Blood on the Tracks

Sydney Rose Parnell #1

by Barbara Nickless

A young woman is found brutally murdered, and the main suspect is the victim’s fiancé, a hideously scarred Iraq War vet known as the Burned Man. But railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell, brought in by the Denver Major Crimes unit to help investigate, can't shake the feeling that larger forces are behind this apparent crime of passion.

In the depths of an icy winter, Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde ― both haunted by their time in Iraq ― descend into the underground world of a savage gang of rail riders. There, they uncover a wide-reaching conspiracy and a series of shocking crimes. Crimes that threaten everything Parnell holds dear.

As the search for the truth puts her directly in the path of the killer, Parnell must struggle with a deadly question: Can she fight monsters without becoming one herself?

A Suspense Magazine Best of 2016 Books Selection.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook

386 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2016

About the author

Barbara Nickless is the Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of two award-winning crime series. Her first series has been optioned for television. A teacher and activist, she uses the healing power of writing to support combat veterans and civilians in the U.S. and Ukraine. She’s a three-time winner of the Colorado Book Award and a six-time winner of the CAL awards. A former fencer and falconer, Barbara lives in Colorado where she loves to hike, cave, snowshoe, and drink single malt Scotch. Not at the same time. Her most recent research travel involved taking cover from rocket fire and being grilled at military checkpoints. Her latest novel—The Drowning Game—is a spy thriller. It dropped January 1, 2025.

Sign up for Barbara’s newsletter at www.barbaranickless.com.

Reviews

[Kylie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet Sydney Rose Parnell, former Marine, Iraqi war vet, and railway cop. Sydney is investigating the death of a woman, with all clues seeming to lead to a fellow Marine, known as the Burned Man, because of his hideous scars from the war. This doesn't sit well with Sydney, her gut telling her it wasn't him, so she and her canine partner Clyde go out on a limb to find the real killer. With the police investigation going nowhere, the military and a bunch of skinheads both serve to muddy the waters as to who the real killer is. As a massive snowstorm sets in we race to the final, stunning showdown.

I found Blood On The Tracks to be a fantastic read, with non-stop action, a gutsy heroine, and a brave dog all adding to the story. The characters are believable and the action all too real. This is my first book by Barbara Nickless, but it certainly wont be my last. I'm now looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Recommended for all lovers of gritty crime fiction.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Well, my goodness—yet another outstanding debut thriller!! I cannot believe how many wonderful new authors I have discovered this year. It is a real pleasure to add Ms. Barbara Nickless to the list.

Blood on the Tracks is a thoroughly engrossing read about Denver railway cop and former Marine Sydney Rose Parnell, her K9 partner Clyde, and their efforts to bring down the murderer of a young woman named Elise. Elise was known to the railway jumper community as “the good-hearted lady.” Who would want to kill this woman? This plot point is actually just the tip of the iceberg in this topsy turvy gripping tale. The story goes deep and wide from there.

Yes, the plot is definitely a winner. And there are so many elements. We have suspense, thrills, a touch (just a touch) of potential romance, family relationships amongst troubled souls, the workings of the railway and its transient community, and the dilemma of when something innately wrong could be really right. We get much angst and emotion that will appeal to men and women readers alike. Most important is the beautifully written theme of PTSD. There are several characters who have been brutally affected by this condition, including the dog Clyde, but none more so than our protagonist Sydney Parnell. Each chapter begins with an insightful statement from Sydney, either from her personal journal, a therapy session transcript, or from a publication/interview. Her words reflect her experiences in Iraq and her philosophical reactions to those experiences, and how those are affecting her current journey. I’m not one for military themes, but I found this thread of the story profoundly moving.

Several other things are worth mentioning. The dog Clyde is a wonderful addition to the story. He is not in it for cuteness. He is a serious character you won’t soon forget. Secondly, though Sydney sees ghosts of the dead people she dealt with in assignment in Iraqi, we are not dealing with a strong paranormal element. Thirdly, I must give kudos to Ms. Nickless for the tremendous amount of research that went into this book—most impressive. Finally, get a look at that gorgeous cover and the wonderful title, which turns out to be perfect.

I have two criticisms, which added up to a half star deduction. I found the first 20% of the book rather slow and this very putdownable section took me three days to get through. But an out of the blue event shot the pace up tremendously around that point, and from then on it was extremely hard to pull myself away. Also, I thought the end was too rushed. The wonderfully suspenseful and thrilling action scenes could have been more drawn out in my opinion. Furthermore, I would have liked to have had more about the final consequences of all the events on the survivors. Now, this book is #1 of a new series, so I am thinking we might get the latter in book 2; I hope so as I want to know more about these characters. Needless to say, I became heavily invested in Sydney Parnell. She has vaulted up to become one of my favorite protagonists ever.

