Robert Crais in one of my favorite authors.  His books about Joe Pike and Elvis Cole, two private detectives in the City of Los Angeles (Taken, and The First Rule for example) are compelling, gritty, exciting and never disappoint.  However, in Crais’s most recent book, Suspect, he has created new characters, who although unlike Joe and Elvis are just as memorable and engaging.

Scott James, is an LAPD cop recovering from a shootout which nearly killed him and did kill his partner Stephanie. Eight months later the incident although officially resolved still remains unresolved for Scott who is just now is trying to adjust to his life and get back to work.  Unable to go back to his old position he has been going through a retraining program and is now finally ready to meet his new partner, Maggie.

Maggie is a war vet who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.  She too lost her partner when IED  blew up in front of  her and is suffering from severe PTSD.  Discharged from the  military, Maggie who is highly trained bomb sniffing German Shepherd is now being retrained to work as a K-9 dog with the LAPD.

When Scott and Maggie first meet at the K-9 training facility they are both unsure about the other.  Both feel like they have failed the important people in their lives and find it hard to trust in another partner again. But soon they are forced to rely on each other as Scott keeps turning up clues in Stephanie’s murder that seem to contradict the official version of what happened that night. As the clues unravel a cover up, Scott and Maggie must use all their skills to keep each other alive.

Crais captures Maggie in a very real way. Maggie is a dog, and acts and reacts like a dog, not a person. It was fascinating to see how Maggie perceived the same interactions, compared with the way Scott perceived them.  The descriptions of Maggie’s sense of smell and the way she can sense fear or honesty or just the bologna that Scott treats her with were fascinating in their own way, giving us insights into what being DOG means.  All along the way we are watching as Scott and Maggie begin to heal and develop a bond that is mutually devoted and trusting and feel invested in that deepening relationship.

I hope that we see more of Scott and Maggie. They are totally worthy of becoming stars of their own series just like Joe and Elvis!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Stars out of 5)

Recommend this book to: Keith, Ken, Sharon, Marian and Lauren

Book Study Worthy: Sure, but only if you include some dogs! 😉

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