The Right Side by Spencer Quinn ISBN: 1501118404
Published by Atria Books on June 27th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Military, Mystery & Detective
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
LeAnne Hogan went to Afghanistan as a rising star in the military, and came back a much lesser person, mentally and physically. Now missing an eye and with half her face badly scarred, she can barely remember the disastrous desert operation that almost killed her. She is confused, angry, and suspects the fault is hers, even though nobody will come out and say it.
Shattered by one last blow—the sudden death of her hospital roommate, Marci—LeAnne finds herself on a fateful drive across the country, reflecting on her past and seeing no future. Her native land is now unfamiliar, recast in shadow by her one good eye, her damaged psyche, and her weakened body. Arriving in the rain-soaked small town in Washington state that Marci had called home, she makes a troubling discovery: Marci’s eight-year-old daughter has vanished. When a stray dog—a powerful, dark, unreadable creature, no one’s idea of a pet—seems to adopt LeAnne, a surprising connection is formed and something shifts inside her. As she becomes obsessed with finding Marci’s daughter, LeAnne and her inscrutable canine companion are drawn into danger as dark and menacing as her last Afghan mission. This time she has a strange but loyal fellow traveler protecting her blind side.
Spencer Quinn lives on Cape Cod with his dog Audrey and is hard at work on the next Chet and Bernie adventure.
Spencer Quinn is a pseudonym of author Peter Abrahams.
This is is a story I was really not expecting. LeAnn Hogan comes from a divorced family and as an only child, she decides to live with her father, a retired army officer who is now an alcoholic. She refuses to ask her remarried mother for any help and decides to go into the army. Being bright and successful as a pole-vaulter, she makes her way to West Point. Nw returned from the war, injured and mentally wounded, she travels back to Oregon to find her hospital roommate’s family.
LeAnn is set on doing things her way and when she happens on a dog that seems to adopt and protect her, she tries to no end to get rid of this girl. The dog persists and becomes a therapy dog both physical and mental. Guarding her injured side and helping her replace the eye she lost. There is a bit of a mystery on two fronts to solve. How she was injured in was and what happened to the daughter of her hospital roommate.
I normally don’t read mystery books like this but since I have read Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie series, I just couldn’t resist. I really enjoyed this one but discovering the true cost of war and what the impact of injuries can be was eye-opening. I hope that the dog is the beginning of a new series since I really hoping for more dog as the dog wasn’t really introduced until the last half of the story.
Whenever I see a dog on the cover, I know it’s going to be a heart-warming story.
I really do want to read this one, being a fan of the Chet and Bernie mysteries! Nice review.
The book sounds like a winner!