When
Nashville PI and horse whisperer Jared McKean is hired to investigate a
suspicious barn fire, he finds evidence of soring, the practice of using
painful shoeing or caustic chemicals to affect the gait of a Tennessee Walking
Horse. But the owners, Zane and Carlin Underwood, are known anti-soring
activists. Carlin's distress seems genuine, and Zane is confined to a
wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down during an attack by a frenzied
stallion. Jared believes someone else is behind the arson.
Knowing the arsonist is almost certainly someone in community of those who breed and show Walking Horses, Jared and his new assistant, his half-sister Khanh, attend a local horse show in hopes of flushing out the culprit. There are suspects aplenty, including a groom on the run from a powerful cartel, a modern day robber baron, and a beautiful gold-digger whose dreams are filled with fire.
Secrets pile on top of secrets, and as Zane's memories of the events leading to his accident begin to return, the situation becomes deadly. Jared and Khanh find themselves in the crosshairs of a killer who will do anything to keep the past in the past.
Knowing the arsonist is almost certainly someone in community of those who breed and show Walking Horses, Jared and his new assistant, his half-sister Khanh, attend a local horse show in hopes of flushing out the culprit. There are suspects aplenty, including a groom on the run from a powerful cartel, a modern day robber baron, and a beautiful gold-digger whose dreams are filled with fire.
Secrets pile on top of secrets, and as Zane's memories of the events leading to his accident begin to return, the situation becomes deadly. Jared and Khanh find themselves in the crosshairs of a killer who will do anything to keep the past in the past.
A
Taste of Blood And Ashes (Mystery)
By
Jaden Terrell
ISBN
#978-1579624354
Price
$26.83 (Hardback)
296
Pages
Rating
5-Stars
After reading the first
story in the Jared McKean series, I was anxious to finally get to read this
fourth book. Jared and his half-sister, Khanh, a Vietnamese girl his father
sired, are still together, and she brings some humor to an otherwise very
dramatic story line. Jared is
investigating a suspicious fire for an insurance company that killed several
Tennessee Walking Horses. The case quickly turns into a murder investigation
when human bones are also found.
Anywhere there is money
to be made you will also find big crime and gangsters behind much of the
happenings. It doesn’t take long for Jared and Khanh to become targets in
someone’s sights.
I am against all sports
that use animals for man’s enjoyment, and this book was hard for me to read
because of the cruelty in this regard. The scene of the barn burning and the
horses screaming and dying in the flames almost forced me to quit reading. But
the book and the writing are both well conceived and plotted, and the author
never fails to create a good mystery. I can recommend it highly for the mystery
fan, but be aware of horrific scenes that may haunt you like it did me.
Tom
Johnson
Author
of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA
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