Fallen Creed by Alex Kava

 

First Line: "You need to get out of the house!"

 

Ryder Creed and his scent dog, Grace, have returned to Nebraska to help FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell in an ongoing case, but they're interrupted when a rural postal carrier finds a black plastic bag in a ditch. Even seasoned investigators are shocked at what's inside the bag.

 

That same morning, a young woman has gone missing. Is her disappearance connected to the find in the ditch? Ryder agrees to search for her, but an impending snowstorm will put Grace's skills to the test. She's never worked in snow or cold before.

Maggie searches for answers, but it takes a while before she realizes that no one has heard from or seen Ryder since the snow began to fall. Maggie starts to fear that he and Grace have walked into the path of a killer.

~

If you're a dog lover who enjoys reading mysteries, you have to read Alex Kava's Ryder Creed K-9 series. She's created some high-octane thrill rides for one of my favorite casts in crime fiction. In Fallen Creed, she puts Ryder and his favorite scent dog, Grace, in the path of a snowstorm and a killer, and while I was anxious the entire time I was reading the book, I knew Ryder would come through-- and so would Grace. One of the most important things to know about Ryder Creed is that this former Marine K-9 handler can-- and will-- sacrifice his own well-being for that of his dogs. 

In this latest installment, Grace is showing her skills in detecting electronics, a skill for which many trainers use food as a reward. Ryder refuses to do this:

"Many of the dogs that found their way to K-9 CrimeScents had been discarded or abandoned by their previous owners. Some, like Grace, had been on their own for long enough that they were skin and bones, scraping for what food they could find. To make that daily meal a reward for work rendered was something Creed would not even consider. Every dog in his kennel, whether working or not, deserved to be fed."

You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat animals, can't you?

Fallen Creed has fellow dog handler Jason and Creed's sister, Brodie, loading up a truck with their dogs Scout and Hank and driving from Florida to Nebraska to help in the search. Both suffer from PTSD, and Brodie is experiencing a growing attachment to Jason-- one to which he seems oblivious. While I'm on the subject of attachments, Maggie O'Dell's attachment to Creed deepens as well. This is a well-developed cast that is so so easy to get wrapped up in. I care about what happens to each and every one of them, whether two-legged or four-.

Another thing that I love about these fast-paced tales is that I always learn something: how scent dogs can detect electronics, how human trafficking is more lucrative because drugs can only be sold once but humans can be sold over and over (makes your skin crawl, doesn't it?), or how social media sites are one of the biggest threats to those in Witness Protection. It is possible to learn while feeling anxious about fictional characters...

While you don't have to start at the beginning of this series to enjoy Fallen Creed, I would hope that you choose to do so. (The first book is Breaking Creed.) There is absolutely no reason to deprive yourself of reading so many excellent books!

Fallen Creed by Alex Kava

ASIN: B09LSLZLKX

Prairie Wind Publishing © 2022

eBook, 401 pages

 

Law Enforcement, #7 Ryder Creed K-9

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Hidden Creed by Alex Kava

 

First Line: Blackwater River State Forest. Sunday, June 14. The scream sounded human.

 

When Ryder Creed's scent dog, Grace, discovers a shallow grave during what was meant to be a training course, it's the beginning of a nightmare. The body was found in Florida's remote and difficult-to-access Blackwater River State Forest-- and Creed's dogs rapidly uncovered more graves. 

This spot has been the dumping ground of a serial killer for years, and he never intended for it to be found. As the investigators begin their work, they're going to find out just how far this killer will go to stop them and keep his secrets hidden forever. 

~

I enjoy this series so much that I can't keep to my intended one-a-year pace. At this rate, I'll soon catch up and be forced to cool my heels waiting for the next book.

If you're a fan of Alex Kava's Ryder Creed series, you know to pay attention to her acknowledgments at the back of each book in which she often tells readers where she got the inspiration for that particular one. Hidden Creed is no exception. Learning about her writing process is interesting as well.

Although I did find the serial killer element of the book a bit tame, I really enjoyed Hidden Creed. In it, Kava shows readers some of what is involved in training medical alert dogs. I never cease to be amazed at how incredibly talented canines are. Kava is working some magic with two of the secondary characters.  Jason, the young Army veteran, is slowly working himself out of depression from losing an arm as well as PTSD. As he becomes more open, he comes in contact with more people. I love watching his healing process. I also love watching Creed's sister, Brodie, as she recuperates from her own ordeal. She's an incredible young woman who's very tired of everyone treating her like she's going to shatter into a million pieces. I look forward to what she will do in the next book. 

