“The game is afoot.” And with that promising introduction, Emerson Knight, heir to the huge Knight fortune and ramshackle mansion, invites Riley Moon, his Jill-of-all-trades assistant, to join him on a nonstop adventure. An old friend Wayan Bagus, a Buddhist monk, has arrived at the doorstep to report that his island, a functioning tropical island complete with volcano, has gone missing.

DANGEROUS MINDS is the second Knight and Moon caper, and Janet Evanovich has created a contemporary and feisty pair of sleuths. Riley enjoys telling about her Texas background, the only sister with four brothers, and she’s able to sharp shoot, swear and out-savvy the worst of the worst. Emerson has family connections, charm and, always a good thing, lots and lots of money. Vernon is Emerson’s cousin, who “would rather fish than think,” and his handsome, female-chasing self completes the group. Their assignment: the seemingly impossible task of finding an island, last seen 200 miles north of Samoa.

"Janet Evanovich rightfully earns booklovers’ praise, and they trust her for believable yet unbelievable stories, funny yet violent scenes, sex but not too much. You get all the right feelings reading DANGEROUS MINDS."

As these mismatched detective types begin researching maps and charts for proof that the island had in fact existed, they get a break. Wayan recognizes the uniforms of the national park guards as the same ones belonging to the men who had come to his island months ago and forcibly removed him. Riley gathers more and more data about all of America’s national parks. Based on her research of probabilities of accidents and fatalities in these huge areas, as well as Emerson’s connecting dots where there really were no dots, they see a pattern. The significant variable? Volcanoes.

The four quickly pack for a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and nearby Yellowstone Park. The first hours after their arrival try Emerson’s patience as he listens to stock jokes about Old Faithful, but there will be a payoff. The guide telling those hackneyed stories is not only informative and curious but also willing to help.

Now, truly, “the game is afoot.” The pace is fast and full of details about mantle plumes and the muddy fields of Hawaii, and a heart-stopping trip into long caverns and caves. And at last --- ooops, a wee spoiler alert --- Emerson and Riley discover that the crux of the mystery goes back 120 years to the Rough Riders and the creation of the national park system by Teddy Roosevelt.

The pop culture references alone make DANGEROUS MINDS lots of fun. Lady Gaga and her dress of meat at the MTV Video Music Awards gets a mention, as do “Friends” and a whole lot of misinformation about unagi.(Is it total awareness, as Ross insists, or a freshwater eel? It is not decided here.) A few days later, Emerson’s understanding of improvisational acting clicks as he insists that not “breaking character” will help him overpower the guards and draw the island rescuers nearer to Tin Man, the unbelievably nefarious leader of evil. And throughout the frenetic days and nights of travel and danger, Wayan offers pieces of Buddhist wisdom that arrive at unexpectedly appropriate times.

Janet Evanovich rightfully earns booklovers’ praise, and they trust her for believable yet unbelievable stories, funny yet violent scenes, sex but not too much. You get all the right feelings reading DANGEROUS MINDS.