The Chase: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Brenda Joyce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2003

New York Times bestselling author Brenda Joyce delivers her most breathtaking, suspenseful, and romantic novel yet-the story of one woman whose perfect life comes to an end when she is caught up in the chase for a brilliant and cold-blooded killer...

The Chase

Claire Hayden has no idea that her world is about to be shattered. At the conclusion of her husband's fortieth birthday party, he is found murdered. He has no enemies. He has committed no crimes. He has no shady past. Or, at least that's what Claire thinks...

Claire's search for information leads her to the mysterious Ian Marshall, a stranger who first appeared in her life on the night of her husband's death; a stranger who appears to be involved. Someone has been killing this way for decades. Someone who will do anything to make certain no one finds out. The mystery brings them from San Francisco, to New York, to London, and to a tangled web of secrets, family intrigue, and a jealous heir whose murderous impulses don't stop with the first killing. Is Claire unknowingly connected to the killer? Does Ian Marshall know more than he can say? And Ian proves himself to be a dangerous man: dangerous to Claire's mind, heart, and emotions. As Claire and Ian team up to track down the killer, they make a terrifying discovery: The killer may be someone very close to Claire-and Claire may be next...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Great destinies are never for the faint-hearted in Brenda Joyce's romantic thrillers, and never has that been more true than in The Chase, the tale of a 50-year-old horror and its shocking legacy for an innocent woman. Busy, beautiful Claire Hayden, wife of a prominent San Francisco attorney, heiress to a tidy fortune, and fundraiser for numerous pet causes, watches her superficially secure life unravel during her husband's 40th-birthday party. Not only does Claire decide in the midst of festivities that she wants a divorce, but she discovers her preoccupied spouse gruesomely murdered, her assets evaporated, and a handsome stranger igniting her repressed sexual passion.

Faced with dark, new challenges, Claire toughens up in the gales of a multigenerational mystery, including the nightmarish possibility that her own father has been an assassin since the 1940s. Crucial to the story is Claire's ticklish crime-solving partnership with sexy Nazi-hunter Ian Marshall; unfortunately, their love-hate, bicker-flirt relationship quickly becomes monotonous. Far better is the tragic, evocative subplot concerning the marriage of a poor, orthodox Jew and a Christian aristocrat in pre-World War II Britain. In The Chase, the past always lurks, like a killer biding his time, behind the enigmas of one's life. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A wealthy San Francisco do-gooder finds herself enmeshed in a mystery dating back to WWII in this romantic suspense novel by New York Times bestseller Joyce (House of Dreams, etc.). Claire Hayden leads a privileged and pampered life rescuing stray animals and hosting charity events. But beneath the perfect facade, Claire's marriage is falling apart. In a last ditch effort to save their relationship, she throws her husband, David, a 40th birthday party. During the party, Claire meets Ian Marshall, one of her husband's associates, and senses some tension between the two. When the party is over, Claire goes in search of her husband and finds him outside, with his throat cut. The police quickly link David's death to another murder as both victims were killed with a thumb knife a weapon that hasn't been used since World War II. Claire tracks down the elusive Ian Marshall and after much prompting learns that David was blackmailing WWII spy Lionel Elgin and was planning to turn him over to Ian, a Holocaust research center investigator. Claire insists on joining Ian in his search for Elgin. The two travel to England to trace Elgin's roots and to speak with his remaining family. It soon becomes clear that Ian believes Claire's father, Jean-L‚on Ducasse, or Jean-L‚on's best friend, William Duke, to be Elgin. Claire refuses to believe his theory, but as she and Ian piece together Elgin's history and fall for one another in the process, Claire fears that she may have been raised by a killer. Joyce skillfully weaves together past and present to create an amazing story of intrigue, wartime passion and thrilling twists and turns.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st edition (July 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031298376X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312983765
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,960,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brenda Joyce is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourty-nine novels and five novellas. There are over fourteen million copies of her novels in print and she is published in over a dozen foreign countries. A native New Yorker, she now lives in southern Arizona with her son, dogs and numerous Arabian and Half-Arabian reining horses. Brenda divides her time between her twin passions' writing powerful love stories and her quest to become a nationally ranked Top Ten equestrian. For more information about Brenda and her upcoming novels, please visit her websites: www.brendajoyce.com, www.francescacahillseries.com www.thedewarennedynasty.com and www.mastersoftimebooks.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing novel from Brenda Joyce, July 26, 2002

By 

"ristaus" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chase: A Novel (Hardcover)

Even as a diehard fan of Brenda Joyce, one thing has become clear to me. Her forte is clearly historical romance/fiction. Her last few books, The Third Heiress, and House of Dreams have not displayed her talent for writing. Instead, Ms. Joyce's Deadly series offer a much more interesting suspense and character development.
The beginning of the Chase starts out in a promising manner. However, as the reader continues this murder mystery, with Claire as the protagonist and Ian Marshall as a stranger with whom she connects with, one starts to wonder, why would he team up with her in this chase to find her husband's killer? Their chemistry is lacking. Instead, the heartier portion of the book which is devoted to the 1940's storyline (about the connection between Ian Marshall, Claire, and her husband's murder) is much more intriguing and definitely more well written. There is definitely suspense, but The Chase is not a book which you read every page of. Skip the beginning, and you'll have a pretty good book. I would recommend Linda Howard, Shades of Twilight, or After the Night if you're interested in contemporary romantic thrillers.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read, July 5, 2002

By 

Susan (MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chase: A Novel (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were perfectly matched and the device that BJ uses by taking us back in time is simply wonderful! Though I must say I did get more caught up in the love story that happened between Rachel and Eddy then Claire and Ian! Though Claire and Ian had more potential, but they didnt have enough time to dicover or explore there true depth! The only reason I gave this book 4 stars is because my 5 stars is reserved for the Deadly series!
Thanks Brenda for another Great book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Grief!!, November 14, 2004

By 

djk "love a good book" (california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chase (Hardcover)

Is Claire supposed to be likeable,clever and witty? I found her to be petulant, manipulative and intrusive. Why would a man who works for the FBI agree to engage her as a 'partner'; one attached with not just white glue, but Krazy Glue!
I especially winced at the part where Ian and Claire were being pursued by a man in a black BMW,when he caught up with them and got out of the car, it turned into a Mercedes! OOPS! Where was the editor on that one?? Or was there a ferry-god-mother on the loose?? o-well, what the heck, they are both German made vehicles.
The story line gains a smidgen of strength when BJ introduces Rachel and tells the story within the story. However; the depiction of 'true love' occuring within the amount of contact that Eddy and Rachel had was less believable than a Hollywood movie romance. I think they had one 'official' date before they married; and that was spent rolling in the hay and Rachel offering up her virginity to a virtual stranger!
The morning after they married and broke into Elgin's slum apartment,Rachel was appalled at a 'look' she had never before seen on Eddy's face. If the marriage had lasted, I am afraid Rachel would have been in for a lot of little surprises. But thank goodness it is all fiction; which leaves me wondering why BJ couldn't have done a more believable job since the only limitation to the story was her imagination.
This was my first Brenda Joyce book and my last....