I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Deception Cover by Owen Laukkanen Series: Neah Bay #1
Published by Mulholland Books on May 21 2019
Genres: Adult, Thriller
Pages: 373
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Thrilling and fast-paced, emotional and heartwarming, Deception Cove has everything I look for in a good story, and more.
Why don’t I read more mystery/thrillers? I ask myself that question every time I read a good one, and Deception Cove was the perfect thriller to remind me what I’m missing. I loved the hell out of this book! It had a wonderful combination of tense action, mystery, emotionally driven characters, and best of all, a dog that I absolutely loved. And for all you dog lovers out there who balk at reading anything where the dog might be injured or mistreated or doesn’t make it out alive, then—spoiler!—you’ll be happy to know that Lucy, the dog in Deception Cove, is just fine at the end. I have to admit I was surprised by some of the elements in this story—don’t let that brooding, peaceful scene on the cover fool you—but Laukkanen seamlessly combined these elements into a page-turner of a story that I devoured in just over a day (and if you know how slow I read, you’ll understand what a feat that was for me!)
The story revolves around several main characters. First is Jess Winslow, a marine vet who came back from her time in Afghanistan with PTSD. Jess returns to the small Washington town of Deception Cove where she had hoped to pick up life with her husband Ty, only to find out that he’s drowned in a boating accident. Widowed and traumatized, Jess is given a service dog named Lucy as a companion who calms her when she has nightmares, which happens nearly every time she falls asleep. One day the town’s deputy, a power hungry man named Kirby Harwood, knocks on her door asking if she knows where Ty might have stashed a particular package. Jess has no idea what he’s talking about, but when Harwood turns aggressive, Lucy takes action to protect her owner and attacks him.
Harwood and his fellow deputies Sweeney and Yancy decide to use Lucy as leverage—and to get back at her for biting Harwood—and they snatch her away from Jess, threatening to put her down if Jess doesn’t cooperate and reveal the location of the hidden package.
Meanwhile, ex-convict Mason Burke has just been released from the Chippewa State Penitentiary after a fifteen year stint on a murder charge. Right before his release, Mason and his fellow inmates were involved in a service dog rehabilitation program where they were each assigned a rescue dog to train for six months. Mason’s assigned dog Lucy changed his life for the better and gave him a reason to hope that he might actually have a decent future. Now he just wants to know that Lucy has found a good home and is happy. But Mason is shocked and saddened to find out that Lucy has recently attacked someone and is about to be destroyed.
Mason isn’t about to leave things alone, however, and he winds up in Deception Cove where he meets Jess and teams up with her to rescue Lucy. What follows is a fast-paced race to find the dog, solve the mystery of Ty’s missing package and stay alive, all while being caught in the middle of a drug deal gone bad.
Laukkanen gives us well-rounded characters on both sides of the spectrum—good and evil—and he does a great job of portraying them as real people, avoiding clichés and caricatures. Jess comes across as hard at first, a woman who has been through a lot and has a long way to go with the healing process. But meeting Mason is a big step in that direction, since his insistence that she not give up on Lucy spurs her out of her comfort zone and proves how strong she is. Mason is not what you might expect. He’s an ex-con who is honestly sorry for what he did and he wants to make up for it. I loved the two of them together, both damaged in different ways, but both possessing the drive to make things better for themselves. I also loved a couple of side characters, who were surprisingly just as well fleshed out and three dimensional as Jess and Mason. Shelby is a young woman in a terrible position who just wants to protect her bedridden mother. And the hotel clerk, a man named Henry Moss, is sympathetic to Mason when he comes to town and starts asking too many questions. Henry also plays an important role near the end of the story.
Harwood and his gang were suitable nasty, although the story takes a turn at about the halfway point and we meet a new, even nastier character named Joy who makes Harwood look like a bumbling idiot. Best of all, Laukkanen uses these characters to show a dying, economically challenged small town, where desperate people turn to the drug trade when they have no other options.
And then there’s Lucy. I just love it when a dog brings two people together, and Laukkanen does a great job of setting up this scenario in a completely believable way. The author is definitely focused on his human characters, so don’t expect an anthropomorphized dog in this story. Lucy is a big part of the plot, but she is still a dog. Her only superpowers are her sensitivity to Jess’s anxiety attacks and her ability to calm Jess down. Nevertheless, Lucy is the glue that makes this story work. Without her, there wouldn’t be a story. Laukkanen does a great job of showing the healing power of animals and a dog’s talent in particular for making humans want to do good. Oh, Lucy’s charm doesn’t work on everyone, though. Harwood, Joy and the rest are just too evil to benefit from her goodness, and frankly they don’t deserve her anyway.
Laukkanen uses flashbacks to explain what happened to Jess in Afghanistan, as well as to show Mason’s time in prison, how he survived, and ultimately how he came to meet Lucy. I thought these were really well done and they slotted in nicely with the parts of the story that take place in the present. At about the forty percent mark, the action really takes off and the last half becomes an exciting game of cat-and-mouse as Mason, Jess and Lucy, who are trying to find the hidden location of Ty’s stolen package, try to stay one step ahead of Harwood.
