Format: Hardcover, 346 pages
Release Date: May 3, 2018
Publisher: Prairie Wind Publishing
Source: Library
Genre: Thriller, Suspense
Ryder Creed rescues abandoned dogs and turns them into heroes. But this time, it's Creed who may need rescuing when a madman leads him and Agent Maggie O'Dell on a gut-wrenching scavenger hunt.
Sixteen years ago, Ryder Creed's sister, Brodie, vanished from an interstate rest stop. She was only eleven and Creed was fourteen. Her disappearance ripped apart his family and has haunted Creed.
Now a former Marine with his own scars, Creed has dedicated his life to his K9 business. He takes discarded and abandoned dogs and trains them for scent detection. Together they search for the lost and the missing. And always, Creed has held onto the hope that one day he might find out what happened to his sister.
A thousand miles away during a police raid, FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell stumbles upon a clue that may explain what happened to Brodie Creed all those years ago. But to find the answers she'll need to make a deal with a madman. And the search that follows will be as agonizing for Creed, as are the answers he discovers.
Lost Creed is the fourth installment in author Alex Kava's Ryder Creed series. 16 years ago, Brodie Creed, younger sister of Ryder Creed, disappeared without a trace from a rest stop on the Georgia/Alabama border. For 16 years, Ryder has never once given up hope of finding the reason why she disappeared, or the hope that she may still be alive. In the meantime, Ryder lost his father, and his mother when he choose to enlist in the Marines.
Ryder's drive to bring home other missing children like Brodie, helped him and his business partner Hannah, open K9 Crime Scene. Ryder and Hannah and their newest trainer Jason, not only rescue unwanted dogs, but they train them to be used in situations like finding missing people, or sniffing out C-Diff that patients in nursing homes tend to get. But, thanks to an event that is happening in the middle of the country, Ryder might finally get the closure he needs.
In Nebraska, FBI Special Agent Maggie O'Dell is part of a task force named Operation Cross Country. They are hoping to round up as many human traffickers as they can starting with one Elijah Dunn. The only problem is that Dunn knew they were coming and really made no effort to run away from Maggie. As the investigation gathers steam, a certain picture sheds new light on a 16 year old mysterious. Has Maggie and Detective Tommy Pakula found evidence of whether or not Brodie is alive? Or, is this just another cold trail which leads no where?
As I stated in my previous review of Reckless Creed, this is no longer just Ryder's series. It has pretty much included Maggie from the get go. Maggie and Ryder's relationship is making me twisted inside. You just know that they appeal to the other, but other factors, such as Maggie's friendship with Benjamin Platt, and Ryder's refusal to push the relationship any further for fear he might tear a good thing apart. I love that Jason has become a fixture in this story. He and Scout have a mission all their own and I loved that he's gaining more and more confidence every time out.
There is a twist in this story which I won't speak about. You absolutely must read the book to find out if the answers that Ryder and Maggie are searching for will finally bring about good news. Lastly, I absolutely have no hesitation in calling out Ryder's mother who walked away 10 years ago and never once looked back, or tried to find out how Ryder was doing.
It really took a whole lot of time for the library to purchase this book which released in 2018. I guess it's because the author lost the original publisher and found a new home for her books. According the credits, there will apparently be a fifth book in 2019. One can only hope that the author really does get around to writing and releasing it.
*Human trafficking is a major issue in this country and it goes unreported because our media is bought and paid for by powerful entities that just don't care. The author plus the spotlight on Nebraska because so may major highways intersect the state, and there is plenty of places where missing children could be kept, or even buried. I know that is gruesome, but human traffickers are really not nice people and they should be given the harshest penalties imaginable if and when they are caught.* Stepping off pulpit.
I love Alex Kava but I am very behind on her books. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental