A celebrity chef, the CIA and an espionage mission. Wow this has it all going on and the mystery, twists and turns and thrills kept me reading. This is a fun and funny, twisty and romantic, tension and suspense fill the pages. Not too long in length but at times a bit slow to read but it still had all the trimmings for a good read. I enjoyed it and was definitely entertained by it. 3 1/2 stars from me.

Thank you NetGalley and Post Hill Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

World-famous TV chef Sebastian Pike, grieving the loss of his fiancée Astrid, is filming new episodes of his show in France, surrounded by the country's rich culinary culture. Everything seems to be running smoothly until the new producer, Cammie Nova, arrives late, setting off a series of troubling events.

The crew witnesses a drive-by shooting, a key team member goes missing, and the CIA becomes involved. Pike finds himself in over his head, juggling his filming responsibilities while being thrust into a dangerous mission to save a crucial individual from corrupt politicians.

3.5/5.

Celebrity Chef Sebastian Pike agrees to let the CIA use his hugely popular show as cover for a dangerous espionage mission. So begins a drama that will sweep you along. For UK readers, think Paul Hollywood from Bakeoff joins Mi6.
A great read with plenty of twists and turns, romance and real bullets!
I just reviewed The Accidental Joe by Tom Straw. #TheAccidentalJoe #NetGalley
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A maverick celebrity chef reluctantly agrees to let the CIA use his hugely popular international food, culture, and travel TV series as cover for a dangerous espionage mission.When the CIA approaches celebrity chef Sebastian Pike about using his award-winning food and culture travel show as cover for espionage, the outspoken bad-boy host says no. When they point out how roaming the globe interviewing foodies, heads of state, rock stars, journalists-in-exile, poets, subversives, supermodels—even the pope—gives him perfect cover, Pike smiles and says, “F@#! no.” They push. Promising it’s only one mission. Vowing he won’t be in danger. Calling him the Most Valuable Bystander. They’d embed their top agent in his crew to do the spy work. It’s still no. But when they hit him with the patriotism card, he weakens. And when romantic sparks crackle between him and the female agent, Pike’s all in, kicking off a romantic spy thriller in which the globetrotting celebrity chef uses his TV series to help sneak Putin’s accountant out of Russia before he’s exposed as a mole for US intelligence. The high-stakes mission quickly puts Pike in harm’s way. So much for MVB. There’s danger, there’s double dealing, there’s torture, there’s shooting with real bullets. Plus, a minefield of complications from the hot romance that grows between Pike and his gutsy CIA handler-producer, Cammie Nova. From Paris to Provence, this chef is no bystander. Beyond their attraction, Pike and Nova become an operational team, not only to survive the perils they face but to pull off an operation fraught with one twist after another, capped by a shocking, emotional climax.

Loved this story from start to finish. Cannot wait to read more from the author. Will recommend to others.

World-famous TV chef Sebastian Pike, still mourning the death of his fiancée Astrid, is in the middle of filming new episodes of his show. They’re in France, the country of the many smells and flavours, and all is going smoothly. Except for one thing: the new producer of the show, Cammie Nova, is late one morning and when she does turn up, things suddenly become awkward. Very awkward. The crew witness a drive-by shooting, a valuable member of the team goes missing, the CIA gets involved, to name a few.

Pike is in over his head before he knows it; he’s supposed to keep filming shows but in the meantime he is suddenly involved in saving an important person from the claws of some very dangerous politicians.

Delightful! A very funny story with some interesting twists. It immediately had me think of one of my favourites: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Don’t let the Dutch title keep you from reading the reviews for this book. Most reviews are in English.
The similarities between The Accidental Joe and Het kan niet altijd kaviaar zijn/Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein/The Monte Cristo Cover-up) are obvious: both main characters are ordinary people who become pawns in international politics. Both main characters love to cook, but while Thomas Levin (from Simmel’s book) is a banker, Sebastian Pike is a real chef. But while Simmel chose to include lots of recipes, Tom Straw just mentions a lot of delicious food ingredients so the reader may be inspired by them.
Needless to say this book ends well; I’ve enjoyed reading it and I can recommend it to fans of ‘light espionage’ stories.
Thanks to Post Hill Press and Netgalley who put this title in the Read Now section.

The Accidental Joe by Tom Straw
Fun story about a celebrity chef who gets manipulated into using his show to help the CIA catch a killer. I enjoy tales where regular citizens get involved in espionage activity and have to learn the ropes while trying to do their job. Interesting characters and dialogue, luxurious destinations, nice pacing and plotting.
#NetGalley #TomStraw #TheAccidentalJoe #PostHillPress

What sets this book out, is the light language and a myriad of facts and descripions, and they're good. The characters are excellent and the plot is very good and intricate. The story may seem a little long and slow, but it's never boring.

I struggled with this book. Take Richard Castle and make him a celebrity tv chef. Still kinda goofy and immature but now he has a tv show and a lot of knowledge about cultures and food. And I did enjoy the Richard Castle books, but that was because it was like reading an episode of a tv show I enjoyed. It was supposed to be campy and light. Chef Sebastian and entourage don't have the foundation and the ability to ignore a lot of what is needed to establish characters and a story. This leads to the first of my issues. Supposedly Chef is heartbroken over his dead fiancé but then immediately starts drooling over his CIA handler. What? And the whole set-up between him, his show, and the CIA is more like a Keystone Cop routine. Finally, the story is written more as the starting of a script rather than a reading experience. Descriptions for most scenes, etc are basic, unless it is providing some type of prop for Chef Sebastian and Cammie. I expected a more hardcore thriller and that isn't what this was.

This book was quite a bit of fun. It hits many of my favorite things: cooking shows, travel to amazing destinations, betrayal, revenge, a good murder mystery, and a twisty, espionage plot. It’s a quick read and thoroughly entertaining.

Imagine Anthony Bourdain as a CIA operative who ends up allowing the CIA to use his show as a background for an operation. Unbeknownst to Sebastian Pike, his culinary show is the perfect cover up for espionage. They call him the MVB: Most valuable bystander. Although he does not take that name quite to heart because there is danger, real bullets firing from real guns and a budding romance between him and his producer-CIA handler, Cammie Nova. This book has everything you could want, romance, cooking, thrilling adventures and a beautiful backdrop from Provence to Paris. Straw did a brilliant job of making me fall in love with Pike with all his flaws and the budding romance between him and Nova.

I was looking forward to reading this spy thriller about a celebrity chef brought in as a cover for the CIA in a world of espionage as I enjoyed the Richard Castle written by this author. It is an interesting premise, fast moving and exceptional writing, but no fault of the author, the formatting of this book in my Kindle made for a difficult read. Also, I couldn’t get into the characters or the storyline and I really wanted to.

A fun cheesy romp. A film version of many light espionage films I grew up watching in the early 2000s. Pretty much throwing in many of those tropes Paris is the place, Russians are the enemy and the USA are the heros… etc. It works though.

The dialogues are sassy and witty. However, the fire just fizzles for me as it progresses further. It is kind of 'been there, done that' kind of read for me. The storyline has been used multiple times before with little tweaks here and there.

I understand that nothing is original anymore but on a personal level, this is just not for me.