Dead Stop (Sydney Rose Parnell Book 2)

I love this author! I can barely put this author's books down....only when I am too tired to go on! I always look forward (can't wait) until I can pick it up again.I especially enjoy the relationship between the main character (a Marine) and her Marine service dog.

This book is hard to put down. The author pulls you in with happy family moments, and then throws you onto a runaway train of devastation. There are lots of twists and turns with much mystery. Sydney and Clyde make great partners again in this second book. I will definitely keep my eyes open for the next book in the series.

<i>”Every person’s life is a struggle against a world filled with resistance. That resistance may defeat us or warp us or crush us.But sometimes, we find a strength we didn’t know we had. And with that newly recognized strength, we move past the hard times. And we become a little stronger for the next round.” </i>The second book in the Sydney Parnell series is a worthy follow-up to its predecessor, Blood on the Tracks. It picks up five months later and finds Sydney mostly recovered from the physical wounds suffered in that book. Her emotional, mental, and spiritual wounds, however, are another story. One thing that I loved about the first book was its unflinching and accurate portrayal of PTSD in a former member of the military. This book continues those efforts and shows that there is no quick cure but that, instead, the road to healing is a long and sometimes one-step-forward-two-steps-back process. The little quotes from Sydney’s journal that head off each chapter give wonderful insight into her headspace but they also show her slow evolution. So, bravo for that, book.Sydney is not without support, however. She still has the undying loyalty and unconditional love of Clyde, her K9 partner, a war veteran himself. But she also has Detective Mike Cohen. There wasn’t as much of him in this book as I’d have liked but it’s clear that Sydney’s relationship with him has made some progress, even though she’s still trying hard to keep him at arm’s length – at least emotionally speaking. My only quibble with this book was that some of the important conversations between these two characters happens off the page. That’s somewhat disappointing and unsatisfying because seeing how Sydney’s mental health issues affect her personal and romantic relationships is just as interesting to me as seeing how it impacts the larger and more public spheres of her life. I’m not advocating that this turn into a romance heavy story, far from it, but allowing some of those more personal beats with Cohen can only help provide insight into even more facets of Sydney’s character.<i>”The dead are a load you can’t set down. They weigh nothing. And everything.” </i>That aside though, this was another excellent mystery that starts out with a seemingly straightforward jumper case – railroad slang for someone who commits suicide by standing in the path of a moving train. But that case soon starts to cross threads with the murder of a family across town and a cold case that goes back some 25-30 years. Tracking downs the leads and hunches is frustrating work but Sydney’s doggedness proves equal to the task. There were admittedly times when I asked myself how such-and-such a character could possibly know something but in every instance my patience paid off and a perfectly reasonable explanation was provided. There were red herrings and twists I didn’t see coming and the story delivered in pulling off a suspenseful and satisfying climax.I’m happy to report that the author will be publishing at least two more books in the series, in 2018 and 2019. There are some plot threads that have been pulled through the first two books - sort of that background, long arc type stuff – and it will be nice to see those pay off eventually. This book also ends with some options for Sydney as she continues to move forward with her life and I’m looking forward to seeing what she decides.

... from this wonderful writer. Nickless çaptures Colorado beautifully and brings my childhood home to life again in me. But the best part of her books are the snippets used to introduce each chapter, mostly clips from her heroine's journal. For the sake of brevity and flow, sometimes her plots stretch credulity, but that's a small price for a reader to pay for great insight and her understanding of working dogs. In short: delightful.

Sydney is a young, attractive Iraq war vet. A marine.She had the grisly assignment of serving in a MortuaryAffairs unit in Iraq. These were the people who collecteddead bodies [ and parts of dead bodies ] from battle-fields. A grim assignment which had a resoundingnegative impact on the soldiers involved. Syd is now a Railroad Detective. She serves with herdog Clyde, also a war vet, who actually has a militarytitle. Although Syd is physically intact she has internalizedproblems, which can be loosely summarized as PTSD. Sheis fiercely determined to do her job; she also takes moralresponsibility for things that have gone wrong in herlife, most of which she could not control. This book shines a light on a sub-set of our populationwho have literally gone thru hell - war vets. Some have visiblewounds. Many do not. But all have scars, eitherreadily observable or not. Their stories are not justof war; but perhaps more importantly adjusting tosociety in life after war. This book is about Syd trying solve the murder ofthe members of a young family and also to understandhow the rivalry of 2 railroad titans may have beenconnected. DEAD STOP is a complex, interesting story.The author, Barbarba Nickless, has created a truly compellingcharacter and a terrific series.Fred Dimond

I liked this book a lot. It's richer for having read book 1 first, learning Sydney Rose's background and her connection to some of the people in the story. I took off one star because her sudden insight to find a mystery location was too far-fetched. That said, the rest of the book was very good and I wouldn't have missed it.

This is the second book in this series and every bit as good as the first. Sydney is an ex-marine (Mortuary Services) who is now a railroad cop. Sydney is called in to investigate what appears to be a suicide in front of a train, but after some initial investigation appears to be a lot more sinister. Once again Sydney's partner in investigation is her Belgian Shepherd, Clyde, also an ex-marine.Sydney also once again suffers a lot of flashbacks to her service in Iraq and sees the ghosts of those who died both in Iraq and back at home.A solid thriller with a few twists, I am really looking forward to book three!

Amazing series! Book 2is possibly even better than the first ,can not wait for the third book to be released .Sydney and Clyde are the best team and sexy Cohen certainly helps

Intelligent writer, scary, nail biting, but with humour and wit thrown in which fits perfectly into the story. , and they are good stories, researched well, and feels like the author has experienced everything herself. .Clyde the beloved dog, I love him and worry for him, the author describes the “nuances “ of a dog expertly...Maybe (spoiler alert) the endings are a little safe ( I have read all in this series..) but hey does that just mean another in the series.? I will be more than happy to read another in the series.

Love the Sydney Rose Parnell character. A strong female character struggling successfully with trauma. Extremely well crafted. Looking forward to next book in series.