The Cat Dancers

Deutermann is well established as a writer specializing in suspense and thrills. "The Cat Dancers" does not disappoint and I highly recommend it especially for Deutermann fans. It is an escapist read requiring a suspension of disbelief at times, but that doesn't affect the suspense or intrigue that require the reader to turn just one more page. Lt. Cam Richter is pulled into an intricate storyline that initially watches two worthless killers get released by a liberal judge (who used to be Cam's wife and is his current lover)on a technicality. Soon the two freed killers are summarily executed by apparent vigilantes and the scenes of death displayed for all to see on the internet. Subsequently, the judge is killed in a bomb explosion in her home. Cam is drawn deeply into the plot as evidence mounts that the vigilantes may or may not be a cadre of state and maybe federal officers. Who can he trust with his suspicions as some evidence begins seemingly to incriminate him. His investigation interacts with Kenny Cox, one of his personal friends and squad members, and Jay-Kay, an Indian computer guru who may be more than meets the eye in her role as an FBI consultant, and Mountain Ranger Mary Ellen Goode. Ultimately Cam travels deep into the Great Smoky Mountains to verify that feral mountain lions exist and are used in an initiation rite by the vigilantes. Some pulse pounding scenes occur in the mountains that will have the reader stopping for air at times. Cam also is supported by his loyal and trusty German Sheperds, Frick and Frack, who will quickly garner the interest and admiration of any reader. "The Cat Dancers" is filled with constant suspense and plot twists and turns. Who can be trusted? What about the double cross that turns into a triple cross? Are there wild lions still in the Smoky Mountains? Can Cam survive the twists and turns that make him a prime suspect while being forced to fight for his life in the unforgiving wilderness? A great hard-to-put-down thriller whose only disappointment for this reviewer was an ending that seems to require a sequel.

If you have not read this book, you've missed the best book of the year. If you have read the book you know what i'm talking about. None better.!!!!!!!!!!

Lieutenant Cam Richter and his team of special officers arrest a couple of losers who during a robbery gone wrong kill three people, but the judge, who just happens to be Cam's ex-wife and current on again and off again lover, frees them, because they were not read their rights. Nobody is happy about this, except maybe the two bad guys, but whatever happiness they might have felt is short lived as first one than the other is murdered by what appears to be vigilante justice. The first one is shown in a video on the internet, being killed in a sort of homemade electric chair, then the second one is murdered. However, when a bomb blast kills someone close to the case whatever secret admiration Richter might have had for the vigilantes vanishes. He has an idea about who might be behind the killings and before long he is on the trail of a group who call themselves the cat dancers, because to be a member you have to get very close a mountain lion armed with nothing but a camera and take its picture. However, as he closes in on the truth he winds up next on the killer's list and now perhaps the hunter is becoming the hunted. There is more than your fair share of action in this book, lots of nail-biting danger, plenty thrills and chills to keep you up throughout the night and it's a good story to boot. Kind of hard to top that.

Being an audio book fan I'm always on the alert for a new release by a favored author or voice performer. When two favorites are paired it's a sure to be a hit with me! That's the case with "The Cat Dancers" by P.T. Deutermann as read by Dick Hill. Dubbed a Golden Voice by AudioFile Magazine, Hill has been quoted as saying that he "takes a visual approach to narrating books," picturing scenes in his mind's eye. What a task that must have been when one thinks of the terrifying scenes in a wild mountain area where protagonist Cam Richter faces down a group that courts danger. Whatever his method, Hill delivers a spine tingling narrative, paced to leave listeners hanging on his every syllable. It's a gripping story Deutermann has penned, not a pretty one. Citizens of a peaceful North Carolina town have seldom seen such a heinous crime - a gas station attendant is murdered as his station is robbed and the thieves also kill innocent people who were filling up their minivan. It's not long before officials have the murderous pair in custody. However, the shocker is when a judge releases them because they weren't read their rights. It's not long before someone takes justice into his own hands. Richter and Sheriff Bobby Baggett are already under the gun, feeling pressure from relatives of the victims and townspeople alike. Then, an email arrives which directs them to a video showing one of the murderers being killed in a home-style execution. The video concludes with "That's one." How many psychopaths are Richter and Baggett up against? Answers are found in the aforementioned wild mountain area. Terrific thriller - exciting listening. - Gail Cooke