Suspect

Robert Crais For the past handful of years, the majority of my reading has been Young Adult or Junior books. Once in a while I read an adult Fiction or Non-Fiction book that catches my eye, and “Suspect” caught mine because I fiction including animals and I really liked the blurb:

“LAPD cop Scott James is not doing so well. Eight months ago, a shocking nighttime assault by unidentified men killed his partner Stephanie, nearly killed him, and left him enraged, ashamed, and ready to explode. He is unfit for duty...until he meets his new partner.

Maggie is not doing so well, either. A German shepherd who survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing explosives before losing her handler to an IED, her PTSD is as bad as Scott’s.

They are each other's last chance. Shunned and shunted to the side, they set out to investigate the one case that no one wants them to touch: the identity of the men who murdered Stephanie.”

I was initially drawn to this story because of a dog main character that wasn’t cheesily anthropomorphized in the chapters that tell the story from her point of view. I found this story fast-paced and believable. This author seemed to capture the inner turmoil of his human and dog characters and presented them in such a way that I felt their struggle with being damaged, trying to make sense of their world after a tragedy and having to overcome their inner demons. However, this isn’t just a tragic story with likeable characters, it is a true crime mystery/drama and the characters lead you through their journey of solving it together. There is a follow-up #2 Scott-and-Maggie book: “The Promise” which is also book #16 of the Elvis Cole & Joe Pike series by Robert Crais.

Heidi Y.