This novel is well worth a read, trust me. If you are looking for a richly layered story imbued with a hefty amount of emotional and intellectual depth, pick this one up. Most strongly recommended.

I wish to thank Net Galley, Thomas and Mercer, and Ms. Barbara Nickless for an advanced copy of this novel. My opinions are totally mine and are not biased in any way.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve owned this book for ages, but it took me reading A Borrowing of Bones, another book about a female veteran and her K-9 partner, to remind me about this story. The books are very similar. Sydney, a marine vet, suffering from PTSD, has lost her fiancé to the war. She inherits her fiancé’s government trained dog when he’s mustered out also suffering from PTSD. Here, Sydney has gone on to become a railroad cop. When the girlfriend of a transient Marine vet is found murdered, he is blamed. Sydney becomes involved in the case both because the woman is known to her and because of her familiarity with the railroad’s transient population.

I can’t say I found some of the plot points particularly believable. Not so much Sydney’s involvement in the murder investigation, but that the uncle of the murdered woman was initially allowed to be involved. As the story goes on, the potential reasons for the woman’s murder become more convoluted and the number of suspects grows. I will give Nickless credit. The ending was strong and took me by surprise.

Also, as part of the storyline, Sydney sees ghosts - ghosts of dead comrades along with the dead victim. I’m usually not one for ghosts, but here it seemed more psychological trauma than paranormal so it worked for me.

I enjoyed the relationship between Sydney and Clyde. This is a decent police procedural type mystery with strong characters. I can’t say I loved this book, but I enjoyed it enough that I’ll be reading the next in the series.

[Michael Slavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good! I read this book because it was in the crime genera and had a military dog in it that now helps her owner as a railroad cop. I also liked that it was a series. It was a little different than most and very interesting.

What was special about this book were the hobos, the railroad (she is a railroad cop), the ghosts she saw all the time as if they were just people at the table with her (she was in the military in graves registration so she saw lots of dead people), and it was a good story. It even has some skinheads.

The book is a murder mystery of who killed the nice lady who helped the hobos. You really do feel the setting of being along the rails with the hobos and in their camps. It is in Colorado but could have been anywhere along the tracks.

The action scene at the end is almost worth the read by itself. And you may be surprised at who killed the nice lady when you find out.

Good story! Very worth the read.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

**Reread July 2018: Still a solid story.**

I was dithering back and forth between giving this four or five stars. Since I stayed up late to finish it and because I thought it did a really good job of dealing with PTSD in war veterans, I settled on giving it the rare five stars.

"There’s no escaping death, Corporal Parnell. Not for any of us. Not even when you’re young. Not even when you come home."

This is a new to me author so I went into the story with absolutely no expectations. What I found was a compelling story with interesting characters that left me wanting more. Sydney Parnell, the female protagonist, is a former Marine who served in Mortuary Services during the Iraq war. I work with veterans daily and have spoken with several whose MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was in Mortuary Services and it's a pretty grim experience by anyone's standards. It's no surprise then that Sydney has been diagnosed with PTSD and this book comes as close as any I've come across in accurately describing the inner turmoil and pain felt by those who suffer from it. Sydney sounds like almost every veteran, male and female, that I've worked with in the past ten years.

Now back home in Colorado, Sydney works as a railroad detective with her canine partner, Clyde - a veteran war dog, at her side. I loved Sydney's relationship with Clyde and he was a character in his own right. Both are called in by Detective Mike Cohen of the Denver P.D. to help with a murder case when it's suspected that railway hobos are involved but the case soon becomes far more personal than Sydney could have guessed.

I was pretty much hooked from the start and my interest never wavered. There was enough going on in the story that I did not see the end coming. Speaking of the ending, the author really turned up the intensity in those last couple of chapters hence my staying up late to finish it. I felt pretty attached to both Sydney and Clyde by the end and I'm rooting for both to find some peace.

[John (JC) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know what I was getting myself into in the first fourth of this book. All the thoughts and ideas, including a plethora of characters added to the mix, contributed to a bowl of confusion. It took extra effort to hold my attention at this point. But then the sun came out and the action/intrigue slowly got to speed. There are lots of flashbacks which are appropriate. Also, at the beginning of every chapter there is a soliloquy loaded with great information.
The main character is a railroad policewoman with a very serious background in the gulf war. She is incredible when she stands up for herself and frustrating when she does not. Her companions included an spectacular police canine and several ghosts that appear at appropriate times. Combine some serious bad guys with the street people, the line hobos and two branches of police and you have an interesting read. There was just enough action, just enough suspense and a plethora of “whodunnit” It was a good read. I will continue with the series.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Barbara Nickless‘s debut book. I loved the characters of Sydney Rose Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde. Sydney is an Iraq war vet, now working as a railroad cop in Denver. Sydney has quite a few ghosts that she sees. And she thinks Clyde has a few as well.

