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The Lost Sheep Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Brandt Dodson / Harvest House 
Reviewed by Susan SleemanThe Lost Sheep is an exciting detective novel with a strong spirtual message.The Lost Sheep by Brandt Dodson is the fourth book in his Colton Parker Mystery Series and the first Brandt Dodson book I've had the pleasure of reading. The book starts fast and builds speed along the way as private detective Colton Parker searches for his fifteen-year-old runaway daughter Callie. Though Callie leaves Parker a message not to look for her, Parker sees it as a plea to chase after her and he won't rest until he brings her home. Fearing that his daughter has become involved with prostitution, Parker follows his leads, journeys to Las Vegas and straight into the smarmy underworld of prostitution and the occult. Following clue after clue and with the help of a former brothel owner Marty and his girlfriend, FBI agent Mary Christopher, Parker takes the reader on a realistic journey through the side of Las Vegas that we seldom see or want to acknowledge. Colton Parker, an ex cop with a hard-edged view of life, on the surface fits all the old stereotypes of a gumshoe. Unlike these stereotypes, Dodson gives Parker added dimension bringing out his struggle between doing the right and often legal thing or bringing his daughter home. As a reader, we can identify with this struggle, with his love for his daughter and we cheer for Parker even when he makes a bad choice. But Dodson doesn't stop here. He powerfully weaves a spiritual thread through the Las Vegas scenes, showing Parker how God never leaves The Lost Sheep. Though Vegas is an incredibly odd place to find such a thread, the setting makes the message so real, so practical to every person living, that Dodson successfully brings the message of salvation to everyone. As I said, this is my first Brandt Dodson novel. Don't know how I missed them in the past. I certainly won't in the future. My only regret is that I didn't start with the first novel in the series and work my way through them in chronological order. But even this won't stop me from going back and enjoying the others. I hope we see many more Colton Parker novels in the future. |
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Romantic suspense author Susan Sleeman's books include Final Betrayal, a romantic suspense novel to be released in September by Love Inspired Suspense an imprint of Steeple Hill Publishers and Nipped in the Bud, a cozy mystery coming in October from Barbour Publishing. Read more about Susan Sleeman |
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The Lost Sheep Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Brandt Dodson / Harvest House
Reviewed by Sandra RobbinsA runaway daughter who doesn't want to be found, a world of darkness amid the bright lights of Las Vegas, and unspeakable evil combine in Brandt Dodson's fourth book of his Colton Parker series.What does a father do when his daughter runs away? If you're private investigator Colton Parker, you gather all your resources and go after her. Nothing he's encountered before, however, can prepare him for what he will face as he races against time to find someone determined to disappear. Those who've followed Dodson's Colton Parker series won't be disappointed in this latest offering. From the first book, Brandt Dodson has done what many authors are never able to achieve-create a character who lingers in the mind of the reader long after closing the book. In Original Sin, The Root of All Evil, and Seventy Times Seven, readers are introduced to hard-boiled private investigator Colton Parker. As one who lives life on his own terms, Parker offers no apologies for his behavior while dealing with the consequences of it-the loss of his job with the FBI, the death of his wife, and the respect of his daughter. In The Lost Sheep, with money in the bank for the first time, Colton Parker comes to realize that life is so much more than financial security. As his journey to find his daughter takes him through a world inhabited by drug dealers, prostitutes, and the occult, he comes face to face with the one thing he's needed all along but refused to acknowledge-the love of God that calls out to His lost sheep. Fans of suspense and crime dramas will find it hard to put this book down. Accolades go to Brandt Dodson for crafting one of the most gripping and suspenseful novels this reviewer has read in a long time. The only question left to ask is-what's next, Brandt? |
About Sandra Robbins |
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The Lost Sheep Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Brandt Dodson / Harvest House
Reviewed by Cara PutmanThe fourth installment in Brandt Dodson's Colton Parker Mysteries, The Lost Sheep is a fantastic read.I don't usually like gritty PI type stories. The bleakness can wear me down. But there is something about the characters that Brandt crafts that propels me through stories that do nothing to hide the ugly side of life while reflecting enough light to keep the darkness from being overwhelming. In The Lost Sheep, Colton Parker's 15-year old daughter runs away and leaves only a voicemail for her father. In it she tells him not to look for her and nothing else. From that moment he is desperate to find her before something awful happens to her. From the back cover copy, I thought the story would start slowly with everything right in Colton's world. And after book three, I thought he'd deserved a moment to breathe. However, Brandt must follow Donald Maas' exhortation to torture his characters, because from page one the story raced to the ending. I started it at midnight, thinking I'd just read a chapter, and forty minutes later forced myself to put it down and turn off the light. Each time I picked it up it took incredible effort to put the book back down. The pacing of the plot is tight with short chapters that propel you through the story with the promise of "just one more." The author has also populated the book with an assortment of supporting characters that reflect all aspects of Colton. Marty demonstrates a sacrificial way of living after a hard life. Mary Christopher shows up at a key time and prevents Colton's rage from destroying him. And Pastor Milliken surprises Colton with his past and his persistence. The book is set in Indianapolis and Las Vegas, and the cities are carefully interwoven into the story with skill. Reading the book is like a visit to the under-belly of Sin City, but manages not to rob the reader of hope. |
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About Cara Putman View this review and more at: carasmusings.blogspot.com |
Susan Sleeman
is passionate about Christian Suspense as both a reader and a writer. She is the author of High-Stakes Inheritance, a romantic suspense novel to be released in September by Love Inspired Suspense an imprint of Steeple Hill Publishers and Nipped in the Bud, a cozy mystery in October from Barbour Publishing.
Read more about Susan's. . .
Christian Suspense
To Die For
©2006-10
Susan Sleeman
Susan Sleeman
