing family members we've never heard of mean there's no idea what to do next, and the series is basically going nowhere. And this is my main problem with the last two books; I feel there is no vision for the future of this series. Characters don't evolve. I mean, in the sixth book, they were completely different characters, so there's really nothing to talk about. But in the seventh book, they're also not exactly the Nick and Kate we know and love. Nor do I think this book has developed their personalities or even their relationship in any way. Though a point for Hamilton for a return towards their romantic relationship. And Kate's father is himself again, although maybe he seems a little faded (however, after the madness in the sixth book, it's even a nice change).
As I said, the plot is not based on the traditional scam scheme. Instead, they use the story of the “golden train” with Nazi gold, which has been quite popular in Poland in the last decade (so much so that foreign press wrote about it, and yes, there is a whole group of people who are looking for it, although they are rather avid historians looking for adventures than post-Nazi brotherhood). Overall, the plot is not that bad, but it is not particularly memorable.
If you miss Kate and Nick desperately and have already reread all the first five books, skip the sixth one, which adds nothing to the series anyway, and read this one. But be prepared that it won't be a book in the well-known convention of the series. Steve Hamilton did what he could; it's not his fault he isn't Goldberg. Hopefully, this is the last book in this series, because at this stage, we can't possibly count on Goldberg coming back.