Special Agent Meg Jennings and her search-and-rescue dog are on the trail of a killer hiding where others fear to tread… abandoned asylum, Hawk finds the body of an elderly woman. The victim couldn’t have made her way into the derelict building on her own. Before forty-eight hours pass, Meg learns of more cases of elders found dead in neglected urban structures.
There’s not enough evidence to link the deaths—yet. But Meg scents a pattern, and when she gets word of another senior gone missing, she and Hawk don’t hesitate. Meg is sure a murderer is hunting the elderly, and she can prove it if she can just find a connection. It will take the expert coordination of her whole team, along with help from Clay McCord and Todd Webb, to uncover the means, let alone a motive. And to stop someone who has operated in the dark for so long, Meg will need to risk more than she has to give . . .
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I loved this fabulous novel! This one-of-a-kind mystery is challenging, finely plotted and executed with excellence. It is like visiting with old friends to spend time with the characters again, both Meg and her closest search and rescue buddy at the FBI, her sister and the guys they are dating. This story has exclusive victims and a setting that I have not seen before.
The setting the murders are woven into is that of going into urban exploration sites, buildings or building complexes that are long abandoned and disintegrating. It is a first-time venture into an urbex site that brings a death to the attention of Meg and her team. Meg and Hawk, her search-and-rescue partner/ black lab, are out with boyfriend Webb and his firefighting co-worker Chuck, are out to get a new training experience. Not only are the sites dangerous, but they would not have scents of living people as Hawk is trained for. Hawke has a surprise for them when he alerts and leads them to the roof. Deep inside the coal bin lies the remains of an older woman who died within the last couple days. There is no possible way she could have gone to the roof and into the coal bin on her own.
McCord, who Meg met several months earlier at a rescue site, is an investigative reporter for the Washington Post. He provides priceless research for FBI cases in exchange for an exclusive story when the case is resolved. McCord is now dating Meg’s sister Cara. He recalls a story about a man who died in an abandoned building earlier that year in a nearby state, and there is a possibility that it could open a case for the FBI.
When her boss at the FBI canine unit finds at least two possibly related deaths, they are alerted whenever an elderly person goes missing. It takes McCord to find a potential, outlandish link between the victims, leading the special agent brought onto the case to the real link between them. As additional seniors are taken, Chuck and McCord help them find the best urbex sites to search, which brings results to tie the urban exploration community with the murders.
This novel is fraught with incredible tension that took away my breath and kept my heart pounding through several outstanding scenes! This armchair sleuth felt as if I were there at the sites, especially the one on which Meg and Hawk go with only McCord giving her information by phone. I cannot imagine what first responders such as Webb and Chuck go through as firefighters, and first responders in general when trying to rescue people from disasters of any kind! The mystery is very well designed and completed, and I can’t wait to read the next one. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys well-written mysteries with K-9 teams, one-of-a-kind motives and settings, with intense, stunning scenes and resolutions. Another not to be missed in this series!
From a thankful heart: I received a complimentary copy of this novel; a review was not required.
NO MAN’S LAND (An FBI K-9 Book #4) by Sara Driscoll is the latest in this thrilling and fast-paced series featuring Special Agent Meg Jennings, her K-9 companion, Hawk and the FBI’s Human Scent Evidence Team. While each book can be read as a standalone, the characters continue to evolve and become more intertwined.
Meg and Hawk are out learning about “Urbexing” with her boyfriend and his coworker. The sites are run-down relics, creepy and sometimes dangerous, but interesting and extra training for Hawk. While exploring an abandoned asylum, Hawk finds the body of an elderly woman in an area that would have been impossible for her to reach on her own. After Meg reports the victim, she soon learns that there have been other elderly corpses found in urbex sites.
At first the team can find no evidence linking the victims and no evidence of the killer other than his method of killing. With the help of her team at the FBI and reporter Clay McCord, they are able to save one of the targeted victims, but they still have no motive.
As Meg gets closer to the elusive killer, she may take one too many risks to bring this killer to justice.
I love this series of books and this is another great addition. The plot was interesting as it intertwined the urbex information and culture with the surprising motive for the murders. The colleagues, friends and family are all fully fleshed and real to me, so I love catching up with their interpersonal relationships in each book. All the dogs also add to my love of these stories. I felt Meg was harder on herself than usual and took extreme risks in this story that surprised me, but I am hoping it was only because it was such a frustrating case. The team aspect of the FBI unit and the help of family, friends and dogs is what shines for me in these stories.
I highly recommend this book and series!
This book introduced me to a world I didn’t know existed. I will never look at abandoned buildings the same way.