A woman known as “the kind hearted lady” is murdered and her PTSD-suffering fiancé is suspected. Denver cops call Sydney in to help find the man among the hobos riding the rails. A group of neo-Nazis is discovered also riding the rails. There is suspicion that something that happened in Iraq may also be at play in the murder.

Some of the background on what happened in Iraq was left hanging. I’m also curious about the demons that Denver Detective Mike Cohen carries. I hope these are explained in the next book, which I have and will read soon.

[Barry who enjoys well-written thrillers, mysteries , & espionage & loathes romance, horror & supernat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely fabulous book; one of the best that I have read in years. Book of the year in my somewhat jaded view.

There are a great many books about soldiers, sailors or marines coming back to the states after a horrifying experience in either the Middle East or Viet Nam and most are pretty much the same, so I almost passed on this one but decided to read it because it´s ratings and reviews were very, very good.

Sydney Rose Parnell had been a Marine in Mortuary Affairs in Iraq (An uplifting and fun job). She had seen, done and experienced things that no human being should, including an incident in a small Iraqi town loaded with insurgents where all of the surviving Americans swore a blood oath never to speak of it to anyone, ever. And no one did.... for a long time.

Sydney Rose now works as a railroad cop, based in Denver where she grew up. She knows most of the hobos, tramps and skinheads who ride the rails and actually treats them pretty well. One day, a horribly burn-scarred man comes to Denver riding the rails. ¨The Burnt Man¨ as he is called is looking to reunite with and marry his sweetheart at whose urging he has returned. Someone is murdered and he becomes the primary suspect and, of course, Sydney Rose and her Iraq War veteran dog, Clyde, a Belgian Malinois, become involved as do the Denver police.

Nickless does a remarkable job of bringing Sydney Rose and Clyde and all of their demons alive. It´s difficult to believe that someone who has never experienced that type of combat could have such incredible insight into what it can do to people and to dogs, as well. I have had a couple of Beaucerons, a dog somewhat similar to the Malinois, and was stunned by how well Nickless captured Clyde´s many facets and emotions.

Nickless uses the English language as well as almost any writer that I have ever read - not the big fifty-cent words that are often employed to impress the reader, but rather the five and ten cent types with an occasional quarter word thrown in - to create incredibly vivid pictures and provide remarkable depth and insight into her characters.

I really feel like I know Sydney Rose, her Uncle Nik, the Burnt Man, Detective Cohen and many other characters. The book is also very nicely paced, the plot is very complex and incredibly engaging. Nickless draws everything together in the end and, of course, there are the obligatory twists. It can be an emotionally difficult book because the author pulls no punches but that is one of the reasons that I loved it.

Blood on the Tracks is the first of a four-book series featuring Sydney Rose and I am confident that I will be left wanting more when I have finished the series, although I never read two books by an author in a row, so later...

I strongly recommend this book to those who enjoy a very realistic, stomach churning, police procedural involving many very damaged people. If you´re more the Alice in Wonderland type, this book ain´t for you.

Over and Out

[Tracie Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was EXCELLENT! At first it was a little shaky but I think it was just me. I loved Sydney's voice and inner thoughts. She was a serious bad ass but she was also broken. I loved Clyde a ton. This had a great mystery and it kept me guessing the whole time. I can't wait for the next book and I'm shocked this was the first novel for this author. The writing was fantastic.

[Tulay · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than five stars.

This author must have been studying the eyes of everyone since birth, she is more mature than her years on this earth. Description of places, cold, blowing desert sand short, but you feel like you were there with her characters. Marine Sydney Parnell back from Iraq, she is strong and haunted by the ghosts of soldiers she picked up, sometimes just the few body parts, so they come back home. Gripping story, beautifully written, suspenseful book. Can't wait to read more books written by this author, and I will be reading this book again and again.

[Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus] · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars^5.0 Stars

"Blood on the Tracks"
(Sydney Rose Parnell #1)
by Barbara Nickless
Audiobook - 12:04 Hours - Narrator: Emily Sutton-Smith

From "My Listening/ReadingActivity", October 12, 2022 @ 70.0% :
"This has been a most interesting listen so far. I needed time in the earlier stages to adapt to the main character's 'voices' and her ad hoc switching from past to present and back again, but it all started to mesh at about the 40% mark. I am looking forward to the final two hours."

As I note above, it took me until 40% in before I began to feel comfortable with 'Sydney Rose Parnell' and the post-Iraq PTSD from which both she and her K9, a Belgian Malinois named 'Clyde', suffered. Sydney's 'visitors', their effect on her demeanour and behaviour, and the good and bad choices she had to make to overcome the presence of evil in her and Clyde's lives, made for a moving and worthwhile story.

