01/16/2023
Much of this quirky standalone from bestseller Parker (A Thousand Steps) is told from the viewpoint of Joe, a dog trained by the DEA to sniff out drugs but later retired from the agency. Joe is now in Tijuana, Mexico, with “the Roman,” who uses the animal’s incredible nose to help one cartel rob another. In a heist gone wrong, Joe is shot, rescued by a Tijuana kid, and healed by a local vet. Joe is adopted by Bettina Blazak, an American reporter in Laguna Beach, Calif., who writes a story about the dog that goes viral, attracting all kinds of attention. Teddy Delgado, a San Diego boy who raised Joe as a puppy, wants him back, as does the Roman. The robbed cartel wants to steal him—and the DEA wants to use Bettina and Joe to attack the cartels. The tough, stubborn Bettina is determined to keep Joe, though bargaining with a Mexican cartel seems like a fool’s errand. Readers will delight in the highly anthropomorphized Joe, but some may find the marriage of “dog lit” and violent thriller to be a bit awkward. Fans of Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie mysteries will want to check this out. (Apr.)
"Readers will love Joe...for lovers of quality crime fiction; Parker never disappoints." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Stunning...Another fine effort from the talented Parker."—Booklist (starred review)
"T. Jefferson Parker is a marvel. I’ve been reading him with delight and admiration for years. The Rescue again shows that he hits the high water mark for crime fiction every time out. Graceful prose, nuanced characters, an emotional thread woven through each scene tying it to a propulsive plot. Whether he’s writing about cartels or PD, street dogs or reluctant heroines, he gets to the authentic and the compelling." —Gregg Hurwitz, the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Horse
“Parker’s The Rescue ain’t no street mutt of a book, but rather a Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show blue-ribbon, pure pedigree of a novel with claws sharpened and fangs bared. Fass!" —Craig Johnson, bestselling author of the Longmire mystery series
"The author is a quiet master who delivers all the action and emotion a reader might wish." —The Wall Street Journal
★ 02/01/2023
At an animal shelter, journalist Bettina comes across a dog slated for extermination. She's not sure why, but she takes him. She bonds with him immediately, naming him Felix. But Felix had a different name in a former, shadier life. It was Joe then. The story of Joe's past unfolds: early years with a boy, Teddy, who loves him still; training and working as a sniffer dog for the DEA; then his acquisition by Dan, owner of a self-defense school, who hires him out to a Mexican drug cartel in Tijuana seeking to wrest control from another cartel. Joe was shot in a drug heist gone bad, but a veterinarian saved him. Bettina found him in the vet's clinic. When Bettina writes about Felix's rescue online, the cartel that lost money (a million and a half in cash, five kilos of fentanyl, uncut) learns he's still alive. They take vengeance very seriously. Readers see the story unfold from the perspective of Joe as well as Bettina's, Teddy's, and Dan's viewpoints. Readers will love Joe; he's a great character. The story ends in violence, but good things happen too. VERDICT For lovers of quality crime fiction; Parker (Then She Vanished) never disappoints.—David Keymer
Narrator Victoria Villarreal keeps this canine-themed thriller on track, providing the empathy and consistency required to get into the mind of Joe, a mutt with a gifted nose, a DEA pedigree, and a price on his head. Villarreal convincingly voices a Mexican drug lord, a Texas cop, a mysterious sharpshooter known as "The Roman," and the audiobook's protagonist, Bettina Blazak, a skeet-shooting California newspaper reporter who hates being told what she can't do. The audiobook careens back and forth across the Tijuana border as Bettina fights to protect Joe and vice versa. Despite a shaky premise, the audiobook holds together with enough forward momentum and surprises that even dog-challenged listeners will stick with it to the end. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Narrator Victoria Villarreal keeps this canine-themed thriller on track, providing the empathy and consistency required to get into the mind of Joe, a mutt with a gifted nose, a DEA pedigree, and a price on his head. Villarreal convincingly voices a Mexican drug lord, a Texas cop, a mysterious sharpshooter known as "The Roman," and the audiobook's protagonist, Bettina Blazak, a skeet-shooting California newspaper reporter who hates being told what she can't do. The audiobook careens back and forth across the Tijuana border as Bettina fights to protect Joe and vice versa. Despite a shaky premise, the audiobook holds together with enough forward momentum and surprises that even dog-challenged listeners will stick with it to the end. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
