The Darkest Thread (The Flint K-9 Search And Rescue Mysteries) Paperback – October 8, 2016

Cliffhanger: noNumber in series: first of 3; books 2&3 are availableCoarse language: noSexual talk or situations: noGore or violence: low violenceProofreading: excellentEditing: excellentPersonal grade: AJamie Flint runs an animal rehabilitation center, as well as training dogs for search and rescue. She and her son share an awareness of spirits, or ghosts, or whatever you care to call them. Jamie can hear and sometimes see the ghost of a murder ; her grown son, Bear, can hear, see and communicate with them.Two teenage girls have disappeared on the thickly forested mountain where their family, a collection of disparate people, live. Jamie and her search dog Phantom are called in to help the VTK9 search and rescue, and the FBI, by the father of the missing teens, but something more is going on in the family.Jamie is a strong, likable female lead. Descriptions of how she and her dog Phantom work are interesting, and not bogged down in detail. The contrast between her older, well settled dog, and her son's younger, more excitable dog, are amusing without becoming comedy relief.As a plot device, the psychic abilities of Jamie and Bear play a large part in the story, especially as the climax builds, but never become the driving force of the story. Instead of heavy handed descriptions that overwhelm the story, their abilities become just everyday part of their lives. Yes, they keep their abilities to themselves, but more because they don't want to bother trying to explain how they work to people sceptical of what they describe.The Redfield family has interesting, rather eccentric members. Dean Redfield, the teens' father, believes the FBI stole land he owned; one brother is in jail for supposedly killing his sisters; another brother fancies himself a lady's man; another brother demonstrates autistic-type behaviors, and a sister runs the house. They're surrounded by the typical group of extended family with shotguns and loyalty. Most of the attention focuses on the father, and his decent into less and less reasonable behavior ties nicely into the frustration of a fruitless search.Most of the agents of the FBI are background, except the lead agent, familiarly the strong, not so silent type. He clashes with Jamie and the female head of the Vermont search and rescue, and an accompanying agent, already in trouble with his superiors.The proofreading and editing are excellent. The story moves forward smoothly, without bogging down in details. The characters mesh together well, their roles clearly defined. Many tempting red herrings are sprinkled through, and this reader found the ending surprising. There is almost no foreshadowing, which makes the revealing of the culprit a little puzzling. The process by which the culprit is determined doesn't allow the reader a chance to assemble their own theories.An altogether satisfying book of K-9 search and rescue, a light handed integration of psychic ability, and a well planned mystery.Personal grade: AAs usual, your mileage may vary.

I tried this book on a whim. I love dogs and this seemed like a fresh approach to a mystery book. I loved the majority of the book but it seemed to get a little loose as the end approached. The writing and proofing were fine but the scenarios started losing continuity. People that should be on scene suddenly werent, actions and decisions made that defy the rules of sworn agents, and serious charges dropped mysteriously. Halfway through I was planning on buying next book and looking forward to others. By the end, I was not sure anymore. It made sense (even the visions seem to work) then just didnt. Rushed writing deadline maybe?

