Reckless Creed by Alex Kava, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Ryder Creed was a K-9 search and rescue dog training specialist while he served with the Marines during the war in Afghanistan. He remained a certified handler after he left the service and now he has his own business, K9CrimeScents, based in Florida's panhandle. He has trained his dogs not only to not only sniff out drugs and bombs, but also cancer and diabetes in humans. And all that training will be required as he gets involved in a most complex mystery, Reckless Creed, the third entry in this series by Alex Kava.

A young man in Chicago on business checked into a hotel and got a room on the nineteenth floor. He had a fever and felt very ill. He coughed up blood. He needed air. Opening the door to the balcony, he stepped outside, where a cast-iron railing protected him from falling. But fall he did. Meanwhile just north of the Alabama/Florida State Line, Creed was called in by the local sheriff and a federal agent from Atlanta to find a young girl who had run off and was missing for a few days. When Grace, Creed's scrappy brown and white Russell terrier, found the girl she was floating just above the muddy riverbank. It looked as though she had filled her pockets with rocks and walked right into the river. In a nearby bush two dead robins were found. Creed picked one and Grace gently bit into it and dropped it into Creed's hand. FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell was brought into the case and it didn't take long to find out the death in Chicago and this girl's death were somehow connected. O'Dell had linked these deaths with the disappearance of a woman scientist who had been working with an avian flu virus. It appears both young people had traces of avian flu in their systems. Were these individuals infected by someone and sent out to infect others. How many more could there be? The agent from Atlanta wants to put down all of Creed's dogs inasmuch as Grace could have been infected when she found the girl. Then Grace could have infected the rest of the kennels. But, Creed would never agree to this. He would isolate them and have each one tested. How long will it take to find a cure if, indeed, Creed's dogs were infected and also for those who already have the flu and a vaccine to prevent others from being infected? Can the authorities keep this from becoming an epidemic?

Reckless Creed combines a riveting mystery with a backstory of dog handlers and rescue dogs, and even the difficulties of faced by military men and the importance of dogs in their lives. There are many twists and turns with the compelling storyline spanning three locations involving both trustworthy and dishonest characters, who range from the brave to the spineless. Creed and O'Dell have a rewarding relationship, both with each other and these most amazing dogs.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Reckless Creed.

Acknowledgment: Penguin Group provided a copy of Reckless Creed for this review.

Silent Creed
Putnam (Hardcover), July 2015
ISBN-13: 9780399170775; ISBN-10: 0399170774

Reckless Creed

A Ryder Creed Mystery by Alex Kava