A canine Search and Rescue volunteer fights danger and finds love in the Pacific Northwest wilderness in this riveting #1 New York Times bestseller from Nora Roberts.
To
most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life—a quaint house
on an island off Seattle’s coast, a thriving dog-training school and a
challenging volunteer job performing Canine Search and Rescue. But Fiona
got to this point by surviving a nightmare: an encounter with the Red
Scarf Killer, who shot and killed Fiona’s cop fiancé and his K-9
partner.
On Orcas Island, Fiona has found the peace and solitude
necessary to rebuild her life with her three loyal Labs. But all that
changes on the day intensely private wood artist Simon Doyle barrels up
her drive with an out-of-control puppy, desperate for her help.
As
Fiona embarks on training Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both dog
and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona’s life. A copycat killer
has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled
by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of
his hands...
5 STARS
This was quite the unusual story with a whole lot more depth than I was expecting. Starting with the main characters and their unusual personalities and multiple skills. They also provide some pretty funny, and blunt conversations. It was a bit of a shock when Simon said Fiona was not his type and basically he wasn't attracted to her. But over time I saw that was part of his grumpy, keep people away routine. Well, at first it was the truth too but it also puzzled him over, time why then did she get under his skin? They do get to know each other very intimately but not right away. But even then it's well written, but also their conversations remain funny and blunt. They develop a trade system (a barter of sorts) that kept things interesting to say the least.
Fiona and Simon are the beginning of main characters but I also have to say that Fiona's dogs also come up in my mind as good main characters. Or would it be more accurate to say supporting characters? They definitely were a major part of Fiona's life and also supplied her a lot of emotional support when she needed it. The visit to Fiona's veterinary friend Mai Funaki with Peck was hilarious and so well described. And when it comes to Mai she was one colorful character who was 100% Team Fiona. Another person who is 100% Team Fiona is Sylvia or Syl as she's often called. She's Fiona's step-mother with the both of them being incredibly tight as a family. I enjoyed their relationship and the fact that she was no often seen wicked step-mother figure.
There is a fair amount of dog training tips and information on search and rescue training and experiences. All of it I found interesting. Plus the training of the "wild child" puppy Jaws (Simon's puppy) added some pretty funny stuff.
But it's not all fun and games because of the copycat killer. But even in that there is a lot of depth without a huge amount of gory details of the kills. Enough to know it's serious.
Put your seat belt on for some MAJOR twists as we near the end. That part became edge of the seat reading winding up to a good ending.
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