When a fellow deputy's girlfriend disappears, Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are on the case. Turns out, it's a lot more complicated and dangeWhen a fellow deputy's girlfriend disappears, Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are on the case. Turns out, it's a lot more complicated and dangerous than a missing person's case....
I love this series. The characters are engaging. The setting in Colorado is perfect. I like Mizushima's writing style. Mattie is an intelligent and skilled main character, but with flaws and past demons to work through just like everyone else. She's dealing with pent up emotions from a shattered childhood and dealing with it the best she can. Her relationship with her furry partner is perfect. Robo knows his training and Mattie watches out for him. Makes for a great story!
There is a new book in this series coming out soon, so I'm listening to all four books in this series before jumping into the new one. Stalking Ground is the 2nd book in the series. The first book, Killing Trail, was excellent. There is more character development (a look into Mattie's past, strengthening of relationships with her co-workers Brody, Stella and Rainbow, and further bonding between Mattie & Robo, the vet becomes a major character, etc) in this second book. The secondary elements in the story kept my interest just as much as the crime-related plot. The character development added to the story without taking away from the main investigation.
I listened to the audio book (Blackstone Publishing) version of this story. The audio is just over 9 hours long and narrated by Nancy Wu. Wu reads at a steady pace and does an excellent job of reading/voice acting. Excellent listening experience!
Another great book in this series! I'm moving on to book 3, Hunting Hour....more
Officer Mattie Cobb has a new partner: K-9 Officer Robo. They have just completed their training at the academy and returned to Timber Creek, CO. As sOfficer Mattie Cobb has a new partner: K-9 Officer Robo. They have just completed their training at the academy and returned to Timber Creek, CO. As she learns to apply what she learned during training and to trust her dog, the two of them are pulled into a case where the dog could be key: The death of a local teenager. As the case unfolds, it becomes evident that someone doesn't want Robo on the case. But Mattie and her partner are determined to sniff out the killer.
The plot is a little bit predictable in this first book in the Timber Creek K-9 series, but still immensely enjoyable. There is great suspense and character development. The best part is the developing working relationship between Robo and Mattie. Robo is NOT a pet dog....he is an intelligent, highly trained, police dog. Mattie learns to trust the dog above all else and Robo learns how to give the correct signals to his partner so she knows what he's telling her. I didn't know much about what canine officers do before reading this book. Not sure how accurate it is, but I found it interesting and exciting!
I have read one book in this series previously. I jumped in at Book 4 and read it without any prior knowledge of the series. Before diving into the newest book, Tracking Game, that comes out in November 2019, I thought it would be best to back up and read the series from the start. This first book is a great introduction to Mattie, Robo, local veterinarian Cole Walker and his family, plus the key characters from the Timber Creek police force. It isn't necessary to start at book one. I enjoyed the 4th book when I read it. But to get all the character and relationship developments, it's best to read the books in order.
I can only imagine the difficulties of being a K-9 Officer in an area with such rough terrain. Forest, mountains, backwoods trails....CO must be a real challenge! Where I live in NC there is dense forest and the Blue Ridge, but the elevations are much lower than the Rockies. All that Robo and Mattie go through makes for a very suspenseful, exciting story! With all the place and character development necessary to start out a series like this, I can understand why the mystery portion is a bit predictable. Plus, in real life, cases don't often have mysterious exciting twists every few chapters. I liked a more realistic touch this time. Nicely done! Very, very enjoyable book! Good boy, Robo! :)
Very enjoyable series! I listened to the audio book version of this story. My local library's digital site has the whole series on audio! The audio, narrated by Nancy Wu, is just shy of 9.5 hours long. Wu gives a great performance. Her reading and acting skills are quite good! This is the first audio book I have listened to with Wu narrating. I will gladly listen to more of her performances!
On to book 2 -- it's already loaded on my phone! (Love, love, love my library's digital site!) ...more
The Pendergast series is one of my favorites. The mix of strange, mysterious characters and plots, plus police investigation and supernatural events jThe Pendergast series is one of my favorites. The mix of strange, mysterious characters and plots, plus police investigation and supernatural events just ticks most of my I-love-to-read-this boxes.
When I first started the audio book for Blue Labyrinth, I did not remember reading this book before. But as I got further into the story, I started to remember a few plot points. Luckily, I didn't remember any major spoilers and enjoyed the story a second time.
The action starts immediately and doesn't let up from start to finish. In the beginning pages, the front door of Pendergast's home is opened to reveal a very unpleasant surprise.....and things get progressively stranger and darker from there. This time Pendergast does not get through his investigation without great bodily harm....in fact, he is facing death, depending on Margo, Constance and his ever faithful friend D'Agosta to help save him. Very exciting and entertaining plot!
Interesting character development and changes in this book. I'm hoping the series moves away from Pendergast's family tree for awhile.....the ongoing plot points about his wife, his sons, his ancestors have pretty much run their course (for me, anyway). I really want something new.....still weird, dark and strange....but new.
