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jess_mango's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Let me start off by saying that I am more of a cat person than a dog person. My cat is nestled up next to me as I write this.
BUT, I was intrigued by the idea of a murder/thriller story told from the perspective of a Cadaver Dog Trainer. Mason "Mace" Reid regularly works with Chicago-area police by bringing in his dogs to sniff out human remains. After one of his 4 dogs dies, Mace gladly adopts a golden retriever pup that police rescued from a house where some bad stuff went down. This puppy, Vira, turns out to be extraordinarily gifted at finding cadavers. Mace and Vira find themselves entangled in the case of a local serial killer.
OK, so there were some insensitive bits in this book that made me cringe and I didn't really connect with any of the characters. It was very much an action driven story vs. a character-driven tale. I feel like we only got to know the characters at a surface level. The story itself kept me hooked and it was a fun read. This is supposed to be the first in the series, so I will keep my eye out for the 2nd book.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start off by saying that I am more of a cat person than a dog person. My cat is nestled up next to me as I write this.
BUT, I was intrigued by the idea of a murder/thriller story told from the perspective of a Cadaver Dog Trainer. Mason "Mace" Reid regularly works with Chicago-area police by bringing in his dogs to sniff out human remains. After one of his 4 dogs dies, Mace gladly adopts a golden retriever pup that police rescued from a house where some bad stuff went down. This puppy, Vira, turns out to be extraordinarily gifted at finding cadavers. Mace and Vira find themselves entangled in the case of a local serial killer.
OK, so there were some insensitive bits in this book that made me cringe and I didn't really connect with any of the characters. It was very much an action driven story vs. a character-driven tale. I feel like we only got to know the characters at a surface level. The story itself kept me hooked and it was a fun read. This is supposed to be the first in the series, so I will keep my eye out for the 2nd book.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
ifollowedthatrabbit's review
5.0
This has been such an entertaining read! It's been hard to put it down.
I must confess that the golden retriever on the cover got my total attention, so that's how I picked it up. If the story has dogs (or any other animals) I'm all in!
I must confess that the golden retriever on the cover got my total attention, so that's how I picked it up. If the story has dogs (or any other animals) I'm all in!
rellimreads's review
3.0
Jeffrey B. Burton is a new to me author I discovered while hunting for more books narrated by Matt Godfrey. I enjoyed the mystery/suspense and world building for The Finders, which launches Burton’s Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series.
Mace is a trainer based in Chicago that specializes in cadaver dogs. He’s obviously an animal lover and it shows with how he treats and talks to his dogs. He finds himself in the middle of a hunt for a serial killer with newly trained Golden Retriever, Vira, by his side.
A few times the jokes were indelicate, but for the most part I enjoyed the humor. The pacing was really well done. I liked that Burton offered perspective from more than just Mace – in a unique approach the chapters from Mace’s perspective were in 1st person while all others were 3rd. There are chapters from the killer’s perspective, but they aren’t revealed until just before Mace & Kippy figure it out. It worked well for me.
While there’s a little interest and flirting banter, romance is a very minor part of the story. Though I’m definitely looking forward to more of Kippy & Mace in book 2, The Keepers. Their personalities and partnership are a lot of fun.
Narration:
I picked this specifically because it was narrated by Matt Godfrey. I love what he did with all of Burton’s characters. He’s the perfect Mace. It was a great performance and this was an enjoyable listen all around.
Content Warnings (possible spoilers):
details of victims’ deaths are shared, dogs are injured (some severely) but all live
Mace is a trainer based in Chicago that specializes in cadaver dogs. He’s obviously an animal lover and it shows with how he treats and talks to his dogs. He finds himself in the middle of a hunt for a serial killer with newly trained Golden Retriever, Vira, by his side.
A few times the jokes were indelicate, but for the most part I enjoyed the humor. The pacing was really well done. I liked that Burton offered perspective from more than just Mace – in a unique approach the chapters from Mace’s perspective were in 1st person while all others were 3rd. There are chapters from the killer’s perspective, but they aren’t revealed until just before Mace & Kippy figure it out. It worked well for me.
While there’s a little interest and flirting banter, romance is a very minor part of the story. Though I’m definitely looking forward to more of Kippy & Mace in book 2, The Keepers. Their personalities and partnership are a lot of fun.
Narration:
I picked this specifically because it was narrated by Matt Godfrey. I love what he did with all of Burton’s characters. He’s the perfect Mace. It was a great performance and this was an enjoyable listen all around.
Content Warnings (possible spoilers):
details of victims’ deaths are shared, dogs are injured (some severely) but all live
lynguy1's review against another edition
5.0
THE FINDERS by Jeffrey B. Burton is the first book in the new Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series. It is also my first book by this author. Mason (Mace) Reid lives outside of Chicago and trains dogs with various end goals such as obedience and missing persons tracking, as well as searching for drugs and explosives. However, his specialty is training dogs in human remains detection (HRD). He recently acquired and began training a golden retriever named Vira. With a serial killer targeting young women, the Chicago police department asks for Mace’s help. What follows is a terrific mystery with lots of action, twists and turns, a little humor, and some fantastic moments with Mace’s family; his four HRD dogs.
The characters are compelling and well-developed for a first book in a series. They have clear goals with believable motivations and show appropriate emotions. The secondary characters are well-rounded and the characters seemed believable and not contrived. The prose was engaging, well-written, compelling, and compulsively reading. The plot was clever, intriguing, creative, intense, suspenseful, and riveting. The final twist caught me by surprise. This is one that I did not see coming even though there were enough hints that I conceivably could have deciphered it. Themes explored included serial killers, police procedures, HRD training, the relationships between dogs and people, and much more.
