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Raine Stockton Dog Mystery #2
Rapid Fire
When the FBI asks for her help in locating an old flame who is now an ecoterrorist responsible for the deaths of several people, kennel owner Raine Stockton, along with her canine companion Cisco, is determined to discover the truth about this man she once loved. Original.
223 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 5, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
June 10, 2018
As the owner of her own goofy large yellow dog, I have no trouble picturing Ball’s scenes whenever she’s describing Cisco, a large doofus with “the grace of a baby elephant”. Whenever he’s in the picture, it just brings a smile to my face. In fact, there were two scenes at dog shows where I was laughing out loud and was close to crying from mirth.
Ball spends several chapters bringing readers up to speed on Raine Stockton and her friends. Ground that is basically a rehash of book one. But that means that it’s not necessary to have read book one. The plot here, once it gets going, is that a former high school boyfriend of Raine’s, on the run since college and wanted by the FBI, is believed heading back to the mountains. It’s a well done story and you really don’t know how it will play out. I was right there with Raine as she continued to believe in the innocence of her long lost friend. But this series, for me, is all about the dog.
The narrator, Donna Postel, does an excellent job. Her voice displays all the emotions contained in the book which runs the gamut.
Just a fun book that I can highly recommend.
March 15, 2025
Bookstore owner is holding an event when the obnoxious guest author dies. Of course, she's the prime suspect. She and her slightly less obnoxious paramour investigate.
April 30, 2011
Love these books! Who can argue with a fabulous Golden Retriever???
April 21, 2019
This is kind of a cozy mystery where dogs are main characters, so you probably have to like dogs in order to really enjoy this. But I do and I did. Raine Stockton is not a detective, but she is involved in search and rescue operations with the Forest Service and occasionally with Buck, a local policeman. She and Buck are still married but live separately, and a part of the story concerns their relationship. This is the first of the series that I have read, but she spends time bringing the reader up to date, so it can be read independently. Raine lives near a village in the back country of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, where she and another woman (and dog-lover) run a kennel and help owners train their dogs. She's also involved in entering her dogs into various competitions related to agility and obedience.
It's a good mystery involving a complicated history of her relationship with a former boyfriend whom she has not seen for a long time but who has acquired a reputation as an eco-terrorist and is wanted by the FBI for an incident in which several people died. I won't go into the details of the mystery or her relationships, which you can gleen from the publisher's description. I rather like that she has conflicting emotions about various people in her life and does not always act rationally, not so different from her favorite dog, Cisco.
I am surprised that this series has only a small following. Our local library network, for example, has many of her Ladybug Farm stories, but none from her Raine Stockston series. Since it is not stated in this GR bio, you must go to her web site to learn that she writes under many pseudonyms including Rebecca Flanders, where you will find links to some of her other handles. (Odd that there is so little under her real name.) As personal tastes go, I'm sure I would not enjoy her romance novels or supernatural fantasies. A little of the latter sneaks into this book in the guise of a lawyer friend who claims to be able to literally understand dogs. Apparently, Raine doesn't quite buy into that.
As a mystery writer, I believe Donna Ball is underrated. I'll read others in the series.
It's a good mystery involving a complicated history of her relationship with a former boyfriend whom she has not seen for a long time but who has acquired a reputation as an eco-terrorist and is wanted by the FBI for an incident in which several people died. I won't go into the details of the mystery or her relationships, which you can gleen from the publisher's description. I rather like that she has conflicting emotions about various people in her life and does not always act rationally, not so different from her favorite dog, Cisco.
I am surprised that this series has only a small following. Our local library network, for example, has many of her Ladybug Farm stories, but none from her Raine Stockston series. Since it is not stated in this GR bio, you must go to her web site to learn that she writes under many pseudonyms including Rebecca Flanders, where you will find links to some of her other handles. (Odd that there is so little under her real name.) As personal tastes go, I'm sure I would not enjoy her romance novels or supernatural fantasies. A little of the latter sneaks into this book in the guise of a lawyer friend who claims to be able to literally understand dogs. Apparently, Raine doesn't quite buy into that.
As a mystery writer, I believe Donna Ball is underrated. I'll read others in the series.
March 14, 2017
My 4-star rating is from the perspective of a person deeply enmeshed in dogs and dog sports. A reader who isn't much into dogs will probably not find the book as appealing.
I liked that the main dog characters are far from perfect and that the dog trainer is a far from perfect dog trainer. The author's description of dog shows and events is spot-on, right down to the half-day of packing for an obedience trial.
The things that somewhat marred the book for me are that 1) the dog communicator from the first book in the series is also in this one (rolling of eyes) but thankfully doesn't occupy much space in the story and 2) Raine's loyalty to her old boyfriend is sort of admirable until it crosses the line into extreme naivety and beyond into aiding and abetting.
