Breaking Creed by Alex Kava
Series: Ryder Creed #1
Putnam Adult
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Date Read: December 7, 2014
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4.5 Stars!
I just need to say upfront that I have been a fan of Alex Kava for quite some time. I don’t even remember how many years it has been since I first pick up a Maggie O’Dell book but it was very early on. Every time a new book is released in the series I have been eager to get my hands on it. I have enjoyed some books better than others. When I saw that there was going to be a new series from this author, I knew that I would be reading just as soon as I could.
This book is the first in the new Ryder Creed series according to everything that I have seen. Readers of the Maggie O’Dell series should remember Ryder Creed from the most recent book in that series, Stranded. I would say that this could also easily be labeled as part of the Maggie O’Dell series since Maggie is featured throughout the book. I am not sure if the plan is to phase Maggie out of this series but I do like how this book featured both Maggie and Ryder.
Ryder Creed is a dog trainer. His dogs have become famous for their search and rescue skill. Ryder uses different dogs for different situations but we see a lot of Grace, a Jack Russell Terrier, in this book. Depending on the commands given, his dogs can find human remains, drugs, or just track a scent. While looking for drugs on a cargo ship, Grace discovers children that have been hidden.
Maggie is an FBI profiler that gets put on the case of a body found in the Potomac River. After forensic testing, it appears the body was dumped there so Maggie goes to check out the victim’s home and asks for dogs to search the grounds. Ryder and Grace end up discovering much more than they were looking for on victim’s property.
This was a mystery that kept me guessing the whole time. There were so many different things going on that I did wonder how everything would end up fitting together. The supporting characters in the book were wonderful and I hope to see more of them in future Ryder Creed books. I loved Jason and his veteran friends and Hannah was wonderful. The story came together so well with so much suspense that I simply could not put the book down. Towards the very end, I did figure out who the villain of the story was but I never expected the excitement of the final few chapters.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good twist and turn mystery and it will also appeal to animal lovers. I know that fans of the Maggie O’Dell series will want to be sure to pick this one up.
I received a advance reader copy of this book from Putnam Adult via Edelweiss for the purpose of providing an honest review.
Oh wow, when I saw the cover of this book I wasn't expecting it to be a mystery kind of book for some strange reason! I haven't read the other mentioned series or even heard of this author, but I love a good mystery and this sounds like it can be that! With never knowing who the victim is it sounds perfect! Added to my TBR!
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I really enjoyed this book. If you like a good mystery / thriller, you should definitely check out Alex Kava.
Kava sounds very familiar so I've at least read a book or two of his or thought about it. This one sounds very interesting. I always get a little nervous with any book involving animals because I worry that something bad will happen but it doesn't sound like the case here. I'll definitely have to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!
Nothing happens to the service dogs in this book but I should probably tell you that there are a few creepy crawly things in this book that could bother some people. Ryder's dogs are wonderful in this book.