The Boat Man: A Mystery Suspense Thriller

Just plain good reading. Solid characters, believable situations that elicited emotional responses and a need to learn the outcome. Really good.

The Boat Man is a first read for me of the award-winning author, Dustin Stevens. I picked up this book from an Amazon recommendation or maybe Facebook, expecting to read a murder mystery involving a K-9 cop team like many books I already have in my bookshelves. I was surprised, (not unpleasantly, mind you!), to discover that The Boat Man is nothing like any other K-9 team mystery I have ever read. The story of Reed and his relationship to Billie his K-9 partner is the back story in The Boat Man. Their partnership assists the reader in understanding how Reed, the main character, thinks and acts the way he does. While Reed and Billie are a team and Billie does play a role in the final take down of perpetrator, the story is focused on murder suspect and finding and interpreting the clues that lead to solving the case. The Boat Man is all about human behavior, revenge, forgiveness and ethical dilemmas faced as we seek justice for those who have been wronged. The K-9 is almost an afterthought .What The Boat Man by Dustin Stevens represents is exactly what it says in the Title page - "A Suspense Thriller". I had only read the first chapter, when I began to understand why Dustin earned all those awards! The Boat Man is so full of thrills and chills , it has you holding your breath, hiding under the bed, trying not to let villain know you are there! Dustin Stevens paints such a vivid word picture, it is easy to believe you are there. And just when you think you have figured out the mystery, Dustin throws in a twist, that catches you unaware and shaking your head, you wonder where the story is headed now! It's like being on the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland ,your car climbing up inside the mountain only to suddenly shoot out an opening in the mountain into open air. You hang there waiting for the fall and before you can scream, your car whips around the outside of the mountain, slings you through another opening! The Boat Man plot is the very definition of a "Thriller"!The Boat Man is my first Dustin Stevens novel. I am sure it won't be my last. But just like that ride on the Matterhorn, I may have to read some tamer books first, get my equilibrium back, before I attempt another!Overall a very entertaining novel that took me away from reality for a brief moment. It was very affordable as it was available through my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I am so glad I was persuaded to add the book to my library. I hope you will give it a try!

So well written. Believable, well-developed characters. The storyline sucks you in instantly, from there every scene is a visual. Can't wait for more from Dustin Stevens.

I could not put the book down . You had to think the Boatman was doing the right thing by making them pay . Everyone needs to realize this could happen to them as it did to my Wife and me in Atlanta a few years back . I wish I was armed with that sword and rifle at that time , of course that would have been self defense. Why didn't they charge Pierce with murder ? Great read !!!

The story line was good for a mystery suspense. However, leaving a trained dog in a car for long periods of the story, and the lack of development of a relationship with the dog, made the book disappointing.butThe lead to the book and chapter openings implied a much more connection with the dog than actually presented. At times, I even questioned if the author had ever had a dog.Story line good, but the dog probably should have been left out and simply added another new partner for Reed.

Detective Reed Mattox, another ubiquitous cop irreparably damaged by the loss of his partner, is saddled with trying to solve a gruesome crime. Along with his new partner, a K-9 named Billie, they are soon looking at the latest serial killer in their city.The K-9 idea is a fairly unused one in the storyline of big city cops, but the author remands Billie to the back seat of Reed’s car for most of the book, pacing and whining. Instead of having a pivotal role to play, the dog is stuck in limbo, only allowed to sniff here and there, with the occasional low growl. In the entire book, she has only one acting role, and it is way too long in coming. It loses all its punch by the time the author uses it. In the sequel, I hope Stevens lets Billie out of the back seat, to actually do a little police work.Revenge stories are interesting, and this one is too. Interesting. But bloody serial killer stories are a dime a dozen, and this one doesn’t offer anything new past a few details of the killer. The short chapters helped propel the plot along at a nice pace, and the pace itself actually keeps a grip on the reader in spite of the lack of action or real character development. Police work is a lot of drudgery, asking questions, inching forward toward a break in the case. This book reflects that, which is good. But all that drudgery is dull and uninteresting, which is bad. The dialog is mostly spot on, but bogs down occasionally from time to time with clunky wording. But the one glaring flaw in the story is that a civilian would be able to extricate vital information from the police records that the department’s own officer could only get by the slimmest of margins.The book is an okay read, but not memorable.

Following the death of his partner, Detective Reed Mattox, has transferred to the K-9 division, where he has now been partnered with Billie, a smart, confident and versatile Belgian Malinois, for the past 2 months. On this particular night, they’ve been notified of a homicide - their first as a team. With just 3 days to investigate a gruesome crime, there’s a need for immediate action, to stop this killer.The first novel about Reed and Billie immediately drew me in to find out what the Boat Man was all about; what his mission was. While reading, I also learnt more about victimology. I’m now looking forward to reading the next in the series; The Good Son.

Poco atractiva su lectura.

I haven’t read a suspense thriller book in forever, instead choosing romance/dark romance. I regret it because man have I missed these types of books. I loved the bond between Billie & Reed throughout the book but especially at the end. I hope in the second book we learn more about Riley. I’d love to delve more into that as well.I really enjoyed how you get both the killer & Reeds perspectives throughout the book. I like how in this book there’s no possible way to guess who did it, you have to just follow the clues like Reed.Honestly I’m excited to continue on with this series & I’ll definitely be checking out Dustin’s other books as well. This book was extremely well written & I enjoyed every minute of this read!

After the death of his partner, Detective Reed Maddox withdraws into himself and tries to shut off the outside world, content to do what's called the "graveyard shift" with his new "partner", Belgian Malinois Billie.When mutilated bodies start turning up in his area, however, he's forced to investigate with Billie, as his department is stretched and short-manned. Bit by bit they unravel what lies behind the murders.I liked this book. It was very - hm not dark really, sombre? - and melancholic, with the protagonist not really trying to get out of his sad bubble, but forced to by outside circumstances. To see him slowly regain his self-confidence and deepen the teamwork with his dog must be a joy for a reader - I especially like when he mentions that his dog is a police officer, too.Well written, with a good plot and a mystery that the reader can unravel together with the investigating team, this first in a series will make me want to read more of Reed and Billie.

All jumbled up narrative. It takes a while to get the storyline. Even though the story is good, it doesn't give any satisfaction.