There's a mystery behind the disappearance of Carra's beloved dog and the murder of his breeder. What she learns might change the future.
What starts off as a perfect day for Carra Taylor, quickly spirals into a terrifying race to solve a deadly mystery. Carra learns that her friend, Frieda, has been murdered and the dogs in Frieda’s kennel are missing. Frieda was the breeder of Carra’s beloved German Shepherd, Kriegen, who was stolen five years before. Now Carra learns that she’s the heir to Frieda's hefty estate and the next target for a group of killers.
As she searches for clues to Frieda’s murder and a series of dog thefts, Carra and her husband Mike, find themselves on a dangerous journey through Frieda’s past. They uncover painful secrets about the woman and learn about a secret breeding project Frieda initiated over fifteen years earlier. Can two amateur sleuths blast through a web of lies to unravel the truth and rescue endangered wolves? Will they survive against a ruthless company that is determined to exploit helpless animals to complete research that might be worth millions? Carra is faced with decisions that might affect generations of sentient beings.
Excerpt
Traffic was thick even this early in the day. A line of cars snaked down San Marcos Pass as impatient drivers frequently passed four or five cars at a time in a vain effort to gain a few minutes over the rest.
Suddenly I felt a hard jolt as a car rammed my truck from the rear. My pulse raced. All I could see was a blur of white in my mirror before he hit me again. I heard Zorro barking in the camper and wondered how soon we could get off this horrible road.
Anger replaced fear as I saw the white car fall back and then gain speed for another onslaught. I remembered watching stunt drivers play out this scene in movies. Mike always said the driver should slam on the brakes and let the ramming car take the brunt of the crash—like cars in a demolition derby. He claimed the rear end of a car could absorb more abuse than the front end.
I braced myself and jammed the brake pedal to the floor. The crunching jolt was almost satisfying, but my head whipped back into the headrest. My neck felt sore. I glanced in the mirror and saw that the white hood looked crumpled and black smoke poured from the engine.
I stomped on the gas and gained distance while fumbling in my purse for my cell phone. I really needed to clean out the junk in that mammoth purse! Flipping open the lid, I saw a blank screen and a “searching for signal” message. I threw the useless instrument back into the black hole of my purse and glanced into the rear view mirror. A knot formed in my stomach as Zorro barked in the camper.
The white car crept closer, like a tiger stalking its prey. Suddenly the car veered sharply into the passing lane, and I realized he planned to push me over the edge by hitting me from the side. I slammed on the brakes again hard, skidding to a stop as the white car shot past. He barely missed an oncoming car and veered back into our lane before screeching to a halt ahead of me.
What now?
Professional Reviews
A Howling Success
Like another reviewer of this story, I wasn’t altogether sure about reading a prequel to a series I haven't read, but I love mysteries and dogs, so what the heck? It seemed to be worth a try. The Alphas is not what I expected! This one is a real genre bender, combining elements of whodunit, cozy murder mystery, suspense thriller, adventure, dog story, Fantasy, and Science Fiction.
The story begins from the point of view of Carra whose well-loved German Shepherd pet and show dog was stolen several years before the beginning of the novel. Her dog breeder Frieda is killed under mysterious circumstances, and Carra is suddenly responsible for following the trail of clues left behind by Frieda, who has also left her a lot of money, a house, and a luxurious RV to make following the trail reasonably comfortable for our heroine and her husband Mike. The characters, human and canine, are fun to root for (or against, as appropriate). The plot takes a few unexpected twists and turns, which keeps it interesting. In keeping with the “cozy” sub-genre there isn’t any gratuitous sex or bad words, and family values (human, dog, and wolf) are stressed. Highly recommended. This book is sure to please animal lovers and mystery lovers alike, as well as fans of the sci-fi fantasy trilogy “Heirs to the Throne” that follows this prequel!
Perfect for Canine or Mystery Lovers!
The Alphas is very appealing to all canine fanatics, but it also embodies a uniquely human element that draws the reader into the story line as they invest in the character's journey. While beautiful descriptions of animals abound, this book is at its heart a tale of adventure.
The main character, Carra is drawn into a situation that is more corrupt and dangerous than she ever imagined. The theft of her beloved pet and show dog years earlier was dismissed as a minor crime. It never seemed minor to her! The story reveals the true reasons her dog was taken. When the eccentric dog breeder who bred her long-lost dog is killed, she discovers that the estate and its remaining dogs are left to her care and discretion. This is only the beginning of the strange pattern of events that unfold from two seemingly unrelated crimes!
Carra learns more about the show dogs she has adored, and she encounters a plethora of interesting and sometimes dangerous characters as she attempts to solve a series of crimes involving the dogs that will lead her to a motive that nobody, especially her saw coming. I loved the character's willingness to follow the clues left behind by the dead dog breeder out of respect and reverence for the dog that had been taken from her.
I particularly liked the elements of telepathy affecting pack mentality and the splash of science fiction that lends credence to the trilogy series that follows this book.
This book is sure to please animal lovers and mystery lovers alike!
Tense thriller
The Alphas is not what I expected! I wasn’t sure whether it would be a werewolf book or some other kind of lycanthropic adventure but it was more subtle than that.
Diane draws characters very finely and this suspense thriller had me on the edge of my seat right from the beginning. There was a whodunit element to the beginning which sent my mind scurrying after all sorts of red herrings. But I was masterfully scooped up into a tale of murder and psychic savants mixing things up in the animal world.
This book is hard to categorise – it breaks a lot of boundaries – so I won’t even try. Let’s just say it certainly opened up my mind!
I was a little bit worried, several times, that it would go into too much detail about the American dog-breeding world, but this was only used as an effective backdrop to the main plot. If you love dogs, you will certainly appreciate Diane’s deep knowledge of the subject – for instance, I didn’t even know dogs could breed with wolves. However, you don’t need to like dogs to love this story.
Diane’s prose is flowing and seemingly effortless. She carries you along on a gentle current of adventure until she bites your heels with a surprise. Read it!
Willa Goodheart, honest and hard-working white collar worker finds herself connected to a police investigation for a serial killer; and she hasn't a clue why - that is, until she begins digging.
Book three in series. Excitement and tension begin on the first day of filming a Restoration drama on location at the historic Jacobean mansion, Ham House in Surrey.
