Just finished Suspect, Robert Crais’ best work!
Obviously, I’m biased, because it’s about a German shepherd.
My mom introduced me to Crais’ Elvis Cole detective novels many moons ago. I’ve read them all and the standalones as well. They’re terrific.
This one really spoke to me. Not just because it’s about a dog. I’ve read a loooot of books about dogs the past several years. I have extremely high standards for dog books.
Suspect is the yin to the yang of my memoir about Isis.
Remember the other day when I said I should be reading stuff that contributes to my growth as a writer? I was all set to read Dora: A Headcase when I got a box of books from my mom in the mail.
Both my mom and my stepmom told me I’d love Suspect, because it’s about a dog, so I thought I’d just whip through it before I got back to my “serious” reading.
Remember the other day when I said that whatever I’m reading is what I’m meant to be reading?
Suspect is about a cop who lost his partner in a shootout, and a military dog who lost her handler to an explosion in Afghanistan.
Some of the chapters are written from the dog’s point of view, but not in a cutesy way. Crais nails the way German shepherds feel about their people. (I know, because Isis told me.) He also depicts so accurately what it is like to live with a German shepherd, what it’s like to drive with one sitting astride the console between the seats, scanning the view out the front windshield.
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are an extremely entertaining and compelling pair of detectives, but I can’t say that I relate to either of them. Cole is the self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Detective,” after all. He’s a trifle cocky. And as much as I love Pike, he’s kind of a sociopath. So it was refreshing to read about inexperienced K9 Officer Scott James.
I didn’t think this book would have anything to do with my work revising Bark and Lunge, but oh, how it does!
Do you ever read a book and think, “That character is so totally me, if I had superpowers”? Or “if I were a princess” … or “if I were a spy”?
Maggie, the German shepherd in Suspect, is so totally Isis if Isis had gone into the service. All of the things that Isis did that were scary, we see Maggie do as part of her job. I loved reading another author – a suspense author – describe a German shepherd barking and lunging at a suspicious person, and how it feels to be on the human end of a German shepherd’s leash.
Crais also does a masterful job conveying Maggie’s body language and how she alerts to smells. Early on, I wished there were pictures. I wanted to see Maggie beyond the silhouette on the cover. Turned out, I didn’t need photos, because she is written so well. (Also, I just imagined her looking like a cross between Isis and Mia).
What a tribute to German shepherds. I hope this is the first in a series of Scott and Maggie books.
Kari Neumeyer 
I love reading. I alternate between feel good girly books and crime thrillers. I just finished reading White Girl Problems by Babe Walker and now I am reading the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card. Have a great weekend.
Your pups are so precious! I have a Pom/Sheltie that is my world. I love reading the Robert Crais Pike series too. Glad to have found you through the SITS Girls
Hopped over from SITS and so glad I did! I’m now following you!
I mean She Writes BOL!
The BEST dog I ever had was Cindy, a German Shepard; smart as a whip, she had been a working dog before I got her, a military-trained police dog. And boy oh boy, was she ever smart… and protective. But she hated thunder storms and would retreat into the bathtub when sensed one was coming… at a moments notice.
Your review of this book makes me want to read it. Better head over to Amazon.com and add it to my Wish List! Thanks for the tip!
The events yesterday in Boston make me want to adopt a military trained dog. I think the world would be safer with bomb detection dogs on every street corner. Hope you enjoy the book.