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Breakaway by Laura Crum — book cover

Breakaway

by Laura Crum
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Overview

Veterinarian Gail McCarthy has been working with horses for years and will in fact take over the practice when her boss retires. She has seen many different problems, but nothing could have prepared her for her newest call.

Early on a Saturday morning, Gail receives a disturbing phone call from a local woman. The woman, Nicole believes that her mare has been sexually violated during the night and wants Gail to come take a look. Gail confirms Nicole's suspicions and urges her to call the police. Whoever would do this to a horse is clearly a dangerous person and shouldn't be at large, but Nicole refuses to take any action.

However, the situation turns more dangerous. One night when Gail and her best friend Kris return from dinner, Kris finds her 15 year-old daughter knocked unconscious and their horse violated. Gail is determined to find answers before more lives are put at risk. It takes some ingenuity and the help of a friend on the police force to uncover the perpetrator, who may also be wanted for murder.

In this sixth addition to the series, Veterinarian Gail McCarthy manages to solve the puzzle while battling personal problems and even learns more about herself in the process.

Laura Crum, a horse lover and trainer for over twenty years, uses her knowledge of horses and her fine writing skills to create another memorable entry in this charming series set in the foothills of the beautiful Sierra Nevadas.

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Editorials

Kirkus Reviews

Despite owning a charming house smothered in vintage roses, having two attractive men—Clay Bishop and Blue Winter—on a string, and holding a partnership in a Santa Cruz veterinary practice specializing in horses, 40ish Gail McCarthy can't shake a depression that has her heading for long naps on her couch at every opportunity. She barely rouses herself to attend therapy sessions—or to take action when someone comes into the barns at night to assault the mares of her old friend Kris, a frisky divorcée, and her new friend, artist Nicole Devereaux. Could the new hand at the Bishop Ranch be into bestiality? Could Clay or Blue? Jeri Ward, a horse owner and a cop, warns Gail to be careful. So does Mike O'Hara, a horse owner and an uptight former cop. All to no avail: Gail mounts her trusty steed Plumber and rides out trying to find the trail the pervert takes to the mares. The cougar she meets offers a dangerous interlude, but no clues. But after Kris's daughter is knocked out, Nicole is murdered and then raped, and a bout of all-night weeping at this tragedy and the memories of past losses it triggers lifts Gail's depression. With an assist from Jeri, she sets a trap for the rapist, culminating in a pathetic confession and a well-placed bullet. Crum (Slickrock, 1999, etc.) undercuts this tale of bestiality with an incongruous emphasis on room decor, rose cultivation, and Gail's inability to commit. And for a vet to tire out poor Plumber that way is unconscionable.

Book Details

Published
July 1, 2001
Publisher
New York : Thomas Dunne Books/ St. Martin's Minotaur, 2001.
Pages
224
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780312271817

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