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.
Lone Jack Trail by Owen Laukkanen Series: Neah Bay #2
Published by Mulholland Books on August 11 2020
Genres: Adult, Crime, Thriller
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A carefully plotted mystery with lots of surprises, a vivid setting, and characters you’ll love to root for. And of course, a rescue pitbull mix named Lucy.
I was pleasantly surprised last year when I discovered Deception Cove, the first book in Owen Laukkanen’s Neah Bay series, so I was delighted to find the second book was just as good. Laukkanen sets his stories in a small, dying town at the northern tip of Washington state, a town where nothing much happens—well, except for the occasional murder, that is. The atmospheric setting and quirky cast of characters are what make these stories so irresistible, and add in an exciting murder mystery and you have the perfect page turner for a lazy afternoon.
The series features ex-Marine Jess Winslow and her service dog Lucy, who live in the small Washington town of Deception Cove. In the first book, Jess meets ex-con Mason Burke, the man who trained Lucy in prison (the prison had a rehabilitation program where inmates were given rescue dogs to train, how cool is that!). Mason and Jess meet when Mason gets out of prison and decides to see if he can track down Lucy to make sure she’s in a good home. By the end of that book, Jess and Mason have become somewhat of an item, although their relationship is held in check by Jess, who has a lot of emotional baggage to deal with, including the tragic death of her first husband, so she’s not quite sure she’s ready for another serious relationship. Jess and Burke found themselves in the middle of a drug deal gone bad involving a corrupt police officer, and barely survived the ordeal.
Lone Jack Trail picks up several months after the explosive ending of Deception Cove. Jess works at the local police station as a deputy, a job that allows her to use some of her skills as a marine and do good for the town at the same time. The quiet town is rattled when a local discovers a body washed up on the beach. Jess is called to the scene and identifies the dead man as Brock “Bad” Boyd, a local celebrity and hockey player who just got out of prison for dogfighting. The story jumps back two weeks before the discovery of the body when an unfortunate encounter between Boyd and Mason Burke ended in a bloody fistfight. Suddenly Burke is the prime suspect in the murder, and he knows his only chance of staying out of prison is to try to prove his innocence.
Jess is pretty sure Burke didn’t kill Boyd. He’s a kind man and did his time in prison without any complaints. But the fight started when Boyd showed an interest in Lucy, and Jess knows Burke would do anything to protect the dog, maybe even kill someone. With Burke on the run, Jess must decide what’s more important: following the letter of the law and doing her job, or helping the man she loves avoid being accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
Laukkanen does a great job of balancing all the elements of his story. Yes, there is a bit of a romance between Jess and Burke, but don’t let that turn you off the book. Mostly this is a murder mystery with a fair amount of violence, exciting chase scenes, and lots of danger and high stakes. But Lone Jack Trail isn’t just about the action. Laukkanen’s characters have depth and personalities that readers can relate to. My heart broke for Jess’s losses—first her husband and then her good friend who was tortured and killed in Afghanistan—and I was so glad she had Lucy and Burke as a support team. I was furious that everyone thought Burke was responsible for the murder, even though he’s proven himself to be an upstanding citizen. And most of all, I adored Lucy and her ability to bring everyone together. Even Lucy has a tortured past and is still dealing with trauma, so as you can see, this is primarily a story about coping and learning to live with your past.
Laukkanen has a way of writing sympathetic characters whether they’re good or bad. Even the bad guys—in this case the men involved in the murder—have an unexpected human side to them, which made the story much more interesting. I mean, a bad guy without any redeeming qualities is pretty boring, in my opinion, and the author adds some personal details to each one that made me feel sorry for them (well, just a little). Don’t get me wrong, these guys are hardcore violent and mean. But they are also fallible humans who have made mistakes, and I appreciated the fact that the author showed us both sides.
Surprisingly, the murder itself isn’t much of a mystery, especially since I suspected fairly early on who the killer is, and we find out definitively at about the halfway point. But the author does draw out the details of the murder for quite a while, so don’t worry because there’s still plenty of surprises in store. The big draw for me was finding out why the killer did it, and the author throws in some really good flashback chapters that delve back into the high school days of Bad Boyd and one particularly heinous incident that set everything in motion.
