Smoky Mountain Tracks

A Raine Stockton Dog Mystery, Volume 1

By: Donna Ball

Narrated by: Donna Postel

The first in the Raine Stockton Dog Mystery series..."An exciting, original, and suspense-laden whodunit..."(Midwest Book Review)

As a native of the small town of Hansonville, North Carolina,and a wilderness rescue worker, Raine Stockton knows the Smoky Mountains as well as anyone could, but she gave up her Search and Rescue work after a tragic loss. Now she reluctantly returns to active duty to help find a young child who has been kidnapped and taken deep into the forest. But as Raine's young golden retriever, Cisco, picks up the trail, his enthusiasm fails to make up for his lack of experience, and their first foray into the forest results in disaster...and the discover of the kidnapper - shot dead.

Suspecting there's more to the case than meets the eye, Raine struggles to overcome her personal demons, turns her search in new directions... and learns to trust Cisco to lead the way.

©2006 Donna Ball (P)2014 Donna Ball, Inc

A wonderful listen - Don't miss this one!

Where does Smoky Mountain Tracks rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Best Narrator and Author Ever!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Raine Stockton

What about Donna Postel’s performance did you like?

I loved her voice and how well the way she read, suits the way Donna Ball writes.She's one of the best narrators.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. Its an interesting book, gripping suspense. Wonderful dogs and human relationships. The author really 'takes you there'.

Any additional comments?

PLEASE hurry and make Audiobooks of the rest of this series soonest .....I've read many others in the series and want to hear them all read by Donna Postel.The book was so good I'll re-listen many times, something I never do.

fun and exciting story.

I enjoyed a good story about search and rescue dogs. as a dog trainer I loved being able to hear the story from a trainer's perspective. I found it to be very relatable.

Good but short

Good narration. Simple story. Would have liked more detail on the training, a bit less on the emotive protagonist.

A Fun Read.

This really was a a most enjoyable book. If you are a dog person such as I am, you can’t help but smilie your way though this story. Donna Ball has written a very good, what you’all call a “cozy mystery”, and the narrator does a fine job for her.
I rated the book high because it pleased me, totally.

Not a bad way to spend 6 hours

The story itself was good but not spectacular. I must say that Raine did some seriously dumb things that had me yelling at her while listening. Also, I understood her dog better than she did (and I don't even own a dog). All that aside, it was still enjoyable overall. The narrator was very good and did a nice job with voicing the different characters. Not sure the book is worth a full credit but it was worth the combined price of the kindle book plus the whisper synch rate (which I think was about half the cost of a credit, all told).

A treat for dog lovers

Really enjoyed the audio and written version of this book. The characters were so believable and the dogs were wonderful. Easy reading easy listening.

Not just for dog lovers

This was a surprisingly seamless work of mystery fiction. the elements of small towns, family, mountain culture, animal training and law enforcement work. It's true to the setting; the passage that details how a driveway that she could see from her house was a five mile drive rings true for a mountain resident. The offbeat element provided by Sonny bright is a nice touch. The intelligence of the border collie rang true as well. Most importantly for me there was no "oh give a break" moment in this story that leaves a terrible taste in the mouth. a moment when some ridiculous convoluted action or event that reminds you of a prime time television drama occurs. Those type of things will often spoil the entire book for me; an author too lazy to come up with a good transition pulling a lame one one out of the air that fits neither narrative nor character. For those who prefer a high level of action in a mystery this story isn't for you. For dog lovers; those with an affinity for Appalachian culture or readers/ listeners who like a story that fits together and doesn't forget the story it's trying to tell it is one you don't want to pass over.

Enjoyable mystery especially for dog lovers

Raine gets called out to use her not-quite-ready tracking dog Cisco to find a missing child. There are interesting characters including a woman who reads dogs' minds, an appealing ex-husband, and a suspicious Waffle House waitress. There's a good mix of predictability and unexpected plot twists to make an enjoyable listen.

love it

On of the great cozy mysteries with dogs in it. Worth reading the whole series. I love dogs, I love cozy mysteries, so that is a great series for me.

Simple entertainment for dog lovers!

Finally a mystery without a lot of violence and with a lot of dogs. Good narration.