This was a tense, exciting story, perfectly paced and hard to put down. I was thrilled to find out that this is the first in a series. The ending was hugely satisfying and I can hardly wait to revisit these characters and follow them on their next adventure.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Great review! I’ve picked up a few thrillers myself lately- I think I just need a break from SFF, and have been enjoying them a lot. Sounds like one I should add!
Sarah recently posted…Book Review: Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle #1) by C.L. Polk
Thrillers are a great way to take a break from SFF, I think. Still sort of “genre” but more grounded in the real life:-)
YAY! And thanks for the spoiler. I can safely read this now knowing Lucy lives and it won’t spoil a thing for me. I am planning some books for August’s Dog Days of Summer even and this is going at the top of the list. I have a book on reserve on Overdrive called The Scent of Murder. It’s another thrilled featuring a cadaver dog so maybe you’ll want to check it out as well.
Lucy sounds awesome and I can’t wait to meet Jess and Mason.
I’m definitely checking out The Scent of Murder, thanks for the recommendation! I hope you love this, I was really impressed.
Looks like something I’d definitely like! Great review.
Thanks Paul, it was really well done, I have a new favorite author:-)
Awesome!!
I added this to my TBR:)
Oh, I absolutely love how this sounds, Tammy. It’s good to know it takes a bit before it takes off, but wow, when it gets going, it sounds incredible. I need to go add this one right now. Fantastic review!
I hope you get to read it, so suspenseful!!
Be careful, once you read more and more thrillers, you get addicted! I asked myself the same when I got into thrillers, like why don’t I read more? They’re so fun! Now it feels like 1 in 4 of my recent reads have been thrillers, more than I’ve ever read before. Now I’m always looking for my next thriller fix. This wasn’t on my radar before , but it sure as hell is now! I am going to see if there’s an audio, thanks for the rec!!!
Oh definitely try to read this, I just loved it, and the author has a bunch of backlist books I can read now:-)
This sounds like a great start to a series. I’m not familiar with the author but am always on the lookout for exciting thrillers to read so thanks for putting him on my radar.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Mini Reviews: VIRTUALLY YOURS & WILD AND CROOKED
I’m so excited to read the next book!
I would mirror Mogsy’s comments. I’m also enjoying mixing up my reads with some thrillers in between – so, recommendations that are glowing like this one are always welcome.
Lynn 😀
I know you read lots of good thrillers, I’ll have to pay closer attention next time I’m in the mood:-)
I mostly read mystery/thriller and often force myself to read something else too… cuz i do like other genres too, but this is by far the most irresistible 😀
This sounds pretty cool!
I’m going to have to read more thrillers, plus I read a lot of reviews of them on other blogs and so I have plenty to choose from:-)
Once upon a time I read a great deal of thrillers, and now that a few reviews of the genre are popping up in the blogs I follow, I feel the old pull of the mystery exerting its influence again. And this sounds like the kind of page-turner I enjoyed back then, with the added bonus that one of the characters is a service dog: I saw a documentary, some time ago, on the training of these very special companions and they literally stole my heart…
Thanks for sharing . 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Wyrd & Wonder 2019 – Selections from BY BLOOD WE LIVE – Edited by John Joseph Adams
Right after I read this book, I also read something online about the service dog training program with prison inmates. It’s so heartwarming!
Wow. I should give this a read. I do read a lot of books in this mix of genres too. Wonderful review!
Laura Thomas recently posted…Excerpt and Giveaway ~ Astraeus by Haley Cavanagh
I think you’d love it, Laura:-)
A cracking review, Tammy:). And like you, I thoroughly enjoy a good thriller as a change from SFF from time to time…
Thanks Sarah, it does make for a nice change of pace:-)
Oh wow, this sounds really good! I also don’t know why I don’t read more thrillers. I mean, I mostly love the ones I DO read! I blame the covers lol. They just don’t catch my eyes like SFF books do. 😀
You’re right. Seriously, this cover is just OK for me, but I’m always drawn to the bright colors of SF and Fantasy:-)
I always want to read more mysteries / thrillers too, but then I get distracted by other books, lol. This one sounds fantastic though, glad you enjoyed it so much!
It was so good, especially if you love dogs.
This book sounds really good and I like a good thriller/mystery once in a while myself. Good work! I came from your giveaway post and Deception Cove is also one that I would like to win. Thanks to you! Thanks for the giveaway!
I’m always afraid to read books where the dog is in peril so thank you for the spoiler! Knowing that I can safely say that this sounds really intriguing. It wasn’t on my radar but now I’m thinking of adding it to my TBR. Great review!
I recently read my first thrillers, the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz, so maybe I can handle gritty thrillers!
I’ve read a few of Laukkanen’s thrillers before and enjoyed them and it’s good to know he’s started a new series.
This cover is so haunting. It sounds like a fantastic book.