by James R. Hannibal
publisher’s synopsis
Young CIA officer Talia Inger has reconciled with the man who assassinated her father, but that doesn’t mean she wants him hovering over her every move and unearthing the painful past she’s trying to put behind her. Still, she’ll need him–and the help of his star grifter, Valkyrie–if she hopes to infiltrate the Jungle, the first ever crowdsourced crime syndicate, to rescue a group of kidnapped refugee children.
But as Talia and her elite team of thieves con their way into the heart of the Jungle, inching ever closer to syndicate boss the White Lion, she’ll run right up against the ragged edge of her family’s dark past. In this game of cat and mouse, it’s win . . . or die. And in times like that, it’s always good to have someone watching your back.
Former tactical deception officer and stealth pilot James Hannibal takes you deep undercover into the criminal underworld where everyone has an angle and no one escapes unscathed.
Picking up a few months after the end of The Gryphon Heist, Chasing the White Lion follows CIA officer Talia Inger and her thieving friends as they track down the person who ordered the hit on Talia’s father all those years ago–it’s time to take down Archangel.
While The Gryphon Heist is–as told in the title–a heist novel, Chasing the White Lion is rather about taking down a crime boss and stopping a trafficking ring. There are still some heist elements, but it focuses a little more on the con.
Thet Ye’s POV felt disconnected from the story when it was first introduced, but it makes sense to have it included once Talia gets involved with Tyler’s latest plan. It laid the groundwork information that the reader needs to know.
Once again, the characters are a fun bunch to read about. Hannibal does a nice job with each of them, and having the characters play off of each other. I did feel like Talia’s character arc in Chasing the White Lion wasn’t quite as solid as it was in The Gryphon Heist.
While perhaps not quite as strong of a novel as The Gryphon Heist, Chasing the White Lion is still a super fun read. I hope Hannibal writes more novels featuring Talia and co.–I’d love to follow their further adventures!
Cautions: semi-graphic heavy violence; brief, non-graphic mention that a character’s father committed suicide; non-detailed mentions of human trafficking; light romance
Hailey Huntington 