In Search of Valor: A Valorie Dawes Novella: Valorie Dawes Thrillers

by Gary Corbin

An international kidnapping ring took her friend's daughter. Now they know Val is helping her - and they'll stop at nothing to eliminate her as a threat.

Valorie Dawes fights an international kidnapping syndicate on behalf of a new college friend - and harbors serious doubts about her future as a police officer.

At a young age, Valorie Dawes vowed to avenge the death of her uncle, a policeman killed in the line of duty, by following in his footsteps. During her first month at college, the mysterious disappearance of a close friend's child drags her into the role of crime fighter much earlier than planned.

But Val's initial attempts to help lead to mistrust and recrimination. Self-doubts escalate, not only about Val's future as a cop, but over her ability to make and sustain the trust of a friend.

Anxious to prove herself worthy on both counts, Val puts her own life on the line - and discovers that the kidnappers will stop at nothing to get rid of obstacles like her.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

Audible Audio

Published August 7, 2020

About the author

Gary Corbin is a writer, actor, and playwright in Camas, WA, a suburb of Portland, OR.

In his character-driven police procedural, A Woman of Valor, rookie policewoman Valorie Dawes has a mission: take serial child molesters like Richard Harkins off the streets of her small hometown of Clayton, CT—for good. But can Valorie overcome the trauma she suffered as a child and stop Harkins from hurting others—or will her bottled-up anger lead her to take reckless risks that put the people she loves in greater danger?

Gary's debut novel, Lying in Judgment, was released in March, 2016. Lying in Judgment is a courtroom thriller about Peter Robertson, who serves on the jury of a murder trial for the crime he committed. Lying in Judgment was selected as Bookworks.com "Book of the Week" for July 11-18, 2016, and was the feature novel on Literary Lightbox’s “Indie Spotlight” in February 2017. In the sequel, Lying in Vengeance, Peter is blackmailed by a former fellow juror, who demands that he kill her stalker - or she'll reveal his secret murderous past.

His Mountain Man Mysteries series includes Gary's second novel, The Mountain Man's Dog, The Mountain Man's Bride, and The Mountain Man's Badge.

All are available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook forms. Lying in Judgment, Lying in Vengeance, and The Mountain Man's Dog are also available on audio.

An award-winning playwright, several of his plays have been produced in the Portland, OR area, some of them multiple times. In addition to his own scripts, Gary writes, ghost-writes, and edits scripts. He specializes in tight, realistic dialogue involving sharply drawn, interesting characters in complex relationships.

Gary is a member of PDX Playwrights, the Portland Area Theater Alliance, the Willamette Writers Group and the Bar Noir Writers Workshop, and participates in workshops and conferences in the Portland, Oregon area.

A homebrewer as well as a maker of wine, mead, cider, and soft drinks, Gary is a member of the Oregon Brew Crew and a BJCP National Beer Judge. He loves to ski, cook, and garden, and hopes someday to train his dogs to obey. And when that doesn’t work, there’s always Renegade’s Paradise.

Reviews

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Search of Valor by Gary Corbin is an excellent thriller following a female university student who wants to one day be a detective.

This is the prequel to A Woman of Valor, and goes into the university life of Val Dawes. During her first year studying criminology, Val meets Rhonda - a potential partner for their paper in Crim 101 with the wicked Professor Hirsch. The two discuss what paper they going to write together, and then decide to go pick up Rhonda's daughter Jada. Unfortunately, for both of them, Jada is not there and has been abducted. Drama and thrills ensue as the local police department, detectives, Rhonda and Val try to figure out who could have taken Jada and why. Val gets to put her detective skills to work when she helps out the local department in this case.

I was hooked to this story! I truly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. There's enough drama and action in such a fast paced manner that I barely noticed the time and pages flying away on me. It was just the perfect length and I felt that there didn't need to be anymore to this book. It's a great intro to Val's past life, and sets it up beautifully for the next book.

Gary Corbin has an excellent writing style that makes reading easy and fast. The story moves flawlessly and I never once felt the need to put it down. He's a master at this genre, in my humble opinion. I always love a good book by Gary Corbin! They never disappoint.

I would highly recommend picking up either book in this series. You don't need to read one to know what's going on in the other, but they do compliment each other well.

Five out of five stars.

Thank you to Gary Corbin who sent me this book in exchange of an honest review.

[Rita Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the prequel to A Woman of Valor and explains Valorie Dawes journey to becoming a police officer. During her time at university, Valerie befriends another student, who has a young daughter. When this little girl is abducted from her pre-school, Valerie becomes involved in helping to find her and bring the perpetrators to justice.

[Suanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valorie Dawes was molested at at twelve by a family friend, “Uncle Milt.” Though Val eventually reports it to her family, no one believes her except her Uncle Val, a cop. He is shot in the line of duty before he can bring Milt to justice. Valorie follows in her Uncle Val’s footsteps and becomes a policewoman. As a rookie, she faces the usual harassment of any younger cop by older policemen. Val’s is accentuated because of rampant sexism in the department. Corbin manages to integrate pedophilia, childhood sexual abuse, sexism, and workplace harassment into a police procedural. Our heroine is not readily accepted by members of the force, though she does connect with a few like her partner. Corbin also does a good job getting into the head of a young abused woman. There are a few other points of view he edges into, though less successfully, like that of the bad guy. These forays are brief, though, and didn’t add much depth to the plot.

The book, with its emphasis on #MeToo situations, is en pointe with current events. Valerie’s struggles seem real as do things like racial profiling which, along with sexism, wanders throughout the book. Social media’s influence on policemen and on the population is also timely—especially lies spread by a blogger with inside information on what is going on in the PD.

[Erick Mertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exciting read. "In Search Of Valor" is filled with interesting characters and precarious situations. Valorie Dawes, the story's main character, is a young, would be cop, thrust into a hair-raising child abduction scheme. She manages to get herself in and out of trouble, using her wits, persistence and a bit of luck.

"In Search Of Valor" is a great series starter that you won't want to put down, featuring a memorable character with great potential.

[Vigilant Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title – In Search of Valor
Author – Gary Corbin
Genre – Mystery/Amateur Sleuth
Word Count - 33,000
Rating – 4 stars out of 5
No. 33 - 2022
Posted 9/1/2022

My Impressions: suspenseful, well written, fresh plot
Main Characters:
Valory Dawes – College criminal studies student 18 Y.O.
Rhonda LeMieux – Valory’s college friend, unmarried mother, Jamaican
Jada – 18 month old kidnapped infant.
Tanisha Jordan – Detective, 35 Y.O.
Marty Rizzo – Jada’s father.
Issac Lewis – Antagonist.

Valory Dawes aims to become a police officer after college. She and Rhonda team up for a class project and meet one morning to discuss it. Rhonda is late picking Jada up from childcare where she learns her mother has already picked the baby up; but there’s a problem. Rhonda’s mother died a year ago. Detective Jordan enters and takes the lead in the disappearance. In fits of anger and terror, Rhonda lashes out at everyone; she suspects Jada’s father of staging the abduction but has no proof.
Finally, under harsh questioning, she remembers another man she dated only once several months ago. The story picks up speed then and Valory agrees to become bait to draw the kidnapper into the open after she caught him stalking her. That goes awry and she is captured by the psychopath.
In Search of Valor is an intense, interesting read and I recommend it.

The editing and sentence structure are good.
Character Development is good for the main characters.
Details and research are adequate.
The plot has a fresh twist with a kidnapping for child trafficking.

Tanisha must have gotten a ‘sad’ one hour paint job because her rust colored Dodge suddenly turned Blue.

Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.