Review: Lost Dog by Alan Russell

3 Stars

Detective Michael Gideon and Sirius, his K-9 partner, are back again to tackle the strangest cases that the LAPD has to offer.  But this time, the case is a little different.  The case finds them.  One evening Sirius saves a dog from pack of coyotes.  They try to return the dog to her owner, Heather Moreland, only to find that she is missing.  The circumstances around her disappearance seem suspicious at best and the more that Gideon digs, the more convinced he is that Heather has been abducted.

As Gideon tries to help locate Heather, he’s also troubled by the death of Detective Langston Walker, the leader of a support group for families of murder victims.  When they last met, Walker told Gideon about a cold case he had reopened, making Gideon wonder if Walker’s death was truly the accident everyone believes it to be.  Gideon has his suspicions right off the bat and as he continues to look through Walker’s cases and his life, the more he’s convinced that Detective Walker was murdered because of something he uncovered.

This is the third book in the Gideon and Sirius series, and once again, I would recommend reading the previous two entries before taking on Lost Dog.  There’s not a huge amount of backstory in this book as compared to the previous two, but it still helps.

The mystery of Heather’s disappearance plays out very well, even though the mystery isn’t very strong.  You’ll figure it out pretty quickly, there are some very obvious clues that are left behind.  The mystery surrounding Detective Walker’s death was a more interesting one and while it wasn’t entirely surprising, it was satisfying.  There are times that I wish the book could have been longer so that equal attention could be paid to both cases.  It’s hard at times to make the jump from one minute he’s still scratching his head and the next the case is solved.  Even with his visions that he experiences after fire-walking, it’s still a pretty big stretch to get from point A to point B.

The secondary characters are still very washed out.  I think at this point I’m actually disappointed in Gideon’s girlfriend.  I know that she has the patience of a saint, but come on, at least make seem realistic.  I still wish there was more interaction between Gideon and Sirius.  With his humor and biting wit, I think Sirius would make an excellent straight man..er..dog!

 

Review: Guardians of the Night by Alan Russell

2 Stars

This is book 2 in the Gideon and Sirius Series.  While it is recommended to read the first book in the series, I believe there might be enough explanation for this one to nearly stand alone.  Especially since there are some disconnects between this book and the first book.

Once again we join Detective Michael Gideon and his K-9 partner, Sirius.  They are still in charge of handling Los Angeles’ strange and special cases.  And this newest case is a real doozy.  Wrong Pauley is a homeless man who has long fallen from grace and has given up on anything good in life.  Late one night, his drinking binge is interrupted by a detonation of light and he sees what he can only describe as a being of light being murdered in the alley below.  For once in his life, Wrong Pauley tries to help, but is too late and he believes he has witnessed the murder of an angel.  Gideon’s superiors believe this is a perfect special case for Gideon and Sirius.

Gideon and Sirius are already on another case when this one lands in their lap.  They are trying to track down the man who is being called the Reluctant Hero after rescuing children from a schoolyard shooting.  Braving gunfire and personal injury, the man runs in and tackles the gunman and then disappears.  The LAPD brass want him found so that they can hold a press conference and properly reward his actions.

As they tackle both cases, complications abound.  Wrong Pauley winds up dead and now they have two murders on their hands.  Gideon and his partner are soon on the tail of a very high profile suspect who likes to collect trophies.  He has already hunted every species on earth, who better to want to hunt a being of light?  Gideon finds that being in this man’s cross-hairs can lead to his own demise and he finds that a Reluctant Hero can be a very vital asset to keeping both him and Sirius alive.

Again, the connection between Gideon, Sirius and the serial killer called The Weatherman is back.  They were all burned in a fire while Gideon was in pursuit to capture him.  The killer believes that they have a connection that can’t be denied no matter how much Gideon wants to deny it.  I really wish this had been explored more.  But once again, Gideon is unresponsive, denies everything and throws up a brick wall.  This could be a really great story, but it is relegated to the back burner.  Also lacking in this book as opposed to the first installment was the relationship between Gideon and Sirius.