I liked that the main dog characters are far from perfect and that the dog trainer is a far from perfect dog trainer. The author's description of dog shows and events is spot-on, right down to the half-day of packing for an obedience trial.
The things that somewhat marred the book for me are that 1) the dog communicator from the first book in the series is also in this one (rolling of eyes) but thankfully doesn't occupy much space in the story and 2) Raine's loyalty to her old boyfriend is sort of admirable until it crosses the line into extreme naivety and beyond into aiding and abetting.
August 25, 2008
I loved reading these books. I likes the fact that it was about a dog helping solve mysteries. It was a quick and easy read.
June 20, 2012
loved it, love the dog antics, had a couple good "laugh out loud" moments
July 28, 2012
You know I loved it... seriously, I can't put them down. Impressed with dog knowledge. If this was a real person we would be friends.
October 17, 2023
This author has several different series that I like to read, but the two featuring dogs are my favorites.
I love the enthusiasm Cisco shows for making his people happy, and having had a golden retriever as part of our family, I understand how frustrating it can be when they would rather play and make friends than spend time training, but I'm holding out hope that eventually Cisco will become an excellent search and rescue dog :) Raine, his trainer, has an interesting back story, some of which comes into play in this book.
The mystery here was more a "when will they catch him?" and "did he do these things?" puzzle than what I usually read, which kept me reading long into the night. I wasn't able to guess the answers to these questions, so I just went along for the ride. The confrontation scene was tense, and I was unable to put the book down until its resolution.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series, probably sometime next year.
I love the enthusiasm Cisco shows for making his people happy, and having had a golden retriever as part of our family, I understand how frustrating it can be when they would rather play and make friends than spend time training, but I'm holding out hope that eventually Cisco will become an excellent search and rescue dog :) Raine, his trainer, has an interesting back story, some of which comes into play in this book.
The mystery here was more a "when will they catch him?" and "did he do these things?" puzzle than what I usually read, which kept me reading long into the night. I wasn't able to guess the answers to these questions, so I just went along for the ride. The confrontation scene was tense, and I was unable to put the book down until its resolution.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series, probably sometime next year.
October 3, 2020
Raine Stockton's first love, Andy Fontana, is back in town after 15 years - unfortunately that's the length of time he has been on the run and on the Top 10 Wanted List.
Cisco, Raine's tracker dog-in-training, is still as goofy as ever, and Buck, the husband she has twice married, divorced once and lives apart from, has handed her over to the FBI as a possible lead to Andy.
There's also a hit and run, a bear causing havoc and various dog competitions at which Cisco fails memorably.
It's a short, fun read with a good heart.
Spoiler: It did seem a bit strange to me that Andy, at the end, allows his diamonds, worth many millions, to be taken by the FBI. He had plenty of time to come up with some scheme, either with or without Raine, which would have seen them distributed to eco-causes ...
Cisco, Raine's tracker dog-in-training, is still as goofy as ever, and Buck, the husband she has twice married, divorced once and lives apart from, has handed her over to the FBI as a possible lead to Andy.
There's also a hit and run, a bear causing havoc and various dog competitions at which Cisco fails memorably.
It's a short, fun read with a good heart.
Spoiler: It did seem a bit strange to me that Andy, at the end, allows his diamonds, worth many millions, to be taken by the FBI. He had plenty of time to come up with some scheme, either with or without Raine, which would have seen them distributed to eco-causes ...
October 26, 2020
Second in the series for me, and what I said about the first still hold true:
Everything you might want in a K-9 mystery and more. Edge of the seat action. Endearingly imperfect dogs. A mystery plot that is believable and twisty. Characters you actually care about. Humor.
A mystery this good it hurts to put down. From about page...oh...one, I was hooked and determined to get to the end. Missing children have a way of doing that, not to mention search and rescue dogs and their owners with a certain snappy attitude that you can't help but like. I'm looking forward to the rest of them.
I have only one quibble with the series: some of them are kind of short. If they could only be three times as long!
Everything you might want in a K-9 mystery and more. Edge of the seat action. Endearingly imperfect dogs. A mystery plot that is believable and twisty. Characters you actually care about. Humor.
A mystery this good it hurts to put down. From about page...oh...one, I was hooked and determined to get to the end. Missing children have a way of doing that, not to mention search and rescue dogs and their owners with a certain snappy attitude that you can't help but like. I'm looking forward to the rest of them.
I have only one quibble with the series: some of them are kind of short. If they could only be three times as long!
