Close to Home by Robert Dugoni @robertdugoni @esuttonsmith @BrilliancePub

the setup…

D’Andre Miller is a 12-year old boy who is already showing promise as a basketball player. He has a plan for his life that is suddenly cut short when he’s viciously mowed down by a hit-and-run driver running a red light and who never even attempted to brake. Detective Tracy Crosswhite and her partner are called in because brass believes this is more than a typical traffic accident and the optics are concerning. Meanwhile, the 17-year old niece of Detective Del Castigliano, another member of Tracy’s unit, recently died from a drug overdose after weeks of seeming to overcome her addiction following rehab. Del is determined to find those responsible and make them accountable for her death. While he and Tracy work their cases independently, they’ll soon find themselves at the same crossroad.

the heart of the story…

This was a puzzler as Tracy and her team quickly find the car and identify the owner, an enlisted Navy soldier assigned to the naval base in Bremerton. He reported the car stolen but they have evidence he was in Seattle the night of the accident. But the Navy has asserted jurisdiction, the suspect is unwavering in his bizarre assertion that it wasn’t him and won’t accept a plea. Things go even more sideways when crucial evidence turns up missing. It was pretty clear to me something was rotten in the Navy and this was clearly about more than the accident. I went down to the wire trying to figure out the who and why and had to just follow the investigation.

the narration…

Again, listening to the story just heightened my reading experience as the narrator continues to deliver an outstanding performance on every level. She’s definitely become my voice for the characters and storytelling.

the bottom line…

There’s a lot going on in this one, both the cases and personally for Tracy and Del. Through his niece’s death, we get to experience the heartbreak and futility of the opioid crisis on families. Tracy is struggling with fertility issues and the impact on her relationship with Dan, her husband. These secondary storylines just made everything more interesting and brought some balance to the strange investigations. Things seemed peculiar throughout and I enjoyed learning more about how local jurisdictions interact with the military justice system. It wasn’t riveting stuff but it was highly intriguing, so much so I had a hard time putting this one down. And, that epilogue just left me in a really great place!

Book Info

• Release Date: September 5, 2017
  
• Series: Tracy Crosswhite #5
• Narrator: Emily Sutton-Smith
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 49 minutes
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio

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