Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Close to Home (Tracy Crosswhite Book 5)

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Tracy gets involved with the Navy in a case that could sink more than one career, and life, if she’s not careful.

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017

When Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite is called to the scene of a hit-and-run death, she doesn’t expect the case to lead her to the Navy. The suspect is a serviceman at the local base, which causes the local Judge Advocate General Corps to get involved. The case is then transferred to the military court where the key piece of evidence goes missing. Tracy has made a promise to the family of the victim that she will make sure justice is served for the death of their son, giving her no other option than to pursue the case. The further Tracy digs into the crimes, the more connections pop up to recent heroin overdoses. With each new clue, Tracy, and those around her are put in danger and not everyone is guaranteed to make it out alive.

The Tracy Crosswhite series has become one of my absolute favorites. I love the way Dugoni has taken this character and made her someone the reader wants to cheer for and strive to be like in so many ways. Close to Home is the fifth in the series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. There are references to the first book in the series, but nothing about this book makes it necessary to have read the entire series. For me, this was more of a mystery than a suspense thriller. There was not the usual edge of my seat, can’t wait to see what is going to happen next moments. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just different from the way Dugoni has written these books in the past. I enjoyed the way he spent extra time building up a few of the secondary characters we have seen throughout the series. I really enjoyed the different tone to the story with incorporating the military and JAG lawyers. I am a big fan of military shows and novels and thought this fit in so well with the writing of the characters already established in the series. It will be interesting to see if any of the new characters introduced here make it to the next in the series. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an excellent mystery that will leave you guessing and cheering with the way the story comes to an end.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

21 people found this helpful

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Fatima Peter

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2018

I like Dugoni’s book, specially the Tracy Crosswhite series but something is missing in this particular book. This one is not quite as strong as the previous books, but it is still better than average.
The storyline was ok, split between the hit and run case and the overdose case but both are essentially connected to the drugs being distributed with the Navy guy in the distribution channel.
It made the drug distribution sound very simple and the drug squad and the Navy incompetent and clueless. Leaving evidence box unattended and unlocked and being able to doctor the video made the Navy look dumb.
For half the book Tracy is being a Lone Ranger or working with near strangers. I guessed the culprit but not the druggie. I don’t enjoy book where everyone else is made to look stupid and incompetent.

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From the United States

Tracy gets involved with the Navy in a case that could sink more than one career, and life, if she’s not careful.

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017

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21 people found this helpful

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rjrnj1

Simply Wonderful

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2018

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I am continually enamored of Mr. Dugoni's storytelling abilities. I can just imagine how much research he puts into each of his books, yet they come across flawlessly.

Tracy captured my interest right from the first book. She's so down-to-Earth, so confident, so likeable. All the characters were developed so well, including Trejo, who I took a distinct dislike for, and maintained that dislike to the end. As a teacher in an inner city school, I often have a student who I think will one day be captured on a video doing something illegal. And I always think that s/he will be the one to say that the person clearly on the video is not him/her. I never expected to read about someone actually (fictionally) doing that.

Mr. Dugoni is a wonderful writer and I will continue to read his books with delight.

17 people found this helpful

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5+ Stars. Compelling and depressing

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2017

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5+ Stars. Compelling and depressing. Robert Dugoni is a must buy, must read author.

Stand-alone that is easy to follow but sometimes difficult to read due to emotions invoked. Some violence. No drag-you-down
drama. Surprise ending.

The fast-paced, descriptive writing tells how relationships and lives are destroyed through drug addiction. Mr. Dugoni's research shows how legalization of marijuana has affected the opium trade's profits. He has also provided information on criminal law and what can and can't be done in trying to get help for those who are addicted.

Realistic procedures, actions and reactions. Believable characters with distinct personalities. Thought-provoking and informative dialogue.

School came first. She’d already grounded D’Andre once for getting home late, and she wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. “I’m not raising a fool. You got a one-in-a-million chance to play professional basketball, but you can do anything if you study and work hard in school.”

'Moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting the past. Moving forward means doing something about the past.'

(Krav Maga) 'Developed by the Israel Defense Forces, it preached avoiding confrontation. It also preached that when confrontation could not be avoided, end the fight. In other words, make peace. When peace wasn’t an option, kick a@@.'

“It isn’t going to be better, Maggie. It’s going to be different, and different is okay. You just have to learn how to embrace it. Like anything, it takes time. What you have to realize is that crying is God’s way of helping us wash away the pain. So don’t you ever apologize for crying; it’s a reminder to us all that we’re human, and that we love our family with our entire being. And that’s a beautiful thing.”