The narration by Emily Sutton-Smith was generally very good. Her reading was clear and articulate, and notwithstanding the need to produce characterisations of multiple male voices, a difficulty for most female narrators, Sutton-Smith tackled the task with confidence.

I agree with GR friend, Christine's, comment: "I thought the end was too rushed. The wonderfully suspenseful and thrilling action scenes could have been more drawn out in my opinion. Furthermore, I would have liked to have had more about the final consequences of all the events on the survivors." Well-made points, thank you, Christine.

Thanks to GR friend, Barry, who thought: "This was an absolutely fabulous book; one of the best that I have read in years.", which resulted in my purchase of "Sydney Rose Parnell #1, Blood on the Tracks", and also "Sydney Rose Parnell #2, Dead Stop".

I am sorely tempted to start listening to "Dead Stop" right now!

[Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once in a while, a book turns up that right from the start sucks me into the story and makes me fall in love with its characters. Blood on the Tracks is a book like that. I was instantly hooked with the story and I could not for my life figure out the truth about the young woman death before Syndey Rose herself figured it out. Railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell is a new favorite heroine of mine. Her past in the army has left her with a broken heart and awful memories that plague her every day. And she sees ghosts, they don't talk to her, but they are with her. A constant reminder of the war and not only that soon she sees the murdered woman as well...

Blood on the Tracks is Barbara Nickless debut book and the first in a series and I just can't wait to read the next book. I was impressed both with the story and the writing and I found Sydney Rose Parnell to be such a wonderful character, damaged both from childhood traumas and from the war when her lover Dougie died during a mission. I found myself loving Dougie as well, despite him hardly being in the story, just memories. The link to the war in Iraq is fascinating and I can't wait to find out more in the next book because something isn't right with the "secret mission and events around it" and it seems that there are people who don't want Parnell to investigate it. I also found Parnell's relationship with Detective Mike Cohen interesting, and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to break down her walls. Then, we have Clyde, her K9 partner, I just love books that feature K9 dogs and Clyde just as Parnell has gone through hell in Iraq. In a way, they cling to each other after losing the one person that they love the most; Dougie.

Blood on the Tracks is a truly remarkable book, it's never dull, the characters are well-developed and flawed and I just love that Parnell sees ghosts. It feels like this was a book written for me with all the bookish ingredients I love.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

[Mark Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Blood on the Tracks" starts out as a thriller, morphs into a mystery, and turns back again into a movie-ready action-packed finish. But if you mention "movie," that sounds like this story hits the usual marks and follows the normal arcs. It doesn't. It's messy--in a good way--because it feels so driven by character. It's ambitious and sprawling. The story swoops from big picture (hey, stop that train!) to intimate. It's both violent and raw. "Blood on the Tracks" is about the ghosts of war, racism, class, rank, a harrowing search for identity and, of course, truth and justice. It rolls all those topics, and more, into a multi-faceted manhunt, at first, and clue-finding mystery.

Railroad Police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell is one complex and interesting character. She sees dead people, for one thing. But don’t think paranormal. Uh, hardly. These are “skills” she doesn’t necessarily want. She’s haunted for many reasons, including the fact that she worked in corpse retrieval in Iraq. She was also involved in a situation covering up certain atrocities over there.

The plot involves the murder of young woman who was known for her kindness to hobos and drifters. She is murdered in vicious fashion. The victim had been "sliced and diced." The killer scrawled bloody hobo symbols nearby so Sydney and her K9 partner Clyde are pulled into the investigation and soon working to stop a northbound freight train as they hunt for the killer. Clyde is a great character, too. He’s got his own darkness. Something is broken inside him, too. They are a good pair.

But this is Sydney’s story—all Sydney. She is very much a loner. She had a “ragged” childhood, effectively without parents. Her father abandoned the family. Her mother murdered her new boyfriend. By age thirteen, “after a long period of furious, wounded rebellions,” Sydney Rose thought she had buried her demons “and set out to prove she was nothing like them.” She joined the Marines and later the railway police “out of courage” and tried to find a new identity, but kept realizing that the angry thirteen-year-old had never quite disappeared.

Sydney Rose wants nothing to do with murder and mayhem, but can’t avoid getting sucked into this one. She also has railroads and diesel in her blood, and this case goes straight to her heart. “I just wanted to be a regular twenty-seven-year-old woman, holding down a decent job, enrolled at the community college, and studying whatever caught my interest while I tried to figure out my life. Maybe later I’d want something more, but all I cared about right now were the simple things—my grandmother and my dog and a roof over our heads and not losing all of that because of something that went down in another life on the other side of the world.”

