Mission to Protect

Military K-9 Unit, Book 1

By: Terri Reed

Narrated by: Angie Hickman

Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Enter the world of the Military K-9 Unit...

When the Red Rose Killer leaves his calling card for Staff Sergeant Felicity Monroe, she knows exactly what that means - she's on his revenge list. Her boss, Master Sergeant Westley James, and K-9 German shepherd Dakota become her guardians, but they'll have to act fast to escape the man who wants her dead.

©2018 Harlequin Books S.A. (P)2019 Tantor

One of the better books in the series

The series begins with a military base being targeted by a serial killer who has a vendetta against anyone he feels wronged him. Each book has a romance between dog handler and a person accused of helping or being targeted by the killer. As the stories progress, the plots unravel other killers and motives that show missteps based on mistaken assumptions.

The first book is one of the better ones in the series. I found the romance tedious as other romance novels are, with authors using the same kinds of phrases like, "This can't happen, I will never marry, She / he deserves better, I'm sorry, that shouldn't have happened, It will be over once the case is solved..." Honestly, I think romance writers just choose from a list of given phrases and cut and paste. Anyway, when authors repeat these phrases ad infinitum, I hit the 30 second advance. Nevertheless, the story was ok and one of the better in the series because I liked the characters and found some of the book worthy of contemplation in regard to why people do what they do. I liked that the plot tension resolved itself leaving time for the characters to advance their relationship with a little glimpse into their future. It makes a better book in my opinion. I hate the ones that wait until the last 5-10 minutes to resolve the plot tension. That is such a rip off.

The whole series has to be criticized in a major plot point. I certainly hope the government is not this inept at conducting investigations. I am not sure why things like surveillance cameras aren't referenced, cell phones aren't used more, or forensics aren't discussed more. This book seems to have more forensic discussion than other books, but I found the lack of electronic data, especially video evidence on a military base, in their investigation puzzling. In addition, the lack of coordination between agencies local, federal, and military was weird. I don't think the authors know military or investigative protocol. It is like fan fiction for the military without really feeling like it is military. This book, more than others, has regular meetings to discuss findings, but we don't usually see that in the following books. The agencies just go it alone and don't tell each other what is going on. Maybe this is how things are done, but it doesn't really make US law enforcement and military look competent. I don't think that was the aim of the authors, but that is what I am left wondering. Maybe I am really looking for a clean Patterson novel. lol

In my opinion, the first, second, and third books in the series are the best of the bunch so far. I did not care for book 4. I still have to keep listening because I HAVE TO KNOW HOW THEY CATCH BOYD. I guess I will just keep hitting the 30 second advance when the stories lag. lol. Also, the reader of the first three books is really good. She nails the southern drawl. I liked the male protagonist in book 3 because she did such a good job narrating his sense of humor and intonation. He was really entertaining even when the book's plot and characters took a bit too long to get to the point.

mission to protect military k9 unit book 1

great introduction to future series - am going to enjoy getting to know the main characters and the dogs--especially the dogs

I did enjoy this first book in the series

I'm looking forward to the rest of the books in this series. Good character development and plenty of suspense.

lots of drama and action!

kept you guessing and full of mystery and action! love story without being mushy

Amazing Book As Usual

The post by kestergayle is a good lesson that one should look up an author before reading a book. The book is not preachy but truthful. Those who are lost often see truth being spoken as preachy and it’s sad. Terri writes wonderful and entertaining books. This is a great read and I recommend it to everyone

Not Enough Dog

This was a sappy romance. There was some action from the dog, but not enough.

I like dogs and story is good and clean, but....

Narrator has such on nasal quality to her voice that every character sounds shy and timid and very female. Her voice inflections are good but sadly there is nothing she can do to change the quality or sound of her voice. I would like to listen to more from this author but it looks like all of the books in this series are narrated by the same person and I just can't do another book by this narrator.

Good Book

As far a the story go it's quite a page turner. I also commend the author reference to the strong religious belief of the female military character. Many military members have a strong religious belief. It is understandable to have a personal guard for the targeted military character as caring weapons on base is usually for security police. only. lt shouldn't be a sign of weakness on the military female's abilies.
On the negative side the author could have done more research regarding military protocol . What irrated me the most is the references to enlist members saluting other enlisted members. Enlisted salutes officers not other enlisted members.

I Love Dogs

Love stories with dogs and this was a good one. This has dogs working with people and there is a lot of action.

Good idea but too much telling instead of showing

From the description I expected a suspenseful story but I got mediocre. Great plot idea but instead of showing the settings and characters and letting me experience the action, I got a lot of she felt, he felt, they ran from the bomb. Still don’t know if it went off or not? The ending also left an important conflict unresolved. I’m assuming the rest of the story is in another book but I’m not motivated to look for it. Which is too bad because this story had great potential.