cover image Curious Minds: A Knight and Moon Novel

Curious Minds: A Knight and Moon Novel

Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton. Bantam, $28 (336p) ISBN 978-0-553-39268-5

This entertaining series launch from bestseller Evanovich and Sutton, coauthors of 2015's Wicked Charms, introduces Emerson Knight, an eccentric millionaire, and Riley Moon, a junior analyst at mega-bank Blane-Grunwald. Moon is sent by the bank to placate Emerson, who's demanding to, literally, see his gold. But after visiting Emerson at his Washington, D.C., mansion, Mysterioso Manor, she winds up driving Emerson to the bank (in his '93 Bentley Turbo R), where he confronts bank head Werner Grunwald. Other Grunwald family members hold powerful positions: Hans Grunwald runs the National Security Agency, and Manfred Grunwald is about to be sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Emerson wants to find black sheep brother G%C3%BCnter Grunwald, who has disappeared, and Riley joins the hunt. With sly references to pulp hero the Shadow and to the creators of Ellery Queen, the authors send their odd couple on a harrowing journey that leads, with zany humor, from the Federal Reserve gold vaults in Manhattan to top-secret Area 51 in Nevada and a monstrous conspiracy that promises to be only the first for the duo. Agent: Peter Evanovich. (Aug.)