Bone To Pick

Bone To Pick by T. A. Moore

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Blurb:

Cloister Witte is a man with a dark past and a cute dog. He’s happy to talk about the dog all day, but after growing up in the shadow of a missing brother, a deadbeat dad, and a criminal stepfather, he’d rather leave the past back in Montana. These days he’s a K-9 officer in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and pays a tithe to his ghosts by doing what no one was able to do for his brother—find the missing and bring them home. 

He’s good at solving difficult mysteries. The dog is even better. 

This time the missing person is a ten-year-old boy who walked into the woods in the middle of the night and didn’t come back. With the antagonistic help of distractingly handsome FBI agent Javi Merlo, it quickly becomes clear that Drew Hartley didn’t run away. He was taken, and the evidence implies he’s not the kidnapper’s first victim. As the search intensifies, old grudges and tragedies are pulled into the light of day. But with each clue they uncover, it looks less and less likely that Drew will be found alive. 

Review:

Hey. There’s a dog. You knew I was going to love this, because there was a dog.

There are plenty of other points of awesome, such as main character Cloister Witte. I’ve never seen a character named Cloister before. Having a character named Cloister didn’t make it any harder for me to relate to him. He and his dog were everything I want in a book hero – they do their thing, they don’t spend a lot of time wringing their hands about doing their thing, and they save they day.

The other lead, Javi, is a little less my speed. When the blurb describes him as antagonistic they’re not joking. I kept hoping he would fall down the stairs and break a bone or something, so Cloister could find someone decent. I’m sure he has his reasons for being such an ass, and here’s the thing –

With the way Moore wrote this book, I trust that Javi’s reasons will be revealed just as soon as the time is right, and not a minute before.

This book deals with a lot of factors that are difficult to unpack. Some readers might find some aspects a little difficult. There was definitely a lot of classism, especially from Javi, and it’s good to see that addressed in fiction. I personally didn’t find anything to be too much or thrown in for shock or titillation. I loved every bit of this book and couldn’t put it down.

Then again, I have a bias. There’s a dog, who is a German Shepherd, and so I was always going to love it. Sorry not sorry. I think you will too, though.