“Suspect” by Robert Crais – Loyalty Knows no Species

Scott James is an officer with the LAPD (The Los Angeles Police Department) who has had a very difficult eight months, with the problems starting when a group of mysterious assailants attacked him and his partner, Stephanie, killing her, and very nearly killing Scott himself.

After this incident, somewhat understandably, Scott is filled with rage, hatred, and a very deep sadness, making him quite unfit for duty, even of the desk variety.

However, a cop cannot stay traumatized forever if he or she wants to get back to work, and Scott is able to do so upon meeting Maggie: a German Shepherd who survived three tours in Iraq and whose master was claimed by an IED (an improvised mine, basically).

With both of them suffering from some kind of traumatism, they are paired up, and as literature would have it in these cases, they bond quite well, each one relying on the other not only for moral support, but also for the drive to keep on living. Quite soon, Scott and Maggie are assigned to a case neither of them wants to touch, that of the murder of Scott’s partner, Stephanie.

And so, armed with a badge, a gun, canine teeth, and a powerful case of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder), they both set out to find the mysterious men who turned Scott’s life into a living hell.

As the investigation goes on though, the line between truth, lies and fiction starts to get blurred, at which point all guarantees of coming out of this story alive disappear, and such is the premise of Robert Crais’ Suspect.

While it is true that the story is driven by the death mystery, which involves a great deal of criminality – including corruption, greed, larceny, and of course, murder – the true meat of the story lies in the partnership between Scott and Maggie. Both of them injured in one way or another, neither are seen as being nothing more than washed up nutcases who aren’t good for anything anymore.

However, they develop a love for each other, a loyalty that will allow them to put their lives on the line for the other. What makes the story truly gripping, in my opinion at least, are the parts where we see the world through the eyes of the book’s wonderful heroine, Maggie.

I simply found it very interesting to conjecture how a highly-trained, loyal and service dog would see, understand and interpret the world around him or her.

Naturally, Scott isn’t left undeveloped, but it seems that all the major things you need to learn about him are given away at the beginning, which kind of dilutes the sense of mystery around a heartbroken character, but that is a very slight fault when compared to all the positive points of the book.

All in all, it’s a very heartwarming book with a gripping story and worth a read for anyone who wants to relax while flipping through the pages of something that will require them to observe more than think, although the latter element is certainly present, for those who want to indulge in it at least.

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Robert Crais Personal site Robert Crais is an American author who has virtually always stuck to detective novels, which can be explained by the fact that he started his career by writing scripts for numerous television shows, including Miami Vice and L.A. Law. His more prominent works include The Monkey’s Raincoat and The Two-Minute Rule.