Suspect by Robert Crais

Suspect by Robert Crais

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a book any dog lover will enjoy. That is if they also enjoy thriller/mystery books.

A traumatized police officer and a traumatized war dog (German Shepherd Maggie) help each other get back to full life while working on the case that killed the officer's partner.

This sounds sappy but is not. It occasionally shows the dog's point of view and it is as canine as one could wish. This is nothing like the Rita Mae Brown series where the animals sound like little people talking to each other. Having had to learn something about how dogs think in order to manage a boisterous pack at our house, this book felt really "true."

The mystery is, as many reviewers have noted, telegraphed early on and, frankly, for me that was the least interesting part of the book. However, I appreciated the way that Crais added touches of humanity to characters who usually are handled in a stock fashion. A small time criminal's grief over his brother's death especially comes to mind.

The real story though is that of Scott and Maggie, each equally tough and vulnerable and needing a new pack in order to survive.

I was going to give this three stars but it has stuck with me to the point where I was recommending it to a gentleman who brought his Chihuhua to the grocery store today. I can do no less than give it a star for memorability.