Barbara Nickless

A young woman is found brutally murdered, and the main suspect is the victim s fiance, a hideously scarred Iraq War vet known as the Burned Man. But railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell, brought in by the Denver Major Crimes unit to help investigate, can't shake the feeling that larger forces are behind this apparent crime of passion. In the depths of an icy winter, Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde?both haunted by their time in Iraq?descend into the underground world of a savage gang of rail riders. There, they uncover a wide-reaching conspiracy and a series of shocking crimes. Crimes that threaten everything Parnell holds dear. As the search for the truth puts her directly in the path of the killer, Parnell must struggle with a deadly question: Can she fight monsters without becoming one herself?"

Blood on the Tracks

Janice Hopper

I have mixed feelings about this book.

On the one hand, it's got a strong female protagonist (Sydney Rose Parnell) who's also dealing with her own ghosts and demons from the wars. She's got a canine partner, Clyde. The interactions between Parnell and Clyde ring true for me. I applaud Parnell's dog handling. She actually mentions feeding the dog and picking up after him. Clyde's not just a counter moving on a board here. He's treated as a real character. Clyde's a quiet presence, often in the background, but absolutely pivotal in some spots.

(Yes, I judge books on how the dogs are treated/described. No apologies.)

OTOH, there is a LOT of violence in this book. Lots of people get killed. Most of them are "bad" people (murdering skinheads and neo-Nazis), but not all. I felt a little like the author set up the bad guys like that so we'd be ok with that kind of violence. I'm not 100% sure I'm ok with that, but that may just be me. There's so much violence today, especially gun violence. Making it ok because they're bad guys... I just don't know. I'd've rated it higher if there was less killing. But that may be a case of me wanting a different book than the author has written. The author's perfectly entitled to write the books she wants to write. It's also ok if those books aren't the books *I* want to read.

Anyway, this is probably the best Kindle First book I've read. The author has set up plot threads that can be advanced in future volumes. Not sure I'll come back for more, but who knows. She's got a good dog there. :)

Blood on the Tracks

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