Desperate Creed ( Book #5 Ryder Creed) by Alex Kava
So today in addition to running this morning, I also finished the 40th book I’ve read this year. The book was Desperate Creed by Alex Kava. Desperate Creed is the fifth book in Kava’s Ryder Creed series.
I became a fan of Alex Kava’s books after reading her debut novel A Perfect Evil in June of 2003. By September of 2003 I had read the first of Alex Kava’s book. All of those books featured FBI agent Maggie O’Dell. Since then I have read all but one of the twelve books that are included in the Maggie O’Dell series.
In 2015 Kava introduced the character of Ryder Creed in the book Breaking Creed. Ryder is an ex-marine who now is a K9 search and rescue dog trainer and handler. Breaking Creed chronicles the first time Ryder and Maggie O’Dell work together. Desperate Creed is the 5th time the duo appear in novels together.
About Despearte Creed
In this installment Ryder and his dogs are working in Alabama helping search for bodies in the aftermath of a deadly tornado.
Meanwhile a Frankie a life-long friend of Ryder’s partner Hannah witnesses, via a cell phone, the murder of a coworker. The coworker and his friend had hacked into the computers of a major US cereal manufacturer and discovered. Information that could threatened a major international deal for the company. As a favor to Hannah, Maggie agrees to meet Frankie at a restaurant in, you guessed it, Alabama!
Soon both a tornado and a hitman are heading directly for Maggie, Frankie and Ryder! Which one will cause the most damage? Can the trio survive the wrath’s of both man and nature?
The Bottom Line
Throughout both series Maggie and Ryder have faced more than just serial killers. In the Authors’s Notes Kava states “with every new book, I try to cover something different,: human trafficking, the bird flu, contamination of our foods or the everyday struggles of our veterans” ….. and for the Ryder, I’m always looking for new ways to show off the numerous talents of scent detection dogs” …..”for Desperate Creed,I wanted to concentrate on how amazing scent detection dogs are in finding victims after natural disasters when every moment counts.”
And she did just that. I read both the Ryder Creed and Maggie O’Dell series not only for the terrific stories that form basis the novels but for the development of the characters. Both have been fully developed over the course of their respective series. Both are characters that faced faced personal tragedies that have knocked them down but have also made them stronger.
In Ryder’s case it has been the disappearance of his younger sister from a Florida rest stop. His sister’s disappearance was a driving force in him creating his K9 search and rescue business. It also has been a major subplot in all the books in the Ryder Creed series.
While I think that Desperate Creed can be read as a stand-alone, I blue e that reading the previous books in the series greatly increases your enjoyment of this book.
So Check Out Desperate Creed. As for me, I’m eagerly awaiting book 6 – Hidden Creed which Alex is busy doing research for. I wonder what Ryder and Maggie will face in that one!!
