That Others May Live

FBI K-9 Book 8

Sara Driscoll

Kensington Pub

Nov 28^th, 2023

That Others May Live by Sara Driscoll, the anonymous names for the late Ann Vanderlaan and Jen J. Danna delves into search and rescue. It shows the harrowing emotions that rescue personal, and their dogs go through when working a horrific building collapse. 

“I have written solo books, but I admit there were times I had questions on how the dogs would act and I could not turn to Ann but had to find the answers on my own. She is missed. She even suggested the title for this book. I presented the title to the editor.  All the planning after she passed, I wrote it. I will be writing the ninth book in this series titled Summit Edge.  It is about a plane going down in the mountains. The dog teams are sent out to find the hijackers and survivors.”

The plot begins after part of a twelve-story condo building has collapsed, and the rest of the structure could soon follow. Every search-and-rescue worker and K-9 team is needed on-site immediately to find survivors. The main character, Meg Jennings and her dog Hawk must try to find survivors, then recover the remains, and finally discover how the building collapsed. This part of the story is technical but very interesting.

“In June 2021 when Ann was still alive the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida collapsed. Ann and I watched as the live rescue was happening. We saw the incredible bravery of the search-and-rescue workers, especially the dogs who looked to find victims buried in the debris field. This is a story told from the point of view of first responders, their courage and determination to bring survivors out alive. I want readers to get an appreciation for the handlers and dogs that do this job. They show up when they need to, sometimes on their own time and own expense.” 

To get the mystery angle in the story shifts from a premise inspired by the 2021 collapse of Florida’s Champlain Towers South to a search for possible saboteurs. Meg and the rest of the Human Scent Evidence team present realize the evidence indicates that this wasn’t a random tragedy, but an act of domestic terrorism. Now they and their canine partners must identify the culprit and motivation, in time to stop another attack.

“I wrote this book quote,  Bring home the ones you can, concentrate on life.” This is how the first responder must think about it.  The one who already perished would have their body in place because the emphasis must be on the survivors.  It is a really hard job. They do not get enough credit for what they do. The problem with search and rescue dogs is they get very discouraged if they cannot find someone alive. They get depressed.  Many times, another rescuer lays in the rumble so the dogs can find them to keep their spirits up.  

This is an informative story about how a building can collapse, how survivors are rescued and how it effects the rescuers. Readers feel like they are carefully walking on the fallen concrete slabs and crawling through a small opening to reach a survivor along with the FBI K-9 rescue team. There are many tense scenes.

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