May 9, 2022
Another mystery that I picked up on a whim. This is book 2 of Donna Ball's Raine Stockton Dog Mystery series. It seems that she has about 14 books out there in this series. This story is about Raine's involvement in law enforcement's attempt to capture an old friend, who had become an ecoterrorist. The story was enjoyable as it gave insight into her life as a dog trainer and member of the Forest Service.
The disappointing news is that when I went to my library to look for more of the books in this series, there were NONE! So, the only way to read this series is to purchase the books, something I am doing way too frequently these days.
The disappointing news is that when I went to my library to look for more of the books in this series, there were NONE! So, the only way to read this series is to purchase the books, something I am doing way too frequently these days.
December 18, 2022
Great read!
Raine, Buck, the FBI and an old bf wanted for eco terrorism plus the dogs! A continuation of the previous books with an added mystery. There is a huge development happening on the mountain and the ppl that live there aren't happy about it, but a former resident that's an old Bf of Maine's and on the FBI's most wanted list, is back to avenge the mountains' destruction plus for at least 2 other reasons as well
Raine, Buck, the FBI and an old bf wanted for eco terrorism plus the dogs! A continuation of the previous books with an added mystery. There is a huge development happening on the mountain and the ppl that live there aren't happy about it, but a former resident that's an old Bf of Maine's and on the FBI's most wanted list, is back to avenge the mountains' destruction plus for at least 2 other reasons as well
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August 13, 2025Quick read about a woman who is co-owner of a kennel. She trains dogs, does search and rescue, and competes in trials such as obedience and agility. She's a judge's daughter and married on and off to a sheriff. Her high school and college boyfriend, Andy, is wanted and that's when things get interesting. Great book with heart warming stories about how we love our dogs at all times, good and bad.
November 14, 2020
You never forget first love
Raine is all about her dogs, her friends, her planet. Of course even with the best intentions, sometimes life throws things at you to mess with plans. Her relationship with Buck is complicated to say the least. I love her dog Cisco, cause that personality was in one of mine.
Raine is all about her dogs, her friends, her planet. Of course even with the best intentions, sometimes life throws things at you to mess with plans. Her relationship with Buck is complicated to say the least. I love her dog Cisco, cause that personality was in one of mine.
December 3, 2017
Cisco
This book centers around Cisco and he antics though He can be a very well trained Golden Retriever he has an ability to do only half the right thing at dog shows. In his real life he manages to do the right thing.
This book centers around Cisco and he antics though He can be a very well trained Golden Retriever he has an ability to do only half the right thing at dog shows. In his real life he manages to do the right thing.
August 21, 2018
Wonderful book! I love this series and the Donna Bell is very knowledgeable about AKC Agility and Obed trials. I have shown for years in both. The story lines are gripping, well written and and "can't put it down" stories.
October 18, 2018
A sad and nerve wrecking tail. No dogs in danger during this mystery. Interesting facts about mountain wildlife and forestry. A little heart-breaking, especially with the tearing out of the forest and mountain to be replaced by industry.
August 6, 2017
Dogs and mysteries - nothing better and the dog wins his spurs in the end - not solving the mystery - just having fun.
September 29, 2017
Mysteries for dog lovers
Good story writer, captures and weaves her understanding of d o vs nicely into the storyline. Fun read, highly recommend the series.
Good story writer, captures and weaves her understanding of d o vs nicely into the storyline. Fun read, highly recommend the series.
March 31, 2018
Enjoyable light mystery
April 29, 2018
Disappointing. Not as good as the first book and even lots of fun dog stuff couldn't distract me from the clunky plot.
June 1, 2018
The second in a series doesn't disappoint. A dog trainer's strained marriage is strained even more when an old high school friend is hunted by the FBI for eco-terrorism.
July 3, 2018
It is a quick read and a page turner. Dogs and dog training are a big part of the book.
January 10, 2020
I really like the Raine Stockton Dog Mysteries! Entertaining and relatable and I share her deep love for dogs.
March 8, 2020
A great read mystery
I love reading the mystery novels when dogs are involved. Cisco is going to be a star of he keeps going on the path he is on.
I love reading the mystery novels when dogs are involved. Cisco is going to be a star of he keeps going on the path he is on.
August 2, 2020
Finally I get a chance to move on in the series. Read this one so fast it was smoking and moved right on to #3. I can't wait to get to the rest, I just love them!
September 14, 2020
This is a well written book. Keeps you laughing throughout. If you love dogs you can't beat it.
August 16, 2021
Donna Ball does it again...another "just for fun" read
September 17, 2021
Exciting fast read by Donna Ball for dog lovers, mystery lovers, lover lovers, and more. I love the dog training and agility and I love Sonny's insight. Great series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews