Lost Creed by Alex Kava (#4 Ryder Creed)

Lost Creed by Alex Kava

 Published: May, 2018

 

Previous Book in the Series: #3 – Reckless Creed

Lost Creed by Alex Kava is the 4th in the Ryder Creed Series.

Series Background (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books):
When Ryder was 14, his 11-year old sister was kidnapped from an interstate rest area. He still hopes to find her. Ryder Creed is a war veteran. As a Marine, he was in Afghanistan, working with his dog Rufus, when his world exploded, literally. Back in the U.S. he formed K9 Crimescents, where he trains dogs to locate missing persons, human remains, drugs and viruses. He is based in the Florida Panhandle, but works where he is needed. His friend and partner, Hannah, runs the business end of things. Jason, an army vet, is his new dog handler. Ryder and FBI Profiler Maggie O’Dell (who has her own series by Alex Kava), have worked a number of cases together, and there seems to be some romantic interest.

My Synopsis:
Maggie is working a case of Human Trafficking in Nebraska. When she spots a picture on the suspect’s wall of two kids, she does a double-take. The names on the bottom of the Polaroid are Ryder and Brodie. Against her better judgement, she calls Ryder.

Ryder is stunned. He immediately contacts his estranged mother, and asks for a DNA sample, and asks her to send him the box that she has kept containing Brodie’s hairbrush, her baby teeth, and other items that could be used to identify her remains if they are found. Then he heads to Nebraska with his best scent dog, a Jack Russell named Grace. Uninvited, Maggie questions his judgement, but allows him to stay.

Olivia, Ryder’s Mom, heads to K9 Crimescents, also uninvited, to deliver the box in person. There she meets Hannah and Jason.

Jason and his dog Scout, are out on their first missing person’s case, alone. Ryder assures him that he is ready, but Jason is nervous. He will have to overcome his fears, and trust his dog.

My Opinions:
This was another great book in the series. An easy, fast read, with a good plot, and interesting characters. I like that Kava is bringing two individuals from different series together. They make a good match, and keep both series alive and current.

Kava researches every book, and the Afterward in this one deals with Human Trafficking. This statement floored me. “According to a study funded by the Women’s Fund of Omaha, there are 900 people for sale online every month in Nebraska.” Just scary.

Anyway, as always, I enjoyed the book, and am enjoying the series. I’m not sure you have to read all the books, as most things are explained within this one, but I’d recommend them all.

 

Read: September 2018

Favorite Quote from Lost Creed:

“A liar knows the truth but attempts to hide it. A bullshitter doesn’t necessarily know what’s true and really doesn’t care what’s true. That makes it almost impossible to find out what the hell the truth is.”

 

About the Author:  Alex Kava  (June 1960 –  ) is the NY Times best-selling author of this Maggie O’Dell Series.  She  has also written a new Ryder Creed series, as well as stand-alone novels.  Before devoting her time to writing, she held a variety of jobs, mostly in marketing and advertising.  She started her own graphic design company, designing food packages and logos for various national companies.   Kava currently divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska and Pensacola, Florida.  She has a pack of Westies (or more likely, they have her.)

Reckless Creed by Alex Kava (#3 Ryder Creed)

 

Reckless Creed by Alex Kava

Published: 2016

 

Reckless Creed by Alex Kava is the 3rd in the Ryder Creed series.

FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell also figures prominently in this novel.

Creed and his K-9 Search-and-Rescue Dogs are about to face something new.  When he and his Jack Russell Terrier, Grace, find two dead birds in addition to the body of a dead girl, panic starts to rise.  Creed is afraid that Grace may have contacted whatever virus killed the birds.  When Agent Tabor shows up threatening to quarantine/euthanize his entire kennel because of the possibility of bird flu, Creed’s assistant (Hannah) calls Maggie to see if she can help.

Maggie, however, is in Chicago, thinking that the young man that just jumped to his death from the 30th floor, may actually have been murdered.  Then there is the fact that the CDC and Benjamin Platt, director of USAMRIID, also find this death suspicious, and are wearing full protective gear.  When an entire lake ends up covered in dead geese, Maggie finds they may have a serious lead on Dr. Clare Shaw, who disappeared from the North Carolina mud slide with vials containing some deadly viruses.  It looks like Shaw has found a way to spread these diseases from birds to humans.

Perhaps Creed’s work with training his dogs to sniff out sickness can be enhanced, and they can sniff out deadly viruses.  His biggest fear….what if his dogs catch the virus.