Damned good read with loads of twists. Did some research on Glastenbury, Vt. and the novel tells the story of the non town pretty accurately. There is a Bennington Triangle and a Glastenbury Casino. Great research by the author and its spot on. Never visited Glastonbury but I did live in NH for over twenty years and visited the Green State many times. I've also had German Shepherds my whole life. If you get a good one you've got the best dog on the planet. Bar none. Spoiler alert.This one starts with Jamie Flint, her SAR dog Phantom, her son Bear and his SAR dog Caspar on a training run where they find a dead doe and her two fawns.Jamie and Bear mange to catch the fawns who will be returned to Windfall Island which is ten miles off the coast of Maine and its an island that was donated to Jamie by a reporter who owned it.The two fawns will be fostered until they can be returned to the wild. Jamie has fostered many wild animal that were returned to the wild. Jamie also runs her own SAR company using her German Shepherd Phantom, Bears pit bull Caz and Minion a half pit bull that Ren, a young Nigerian woman handles.Phantom is a dog Jamie rescued from a shelter in Georgia where she was about to be euthanized. Phantom was skin and bones and fighting the person who was hauling her to the euthanasia room. She looked at Jamie and Jamie knew Phantom would be leaving with her. Phantom is now eight years old and Jamie knows one day she will have to retire her dog. Phantom is a top notch Search and Rescue dog and Jamie isn't looking forward to that retirement at all.Caz is a pit bull with ears cropped so close to his head you almost can't see them. Caz was used as a bait dog by those training fighting pit bulls. Caz is great with other dogs and is turning into one great SAR dog. Bear loved the dog to death and his training has been great.Minion is a half pit and is one sweet dog. Ren handles her. Ren and her Father are refugee's from Nigeria where Ren's Mother and other siblings were murdered. Ren's Father was in the Army and by the time he got home most of his family was dead. It took a while but he finally found Ren and immigrated to the US where he found a home on Windfall Island and a job with Jamie.On returning to the dock to head back to her island she finds three men waiting for her. One of them Jack Juarez is someone she's worked with in the past. He's an FBI agent. The other two are SAC Gerard McDonough. The third man is Monty who is Jamie's second in command.Jack tells Jamie of two lost teenage girls in Glastenbury, Vt. Vermont K-9 is already on site and the search for the two is already on. Glastenbury Mountain is where the two disappeared. McDonough tells Jamie that she's been requested to come by the girls Father. Dean Redfield is the father and he doesn't trust the FBI at all. His brother Gordon who was an FBI agent is in jail for the murder of his two sisters. Gordon has always said he's innocent but had no way to prove that innocence. Dean wants nothing to do with the FBI or the search they have stared. He feels he can't trust any of them.Redfield knows about Jamie through her mentor. Brock Campbell a man who, when he died, left Jamie ten million dollars and his business which was how Jamie started her own business. Campbell was a icon in the SAR business and he taught Jamie all he knew. Jamie owes much to the man.Jamie was sixteen when she had Bear. Bear is a young man with some strange powers. He can see and speak with the dead. Its not something that anyone else knows but he and Jamie know it and Jamie can also see and hear the dead. These two abilities will be worth their weigh in gold as Jamie, Bear, Ren, Phantom, Caz and Minion head for the unincorporated town of Glastenbury, Vt. A town full of secrets.So begins one damned fine read.This one has Jamie, Jack, McDonough, Dean Redfield and his family, Phantom, Caz, Minion, Wendy Deans sister, Gordon Redfield, a woman in a red sweater, a Jamie who finds one of the sisters mutilated and dead, the search for the other sister Ariel, a Dean Redfield who takes a wounded Bear prisoner, a Bear and Ren who will be hostages for the return of Ariel, FBI agent Rita Paulson who had been married to Gordon, the Bennington Triangle, bear traps, tunnels, the ghosts of the missing, cairns built all through Glastenbury Mountain, the Vermont K-9 SAR team led by Cheryl Madden who's an ex Marine, a Cheryl who is one tough woman, the missing from the forties and fifties, the Glastenbury Casino, the abandoned town of Glastenbury, the building that are still left, the deep woods, the deep woods that make following trails hard, the dogs who air scent to follow the trails, a tunnel Jamie finds and heads down, a Jack who heads for California so he can speak with Gordon Redfield, a Jack who brings Gordon back with him, a Bear who sees the girl in the red sweater and speaks with her, another girl Jamie sees, a girl who tells her that she and the others are held in Glastenbury by a monstrous THING, a Jamie who finds Ariel, a Wendy who gets Bear and Ren out of the Redfield compound and Jamie Flint doing her best to figure the whole thing out, get Ariel to safety, get Bear and Ren back and stay alive.Five Stars.

I was truly on the edge of my seat reading this first book in the series. So far, the characters are interesting and definitely likable, especially the dogs! I can’t wait to read book two!

I must say I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It had twists and turns that surprised me and the added things that Bear and Jamie are blessed with was a twist I thoroughly enjoyed. I honestly changed my mind many times as to who did what to whom and it wasn't til almost the end that I realized I had been wrong yet again. Fantastic read.