Another great story in this series!
I listened to the audio book version (Hachette Book Group) of this story. As usual Rene Auberjonois gave a top-notch performance. Ever since he was in the television series Benson when I was a kid, I have enjoyed his acting skills. I was sad to learn of his passing in December 2019. Truly a great performer. I know nothing about his personal life, but I get the distinct feeling he was a truly nice person as well. I will enjoy hearing his voice reading several more books in this series. I'm not sure who might be able to fill his shoes to read the new books in this series...he was truly perfect to narrate Pendergast.
Blue Labyrinth is the 14th book in the Pendergast series. For this series, readers really need to start at the beginning to understand the characters, events and to avoid spoilers. As I write this, there are currently 18 books in this series, with a new book (Crooked River) coming out in February 2020. I will keep reading and listening until this series comes to an end! Love it! I'm almost caught up.....only 5 more books to go until I have to wait months for each new book....it will be so hard to wait!
As part of my quest to re-read my favorite series, I decided to jump back into Dana Fuller Ross' Wagons West books! I first read this series when I waAs part of my quest to re-read my favorite series, I decided to jump back into Dana Fuller Ross' Wagons West books! I first read this series when I was about 14 years old. I loved it as a teenager! There are 24 books in the series. Back when I started reading, there were only about 12...so the last half will be new to me! :)
Independence! starts the journey west. The wagon train forms at Long Island, NY for the first long leg of the journey. They will travel west to Independence, MO, where some of the travelers will leave the train and others will continue on towards Oregon. At Independence, they will re-stock supplies and take on a new wagon master. Russia and England both want the Oregon Territory....so agents from both nations have signed on to sabotage the trip in an effort to prevent settlement in Oregon. Along the way they face challenges, take on new wagons, and learn to survive.
All in all, I enjoyed re-visiting this story. I'm just as obsessed with the pioneer era and Old West as I was way back in the '80s. As an adult re-visiting this book, I found some of the plot to be too melodramatic or romanticized and the characters a bit too stereotype. I wanted more realistic action and a lot less romance. One of the main female characters acts spoiled and jealous for nearly the entire book, but still manages to catch her man. *eye roll* I do see why my 14-year old self loved this book. But, as a 50 year old, I found the plot a bit too simple and centered around the ridiculous romance angles. I wanted more pioneer and less pouty lips.
I'm going to stick with the series to the end though. Back in the early '80s, I read through all the books that were published at that time. But then I got busy with high school, followed by college....and I just didn't have time for much fiction reading. I lost track of the series until now. So, my goal is to read through the entire series....I have to know who makes it to Oregon and the other territories in the end! :) There are some spin-off books as well that I will read if I can find them.
I got lucky and my local library had the first book in audio (Brilliance Audio) on their digital site. I enjoyed listening to the story as I worked in my garden. :) Narrated by Phil Gigante, the audio is almost 11 hours long. Gigante has a nice voice and gave a great performance. I have hearing loss, but was easily able to hear and understand the entire audio book. Unfortunately, the library only has the first book. I have books 2 and 3 in paperback. After that, I will have to hunt the titles up and read as I can. Might take me awhile to get through all 24...but I'm determined! :)
I'm going to give this a 4/5 rating mostly for nostalgia. The book is an entertaining read, but the plot is very cliche. The characters are very sterotypical...and the romance is cheesy. Entertaining -- yep. Great book? Not really. It's pretty much like a pioneer soap opera.
What a wonderful, imaginative, and creative story! This book totally reminded me why I still love to read children's books!
After several years withouWhat a wonderful, imaginative, and creative story! This book totally reminded me why I still love to read children's books!
After several years without a city library, a new wonderous library has been built by an ecentric, quirky billionaire...Mr. Lemoncello. Kyle and his school friends are familiar with Mr. Lemoncello as his company has made many of their favorite boardgames, including Mr. Lemoncello's Indoor Outdoor Scavenger Hunt. At school, they write essays for a contest -- the winners get to see the new library before anybody else. It's the adventure of a lifetime!
For me, this story was reminiscent of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with a library theme instead of a candy factory. The characters are fun and quirky....and there's lots of book references and library goodness. Fun story!
I was delighted to find out that there is a television movie version, streamable on Hulu. I'm going to watch it as soon as I post this review. :) Following my rule: Always read the book first! I'm not quite sure how they are going to capture the magic of this story in only 69 minutes though.....the movie must cut out a lot. I hope I'm not disappointed.
I listened to the audio book version of this story. The audio is almost 6.5 hours long and narrated by Jesse Bernstein. Bernstein reads at a nice pace and does a great job bringing the characters to life. Excellent performance!
There are 3 other books in the Lemoncello series so far. Chris Grabenstein has written several books for middle grade kids. I'm definitely going to be reading more! Loved this story!...more
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