And because there is a dog in this story, you’re going to get my standard spoiler, which is that Lucy survives (although there were a couple of times I was really worried and in fact cursed the author and almost threw my Kindle through the wall!) However, I do want to warn sensitive readers that there are some discussions of dogfighting in this story, and while there aren’t any on the page, the characters talk about Bad Boyd’s past which involved his illegal dogfighting scheme. This is an upsetting subject for me, and I’m sure for many others, but please don’t let that stop you from reading this book. Meeting Lucy and seeing how much she loves Jess and Burke is well worth a few paragraphs of unpleasantness.
Overall, I was so happy to be back in Deception Cove with these characters. Jess and Burke still have a ways to go with their relationship, so I’m hopeful that Laukkanen is hard at work on the next book. Most of all, I’m glad there are books like this that give me a break from science fiction and fantasy now and then, and if you’re an SFF reader like I am, I highly recommend this well written series if you need a break too.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I think I have an audio copy of Deception Cove, which I grabbed from your recommendation. This totally reminded me I should check it out. Do you know if this is a case of a series where each book is a standalone case? I usually start from the beginning, but with mysteries and thrillers I find that is not as important, especially if each book has a self contained investigation. Just wondering as I’m really considering just jumping straight into this one, because it sounds more interesting!
Each book is a standalone case, so no problems there. But you would miss the character/relationship development from the first book, so some things won’t be as clear if you read this one first.
I like the sound of this, though the surname threw me, I was expecting it to be set somewhere in Scandinavia.
I do enjoy small town crime and the setting sounds perfect.
Heather recently posted…Book Review | Snow by John Banville
I know! When I first saw this series I was sure it was a Scandinavian setting. But I love the Northern Washington setting, it’s so different from where I live that it feels exotic:-)
I love the sound of this one, Tammy! Especially as I recall your enthusiasm for Deception Cove, so I’m now putting this series on my TBR pile. Thank you for an awesome review – and the reassurance that we aren’t going to have a ringside seat to dogfighting scenes…
It’s really good, and I’m clamoring for the next book already:-)
Ooh, this sounds like a series I’d like; I’m adding it to the stack. Great review!
Thanks Kyra:-)
“the occasional murder” LOL And again I’m so glad the dog survives. Lucy sounds so precious.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Cover Reveal: Pretty Little Savage by Lucy Smoke
Lucy is so precious!!!
I’m very intrigued by the main characters in this series – both the two-legged and the four-legged ones…) and I believe I would enjoy reading their “adventures”. And here goes another notation in my “wanted” list… 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…KING OF THE ROAD (Brotherhood of the Wheel #2), by R. S. Belcher
Yes, really good characters, and you can’t beat a sweet rescue dog:-)
I’m adding this series to my TBR! Thank you!
I hope you enjoy it, Heather!
Sounds great! I don’t typically gravitate toward crime/mystery, but its’ good to know which books to try when/if I feel like it.And of course, having a great dog helps a lot.
I wish I had my own Lucy:-)
A rescue pit bull mix, a small town and a murder mystery – you have my interest piqued, Tammy. Will check it out for sure. Great review. 🙂
Debjani recently posted…Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee – Review & Blog Tour
Thanks Debjani! Great elements, right?
I like the sound of this series, it has so many interesting elements. I recently read a book where the murder mystery only lasted so long, turning into a story more about the why and the how, and I enjoyed that, so I think I’d be ok with that here, too. Thanks for the introduction to both this author and the series.
He did a great job of revealing the killer but not sacrificing the pacing, and I enjoyed how the story switched from “who” to “why”.
Excellent review! This sounds so amazing. I hate to get it on my TBR. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Anne! You won’t regret it:-)
Oh goodness, this sounds so great. I’ve been looking to add some more mysteries to my TBR and this sounds like a winner, especially because of Lucy. 🙂
It’s a great series when you want something that just sucks you in!
This seems an interesting series! I really want to meet Lucy, and what you wrote about the characters, that the author did a great job with all of them, is great! We need more of this!
Definitely, I love books with awesome characters, and I wish Lucy was my dog!
These sound good – I’ll have to see if I can find them on audio. I like listening to thrillers for some reason. I think because I don’t want to spend the enrgy to actually read them… lol.
I think these would be really good on audio!
This sounds really good. I must put No.1 on my wishlist.
Lynn 😀
You would enjoy these books, I think.
Sounds like a fantastic thriller! Glad you enjoyed this so much. Will keep this one in mind when I’m in the mood for a thriller again. 🙂
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I’ve saved as a favorite for later!
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