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North Carolina native Raine Stockton, a dog trainer and the ex-wife of a deputy sheriff, knows the woods of Hanover County as well as anyone. She stopped volunteering for Search and Rescue work after a tragic loss, but now she reluctantly returns to active duty-along with a young and inexperienced Golden Retriever named Cisco-to help find a mother and six-year-old girl who have been kidnapped and taken deep into the wilderness. Suspecting there's more to the case than meets the eye, Raine must struggle to overcome her personal demons, turn her search in new directions-and learn to trust Cisco to lead the way.
Customer Review: A "Golden" Start to a Fabulous New Series!
In the 1st book in the Raine Stockton Dog mystery series, we meet "retired" dog-tracker, Raine Stockton and her dog, Cisco. The team has been reluctantly called out to assist in a troubling case of a missing child in the Smoky Mountains of Hanover County, North Carolina. Raine has given up working as a Search and Rescue team after the death of her favorite dog, Cassidy. Cisco is not the dog that Cassidy was, and Raine is embarrassed when he alerts to a find that appears only to be an open can of baked beans. Stumbling back to her vehicle and working Cisco around a bridge that he is petrified of, Raine hurts her "bad" knee while falling next to the dead body of the little girl's kidnapper. Laid up with her injury, Raine is taken off the search team. Determined to help find the missing girl, Raine continues her search and finds peace with the death of her beloved dog, Cassidy, and the knowledge that she has another great dog still willing to go to work helping people. Every once in awhile, I find a fantastic new series that grabs my attention from the beginning, and seizes my heart along with it. While reading this magnificent book, I felt a wide range of emotions, and was sad when it came to the end. Raine is a strong female character still reeling from the death of her beloved, devoted Golden. She doesn't trust the abilities of Cassidy's grandson, Cisco, but learns over the course of the book that she must let go of her grief and begin to trust her intelligent, sensitive young dog. I laughed at the dog's antics, I cried at the description of Cassidy's death, and went through the ups and downs of this twisting tale right along with this great team. As a dog lover, I am continually amazed at what these wonderful animals can do for us and it was great to see some of them highlighted in this extraordinary new series! The next book in this series is "Rapid Fire". Enjoy!
Customer Review: New Dog Queen
As a friend and website host for late Bloodhound Mystery author Virginia Lanier, I've mourned not only my friend but the end of a great dog mystery series. With Smoky Mountain Tracks by Donna Ball, I feel I've found a new and wonderful friend. Set in the North Carolina mountains, the sense of locale and characters is wonderful, and I hope to see the characters developed more fully in upcoming books. For those of us who love dogs, the details of the training and personalities of the dogs was great to read. While I occasionally "saw things coming," there were enough twists and turns to keep me interested right to the end, and I enjoyed every page.


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