The Big Kahuna

By: Janet Evanovich, Peter Evanovich

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

A stoner, an Instagram model, a Czech oligarch, and a missing unicorn. Nick Fox and Kate O’Hare have their work cut out for them in their weirdest, wildest adventure yet in this latest entry in this New York Times best seller by Janet and Peter Evanovich. 

Straight arrow FBI agent Kate O’Hare always plays by the rules. Charming con man Nicholas Fox makes them up as he goes along. She thinks he’s nothing but a scoundrel. He thinks she just needs to lighten up. They’re working together to tackle the out-of-bounds cases ordinary FBI agents can’t touch. And their relationship? Well, there hasn’t been so much explosive chemistry since Nitro was introduced to Glycerin.

Next on the docket: The mysterious disappearance of the Silicon Valley billionaire known as the Big Kahuna. Kate’s been assigned to find him, but no one seems particularly keen on helping. His 26-year-old adult actress turned Instagram model wife and his shady Czech business partner are more interested in gaining control of his company. For that they need a dead body, not a living Kahuna.

The only lead they have is the Kahuna’s dropout son, who’s living the dream in Hawaii - if your dream is starting your day with the perfect wave and ending it with a big bowl of weed. To get close to the Kahuna’s son, Kate and Nick go undercover as a married couple in the big wave, bohemian surfer community of Paia, Maui. Living a laid back, hippy-dippy lifestyle isn’t exactly in Kate’s wheelhouse, but the only thing more horrifying is setting up house with Nick Fox, even if he does look pretty gnarly on a longboard. If they don’t catch a break soon, waves aren’t the only thing she’s going to be shredding (or bedding).

©2018 Janet Evanovich, Raymond Benson (P)2018 Penguin Audio

What happened to the series??

I expected some changes when Lee Goldberg dropped out, but I didn't expect a series reboot like this. It's as though the last several books in the series never happened. All the relationships that had developed are now back to the beginning. If you are a fan of the series, you will most likely be disappointed. When I saw the publication date pushed out several times I was hoping it wasn't a sign of trouble with the series, unfortunately my hopes were dashed by this installment. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. You would be better off checking out Lee Goldberg's Ian Ludlow series.

Missing Lee Goldberg

If you are a fan of the Stephanie Plum novels, you will enjoy The Big Kahuna. However, if you are a fan of the Fox and O'Hare series, you will be sorely disappointed and you may not recognize the characters called Nick and Kate in this installment. It's as if the Evanovich clan didn't bother to read the earlier books in the series. Even the stellar Scott Brick sounds disengaged.

Certainly not worth the credit that I used to pre-order.

Scott Brick is the only thing propping the rating

I normally don't take the time to write reviews, but this is such a dumpster fire that I needed to.
Seriously Scott Brick should have opted out of this nonsense, he's literally the only thing keeping this book rated above a 3.

Others have said it, but let me be clear. One of the best things about this series was the evolution of the Thomas Crown-esque relationship between Kate O'Hare and Nick Fox. This book reads like all of the things that they've been through together never happened, including the first book, because their chemistry was explosive in that book. You got the sense in book 1 that they took the time to know EVERYTHING that they could about each other and you were equally sure that the positional antagonism was only surface level. We got to see them morph into a team with an increasingly romantic relationship and now they're trying to figure out how to live together when we've seen them practically live together through five other books.

We go from Kate saying, "I need him", in book 4 to Kate being all pissy about having him in her space. Her partner in crime. The person she's plotted and planned with for quite some time now. Now they don't know each other and it's like he's her annoying little brother instead of her supportive lover.

I can't even. I just can't.

What Happened?!

I wanted to cry after I finished the book, and not in any sort of good way. 

They’re called Kate O’Hare and Nick Fox, but aside from surface characteristics (he’s handsome! She’s an FBI agent!) they have NOTHING in common with the characters I’ve grown attached to over the past five books.

“The Big Kahuna” suffers from a lack of everything that makes the previous installments good: lack of a con, lack of a crew, lack of sassy banter, lack of amusing situations, and lack of character development. I don’t know if Evanovich is tired of writing this series, but it sure reads that way. She’s so un-invested in her own characters that she resorts to tired and repetitive descriptions of their reactions to events - for example, I lost count of how many times Nick “gave a crooked smile” or Kate “rolled her eyes.” We get it; he’s adorable and she’s grumpy. 

I’ve been waiting for this book for YEARS - “Nick and Kate go undercover as a married couple”!! Their relationship has always been one of the most compelling parts of the story for me: watching how they interact, how they slowly let one another into their lives and hearts. (In book 4, Nick introduced Kate to Lucie in case things ever go badly! In book 5, Kate admits she has “serious feelings for” Nick!) 