If you love fast-paced thrillers with marvelous working dogs and two-legged characters who rapidly come to feel like family members, you really need to read this series. Start at the beginning with Breaking Creed. You can thank me later.

Hidden Creed by Alex Kava

eISBN: 9781732006447

Prairie Wind Publishing © 2020

eBook, 329 pages

Police Procedural/Working Dog, #6 Ryder Creed mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Desperate Creed by Alex Kava

 

First Line: Chicago. Frankie Russo's head was already throbbing when her cell phone started blaring salsa music.

 

Francine "Frankie" Russo is not happy when her young co-worker, Tyler Gates, calls at 5 AM for a video chat, but her irritation turns to horror when seconds later, two men murder Tyler and pick up his phone. Now they know what Frankie looks like... and more. They'll be coming for her next, and the only thing she can think of to do is get out of Chicago and head for the Florida Panhandle to her friend, Hannah Washington.

 

While Frankie is en route, Hannah's friend and business partner, Ryder Creed has taken his best scent dog, Grace, to Alabama where a series of devastating tornadoes means there are survivors to find. Ryder's employee Jason and Jason's K-9 partner, Scout, are on their way to help.

 

With killers on her trail, Frankie is trying desperately to get to Hannah and the meeting that Hannah has set up with FBI agent Maggie O'Dell, but the weather is proving to be the biggest handicap of all. With threatening clouds and screaming tornado sirens, Ryder, Jason, and their dogs are witnessing tremendous devastation while Hannah and Ryder's sister, Brodie, are at home, worrying and waiting... and Frankie is trying to outrun two killers. This is a race against time and the weather, a race that no one can afford to lose.

 

~

 

I've been an ardent fan of this series since the very first book, Breaking Creed. Ryder, Hannah, Jason, and Maggie are strong, intelligent characters, and I absolutely love how Ryder has created his business: "Hannah liked to say they rescued abandoned and discarded dogs and turned them into heroes"-- and that's exactly what Ryder does. In Desperate Creed, Ryder's behavior with his dog, Grace, during a tornado made me love the man even more.

Ryder's sister, Brodie, has been added to the cast, and her adjustment to life after captivity is both life-affirming and heartbreaking. (I'm purposely not saying much about Brodie to prevent possible spoilers because I want all of you to read this series!)

As much as I enjoy the interactions of the characters, the high-octane plot of this book almost blew me away. There are the killers following Frankie from Chicago down to the Florida Panhandle. They are professionals. She is a rank amateur. Are they going to catch up with her? But, first and foremost, there are the tornadoes. I once lived in Tornado Alley, and I've had a few close encounters. I've also experienced earthquakes, blizzards, fire, and hurricane-force winds. What scared me most? Tornadoes. To put characters whom I feel so strongly about right in the path of a weather phenomenon that petrifies me? I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

Desperate Creed thrilled the adrenaline junkie in me to pieces, and it's the type of book in which readers should make a point of reading the Afterword. If you're in the mood to read a book you won't be able to put down, this is definitely the one you need to get your hands on.

Desperate Creed by Alex Kava

eISBN: 9781732006416

Prairie Wind Publishing © 2019

eBook, 321 pages

Law Enforcement, #5 Ryder Creed mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Lost Creed by Alex Kava

 

First Line: Lester Darrell told his wife it wasn't safe to be on his mobile phone with all the lightning strikes.

 

When Ryder Creed was fourteen and his sister, Brodie, was eleven, Brodie disappeared from a rest stop along the interstate. Her disappearance ripped Ryder's family apart. Now a Marine Corps veteran, Creed devotes himself completely to his K-9 business in which he takes abandoned dogs and turns them into scent detection dogs. Together, they find the lost and the missing. And always-- always-- a part of his heart hopes that, someday, he will find Brodie, too.

 

A thousand miles away from Florida, FBI agent Maggie O'Dell finds a clue that may finally explain what happened to Creed's sister, but in order to learn more, she's going to have to make a deal with a madman, and the search that follows will be an agonizing one for Creed.

 

~

 

I enjoy Alex Kava's Ryder Creed series so much that I dole out each book sparingly. I know I'm going to enjoy the read, and I never want to run out of them, no matter how much I love Creed's relationship with his dogs. Lost Creed was no exception.