You’ll never figure out who the murderer is, or why, but that’s the way mysteries are supposed to be, right?! It has a sad and tragic premise, but kudos to Meg and Hawk. Wonderful characters, and so very effective in their roles. Looking forward to reading more about this duo — and you will be too, as soon as you finish this one.
This is one book of a series. Meg Jennings, an FBI K-9 handler and her dog, Hawk are in an abandoned building to hone their skills. Hawk finds a dead body–an elderly woman who could not have gotten their by herself. Then another elderly body shows up in another abandoned building. Follow Meg and her FBI team along with trusted friends to see who has targeted elderly victims and why. This is a very fast-paced read.
I had trouble liking the main character.
Enjoyed the relationships between the characters, the characters and their dogs.
Another winner detailing how K9 search and rescue dogs help police and FBI, plus a fascinating look at an unusual crime scenario
Ms Driscoll ‘s story line involved the modern past time of urbexing, or the “urban exploration, usually of abandoned or nearly inaccessible man-made structures.” I had not heard of this and found it very interesting to learn about. Meg and Hawk are on the trail of a serial killer of senior citizens. I enjoyed the plot and the twists of this action ride!
No Man’s Land begins with Meg and her FBI K-9 dog Hawk spending their day off urbexing (urban exploring) with friends in an abandoned psychiatric hospital. The plan is to get some interesting search and rescue practice but things get real fast when Hawk leads them to a recently deceased elderly woman. As the woman is found inside a coal bin that she almost certainly would not have been able to enter on her own there is immediate concern that she was murdered. After Meg’s investigative reporter friend does some research and finds another case of an elderly person found within an abandoned building (in another state), Meg brings the information to her supervisor at the FBI and they begin investigating.
Before reading the novel I’d heard of urban exploring but knew very little about it and had no idea there was so much jargon specific to urbexing. The author does an excellent job of providing definitions so there’s no need to be familiar beforehand. I enjoyed learning about urbexing and the abandoned buildings and information about their history made a fascinating backdrop for the story.
I love dogs and enjoyed the relationship between Meg and Hawk, as well as watching them work. The plot was intriguing and fast paced, and the climax was a satisfying conclusion for both the plot and the emotional aspects of the case for the characters. I’ll be looking forward to the next book in the series!
I recommend No Man’s Land for anyone who enjoys mysteries, books about dogs or K-9s specifically, or interesting/suspenseful settings like abandoned buildings (it’s not horror novel level scary, just spooky).
Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #NoMansLand #mystery #K9s #urbexing
No Man’s Land by Sara Driscoll
FBI K-9 #4
Have any idea what urbex is? I sure didn’t when I began reading this book but it was definitely something new and intriguing. Who knew that people go out dare-defilishly exploring buildings that are wrecks and no doubt should be condemned and knocked down BUT for Meg and her K-9 partner who go into dangerous places looking for survivors an urbex site is a great place to train…with someone that knows what they are doing. The descriptions of the derelict buildings in this book reminded me of an exhibition at the Sursock Museum in Beirut that I attended this year. The photographs were of abandoned buildings in Lebanon. It was haunting and disturbing and this book’s sites were no doubt the same. And, to have a fiendish killer leaving bodies in such buildings even more creepy.
With the clock ticking, more elderly people disappearing and dying and a team of civilian and FBI working the case as they try to get ahead of and capture the killer they look for clues, research angles, try to save people, become frustrated with near misses and finally manage to put all the pieces together to determine who the culprit is. The drama was real. The locations well described and creepy. The killer intelligent, committed and methodical. Dogs superb. The characters well crafted. The camaraderie warm and believable. And…I REALLY enjoyed this book!
This story brings back the sisters and their boyfriends as well as the FBI K-9 team with their human handlers and also introduces a new person or two that may show up in future books in the series. I would love to see find out more about Meg’s teammates Lauren and Scott as well as their dogs. I wonder if Chuck, Webb’s friend, will show up in future books. I also wonder if the introduction of the two new women will see them appearing in future cases. I am curious to see what will happen next with Meg and Webb as well as with Cara and McCord.
This series has wonderful characters that work together and make me feel I am coming home each time I pick up the next book. I can’t wait to read book five as soon as it is written!
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
NO MAN ‘S. LAND…..by Sara Driscoll
Love stories with the FBI and special service dogs. This deals with a killer hurting the elderly, abandoned building leaving them there and the killer been at it too long. Meg wants to stop him, and with her team, they have to find a connection to this madman.
Good series, and the plot, catches you from the beginning.
Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion by Net Galley
and Kensington.