cats – Rosepoint Publishing

Money Bear: A Nick Tanner Crime Thriller by Kerry K cox – #BookReview – #crimethriller

Rosepoint Rating: Five stars

“…the lowest branch on a big redwood is higher than the tallest branch of almost any other tree, in any other forest, on the planet?”

Book Blurb:

When Redwoods Park Enforcement Ranger Kathleen Shepherd finds a third dead bear in the forest, its paws and gallbladder harvested, she contacts U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services for assistance. They send Nick Tanner, one of an elite cadre of undercover USFWS Special Agents.

Highly valued in Traditional Chinese Medicine, bear gallbladders fetch the type of money that attracts dangerous and desperate criminals. When the killing of bears escalates to a series of equally macabre human murders, Nick and Kathleen follow the clues that lead them into a lethal trap—all under the darkly surreal canopy of the world’s oldest known living organisms, the old-growth redwoods.

My Review:

Orick Enforcement Ranger Kathleen Shepherd gets in over her head when she finds the third bear killed for its gallbladder and paws. It’s obvious they have poachers harvesting bears for their valuable gallbladders used in TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine. Unfortunately, the killing has extended into human murders and Shepherd contacts the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They send Nick Tanner, a USFWS Special Agent.

Love the location of Northern California, the redwoods, the coast, such a gorgeous, uniquely wild area. The atmosphere is palpable; the well developed characters (both sides of the law) are engaging.

Gripping out of the gate, the author introduces information woven through the well-plotted narrative that is both fascinating and startling leading to the underbelly of Chinese medicine in Hollywood. The primary characters are super and I loved Tanner’s “kitty,” a blind bobcat he named Ray Charles. The prose is crafty, strongly masculine appropriate to the wild area of California, mules, wild animals. There is action, humor that lightens just a bit of the gravity, suspense, and an immersive storyline right to the conclusion. A great start to a new series and I’m looking forward to Book 2!

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B08WBXGHKT
Print Length: 323 pages
Publication Date: February 23, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: [Kerry K Cox] When I was a kid, I didn’t want to be a policeman, or fireman, or astronaut, or major league third baseman. I wanted to be a forest ranger.

Okay, also a major league third baseman. Y’know, as a summer job.

But it turned out my inability to comprehend biochem made a career in wildlife management as realistic as my chances of starting for the Dodgers.

So, after four years at Oregon State University I declared myself graduated, and returned home to Southern California. There I taught swimming, karate, and pre-school while I sold articles to various magazines, wrote children’s shows for The Disney Channel, and eventually became a full-time writer.

And because one of my childhood dreams lives on, I now write novels focused on the dark underworld of wildlife trafficking, and work with various wildlife, marine mammal, and feral cat/kitten groups as a rescue volunteer along California’s Central Coast.

I’m still waiting on that call from the Dodgers.

I live by the ocean in Cambria, California with my wife and a clowder of cats.

Dining and Driving with Cats-Alice Unplugged, a Book Review

Title: Dining and Driving with Cats – Alice Unplugged by Pat Patterson

Genre: Currently #11 in Best Seller’s Rank in Kindle Store, Kindle eBooks, Crafts, Hobbies & Home, Animal Care & Pets, Cats

Publisher: IonPublishers LLC

Publication Date: June 2017

Dining and Driving with Cats – Alice Unplugged – The cover got me (See that “M” on the forehead of the cat at the wheel? That is the distinctive mark of a Maine Coon)

Dining and Driving with Cats – Alice Unplugged by Pat Patterson could as easily have been titled An Ode to Alice–or–An Ode to Gastronomy. The author could wax as poetic over exotic and very expensive dishes (maybe more so) than Alice at times, and it became a toss-up as to who won. I guess the answer is that we did, as neither you nor I will likely ever indulge in a Boudin from the “Boudin Capital of the World.” Personally, I never knew of a boudin (boo-dahn), much less that there was a capital. Continue reading “Dining and Driving with Cats-Alice Unplugged, a Book Review”

Not a Whimper

Cats can be very dangerous, if you’re a dog. Whether it’s instinctual for a dog to chase a cat or just that most cats immediately go into fight or flight–most being flight–they absolutely demand the pursue response.

Let me just say, I don’t think dogs are born with the need to chase cats. My theory is that it’s the cat’s fault. Or, perhaps, secondarily, the human’s fault (moi?) for trying to get an older, resident cat to accept a puppy. Accept a puppy? Not going to happen. In our house, the cat (fight) tried to relieve the puppy of one of her eyes. Scared the puppy so much, she decided all cats must die. And she’s held to that mantra ever since.

I am usually very careful about having Frosty around cats in the cat’s domain. Hubby–not so much. This morning, little Frost (all 13 lbs. of her), launched off the kitchen chair after the gray house cat known here as Mr. Gotto (flight).

She landed wrong.

Lots of blood and a visit to super-vet Dr. McPheron of Crown Point, and it was decided Frosty will live. Our son asked how “Stubby” was doing, but it’s apparently not more than a lost toenail. We have something to give her for pain control and she’s appears to be sleeping comfortably at present.