 

In Lost Creed, we learn Ryder's backstory, of what led to his sister's abduction and the aftermath that destroyed his family. We get to meet Ryder's mother, who's made a name for herself in the field that Martha Stewart made famous. But most of all, we get to be partners with Creed and FBI agent Maggie O'Dell on another high-octane thrill ride as they search for the information they need in order to find out what happened to Creed's sister. Also helping us piece things together are occasional chapters from the point of view of one of the abducted women. 

 

In the meantime, we readers also follow along with Creed's employee, young Jason Seaver, a vet with a prosthetic limb whose troublesome attitude is slowly mellowing out. He and his young dog, Scout, are on their first solo mission, and it's Jason's chance to really learn the meaning of Rule #1: "Trust Your Dog."

 

Lost Creed has excellent pacing, ever-increasing suspense, and characters who make you come back for more. Kava has done so much to inform her readers about how talented dogs are, and what makes this series even more special is the fact that all of the dogs in Creed's K-9 Crime Scents business are rejects-- many of them abandoned at the end of Creed's driveway. He gives them all stability, love, and training, and as a result, many of his dogs have become heroes. Creed's primary objective is to make sure none of his dogs are ever hurt again, and you just have to mentally hug the stuffing out of him for his resolve. (At least I do.) However, this is a mystery series, not only for dog lovers but also for those who love fast-paced suspense. 

Now that I've read Lost Creed, I'm going to have to force myself to stay away from the next book in the series. As I said, I enjoy these books so much that I never want to run out. But... my resolve is weakening...

 

Lost Creed by Alex Kava

eISBN: 9780997389791

Prairie Wind Publishing © 2018

eBook, 295 pages

 

Police Procedural.Working Dog, #4 Ryder Creed mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Reckless Creed by Alex Kava

 

First Line: Tony Briggs coughed up blood, then wiped his mouth with his shirtsleeve.

 

Mysterious deaths aren't anything new. In Chicago, a young man jumps to his death from the thirtieth floor of a hotel. In Missouri, hunters find a lake covered in dead snow geese. In southern Alabama, Ryder Creed and his search-and-rescue dog Gracie find the body of a young woman who filled her pockets with rocks and walked into a river. Seemingly unrelated, right? But when FBI agent Maggie O'Dell and Ryder Creed begin to investigate, very disturbing facts begin to show themselves. These deaths are connected, and if Maggie and Creed are right, they're searching for potentially the most prolific killer in the United States. 

 

~

 

Alex Kava's Ryder Creed series is one that I have to keep myself from gobbling up like a starving woman, and Reckless Creed is no exception. The stories are exceptional, and I love the relationship between Creed and his amazing dogs. Kava goes a long way into explaining just what remarkable talents dogs have. 

 

In an article about Creed and his business, K9 Crime Scents, a journalist talking about his success said, "They did it by rescuing abandoned and discarded dogs and turning them into heroes." In fact, as Creed's success becomes better known, more and more people are abandoning pets at the end of his driveway. This has the conflicting effect of making me angry and my being thankful that at least the dogs have a much better shot at a good life.

Published in 2016, having a story revolve around dogs that can sniff out diseases ratcheted up the tension and chill factor now that we are battling a pandemic. In Reckless Creed, we learn more about young Jason Seaver, a vet with a prosthetic limb and an often troublesome attitude, as well as the plight of other returned veterans who must deal with the search for proper-fitting prosthetics and doctors who seem to love to over-medicate. Creed has Jason training a young dog, and it's good to see them learning to work with each other.

 

If you enjoy exciting stories, fantastic working dogs, and a passionate main character you can believe in, Alex Kava's Ryder Creed series is the one for you. I'd suggest that you start at the beginning with Breaking Creed. It was one of my Best Reads of 2019. 

Reckless Creed by Alex Kava

eISBN: 9780698160699

G.P. Putnam's Sons © 2016

eBook, 336 pages

 

Law Enforcement/Working Dogs, #3 Ryder Creed mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Silent Creed by Alex Kava

First Line:  Daniel Tate clenched his teeth and looked away just as the needle pierced a vein in his arm.

The only real reason why Ryder Creed and his best search and rescue dog, Bolo, are at the site of a landslide in North Carolina is that he owes his former superior officer a favor. Once he's there, Ryder's all business as he and Bolo search for survivors in the treacherous terrain.

