Working in law enforcement imparts certain things in a man. The smell of gunpowder in the air. The sight of blood spatter at a crime scene.And the amount of trouble a woman is in by the pitch of her scream.Six weeks prior, on the heels of the most hellish case he could ever remember, Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner, Billie, were placed on administrative leave from the Columbus Police … placed on administrative leave from the Columbus Police Department. Fearful of what the media might say, the brass decided to put them at arm’s length, allowing the aftermath of that fateful night to settle. Not used to being placed on the sidelines, and no good at sitting still for long, the decision was made to travel west to his native Oklahoma and help his parents begin the long process of unpacking their new home.
A process that lasted but a single afternoon before the duo found themselves within earshot of a scream too pointed to ignore.
Acting on pure instinct, the two give chase, unknowingly pulling themselves into something much bigger happening across the plains for the better part of a decade. Young women with seemingly nothing in common disappear, held for months or years before turning up, while some are never found at all.
Pulled in against their better judgment, but unable to ignore their true natures, Reed and Billie join with local law enforcement in search of a killer the likes of which they have never encountered…
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I would recommend this book to any body likes action packed books
No redeeming social value
One of the best books I’ve ever read. I love Reed and Billie! Great writing, character development, and scene description. When I read a Reed and Billie book I’m there!
This was a police procedural. It was fairly predictable but I enjoyed reading it. It’s part of a series.
Couldn’t put it down! I actually read it in one sitting. Great book
Author leaves you hanging at the end of each chapter which of course keeps me up all night reading. Interesting characters and the plot is original. First of the series that I have read but I will read more.
Makes you wonder how many are out there doing something similar? Scary thought. You need to read.
This book is one of a series. I have read one other in the series–The Boatman. After reading The Bear I am sold on this author. Reed is a detective out of Columbus, Ohio and paired with a K-9 named Billie. They are on leave and travel to Reed’s parents who just bought a house in a small town in Oklahoma. While pumping gas he hears a woman scream and watches as she is grabbed and forced into a van which takes off. Reed is asked to help solve the case from a local officer but he must avoid the politics involving the Chief of Police. While searching for clues about the abduction he realizes this is just part of a long string of abductions over almost a decade. I appreciate the author uses minimal profanity to tell a great story.
Good plot, good characters.
There is a good story here but it’s far too wordy. I found myself skimming a lot of content.
This was a good read; I always enjoy reading about K-9s and Billie does not disappoint! Will definitely read more of this series.
Could NOT put this story down.
So many road blocks for the hero.
Loved the dog!
this is what I love the most, a good plot that sets the scenes and builds the story around you and then before you know it you are amongst some gripping storyline.
I also love stories with a dog as a main character and is much needed to support Detective Reed Mattox.
Reed and Billie are pulled in to help the local police dept and I think its great when this happens.
all in all a great read and look forward to the next.
Book #7 in the Reed and Billie series is another winner.
Reed Mattox and his partner Billie, dog detective, are on leave for basically solving too many cases. They travel from Ohio to Oklahoma to help his parents. While he is pumping gas, he sees a young lady get pushed into a van and it drives away. He tries to get the local police to get involved, but the police chief wants nothing to do with it. He is retiring soon and wants his record clean. But deputy Wyatt offers to help in his time off. When the chief finds out he puts him on duty for two shifts. It is up to Reed and Billie to find the missing person before she is killed.
I could not put this novel down. It keep me on the edge of my seat. A real thrill ride.
Reed and Billie are put on administrative leave ‘for their own safety’. They go to a small town in Oklahoma to help his parents unpack after moving. Reed witnesses a kidnapping and that is where things start going south. Seems the Cheif of Police of this podunk town doesn’t want to need his help. Reed’s own Supervisor isn’t happy with his meddling in the kidnapping. This is something Reed can not help but do. There is a serial kidnapper out there and they are going to find him no matter what anyone says. A very good story that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next! I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of this book.
Reed and Billie are back…. I’m excited because Billie is back…lol she is such a loveable character.
This story had me gripped from the start, as I’m reading I’m thinking many times ‘put it down and walk away, just do it’ lol but I couldn’t because even though I knew bad stuff was coming I couldn’t stop reading. I had to know what happened. Does the find Serena? Do they capture The Bear? Do Reed and Billie go back to Ohio? Do Reed and Billie get to be detectives again? So, so many questions had to be answered and the only way forward was to keep reading even through the mad stuff, you know the scenes you generally cover your face for during a horror movies…lol yes those ones but with this story I couldn’t turn away I just couldn’t this is how thrillingly addictive Dustin Stevens writing!
Talk about anxiety-inducing, seriously.
I have to say what I love most about any of Dustin’s books but especially this one is the information he packs into each story, his attention to detail and research it really brings the story more to life for me.
I absolutely love the relationship Reed and Billie have built up each book has brought them so much closer with such an awesomely tight bond.