“If you go in thinking you’re going to lose, you’ve already lost. If you go in thinking you’re going to win, you’ll be disappointed if you lose. So just go in to the competition with the attitude that you’re going to compete, which is all you can control anyway.”

I will re-read this story and always look forward to works by tuis author.

11 people found this helpful

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Joanna J

Book 5 of the fantastic Tracy Crosswhite series

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020

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Close to Home is the fifth book in the wonderfully addictive Tracy Crosswhite series, about a Seattle homicide detective and her team. These books have brilliant characters, evocative writing and suspenseful mysteries while also exploring important topics and I’ve loved every one.

The violent crimes department of SPD are called in to the hit & run death of a young boy on his way home from basketball practice, because it’s politically sensitive and Tracy promises the grieving mother that they will get to the bottom of it. The car involved belongs to a navy logistician from the base across the harbour, but when challenged, he flatly denies being in the city, even when video evidence proves that he was. Meanwhile Tracy’s colleague Del Castigliano is mourning the death of his teenage niece, part of an epidemic of heroin overdose cases, and is determined to bring down the dealers.

I really like it when police procedural series featuring one detective also develop the other recurring characters, and Del’s story here was actually the more compelling. Dugoni’s explanation of how cannabis legalisation has led to an explosion of cheap heroin with it’s infinitely higher mortality was chilling, as NZ heads into a referendum on legalisation of pot later this year - although we are somewhat protected by our Island status, it doesn’t stop meth getting in...
Del’s new relationship also charmed even this steadfastly anti-romance reader, and as for his dog - adorable doesn’t begin to cover it!

I also enjoyed Leah Battles, an intriguing new character, and learning about the naval legal system which I knew nothing about other than as the title of TV shows. There was perhaps a bit too much about watching security videos but this was an essential part of the plot so just roll with it. I didn’t guess who the guilty party would be and am impressed by how Dugoni manages to surprise me each time.

Finally the ongoing evolution of Tracy’s relationship with Dan is an important part of this series and what makes them important to read in order - the description of her fertility battle was very realistic and I’ll confess to being near tears at the end, which is rare for this old stone heart.
This is firmly now one of my favourite series, up there with Angela Marsons’ Kim Stone series, for anyone looking for something similar but different.

2 people found this helpful

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AvidReader

Robert Dugoni Takes Us Down A New and Very Scary Road

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2017

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In "Close to Home" Robert Dugoni has chosen to deal with an issue much in the news these days - the abuse of heroin and the tragic consequences experienced by three families.

The novel opens with a "hit and run" traffic collision resulting in the death of a 12-year old child. Tracy and Kins are dispatched to the scene as part of the investigation. Their involvement is largely for political reasons because the child was African-American causing the Seattle Police Department brass to be concerned with appearances in light of the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

Using a piece of debris found at the scene as well as a grainy image from a transportation department security camera, investigators are able to determine the make and model of the suspect vehicle - a Subaru Outback. Word is put out to be on the lookout for such a vehicle with headlamp damage. Receiving a call from a citizen who discovered a Subaru Outback abandoned on her property matching the description of the suspect vehicle, investigators impound the vehicle. After obtaining a search warrant for the interior of the vehicle, it is found the entire vehicle, inside and out, has been wiped down to remove any fingerprints and/or DNA that may have been present. Whoever did that, however, failed to note and remove a receipt for a purchase from a convenience store nearby the scene. The receipt leads to the discovery of a video showing a possible suspect in the "hit and run".

The owner of the vehicle, Laszlo Trejo, an enlisted man in the Navy, had reported the vehicle as stolen to the Bremerton Police Department. When Tracy and Kins visit Trejo as part of the investigation they note a cut to Trejo's forehead and that he is drinking from a can of Red Bull. Those two pieces of information ultimately lead to the arrest of Trejo in the death of D'Andre Miller, the victim of the "hit and run". The Red Bull because the receipt and video tape from the convenience store showed a man about the size of Trejo purchasing two cans of Red Bull within minutes of the "hit and run"; the cut on the forehead. explained by Trejo as having been caused when he hit his head on a kitchen cabinet, while Tracy and Kins believed to have been caused when the airbag deployed at the time of the collision.

In the meantime, Del and Faz are investigating a string of heroin overdose deaths in Seattle within a short period of time, apparently caused by an extremely pure and potent variety of heroin. One of those who died of an overdose is Del's niece, Allie, so the investigation becomes very personal. As part of the investigation, Del enlists the assistance of a drug-related specialist in the D.A.'s office, Celia McDaniel, to help identify and prosecute the individuals providing the heroin that killed his niece and others. As we discover, Celia is a recent transplant from Georgia to Seattle "for a change of scenery" and that she has lost a son to heroin addiction as well.