After Sydney Rose leads a big scene where they stop and search a freight train bound from Denver north toward Ford Collins. Sydney and the cops all think they’ve got their man—or do they? The guy in custody is Tucker Rhodes and here’s where Blood on the Tracks gets layered and rich. Rhodes is a war vet, too, and he’s dealing with the same mental struggles and a “war-broken heart.” Do you think there might not be something fresh about a character struggling with PTSD? Think again.

Tucker seems like the obvious culprit but based on the number of pages left to read we know there are some problems coming. Those problems start rushing at Sydney in waves. The hunt leads to big-picture conspiracies and into the deadly lair of white supremacists and ultimately into a terrifying confrontation with a predator during a snowstorm in Wiggins. In the end, there is blood on the tracks and many other places, too.

Sydney Rose is a terrific character. Her demons feel real. She broods about them but keeps pressing forward, too. She quotes Hemingway and Shakespeare (not Bob Dylan?), but doesn’t overdo it. Nickless no doubt put a ton of research into finding just the right credible details about railway cops and freight trains and all the flashbacks to Iraq, but nothing bogs this story down. Nickless gives "Blood on the Tracks" a chugging, relentless appeal. You will long remember this spectacular debut, especially after they make the movie.

More on my book review page including an interview with Barbara: https://markhstevens.wordpress.com/20...

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sydney Rose Parnal is an Iraq war veteran who is battling her own demons. She is now working as a railroad cop in Denver and is drawn into the investigation of the brutal murder of a ‘kind to hobos’ woman. The finger is solidly pointing at a marine, who was badly burned in an incident in Iraq, and who now, suffering from PTSD, is freight-hopping around the country. Parnal and the marine share a secret from the war that could cause a lot of problems if revealed. Debut procedural cum mystery that really works. I will definitely get around to reading others in the series. A good find!

[Donne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book that has been on my to-read list for a long time (Apr2020). No idea why it has taken me so long to finally getting around to reading it. After setting aside a book I was reading because it was boring me, I started looking for something else to read and came across this buried in my to-read list. I’m glad I did and I want to thank Barry (who I follow) for his review; that was my deciding factor.

Having read hundreds of crime thrillers and murder mysteries, I have never read a story about a railroad police officer/agent and her K9 partner. For the record: the dog doesn’t die. I’m well aware that some readers will not appreciate that spoiler. As a long time dog mama, I don’t care. There will be plenty of readers (just like me) who will appreciate that info. I know I do whenever someone reveals that info😊

The book summary basically introduces the premise for the primary storyline, so I won’t repeat it here. What the book summary doesn’t reveal is that the story takes place in January 2010 and Sydney and Clyde were honorably discharged 18 months ago, after two tours of duty in Iraq. It also doesn’t reveal (other than a brief mention) that, on any given day, both Syd and Clyde as well as “The Burned Man” (Tucker Rhodes), are all experiencing and suffering mild to severe PTSD episodes.

Both Syd and Rhodes experience war and battlefield flashbacks. Syd occasionally pops a Xanex with a little whiskey in her morning coffee to mitigate the stress and keep the flashbacks and hallucinations (ghosts) to a minimum. Syd’s hallucinations are of dead people that she knew, so they are a psychological event, not a paranormal event. Additionally, Clyde (a Malinois), who is extremely protective of Syd, as well as tuned into her emotions, is also extremely distrustful of strangers and is only friendly with a handful of people.

The first half of the story has Syd and a fellow Railroad Special Agent and longtime family friend, Nik (the victim’s uncle), partnering up with a Denver PD Detective, Mike Cohen, to search for Rhodes, who is a hobo who “rides the rails” (jumping on and off cargo and freight trains). Leads from witnesses lead to a connection to a white supremacy, neo-nazi gang. We also find out that Syd and Rhodes were involved in a mission together, back in Iraq, that went really bad, which eventually becomes the premise for a secondary storyline.

The second half of the story had Syd and Cohen zeroing on the gang, while Syd tries to simultaneously hide the details of the secondary storyline from him. The last 15% has the two storylines beginning to merge and the ending comes fast and gets really scary for Nik as well as Clyde and Syd, who had previously gotten severely injured and is having flashbacks again during the battle. The final battle was a shocking twist. NEVER SAW THAT COMING!!!!!

This book was kind of haunting at times. The chapters began with excerpts from Syd’s journal or essays or an interview she recently did for the local paper or some memory of the war. These insights to Syd and her psyche and memories were sometimes chilling and always sad. This story depicts the living #%!! that so many returning vets face when they come back home. As Syd expressed in the story, so many of them do not get the help that they desperately want and need, even from the VA.

TRIGGER WARNING: If graphic descriptions of battle and war scenes is a trigger for you, this is probably not a good book for you to read.

