Into the Fire

Savage Season by L.T. Ryan and Biba Pearce is Book 7 in A Dalton Savage Mystery Series.

Okay. This is more of a commentary than a review. But first, it’s a good story and an interesting case for the Savage crew. An older couple is assassinated in their home with a specific double tap execution. No one can establish a reason for this well-respected, simple living, and much-loved couple’s deaths. Absolutely nothing shows up shady in the investigation.

Following their deaths, another man is found dead with the identical kill-method and totally unrelated to the couple in any discoverable way.

Underlying the whole situation is a City Councilwoman putting pressure on Savage to get information on an underlying problem with a new project designed for a piece of land previously owned by a family who were burned to death in their home on the property several years ago which was ruled an accident related to their gas furnace.

As I said, it’s an intriguing story with a solid twist.

So. Here’s my commentary. Originally, in the Rachel Hatch Series by L.T. Ryan and Brian Shea, Dalton Savage and Rachel Hatch met, worked through difficulties in their mutual solutions to problems in their community, eventually “Hatch” worked with Savage, they pretty much fell in an awkward kind of love, and when Hatch had to leave on specific jobs that required her extra-military skills, Dalton basically told her he’d be there whenever she returned.

After some heart-breaking convoluted experiences, Hatch returned “home” and had decided she wanted to see where their relationship could take them, wanted to commit to him. When she excitedly gets back in town and rushes to his home, a pregnant woman answers the door. Hatch realizes the circumstances and excuses herself, rushing out to her car. Dalton manages to get to her before she gets in her rig, and, as Hatch is unsuccessfully fighting back tears, he explains how the woman and he just “fell in love.” Well, it was sickening. Bad plot twist. Didn’t work. I was done with Savage. He was a character I really liked. Now I hated him.

It took me two years to read the first Dalton Savage mystery. I hated him even more – he was this whiny man who was the opposite of the strong character in the Hatch books. Dependent on this woman, who of course I also “hated,” it was simply a total character reversal.

BUT, I picked up Savage Season because the blurb said he and this woman were now separated – and she has his son (which makes me consider maybe the child isn’t really his?) – and she’s living in Arizona. He’s still determined to get her and his son back, but the final scene in this story actually gave me hope that maybe there could be some hope for he and Hatch to make a go of it?

So there you have it.