Overall, this was an entertaining novel and a great start to a new series. I look forward to the next book in the series. Additionally, I want to read this author’s FBI Special Agent Drew Cady mystery series starting with THE CHESSMAN.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books and Jeffrey B. Burton for an ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
The characters are compelling and well-developed for a first book in a series. They have clear goals with believable motivations and show appropriate emotions. The secondary characters are well-rounded and the characters seemed believable and not contrived. The prose was engaging, well-written, compelling, and compulsively reading. The plot was clever, intriguing, creative, intense, suspenseful, and riveting. The final twist caught me by surprise. This is one that I did not see coming even though there were enough hints that I conceivably could have deciphered it. Themes explored included serial killers, police procedures, HRD training, the relationships between dogs and people, and much more.
Overall, this was an entertaining novel and a great start to a new series. I look forward to the next book in the series. Additionally, I want to read this author’s FBI Special Agent Drew Cady mystery series starting with THE CHESSMAN.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books and Jeffrey B. Burton for an ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
exploradora's review against another edition
4.0
Finally finished reading this arc I've got from netgalley months ago (if not last year)
malreynolds111's review
3.0
Vira is an awesome dog. She can do amazing things and is super smart. However, I wasn't really in love with her owner Mason. If I had to listen to one more line about how amazing he thought Kippy was I was gonna call it quits. It kinda ruined the book for me. I will read the next book in the series.
Honest review of an ARC from Netgalley.
sparklingreader's review against another edition
3.0
This is a hard-core suspense mystery with a lot of tension—and bodies. And one amazing golden retriever. Vira was absolutely the best character in this book. The others are pretty good too, but Vira took my heart—and I’m a cat person! Reid is a dog whisperer who trains dogs for a variety of duties, including finding cadavers. Some of the facts the author added to the story about dogs and their sense of smell are rather interesting and added to the book.
What I liked: Vira. Hands down, she is the main character and so interesting.
What I didn’t like: I received this book thinking it was a light murder mystery. I was very wrong. It’s bloody, gory, intense…with some lighter moments, but is definitely not a light mystery. It is not my kind of book at all… But, that being said, it is well-written with good characters, high suspense, and a satisfying ending. It’s not a bad book – it’s just not *my* kind of book.
Recommendation: This is the first in a series and if you like dogs and intense murder mysteries, you’ll probably enjoy this one. Will I ever read another book in this series? No. But…if you like suspenseful thrillers and a bit of intensity, then pick this one up.
This book was provided to me by the publisher.
What I liked: Vira. Hands down, she is the main character and so interesting.
What I didn’t like: I received this book thinking it was a light murder mystery. I was very wrong. It’s bloody, gory, intense…with some lighter moments, but is definitely not a light mystery. It is not my kind of book at all… But, that being said, it is well-written with good characters, high suspense, and a satisfying ending. It’s not a bad book – it’s just not *my* kind of book.
Recommendation: This is the first in a series and if you like dogs and intense murder mysteries, you’ll probably enjoy this one. Will I ever read another book in this series? No. But…if you like suspenseful thrillers and a bit of intensity, then pick this one up.
This book was provided to me by the publisher.
bergamotandbooks's review against another edition
2.0
2 STARS
Mason "Mace" Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and specializes in human remains detection. He trains dogs to hunt for the dead. Reid’s adopts a rescue dog with a mysterious past—a golden retriever named Vira. And when he begins training Vira as a cadaver dog, he comes to realize just how special the newest addition to his family truly is…
Suddenly, Reid and his prize pupil find themselves hurled into a taxing murder case, which will push them to their very limits. Paired with determined Chicago Police Officer Kippy Gimm, Mace must put all his trust in Vira's abilities to thwart a serial killer who has now set his sights on Mace himself.
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Okay, I wanted so badly to love this book. It has a little bit of everything in it: thrills, serial killers, dogs who sniff out dead bodies (!!)....but unfortunately something about it just didn't work for me. I think this was definitely a case of "it's me not the book" because I didn't have any major issues with the writing, plot or characters. However, this was fairly heavy on the police procedural aspect and I know that this is not something i usually enjoy (case and point, the 2 stars.) That being said, I did enjoy the small tidbits of cadaver science sprinkled in and I was rooting for Mace and Vira the whole time!
THE FINDERS is a well written, heart pounding police procedural that is guaranteed to hook many readers within the first few pages! Plus one of the main characters is a bad-ass corpse sniffing prodigy dog. What's not to love?!
Thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC. THE FINDERS is out June 20th!
Mason "Mace" Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and specializes in human remains detection. He trains dogs to hunt for the dead. Reid’s adopts a rescue dog with a mysterious past—a golden retriever named Vira. And when he begins training Vira as a cadaver dog, he comes to realize just how special the newest addition to his family truly is…
Suddenly, Reid and his prize pupil find themselves hurled into a taxing murder case, which will push them to their very limits. Paired with determined Chicago Police Officer Kippy Gimm, Mace must put all his trust in Vira's abilities to thwart a serial killer who has now set his sights on Mace himself.
.
.
.
Okay, I wanted so badly to love this book. It has a little bit of everything in it: thrills, serial killers, dogs who sniff out dead bodies (!!)....but unfortunately something about it just didn't work for me. I think this was definitely a case of "it's me not the book" because I didn't have any major issues with the writing, plot or characters. However, this was fairly heavy on the police procedural aspect and I know that this is not something i usually enjoy (case and point, the 2 stars.) That being said, I did enjoy the small tidbits of cadaver science sprinkled in and I was rooting for Mace and Vira the whole time!
THE FINDERS is a well written, heart pounding police procedural that is guaranteed to hook many readers within the first few pages! Plus one of the main characters is a bad-ass corpse sniffing prodigy dog. What's not to love?!
Thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC. THE FINDERS is out June 20th!