There are some real gaps between this book and Burning Man.  The relationship between Gideon and his girlfriend never seems to progress and she’s apparently had a complete change in profession that is never explained.  All of the characters seem shallow and incomplete in this book.  And while one case is solved, the case of the being of light is never fully explained.  There were so many unanswered questions that it just really left a lot to be desired.  The case of the Reluctant Hero was the only one truly resolved and even that was more than a little hollow.  After the first book, I really did have high hopes for this one and I felt disappointed.  But I will still read the next book, just to see…

Review: The Trapped Girl by Robert Dugoni

3 1/2 Stars

This is the 4th installment of the Detective Crosswhite series.  I received this copy from NetGalley and the publishers.  I have also read the previous three books and would definitely recommend reading the previous books, but the author has written these novels in such a way that you can read them without reading the previous installments, but definitely recommend reading them in order, much more satisfying.

A woman’s body is discovered inside a crab pot, submerged deep in the waters of Puget Sound.  Once again, Detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself with yet another difficult case to solve.  The first order of business is to find out who this woman is.  During the course of the investigation, they find that this woman went to a lot of trouble to hide who she really is.  What or who is she running from?

As Tracy and her A Team of detectives begin to unravel this case, they discover that their Jane Doe is actually a woman who went missing weeks earlier from Mount Ranier.  This woman was married and her husband had been the prime suspect in her disappearance and becomes the prime suspect again now that she has been found dead.  Just as the case gets rolling, the team is told that the case is going back into the hands of the jurisdiction that handled the disappearance case.  Tracy doesn’t want to let go and she is willing to risk her entire career to solve this case.

As the case goes on, it dredges up memories of Tracy’s sister and the twenty year search for justice in her case.  This is another case that hits close to home.  The young woman who disappeared had much in common with Tracy.  She lost her entire family at a young age and Tracy feels that she owes it to this woman to find out the truth, no matter the cost.

Once again, Tracy is an admirable protagonist and I love her strength and her convictions.  But I am getting a little bored with the whole “personal connection” to every case.  It’s starting to feel a little forced at this point, as is the strained relationship with her Captain.  The guy is a creep and should have been shown the door after the last book.  Her team is full of amazing people too and I’m glad to see them taking a larger role in this book.  I especially love Faz and Del.  We also get to see more of Tracy from a personal level and her relationship with Dan.  It was nice to see her outside of the role as Detective and in the role of just an ordinary woman in love with a man.

If you have read any of the previous books in this series, I definitely recommend this one.  I would not recommend this to someone who hasn’t read the backstory, it just wouldn’t give you the complete story and for that reason alone, I had to deduct half a star.  It’s always hard to review books in a series to someone who hasn’t read the previous books.  But this is a solid undertaking and I don’t think we are done seeing Detective Tracy Crosswhite.

Review: In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni

3 Stars

This is the third book in the Tracy Crosswhite series.  You could probably read this particular novel as a stand-alone, but you will definitely get more out of the story if you read the previous two installments.

Once again we find Detective Tracy Crosswhite once again taking on another unsolved cold case.  She is asked by Jenny, a former police academy classmate to continue her father’s work and find the killer of a young Native American woman who everyone else assumed committed suicide.  But her family never believed the official story and neither did the investigative detective, Jenny’s father.  Tracy begins to follow up on the evidence and she begins to probe into the small town’s dark secrets.  Secrets that the town seems hell bent on keeping.  Is Detective Crosswhite going to be able to solve this case or is she going to become a victim too?

Again, this is another case that seems to hit close to home for Tracy.  Her sister was murdered and she spent twenty years trying to solve her case and bring the killer to justice.  Since then, she seems to be drawn to cases that are very similar to her sister’s murder.  She gets very personally invested and involved, which causes trouble for her both with her superiors in the department and in her personal life as well.  But she just can’t seem to let these cases go and while it’s a great thing for the victim, it’s playing havoc on her own life.

There is plenty of action and the investigation never lags.  The interaction between the characters is always solid and believable and the characters are very well thought out and none of them are one-dimensional.  Some end up being a little bit of a cliche.  Especially Tracy’s boss, Captain Nolasco.  But the victim’s brother also follows a stereotype and not a very flattering one when it comes to describing Native American men.  But the main core of characters are very enjoyable and you find yourself really rooting for Tracy in more ways than one.

I was a little surprised at the climax, I really didn’t expect the reveal.  You think you know who the killer is, but there’s one last surprise for you in the end.  Watching Tracy work her investigative magic is always entertaining.  While I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the previous two, it was still a very solid installment in the series and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Detective Tracy Crosswhite.