Trackers 4: The Damned

Raven and his dog Creek continue to be the heroes of this story. So man big things happen in this book! I can’t believe it’s the end of the series! Book 3 left us with several betrayals fresh on our hearts, Creek injured, police chief Colton held captive, and Estes Park in dire straights. Colton was very sad to be betrayed by Sheriff Thompson over in Fort Collins. Storm Mountain with Kikus’s preppers turned out to be a wash as well. Then there’s the internal strife of Estes Park that could end the town. Dan Fenix, the white supremacist, is still out there too. Meanwhile, the US government has a big offer to consider: China will provide all sorts of assistance but that means thousands of Chinese on USA soil, including Chinese troops to protect the Chinese work forces that will be rebuilding the electric grid. President Diego takes in advice from his cabinet, but most have mixed feelings on the matter. Of course, it will be tough to get the entire population of the USA informed and keep Chinese work forces from being attacked. Big Al Randall, Senator Charlize Montgomery’s body guard, set off to find & rescue his sister in Book 3. Now he’s got to get her back to good. Charlize has a lot of mixed feelings about the Chinese. She knows the USA needs sizable assistance and the quicker electricity can be restored, the fewer US citizens will die. She’s stuck in a tough position of supporting President Diego but also remaining suspicious. Back in Estes Park, Sandra (Raven’s sister) and Allie (Sandra’s daughter) continue to play support roles for Raven. Sandra’s still a competent nurse at the hospital and now one of the more senior medical care providers in the area. Colton spends some quality time thinking about his wife, Kelly, and their daughter, Risa, while he’s an uncooperative guest of Sheriff Thompson. Lindsey Plymouth has been promoted to captain of the police force though she’s not at all happy at how that came about. This final installment in this series (really? final?) is full of action. There are many desperate moments where the good guys risk it all to bring home another good guy or end a bad guy permanently. I really wanted to see Sheriff Thompson ended. He was such a bad guy! Dan Fenix is a bad guy too but he has this messed up ideal (white supremacy) pushing him along (not that that’s OK). Thompson just seems to be in it for the chaos and the blood and the personal gain. The ending had some very touching scenes and we lost another loved character. I really hope we get more about these characters eventually. I think I saw something about a possible spinoff series. I hope so! The ladies still have more to offer to this series instead of being left behind most of the time. 4.75/5 stars. The Narration: Bronson Pinchot has does a really good job with this series including this book. His female characters are feminine. I did have a little trouble discerning the difference between Sheriff Thompson and Dan Felix; Pinchot’s voices for them were very close and I often got a little confused over who was talking. The pacing was good and there were no issues with the recording. 4.75/5 stars.