Lone Wolf by Sara Driscoll

Lone Wolf
By Sara Driscoll (Jen J. Danna & Ann Vanderlaan)
Published by Kensington (29 November 2016)
ISBN: 978-1496704412

Publisher's description
In the first book in a thrilling new series, FBI Special Agent Meg Jennings and Hawk, her loyal search-and-rescue Labrador, must race against time as they zero in on one of the deadliest killers in the country . . .

Meg and Hawk are part of the FBI s elite K-9 unit. Hawk can sniff out bodies anywhere living or dead whether it s tracking a criminal or finding a missing person. When a bomb rips apart a government building on the National Mall in Washington D.C., it takes all of the team's extensive search-and-rescue training to locate and save the workers and visitors buried beneath the rubble.

But even as the duo are hailed as heroes, a mad bomber remains at large, striking terror across the Eastern seaboard in a ruthless pursuit of retribution. As more bombs are detonated and the body count escalates, Meg and Hawk are brought in to a task force dedicated to stopping the unseen killer. But when the attacks spiral wide and any number of locations could be the next target, it will come down to a battle of wits and survival skills between Meg, Hawk, and the bomber they re tracking to rescue a nation from the brink of chaos.

My verdict

Sara Driscoll is the pen name of Jen J. Danna & Ann Vanderlaan. I love their Abbot and Lowell Forensic Mysteries, so was very excited to discover they were starting off a new series of action thrillers, with a focus on K-9 rescue teams.

Not only are their crime fiction novels great reads, but I always felt like I had learnt something by the end. Lone Wolf is no exception. Each chapter begins with a snippet of relevant terminology, providing some background information on the training and working life of the FBI's K-9 search and rescue unit.

Lone Wolf focuses on one particular team who do search and rescue but also get involved in criminal investigations. The action thriller aspect kept me gripped and I found it very difficult to put the book down. The excellent writing is intense, engaging and fast paced, with vivid and highly emotive descriptions of the bombing sites, which immersed me totally into the plot.

Meg is a strong female lead and very believable. I expect some romance will develop between her and a certain firefighter in future books. But what really made this book stand out for me was the rapport between the FBI agents and their canine team mates. There was a genuine mutual affection and appreciation. They not only worked together to rescue others, but also worked together to keep each other safe. I have since read some of Jen J. Danna's blog posts to learn more about the K-9 unit and discovered that this really is the case. Lone Wolf is very realistic and well researched.

I really enjoyed Lone Wolf and look forward to seeing how this series develops and progresses.

I received an Advance Reader Copy.