As dangerous as the terrain is, what's now below ground is even more deadly: a top-secret government research facility, and the danger increases when bodies of employees at the facility are found shot to death. It doesn't take Creed and FBI agent Maggie O'Dell long to figure out that certain people are more concerned about recovering what's in that building and hiding their tracks than they are about finding survivors.

The first book in the Ryder Creed series, Breaking Creed, knocked my socks off, and this second installment is a pageturner, too-- even though readers who don't like cliffhangers are probably going to be furious. If you enjoy being immersed in the world of working dogs, Alex Kava's series is for you. A veteran of Afghanistan, Ryder Creed has a compound in the Florida Panhandle where he trains search and rescue dogs. What earns him a lot of Brownie points from me is the fact that the dogs he trains are rescues themselves. In Silent Creed, we get to see two of his best dogs at work, a Jack Russell Terrier named Grace and Bolo, part Rhodesian Ridgeback and extremely protective of Ryder.

The plot is based on fact and may get readers' blood boiling since it does concern how cavalier some of these secret research facilities are with their test subjects. Kava also brings home how dangerous it is to work search and rescue in a landslide area.

Besides the dogs and the storylines, I enjoy these books for the characters. It was good to see FBI agent Maggie O'Dell again because she works well with Ryder Creed, who's much more comfortable with dogs than he is with humans (although he has a tough time keeping his eyes off Maggie... and vice versa). I also hope to see a minor character named Daniel Tate again.

Even though I did find the ending rather jarring, I have the feeling that the character involved is going to figure prominently in some future book, and I look forward to the return engagement.

Silent Creed by Alex Kava

eISBN: 9780698160682

G.P. Putnam's Sons © 2015

eBook, 338 pages

Law Enforcement/Working Dogs, #2 Ryder Creed mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

 

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

First Line: Sweat slid down Amanda's back.

It was never Ryder Creed's intention to wind up in the spotlight, but that's exactly what's happened to him and the dogs he's trained for search and rescue, finding cadavers, and sniffing out drugs and bombs. Creed may not like it, but his partner says the publicity's good for their fledgling business.

One job has Creed and his Jack Russel Terrier named Grace searching a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Florida. They discover that the Colombian cartel's latest shipment isn't drugs-- it's human.

Meanwhile, FBI agent Maggie O'Dell is following the trail of a brutal assassin. She's worked with Creed once before, so when she discovers a hit list with his name on it, she immediately goes into action. Hopefully, she isn't too late...

Last September, I happened to read an article about the top mystery series featuring working dogs, and Alex Kava's Ryder Creed series was on it. I've already sampled the others on the list and thought that it was high time I cracked open Breaking Creed. Boy howdy-- once I did, I didn't want to stop reading!

Breaking Creed has all the hallmarks of a thriller: the breakneck pace, lots of action, multiple locations,  and just the type of loathsome bad guys that made audiences boo! and hiss! in the old silent movie theaters. If that was all it had, it would be a good book, but it has a lot more.

I loved getting to know Creed and seeing the perfect set-up he has for his dogs-- the kennels, the fact that he trains rescue dogs, and that he's building facilities for a veterinarian. I pretended that I was part of the audience in one of those old silent movie theaters when I learned what many of his neighbors were doing, and then there was the pleasure of seeing Creed at work with his dogs. I'm the type of person who believes one of the best things in life is to find oneself in the middle of a romping pile of puppies, so you know I'm thrilled with the burgeoning subgenre of working dog mysteries.

There are some interesting secondary characters as well, like young Amanda and Jason, a vet who served in Afghanistan. Having Maggie O'Dell make an appearance from Kava's other series undoubtedly brought many Maggie fans over, but I'd never read a Maggie O'Dell mystery before. Guess what happened? Now I've added the Maggie O'Dell series to my Need-To-Read list.

What can I say? I'm the type of reader who is disciplined enough to put my book down when it's necessary, but I was enjoying Breaking Creed so much that I read until I finished the book at 5 AM. I'm certainly looking forward to reading the other books in the series, but in the meantime... anyone got a couple of toothpicks so I can prop my eyelids open?

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

eISBN: 9780698160675

G.P. Putnam's Sons © 2015

eBook, 309 pages

Law Enforcement/Working Dogs, #1 Ryder Creed mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.