What happened to the man who kissed Kate and told her she was “everything” to him?! 
Because he is totally absent from TBK. Same with the woman who was trying to come to terms with her commitment to her job vs her involvement with a felon. The lead characters in this book occasionally have sex, but only after long chapters with scattered references to Nick basically pestering Kate to do it and her almost continually turning him down. There’s hardly a hint that she’s even attracted to him, and definitely no hints at all as to anything deeper.

Look, we all know that the romance between them was always the “B” plot - heck, maybe even the “C” plot - but it was there, it existed, and it was progressing. Somewhere in the space of time from the end of “The Pursuit” to the start of “The Big Kahuna” both Nick and Kate had their minds wiped, at least as to their emotional connection to one another. And all these complaints are front-loaded before I confront the abysmal story.

The plot, which is usually a rollicking ride of daring risks and laugh out loud humor, reads more like passages from a Hawaiian guide book/road map. About halfway through I realized that I was bored - the only reason I bothered to finish reading was the hope that there would be something recognizable about Nick and/or Kate by the time the book ended. Alas, dear readers, there was not. 

Tl;dr summary: Fox and O’Hare fans, don’t bother with this one. There’s no scam, no romance, and no crew. Any story you make up in your head about Nick and Kate will be far superior to this disappointing waste of time. 

a let down

does not follow with past books, what a let down. The story lost it's way, I missed characters we came to love.

THIS IS A FOX AND O'HARE NOVEL IN NAME ONLY!

Please return these characters to Lee Goldberg. He obviously did most of the writing in the previous books. These characters are written so out of character. The continuity holes are infuriating. If you want a light read you might like this. If you're looking for a Fox and O'hare adventure you'll be very disappointed and probably mad. Scott Brick's narration was good though.

Someone ruined a wonderful series!

I've rated the prior five novels in the series and the short stories 5 stars. I regret having to say that THE BIG KAHUNA is garbage. I am surprised that Janet Evanovich, who brought in her son as coauthor replacing Lee Goldberg, allowed it to be published.

Absolutely Terrible.

*Disappointed so far*

I'm on Chapter 10 in the audiobook.

Am I missing a newsflash about the timeline or something?

Kate and Nick were in love in the last book, and now there isn't even a glimmer of that. It's like this is book 2 in the series not the latest installment. No ounce of love or affection between Kate and Nick. No comradery between Jake and Nick.

The characters turned into caricatures as if someone else entirely wrote the book. Additionally, Cosmo is soooo over the top annoying he's not even cute and funny anymore - you just want him to shut the hell up.

I feel like Annie Wilkes in "Misery"...I keep saying things like, "Do they think we've got amnesia?! They were in love! They're using money from their own undercover heists not government money! Jake and Nick are very close! ...HE DIDN'T GET OUT OF THE COCKADOODIE CAAAR!!!"

In order to restore my sanity and love for the series and audio narrator, to continue listening, I will attempt to: lighten up, lower my anticipation and expectation levels, consider it book 2 in the series, and try to focus on funny moments along the way so it doesn't feel like a complete waste of my time.

- Disappointed Fan

***UPDATE***
Can't do it. I had to stop listening by the middle of Chapter 18...I couldn't take the ridiculousness, the mindless immature slapstick *UN-FUNNY* bantering, the completely WRONG take on the characters. These are NOT the characters from previous books. This is NOT the intricately woven con of books past. This. Is. Garbage.

And I'm sorry; I LOVE the rest of her books.

If you can finish it, good for you. If you're cringing and getting angrier as each chapter goes by, just stop.

I shudder at the thought of continuing, like I'll be angry at myself for wasting my time...such as when I finished the third Hunger Games book or didn't leave the theater during Iron Man 2. Sooo...I'm out. Refuse to finish. And I feel good about it.

Long wait for a BIG dissapointment

I was excited for the continuing exploits of Kate and Nick, but I was greatly disappointed. This was more of an altered universe between the two. The characters lacked their usual personalities, and the plot was uninspiring. The most irritating part of the book was bringing Cosmo Uno in as a main character, his character is too annoying to have a large role. Jake's character was flat. I went away with the picture of an old man, rather than the vibrant person he was. I will be getting a refund on this one. Fans should just skip this one.

On the plus side, Scott Brick was brilliant as usual.

Disappointing

It starts with Nick, 7 th most wanted in the directors FBI office. All mystic lost at that point. This was extremely silly too much back and forth between Kate and Nick.
No real cons just a group of motley characters.

I’ve read the whole series and waited for this one and I must say it was very disappointing and I will return the book