Three seemingly unrelated deaths become the glue that binds the novel together. As the apparently unrelated stories progress, Dugoni takes the reader down paths that should make the reader deeply consider the horrors of heroin and its ever-growing presence in "good homes" where "good kids" become addicted and many, far too many, die far too young as a result.

Police procedural, for sure. Legal thriller, of course. But, most importantly, a social commentary every parent should take time to read.

5 people found this helpful

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M A Martin

Crosswhite #5: This is an alert to what our national addiction to where opioid addiction can lead

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2020

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The hit and run death of a 12-year-old boy who is trying to play basketball, keep up his grades, and obey his mother brings Tracy into the world of opioids and heroin. The heroin hitting the streets in Seattle is very strong and being “cut” with Fentanyl (a very powerful pain killer that is a killer). Young people are dying daily.

This epidemic hits home when Detective Delmo (Del) Castigliano’s niece, his sister’s daughter, is found dead from an overdose. As Del investigates his niece’s death, Tracy begins to investigate the death of the 12-year old as Kins (Detective Kinsington Rowe), her customary partner, is getting ready to have hip replacement surgery. Tracy and Del have no idea their cases are going to collide.

And, if that’s not bad enough, enter the United States Navy and, of course, another law enforcement jurisdiction. Seems Tracy can’t investigate a crime without stepping on some other jurisdiction.

I found it very important that the book pointed out that most individuals who become addicted to heroin start with marijuana. Little did anyone know that when marijuana was legalized Mexico would plow up its pot fields and plant them in poppies so they could manufacture and export (to the U.S.) heroin, at least 90% pure. When cut with fentanyl, just a small amount of heroin too much can kill a person.

Read the Acknowledgments at the end of the book and you will learn of Dugoni’s research into the export of heroin into the U.S. by Mexico after the legalization of marijuana. Why must we always learn after the fact; first it was tobacco, and now it is marijuana, and what marijuana leads to - opioids, heroin, death.

Thank you Robert Dugoni for pointing out this progression from “harmless” marijuana (a lie from the pit of Hell) to killer heroin.

I strongly recommend this book.

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Best in the series, so far

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2021

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This story was tough to read at times. We raised our boys through the 70’s and 80’s. I didn’t know until they both were grown up with families of their own that they had experimented with smoking Pot. In the late 60’s and early 70’s a very dear friend committed suicide after he was caught a 3rd time in possession of drugs. Unfortunately he had begun to move on to heroin. His family and his friends were totally devastated at his death.
Speak to your children of the evils of drugs...not just Marijuana and Meth, but any drug that alters your life. It could save their lives one day.

One person found this helpful

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Margaret A. Stephenson

A page turner for sure! Cleaverly written with twists and turns you don’t expect. Highly recommend!

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021

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As a Washington native transplanted to Michigan I love this author. Being able to picture the scene adds so much and I’m suddenly right there! This one I didn’t figure out until the end and it’s a zinger. We still have family in the Seattle area and visit often. The drug problems are scary and were so well portrayed in this novel. Praise to Robert Dugoni for spotlighting a dangerous and murderous evil. I’m remembering the quote by Sun Tzu “ If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” From The Art of War.

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Ken T

Another Excellent Tracy Crosswhite Series Novel

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2017

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The latest SPD Det. Tracy Crosswhite series novel begins with the hit-run murder of a 12 year old boy. Mr. Dugoni weaves a story from that point in into the world of fighting for jurisdiction of the case. The conflict arises between Seattle's PF and the Navy.
We enter the world of dug buys, addiction, Navy JAG's, protocol, police procedural, etc. Throw in personal lives, fertility issues, and subplots. The reader comes away with a very satisfying novel which the author obviously researched well. The novel is part thriller and part police procedural, with military procedures sprinkled in.
The characters are done very well, there are numerous twists to satisfy most anyone; with a large twist regarding guilty parties at the end.
This is #5 in this series. I hope to see many more.

6 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Evidence

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2022

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The hit and run death of a young African American boy had Tracy very busy and seeking answers. A Navy Lieutenant was first on their list of suspects. He claimed his car had been stolen and that he had been at home the night in question. In the car a receipt was found from a gas station. Tracy and her partner went to the store and got a tape showing the Navy Lieutenant just minutes before his car was involved in the accident. A thrilling tale with many surprises I really enjoyed this book.

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