A seven-year-old boy is missing at night in Texas, and a K9
unit of bloodhound and police handler search the woods to
find him and his kidnapper. Part of a series co-written by
several authors, this picks up the action from a previous
book and winds around other characters in the town.
The focus in TRACKING JUSTICE is on Detective Austin Black
and his bloodhound Justice, with lone parent Eva and her
son Brady thrust into his life by the kidnapping. The
first part of the book is the best, with Eva determined to
accompany the searchers and struggling through the dark
woods. They discover the boy hiding in a cave, so far down
a narrow crack that Justice is sent in to find him and
guide him out again. But the kidnapper Brady had eluded is
still around and attempts to shoot the rescuers.
Reminiscent of the film The Client, the young boy saw a
crime in progress and the perpetrators are trying to
silence him. The police mount a guard on Brady while Eva, a
waitress, is stunned by the kindness of locals who hold a
collection so she can put in safer windows. Further
attempts are made on Brady's life and Austin, who keeps in
close contact, discovers that the small family is becoming
increasingly important in his solitary life. Brady and
Justice are fast friends but Eva, still shattered from the
murder of her petty crook father two years previously,
doesn't know if she can ever trust a man to be a reliable
father figure for her child.
I found that the inclusion of other crimes and characters
from the series actually weakened this story, because it is
harder for the reader to care about an injured person that
we have not met, just been told about, and from the intense
beginning to a clutter of major crimes, informers and
prison inmates is a huge jump. The police work is
carefully described however and even if resources are
stretched, no cop is seen complaining about the requirement
to guard a child. I also thought that at seven, a boy
should be more advanced than playing with blocks and
stuffed toys; I would expect library books, computer games
and jigsaws as well as sports.
TRACKING JUSTICE will be compared to Virginia Lanier's
bloodhound series, where a female kennel owner trains her
dogs for police handlers and tracks the lost herself.
Shirlee McCoy has concentrated on police work and on the
potential for romance between her two determined, caring
protagonists, and she keeps us hoping for a good outcome.
Dog lovers as well as romantics will enjoy this tale,
though it should be noted that a bloodhound is not a
suitable pet for a young child as they are very large and
require a vast amount of exercise.
In the night, a young boy goes missing from his bedroom.
Police detective Austin Black assures desperate single
mother Eva Billows that he\'ll find her son. He has to, so
he can put to rest his own harrowing memories. With his
search-and-rescue bloodhound, Justice, Austin searches
every inch of Sagebrush, Texas. And when Eva insists on
helping, Austin can\'t turn her away. Eva trusts no one,
especially police, but this time, Austin—and Justice—won\'t
let her down
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