When it comes to 5star reviews, I can be a little strict and stingy on authors I’ve never read before. Most of my 5star reviews are reserved for my fave series authors and their series installments. However, this story had me hooked from pretty much the beginning. I read this story in two sittings; one a very late night to finish it because I simply could not go to sleep until I knew how it ended. I look forward to continuing with the series.

[QOH · Rating 3 out of 5]

The temptation is to star the book and leave it at that. But most critical objections I've seen were to the language and subject matter of the novel, the less-than-angelic depiction of American troops, and the heroine's ETOH and drug use. While not to everyone's taste, surely, those are silly reasons to object to a book. (If you don't like these things, don't read the book. What on earth are you doing reading in this genre?)

Those things don't bother me at all. I had a brother in Iraq. I may look sweet, but I can cuss the paint off the walls, and I know far too much about sex crimes and aggravated murder (thankfully secondhand and professionally, but that was close enough). I found the characters mildly unbelievable (but not absurdly so--at least in the main) and I'm more likely to take umbrage at the depiction of the Belgian Malinois, having owned (or been owned) by a Mal from working police/military lines. RIP Norris (1998-2009).

My objections stem from the writing itself, from a craft POV. The beginning is overwrought, full of strained metaphors. (For every simile, take a drink and see if you're not more f-ed up than the heroine.) The connection between the heroine and the love interest cop is based on what seems to be a previous novel, although this is billed as the first in the series. (Alluding to a previous relationship/contact is NBD, but there was too much--bad editing.)

The middle is usually the weakest part of the novel, but it's the most interesting part of this one, complete with conspiracy theories that are more than just that. (IMHO the conspiracy doesn't seem to merit the fear of exposure associated with it--I suspect it may have been toned down.)

Sadly, the end is a hot mess.

Mild spoilers
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The heroine has spent the entire novel being beaten to a pulp but has "comforting" sex with a "murder detective" who is also injured. You know, because that's attractive and exactly what people want to do when they're in acute pain. Also, the murder detective thing? The guy's a city detective and the heroine's a RR cop, and in addition to the predicable turf wars, there is this endless, pointless, wasting of words on calling him a "murder cop" instead of, I don't know, a cop. Again, sloppy editing and a waste of words.

Another irritation: the heroine's grandmother, an ER nurse, plies her granddaughter with a bunch of Vicodin, a mild painkiller paired Tylenol, but a controlled substance. (Illegal, unethical, and unsafe for an RN to do.) And that's after the heroine has already taken a bunch of (Tylenol) and other pills. Perhaps this is too nitpicky, and putting aside the alcohol some reviewers found objectionable--why does this woman still have a functioning liver? It only takes 9 grams of Tylenol in a 24 hour period to whack a liver.

Craft irritation: giving the heroine a double-barreled name pads the word count. I didn't count, but when "Sydney Rose" or "Detective Cohen" or any other name is used with two words instead of one, you've used words that would have better been spent on plot (or weeded out, preferably with the over-the-top attempts at hard-boiled tone in the first third of the novel).

Major spoilers (will ruin the plot for you, perhaps):
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Following the implicit rules of a murder mystery, the bad guy is going to be someone unlikely but introduced early on. That's limited to one of two people, and it is. In fact, in some ways, it's both of the likely (but not on police radar) possibilities.

It's not hard to imagine that Nik is an asshole who'd kill someone, especially since he spends the beginning of the novel tramping around where he is very much not supposed to be, trying to kill the main suspect, and there are plenty of hints that he doesn't value his nieces as much as he does his son.

The theme of the book seems to be that in war, good people do bad things because of expediency or some other reasons, that they come home and are damaged, and whether or not they are redeemable is up for grabs, but it's implicit that they are, in the main, redeemable. Having Nik as the murderer--I suppose the flip side of the "good" Marine--is predicable and boring, because he was clearly trying to interfere with the investigation from the start (and the heroine allowed it; another strain at credulity and a mark against professionalism).

Three people would have made better murderers: the battered woman (a valid theory for a while), the private detective (although motive would have required a change) and Gentry, with Nik covering up for his son (something he'd already done). Having a bad civilian (bonus: he's a lawyer and even this lawyer knows everyone loves a bad lawyer--it's satisfying to the public) instead of a bad Marine as the murderer would have been more satisfying.

So, unlike most Kindle First books, I didn't hate it. I wasn't in love with it. It's not something you lightly read. It didn't particularly read like a thriller (on the main--the main--the scale was too small) or military fiction (not enough military). It's like a really bloody cozy/police procedural (except for the fact there was almost no police procedure and when it is used, it's a cluster**ck) and it almost works. Almost.

