The Handler

I picked up this novel for just one reason - to get the "Series Pioneer" achievement on the Kindle Reading Insights for this quarter of the year. If I wasn't reading it for this targeted reason, I imagine, I'd have made it a DND less than 1/2 way through. I wanted to like it as it was set in Pittsburgh (but besides a name check or, it could have been set anywhere in the US.) And I liked the description of how the main character trains police dogs - also an element of the story which drops away as the plot unfolds. I didn't like the narrator as she felt one dimensional. And her interactions with the drug kingpin ludacris in places. The suspense was minimal and I found the climax unbelievable and unsatisfying. I'm not planning on reading the sequel.

The book had a slow start and has generally a slower pace compared to the books I read before, e. g., from Freida McFadden. It took about to one third into the book to really spark my interest, but then it was very good.

I started to like the main character at the same time and really liked her and her dog. Luckily there is just the right amount of talking about the dog and it's not the center of the story.

Great book I can recommend to anyone with just a little bit of patience.