Title: Chaos.
Writer(s): Iris Johansen.
PUBLISHER: Grand Central Publishing.
FORMAT: Paperback.
RELEASE DATE: September 1st 2020.
PAGES: 416.
GENRE(S): Thriller, Mystery.
ISBN-13: 978-1-53287-1995-4.
My Overall Rating:
Imagine having the means to do everything necessary to save someone precious to you but to be restricted in your actions, to have your hands tied together, unable to do anything for ethical reasons. To do anything against those established rules would only result in your termination, in punishments that may affect you for the rest of your life, from banishment to imprisonment. How much would you risk doing what you deem is right? How far would you go to save such a person? When is crossing the line condonable? Author Iris Johansen (Eve Duncan series, The Ugly Duckling) returns with a brand-new stand-alone thriller introducing readers to a new female agent who will do anything to stop clandestine criminals and save someone close to her heart.
What is Chaos about? The story follows CIA agent Alisa Flynn in her rogue attempt to save schoolgirls in Africa who were kidnapped by criminals Jorge Masenak and Leo Baldwin. To do so, she infiltrates a highly securitized mansion where she, unfortunately, gets caught by the billionaire owner Gabe Korgan. Once she exposes her dilemma to him, she invites him into joining her cause. She ultimately manages to spark his interest in her and piques his curiosity in her quest. She then obtains his financial support and gains access to his high-tech weaponry, giving her everything she needs to begin a search-and-rescue mission accompanied by a renowned horse whisperer. However, her focus is mostly on saving a particular girl named Sasha Nalano on top of saving the hostages from their unfortunate impediment.
“Better hurry, Sasha. The clock is ticking.”
— Iris Johansen
This turned out to be one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” thing. The premise in itself seemed intriguing, if you don’t look too closely into it, but then once you actually dive into the story and realize its structure, its themes, and its execution, the flaws start stacking up. The story alternates between Alisa’s point of view, surrounded by the crew she’s formed to save the schoolgirls, and Sasha’s point of view, as Alisa’s protégé, a hostage that the enemy has taken an interest in for her talent to “speak” to horses. Why this angle was taken is beyond me but one should always expect horses to be important in the story when there is one on the cover… The scarce action sequences are also separated by dialogue-heavy sequences where characters discuss their plans, who they are, and why they do what they do. This pacing never really works since there’s barely anything truly interesting in these characters to even care about.
If it wasn’t enough that these characters were developed with little attention, depicted with the complexity of cardboard boxes, and showcasing few charming characteristics that could allow a reader to connect with them, the story was also filled with far-fetched ideas that never flourished in any way whatsoever. Especially all things related to horses. Had I known the pivotal and quintessential attention the author would give for them and the silly concept about talking to animals, I wouldn’t have gotten myself into this trap. And then there’s the romance facet of this novel which greatly affected the story’s integrity for me. While there’s a central exposition of the horrors of rape interwove into the antagonist’s playbook, there’s also a sexually tense love story blooming between the billionaire and the CIA agent that couldn’t lack more tact and elegance in the midst of it all. There’s really very little that could’ve redeemed this novel and it didn’t help that the author had an odd fetishism for exclamation marks (!) in the narration. Honestly, this just wasn’t for me.
Chaos is a tedious romantic thriller following a rogue CIA agent’s journey to saving kidnapped schoolgirls from rapists and torturers with a fascination for horses.
Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for this copy for review!
Bookidote 
I agree with you from reading your ‘about book’ summary it sounded interesting. Sad it turned out disappointing. Fair review!
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Thanks for reading, Yesha! It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, that’s for sure.
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Excellent and honest review Lashaan. I loved Iris Johansen’s earlier books, but stopped reading her about halfway through the Eve Duncan series.
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Thank you so much, Kim. Oh man, it’s sad to hear that. I can only imagine the reasons that brought you to stop reading her series. I deduce, based only on this novel, that her stories all have a similar formula nowadays. It really felt like everything was diluted in water or something…
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*ouch* How to ruin a potentially intriguing story by adding useless clutter, indeed…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Yep. It was all over the place for me. I was clearly not the target audience for this stuff. I hope fans of this author will be able to enjoy it far more than I did. Thanks for reading! 🙂
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very interesting premise. loved the review!
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Thank you for reading! I appreciate it. 😀
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Sorry it was disappointing for you… sounds like there is too much of everything and it needed more focus.
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Absolutely. Too many things that would have been a huge no-no if I had known beforehand.
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Ouch. I’d been curious about this author and several others who’s books I keep seeing. They appear to be very prolific authors. But nothing has sparked my interest quite enough to get me to try them, at least not yet. And now with this review I’m even less likely to anytime soon. It does confirm some fears I had based on the cover designs of some of these books. But it can always be hard to really judge a book that way (I guess that’s why there’s even that saying about it…). This is an unfortunate example of you taking the hit so some of the rest of us don’t have to. Thanks for that, Lashaan! (Look, only one exclamation mark) 🙂 Do you think you might try something else by the author, or was this enough?
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I totally know what you mean. It is exactly why I even gave this book a chance. I thought I’d finally discover why this author publishes so much and why there seems to be a huge fanbase for her stuff. It’s how I felt for Stephen King before I finally read one of his books and understood why he’s so famous.
I honestly still think that judging books by their cover is still a solid strategy, especially if you didn’t have time to do some research beforehand. At least when you pick one up based solely on the cover, there’s a good chance that you’ll be reading it “positively” biased, giving the book a chance to impress you more afterward hahahah
I’m glad to take the hit for y’all though. It also allows me to scratch an author off my list. In this case, there’s a good chance I won’t try anything else by her until someone STRONGLY suggests it to me, personally. Far too many other authors/books I still want/need to read in my life! 😀
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Oh no! Despite of having a soft spot for horses, I am going to steer well clear of this one. The characters are always super important to me, but sometimes a strong plot can make up for mediocre characters. But this one seems to have nothing to draw you in, really. Hope your next read will be more enjoyable.
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I have nothing against horses, they always make for such loyal and beautiful companions in so many stories. But man… The horse stuff in this was totally outside my interests. 😛 Thanks for reading!
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I used to read all of Iris Johansen’s book, but I agree, they have gotten tedious. There is little to develop the characters unless it is a series. Lots to suspend relief about. Too bad this one didn’t measure up to the synopsis for you Lashaan.
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I’m 250% with you there; so much suspension of belief. It’s definitely sad to hear that her work has started to lose fans like you with each new book. Thank you for reading, Carla.
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Damn Lashaan!
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🤣🤣🤣
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🤣🤣🤣 Fab review, Lashaan!
I especially loved the horse touch – your mounting (pun intended) exasperation with this fetish made me laugh! Not to mention the exclamation marks!!! 😂😂😂
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Hahahahah I can’t hold in a laugh as I try to explain what this book is about to others too. I really don’t know how I got myself into this one. 🤣🤣
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There’s nothing wrong with exclamation marks!
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I’m convinced it would’ve annoyed you. 😉 Imagine narration with an exclamation mark… The story ain’t even first-person!!!
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rofl
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