[Theresa Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is great writing. The story and characters grab you right away and the pace is unrelenting.
Railroad cop and Iraq veteran Sydney Parnell is brought in to help track down The Burned Man, a man known for riding the rails and suspected of a vicious murder of a woman who reached out to people in need, including those who ride trains.

The Burned Man is an Iraq vet who has burns over thirty percent of his body, including his face. He should be easy to find, but when Sydney and her canine, Clyde (who is also haunted by his time in Iraq), join the Denver Police on the case, Sydney begins to suspect that maybe someone other than The Burned Man is responsible for the woman’s horrible death.

Sydney still sees the ghosts of the people she put back together during her time in mortuary affairs in Iraq. Even before her two tours of duty, she had a rough childhood. She is a complex individual, and both Sydney and her dog are likeable characters. The snowy, cold Denver weather and setting play an important role in this story as well.

I highly recommend this suspense-filled story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

For more of my reviews, please visit: http://theresaalan.net/blog

[Kylie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure what I expected from this book, but it was certainly a good find!
Sydney is working as a railroad cop and she carries a lot of emotional baggage for a relatively young person. As an ex-marine who served in the Iraqi war working for mortuary services, her flashbacks and memories are gruesome and confronting.
Now she is faced with a murder that may link back to an event in Iraq that she would rather forget. The prime suspect for the murder is a railroad hobo, also an ex-marine.
The story unleashes with war veterans, neo-Nazi's and a group of itinerants. It is gripping and brutal but also very human.
The book also introduces Clyde, Sydney's work dog, a Belgian malinois who also served in Iraq and who now has a form of canine PTSD. I fell in love with him!
Looking forward to reading more in this series.

[Shannon M (Canada) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-star action thriller.

As a rule, I don’t like action thrillers and, consequently, I don’t read them. But this was a fun read because:
(1) The action hero is female;
(2) The action hero sees ghosts;
(3) The action hero’s primary companion is a dog.

Like the majority of action heroes, Sydney Rose Parnell is ex-military (a former marine). She served in Mortuary Services during the Iraq war and as a result is suffering from PTSD. She sees the ghosts of her fallen comrades on a daily basis; they don’t speak to her but they seem to appear at opportune times when she is facing danger. She dismisses these ghosts as manifestations of her psychic turmoil, and (for the reader) this is what they imply, as no one else sees them.

She lost her beloved fiancé in the war and, as a result, inherited his well-trained war dog, a Belgian Malinois named Clyde, who follows her everywhere. He is an excellent tracker and, as well, is trained to detect explosives.

Sydney is now working as a Denver railway cop. She becomes involved in a murder investigation because the murdered woman, Elise, was a friend, plus, it appears likely that a member of the transient railway community was the murderer—the so-called “burned man”, a former Iraqi war marine, horribly disfigured during battle. (The burned man’s face is never precisely described, but in my youth I saw, two different “burned men”—one who was disfigured during WW2—and so I could easily imagine what he looked like.)

When Clyde tracks down the burned man, he denies that he killed Elise, whom he loved. Sydney believes him, and so she begins to follow two other leads, each of which connects to a different conspiracy.

Thus, a female action hero, an intelligent dog, ghosts, an excellent rendering of PTSD, a plot that becomes more convoluted as the story progresses, secret conspiracies, intense physical “action” with Sydney landing many of the blows, and a surprise ending for the murder investigation. What’s not to love.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that Clyde, the dog lives. Some may call that a spoiler. I call it peace of mind. Shout out to John Wick and Homeward Bound for my anxiety over pets in fiction surviving.

Anyway, this book kept me guessing. I honestly didn't even suspect the real killer, and while I don't personally get their motive, I understand that a lot of their choices were not ones I'd make.

I don't think the flashbacks transition as smoothly in audiobook format. I feel like in the printed version, a differentiation in tone or punctuation allows the reader to know what happened. The audiobook was just a bit confusing.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Babbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Why did I re-up? Because when I came home, I didn’t know how to be home. Didn’t know how to fit in anymore. Didn’t know what to do with myself. I missed the order. The adrenaline. The sense of larger purpose. War is a drug; it’ll call you back until it kills you. —Corporal Sydney Rose Parnell."

We are dropped into the life of Sydney Rose Parnell, a railroad police officer and war veteran, getting ready for her day as the ghosts from her past crowd her kitchen table. The war broke both her and her K9 Clyde, and we see her world through that broken lens. A recent murder calls to Sydney Rose in more than one way: a horribly burnt former vet is implicated, who is also a former Marine, and who rides her trains to escape the ghosts that follow. We are introduced to a relatively large network of adopted and blood family, common to any smaller town life but many of them felt flat and both Denver and the surrounding area was mostly described in distances, and not in a way that allows you to visualize the area. The lack of description meant it could have taken place anywhere in middle America, and I actually kept forgetting that it was set in the greater Denver area because of Parnell's generic interactions with her surroundings.