The ending was AMAZING I loved Reed’s indecision to race in or go for back-up it really made the story and I have to say I’m kinda hoping Reed and Billie eventually move to Warner or Muskogee near his parents they both really seemed to fit into the area, it felt right.
The Bear is a well crafted and taut detective novel – Dustin Stevens’ most recent in the Reed and Billie series. Reed Mattox is a driven detective and Billie his Belgian Malinois K9 partner. The Bear reads well as a standalone novel, but will have a deeper hold on anyone who has read previous adventures of this K9 team (as have I).
Stevens has mastered building a low level tension that envelops the reader. It really is difficult to put the book down, or in the Kindle world turn off the screen. Time is the enemy in The Bear as clues emerge and pieces come together – or not. I found the window into investigative technique and the role of the K9 officer both integral and informative – and part of the magnet that pulls me in every time. Stevens explores the bond between Reed and Billie on many levels – dealing with working partnership, emotional symbiosis, and nonverbal communication.
On forced administrative leave, Reed and Billie arrive in rural Oklahoma to assist Reed’s parents settle into their new house after a sudden move from Ohio. Stressed from travel and not yet in sync with the rhythm of the small town, Reed witnesses an attempted abduction. Instinct and training kick in as Reed and Billie jump in to prevent the crime – but are just seconds and yards too late. They will learn that the abducted woman was Serena Gipson a well liked waitress at the town diner.
Reporting the kidnapping to the local police is greeted with neither warmth nor appreciation. Stevens is adept, also, at touching on larger issues in the unfolding narrative. The choking bureaucracy of procedure and the toxic ego of a lifetime small town police chief put the victim at risk. Reed and the original responding officer, Todd Wyatt, bond with their shared need for justice. The stage is set for tension as the good guys race the clock against both internal politics and the emerging terror of what the kidnapper intends.
An accidental discovery of a body in a farmer’s field establishes a relationship between the Darcy Thornton cold case and the current abduction. Frightening physical similarities between the deceased and Serena ramp up the urgency. Officer Wyatt asks Reed and Billie to team up to find Serena, but it means working around the Chief’s denial that a crime has occured in “his town”. Reed and Billie are all in even though they lack jurisdiction, equipment, support, and weapons – they have experience and the drive to do what is right.
Fairly quickly the Chief learns of the “off the books” investigation and Officer Wyatt is remanded to desk duty. Reed connects with Thad Martin an old friend of his father’s and an officer in the next town over. Martin adds some local insight and a much needed assist with the shoe leather. Reed also reaches out to his hacker buddy, Deke, to dive into forensic analysis of background data on the emerging players – dead and alive.
I was totally absorbed as the team pieced together the situational minutia and made sense of the investigative clues in The Bear. Tension builds as several similar cold cases going back years emerge. The who, when, and where start to fall into place and Reed, Billie, and Thad Martin make up what they hope is a rescue mission. Real evil exists and often resources that can be marshaled against it are limited. Stevens treats this with a realism that makes his novels all the more compelling.
After being placed on leave from his job in Columbus, Ohio for an unknown reason, Reed and Billy, his black Belgian Malinois canine partner, are going to Warner, Oklahoma to visit his parents. In the meantime, The Bear is an unknown individual who has been staking out a 25-year old waitress and otherwise all-around helper in the restaurant that she works. Then he kidnaps the girl right in front of Reed and Billie.
Follow Reed and Billie as the two of them, a cadre of his friends, and new-found fellow law enforcement officials, attempt to find the girl.
As you progress more into the story, you will find the interaction between The Bear and others so explicit, it’s as though you are actually watching the events on a TV. I don’t recall ever seeing this kind of story-telling before. It’s almost scary.
One thing is for sure: this was one of the most exciting books I’ve read in a long time and very difficult to put down once you’ve started reading it. You too will certainly be enthralled. In fact, this is the best book written by Stevens I’ve read to date.
If you haven’t read any of Dustin Stevens’ books, you will find each of his stand-alone novels totally different, enough so that you will want to read more of them.
Taking place in a tiny town near an Indian reservation, while on leave from his position as a police detective, Reed and his canine partner, Billie, are witnesses to a young woman’s abduction. Finding the towns police chief thoroughly unconcerned, uncooperative and unwilling to consider what Reed has witnessed, Reed pairs with a local police officer that respects the solve rate Reed and Billie have achieved in multiple crimes.
From the beginning of the story until its final pages The Bear kept a good level of suspense throughout. With strong character development, highly detailed writing, and interesting story line, I enjoyed this book.
The five star rating I’m giving this is for a fresh and interesting story. I’m also going to be very honest in saying I thought some of the sentences were overly descriptive to almost the point of run-on and I found some word choices to be incorrect. For the editing I’d give this a three star.
If this book is a first read for you in Dustin Steven’s Reed and Billie series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone, and may have you wanting to read the series from the beginning, as well as other Dustin Stevens books.