Writing the Feral Justice romantic suspense series has been an exhausting task. I’ll freely admit that even though I’ve been writing since the dark age it never gets easy, but the three books that end with Pursue took me in a direction I’ve never risked going before. I was nervous and determined, fascinated. Ready to see if I could incorporate violence with fragile romances. To hold nothing back.
Pursue
I believe readers will understand what I’m talking about if they decide to dive into a world ruled by the big, mysterious gray dogs that live to make animal abusers pay. No, not a light subject at all but one most people are passionate about. As the servant to two rescue dogs, I’m committed to making their world as safe and secure as possible. Heck, they insist on it. J I can’t save all animals, but by golly, I can create some four-legged superheroes.
Pursue, I believe, answers some questions I raised in Punish and then Fangs. In an attempt to explain the force that drives the grays, I created Niko Fox, a young Native American who lives on the southern Oregon coast. When the grays’ single-minded determination changes her life in a single afternoon, she turns to her grandfather for an explanation of why the grays trusted her to save an emaciated mare and her newborn foal. Until now, she has seen herself as a modern woman with only moderate interest in her heritage but that changes as she commits herself to do whatever she can to find the horses’ neglectful owner. She can’t rest until that awful person is brought to justice, or until the grays enact their own justice. Grandpa believes he understand the underlying threads connecting his granddaughter and the grays, but she needs to find her own truth.
Of course Niko isn’t alone in her goal. She needs a strong man who ‘gets’ her and tries to keep her safe, even if she doesn’t want protection. Darick Creech, a fish and wildlife officer, would prefer to steer clear of the woman he had an earlier conflict with, but responsibility drives him. He hates what happened to the horses, hates what was done to the dog Niko finds a few days later. The guilty will pay even if his own determination jeopardizes his career. The veneer of civilization thins.
I chose the southern Oregon coast as the location for both Fangs and Pursue because I live not far from that rugged and wild area where elk thrive and the forested mountains serve as both sanctuary and danger. Setting means a great deal to me, and I knew the grays would feel at home there. Rain, clouds, and mist sometimes create a surreal world, one hopefully I made part of the story. Sigh. Counting the days until I can go back.
To recap, if you’re looking for a light read, I can’t recommend Pursue or the other two books but if you’re in the mood for intense emotions, bad guys, good guys, and justice, I hope you’ll take a look.