[I'll admit I read this on New Year's Eve, so that could have been made worse by champagne and multiple interruptions]

While this is packaged as a mystery or crime thriller, a major theme throughout is both the physical and mental toll war has, and the struggle many veterans have when returning to civilian life. I'm unsure how much of her involvement in homicide would have actually overlapped, but overall I enjoyed the read.

Also, I should disclose I'm a sucker for "woman+dog defeat all the things", so that gives it a bit of a bump in the "continue to read" department. I'd advice, if you're interested in starting this book, that you go in knowing it's a series and was written with that in mind. We do get some resolution with this particular book, but there are a lot of bigger questions brought up that will likely span the series.

[CD {Boulder Blvd} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1st POV, you meet the very complicated person of Sydney Rose Parnell. I'm not a fan of 1st POV but I thought this book was really well written. Secondary characters aren't always well developed in 1st POV and in this book, there were a number of well developed secondary charters (as well as a few ghosts). We also have Clyde, a very well developed service dog who is an excellent side kick and integrated into the many scenes very well.

Sydney has come back from the war in Iraq somewhat damaged but with a inner core of strength that keeps pushing her forward. Sydney is a marine vet that sees ghosts from the war and now from the crimes that are currently being investigated. The initial investigation is the murder of a friend from her past which pulls her in different directions as she supports the detectives who are trying to solve the murder.

There is more than one crime, more than one guilty party and a few overlapping relationships. The plot is complicated and it drew me in fairly quickly.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a solid 4 stars. I enjoyed this. It falls into the Mystery/Crime genre and there were many things to like about this one. I liked the MC. She is not the normal MC for this genre. She was flawed and a little broken, but she was also strong. Her side kick is a dog which in some way makes her even more likable.

The story line meandered a bit, but I loved the plot points and there were some great twists. The thing that I liked the most was the creative writing of the author. She has a great way with words regarding the descriptive strokes. I would definitely read more by her.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, following former Marine and current railroad policewoman, who gets involved in tracking, with her K9 partner, another former marine and current hobo.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, suspenseful crime novel about a war-damaged veteran, Sydney Rose Parnell, who is now working as a railroad police officer. She and also-damaged her K-9 companion, Clyde, see ghosts from their days serving in Iraq, having lost their boyfriend and handler, respectively, possibly in connection with activities better kept secret. A homeless scarred veteran and hobo, nicknamed the Burned Man, returns to the much-loved, sacrificing woman who loves him, only to find her slashed to death. After a thrilling chase and capture, Parnell believes his claim of innocence, and decides to prove it, with or without the help of the Denver PD. She wades into battles with former members of her unit in Irq and well as local white supremacists, who have a worrying connection to her closest relative. 4.5 stars.

Reminded me of Deception Cove by Owen Laukkenen, which I also enjoyed very much.

[Audra · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. It didn't hold my interest and I ended up skimming a lot of it. I was never able to picture or connect to the characters or the setting. There was no concept of time for me...I had no idea this all took place in about 48 hours. Do people really say "murder cop?" That was weird. I also didn't like her descriptions and metaphors of things. It was way too much and didn't fit.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood on the Tracks
4.5 Stars

Sydney Rose Parnell, is an Iraq war veteran struggling with PTSD and working as a railroad policewoman. She is called in to help on the investigation into the brutal murder of a young woman with ties to the hobo/train jumper community.

Sydney is a wonderful heroine and her relationship with her canine partner, Clyde, is truly special. The author's research into PTSD and the mental health issues plaguing veterans is thorough and well written.

The mystery is engrossing with several red herrings along the way. Nevertheless, it is possible to figure out the culprit due to a number of inconsistencies in their actions.

There are hints at a romance between Sydney and the investigating detective, and it will be interesting to see where the author takes in light of Sydney's past and some of her actions in this book.

While the murder is solved and the culprit justly punished, there are still unanswered questions pertaining to Sydney's experiences in Iraq that make me eager to read the next book. Looking forward to it.

[Paula Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of action, based in Colorado during the winter mostly in the railyard. Several of the police detectives/officers were in the Marines in Iraq and have secrets they have to live with. People go missing every year from the railyard at the same time every year. It's a combined effort between the Denver PD and the railyard police to find out what is happening.

[Meera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was better than I expected it to be. The main character, Sydney, and her canine partner, Clyde, were two solid, complex and likable characters. This book has emotional depth with them both suffering with PTSD and broken hearts. This was not a light book but it was good as a novel and a mystery. I did have one question as I was reading this- I’ve never had dogs but should Clyde have all that human food? Well, maybe the author will address that in the next book that I’m definitely reading.