Good plot, but for a first book in a new series, there were too many hints to a dark past of all protagonists, without having satisfactory explanations. Although on second thought, there were so many not so subtle hints that a reader had to be very unimaginative not to guess what happened. I assume the rest will be explained, more or less, in the books to come.The story was too dark for my taste, with some supernatural thrown in but again, the explanations, the developments, came too slow for me to really enjoy them.I did like the dogs, though.

シングルマザーのジェイミー・フリントは捜索犬シェパードのファントムと１７歳の一人息子ベアが飼う同じく捜索犬ピットブルのキャスパーと暮らし、ベアの幼馴染１７歳のレンが飼う捜索犬ミニオンも一緒に運動していた。ある日 ヴァーモントに広大な森を持つ大家族の家長ディーン・レッドフィールドの娘１８歳アリエルと１６歳のメラニーが森に出かけたまま帰らないと皆で探し回ったが見つからず、２４時間経ち、捜索依頼がきた。ジェイミーのK9上司モンティから指示され、FBI特別捜査官ジャック・ウワレス、助手のリタ・ポールセンと共にジェイミーたち三人三匹で森に入り、一人を見つけたのがメラニーで殺された跡がある裸の死体だった。それを見たディーンは怒り狂って発砲しベアを傷つけたうえにレンと二人を連れ去り、「アリエルを探し出せ、さもなくばこの子たちを殺す」と脅迫してきた。ここまでが約三分の一で、やっと本格的な捜索犬の活動が始まる。犬が好きでＫ９モノをちょくちょく読むが、鋭い嗅覚でものごとを解決するＫ９の話は型にはまりやすく作者もひねりを加えるのに苦労するみたいで、特に今作は犬の活躍が控えめでもっぱらジェイミー、ジャック、リタそして支えに回った人たちのチームワークと悲劇に見舞われ続けるレッドフィールド一家のすったもんだの数日間の人間模様が丁寧に描かれるのは嬉しい。しかし手練れの作者にしては今回は少々無理があるようで、せっかく見つけてくれた捜索隊に対して依頼主が理不尽な怒りをぶつけ、また息子を傷つけられて連れ去られた母が「それならもう一人を探せばいいのでしょう」と淡々と次の探索行動に移るのは どうみても不自然だし、折に触れて現れる幻視幻聴といった超常現象が付け加わるのはどうも戴けない。次作をあたってみようか。

I really liked this and hope there will be follow up as it blends two of favourite things, animals as characters and a really well written supernatural thriller.The story is mostly told by Jamie Flint who runs an animal rehabilitation centre and sanctuary on a private island in Maine. She has a teenage son called Bear and also lives with a man called Carl and his daughter Urenna who have escaped warfare in Africa. Jamie, Bear and Urenna are trained search and rescue operatives and work closely with their dogs. The story begins when Jack an FBI agent Jamie is familiar with asks her to assist in a search being conducted on a remote and densely wooded mountain. Two teenage girls are missing and the father has especially requested Jamie. Subsequently we learn the Feds and his family have a very murky history. Jamie agrees to the request and well meaningly takes the teenagers along with the K9 searchers, a decision she will later regret. It is soon apparent there are darker elements at work in the woods and the searchers are not only dealing with dire conditions, the paranormal but also some really dangerous crazy people who will literally stop at nothing to get what they want. The team also find themselves facing an ultimatum they have to keep if they all want to live.I loved the main characters here they were so well written and easy to empathise with. Particularly Jamie herself, her son Bear and his friend Ren and of course the dogs Phantom, Minion and Casper. I really admired the way the author so flawlessly crossed over the different threads of the story.While reading this I definitely got a sense of the claustophobic setting within the dark forest and precariousness of the search because of the wildness and remoteness of the mountain along with the weather. The paranormal elements were so well placed and so effective because they were not over blown but gave the story heart and also in turn menace.This is a heart stopping chase through very well imagined landscape with desperation and resiliance at its heart. I have as result of finishing this downloaded the Erin Soloman series.

Jen has a different style of writing, that captures the readers attention and doesn’t let go. Did not see the ending coming, nor who it was. This story will stay with me for a long time. The explained mixed with the terror of the unexplained. A perfect book for anyone looking for a new thriller. Highly recommended