This book was a little scary, because it feels real. The bird flu is real. You often hear about different strains of it, and it can jump to humans, although rarely, and usually only through direct contact with the bird, but…  

We all know Alex Kava does her research.  From the Afterword in the book “The bird flu actually hadn’t been seen since the 1950s. It’s believed that the H1N1 flu strain that caused a pandemic in 1977 and continued to mutate and circulate, now for over twenty years, was accidentally released from a lab in Russia or China. Who’s to say that couldn’t happen again?”   Hmmm…

Anyway, the book was good.   Blending characters from two different series is working.   I like the chemistry that continues to build between Maggie and Ryder Creed.  As well, I am enjoying the whole premise of the “dogs to the rescue”.   Of course, my husband and I share our lives with two rescue dogs, so…….

 

Read: November 2016

 

Favorite Quotes from Reckless Creed:

“They were willing to risk their own well-being when they believed what they were doing was the right thing. Yes, sometimes it was reckless and dangerous. But there was one major difference—Creed wasn’t willing to risk his dog’s welfare.” 

 

About the Author:  Alex Kava is the best-selling author of the Maggie O’Dell FBI Series.  This is the third in her series about a K-9 Search & Rescue team lead by human Ryder Creed.  In addition to winning major awards and having her books published in over 30 countries, Alex  Kava is a dog lover with a pack a Westie’s to call her own.  

Silent Creed by Alex Kava (#2 Ryder Creed)

Silent Creed by Alex Kava

Published: 2015

 

 

Silent Creed is the second in a new series by Alex Kava about an ex-marine (Ryder Creed) who now runs a K-9 Search and Rescue business. 

When the Department of Defense requests Ryder and his dogs to help out at a mud slide in North Carolina, he discovers he will be working for someone he knew from Afghanistan.  Ryder feels he owes Lieutenant Colonel Peter Logan, but that doesn’t mean he has to like working with him again.  The past seems to be coming back and biting him – hard.  He ends up fearing for both his own and his dogs lives.

FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell comes back into Ryder’s life when she is asked to check into the slide by her on-again/off-again boyfriend Benjamin Platt.  Benjamin is currently sitting in on the congressional hearings about decade old medical experiments on unsuspecting army and civilian personnel.   If the mudslide took out one of the D.O.D. Research facilities,  Ben’s boss wants someone he can trust down there, so Ben asked Maggie.  But he may be sending her into more danger than he thought when one of the bodies found has a bullet-hole in it,  and another is showing signs of chemical burns.   If this research facility has anything to do with congressional hearings going on now,  the mudslide may not be the only deadly thing they have to worry about.  As more secrets are unearthed by this slide,  Ryder and Maggie start to doubt everyone around them, including Ben.

 

Another fast-paced book with great characters. I love the dogs in this series as much as I like Ryder and Maggie. But, the book could have used one more chapter,as there were so many things left unanswered. Like where do Ryder and Maggie stand? Maggie and Ben? I’m not a big fan of romance novels, but come on!

Re-Read: September 2016

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava (#1 Ryder Creed)

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

Published: 2015

 

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava is the 1st in the Ryder Creed Series.

Another great book by Alex Kava. I’ve been reading her books since she started writing, and have always enjoyed the FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell Series. I confess to re-reading the books once or twice or…

Now that she’s added a new character and series – Ryder Creed – a specialist in training dogs to find drugs/bombs/remains etc, I am along for the ride. Although, since both Maggie and Creed are in this book, it doesn’t actually feel like a new series.

Ryder was actually in one of the Maggie O’Dell books, but in this one we are really introduced to him, his dogs, his partner Hannah, and his work. When he and Grace, a multi-tasking jack russell terrier,  find children being trafficked on a drug-smuggling boat, and later rescue a 14 year old girl who is being used as a drug mule, he knows he may be bringing the cartel to their doorsteps. When Hannah brings home a war vet, Ryder doesn’t know what problems he may encounter. But with Maggie back in the picture, he may have more than he can handle.

This book, as all of Kava’s books, is a fast read. It keeps you moving from crisis to crisis, and it’s hard to put down…although if you are a little squeamish when it comes to insects/bugs/snakes, consider yourself warned…there are plenty..

Enjoying this series!

 

Favorite Quotes from Breaking Creed:

“Red touches black, venom lack. Red touches yellow, kill a fellow.”

 

Re-Read: August 2016

 

About the Author:  Alex Kava is the best-selling author of the Maggie O’Dell FBI Series.  This is the first in a new series about a K-9 Search & Rescue team.  In addition to winning major awards and having her books published in over 30 countries, Alex  Kava is a dog lover with a pack a Westie’s to call her own.