Summit’s Edge

FBI K-9 Book 9

Sara Driscoll

Kensington Pub

Nov 26, 2024

Summit’s Edge by Sara Driscoll has a great beginning and end with intense suspenseful scenes.  There is a great amount of detail that explains what the characters go through including situational awareness, dealing with avalanches, high attitude illness, rockfalls, and roping down a mountain. 

“Originally the contract was for books 1, 2, and 3.  Book 3 was about a plane crash in the Colorados that we changed to book 9.  Books 1 and 2 introduced the ensemble and I did not want to send Meg and Hawk out West and leave the rest of the ensemble behind on the East Coast. In the early days Ann and I brainstormed. I put the setting in Colorado because of the traitorous landscapes and wanted a perilous setting, which meant I had to go west.”

The plot begins with a private plane hijack that ends up crashing on a rocky peak in the Elk Mountains of Colorado.  The plane carried the board of directors of Barron Pharmaceutical, two security guards, a junior assistant, and three crew members. Readers might be reminded of Purdue Pharma that falsely marketed OxyContin as non-addictive, fueling the opioid crisis.

“I contacted an old family friend that is an Air Canada pilot.  At this point, after 9/11, no one can walk onto a commercial jet and hijack it. He informed me that if the story is set in a private plane hijacking is doable, without the security setup. He told me it had to be a plane under twenty people, not at a major airport, and needs to be at a private airport.  Everything in the story about this was very accurate.” 

The FBI was called in because hijacking is a federal crime. Meg Jennings, her dog Hawk, and her human partner on the team, Brian Foster along with his dog Lacey, are being deployed to Colorado. They need to see if anyone survived including the hijacker while fighting perilous conditions including Meg’s fear of heights. Climbing a mountain is not going to be easy for her and she has an internal battle. She has several emotions that include fear, anxiety, and being terrified.

Reading these novels are a learning experience regarding the technical aspects. At the beginning of each chapter the author provides an aspect related to the novel’s plot. The author has thoroughly researched the subject matter considering the sheer amount of information provided. A word of warning that the technical details and risks involved are very detailed and sometimes bog the story down. 

The author explained, “There were a lot of technical aspects to this book.  I had to do a lot of research and spoke with a friend.  This is a real trick when you are an author, the research is like an iceberg.  If you are good at it the reader only sees a little bit that is above the water, but the author sees below the water, the giant iceberg. The details are important.  But the trick is to wrap the details into the story but do it without overloading and not being to dry.”

The intense scenes at the beginning and ending of the story makes for a riveting read.  Although some readers will find it interesting regarding the details on the hazards the teams face, others might want to read less regarding the sheer amount of information provided. 

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