Tracker: A Short Story Exclusive (Sigma Force Series) by James Rollins (MOBI)

Description

From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a stirring story of a soldier and his military war dog who are drawn into a dark mystery tracing back to World War II and a lost treasure tied to the bones of the dead.

Off the streets in the medieval heart of Budapest, Captain Tucker Wayne and his war dog, Kane, rescue a mysterious woman fleeing three armed men. The secret she holds will unlock a terrible treasure, one steeped in blood and treachery, tied to a crime going back to the fall of Nazi Germany and a heritage of suffering and pain that reaches out from the past to wreak havoc today. In a final showdown in the depths of a lost cemetery, truths will be unearthed, treasures exposed, and the fate of all will rest upon the shoulders of one man and a dog whose courage is beyond measure.

Included with this thrilling story is sneak peek at Bloodline, where the further exploits of Tucker and Kane will be revealed.

User’s Reviews

Review “Former Army Ranger Tucker and his amazing dog Kane make for absolutely riveting reading in this page-turner of a genetic mystery. James Rollins really outdid himself this time. Readers get to experience what it’s like to walk in the paws of a super highly trained military dog, and the deep bond between military dog and handler. I look forward to more James Rollins books with this intrepid pair. Four paws up!”–Maria GoodavageAuthor of the New York Times bestseller, Soldier Dogs: The Untold Story of America’s Canine Heroes From the Author About James RollinsJAMES ROLLINS is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers that have been translated into more than forty languages. Known for unveiling unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets, Rollins’ knack for breakneck pacing and stunning originality has been hailed by critics and embraced by scores of millions of readers around the world.The Critics RaveThe New York Times says that his “roguish charm comes from his efforts to persuade readers the story is credible [through] real-life sources for his novel’s science, history and geography.” Rollins’ rare blend of action, suspense, and knowledge was also mentioned by the Huffington Post, which stated that “After Crichton passed away in 2008 he clearly passed the baton to James Rollins, who like Crichton, is a renaissance man.”NPR calls his work “adventurous and enormously engrossing…” and the New York Journal of Books had this to say: “If you’re a fan of smart, entertaining adventure fiction, this is your summer beach read writ large….All the science, all the history, and all the locations are masterfully intertwined. The characters are multi-dimensional. And the story is, well, a corker.”The Story Teller’s StoryAs a boy immersed in the scientific adventures of Doc Savage, the wonders of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and pulps such as The Shadow, The Spider, and The Avenger, James Rollins decided he wanted to be a writer. He honed his storytelling skills early, spinning elaborate tales that were often at the heart of pranks played on his brothers and sisters.Before he would set heroes and villains on harrowing adventures, Rollins embarked on a career in veterinary medicine, graduating from the University of Missouri and establishing a successful veterinary practice. This hands-on knowledge of medicine and science helps shape the research and scientific speculation that set James Rollins books apart.Explosive Page-Turning AdventuresThe exotic locales of James Rollins novels have emerged as a hybrid between imagination, research, and his extensive travels throughout the United States and Europe, as well as New Zealand, the South Pacific, China, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America. Recent jaunts include book tours and stops across the country and several European nations to give talks, seminars, and media interviews.In recent years, much of James’ travel has involved meeting readers in small and large groups, at writing and fan conferences, and even aboard seagoing “seminars.” James’ mentoring and coaching skills have made him a sought after writing instructor and guest speaker for workshops, symposia, conventions, and other forums throughout the country.James Rollins is the author of nine thrillers in the bestselling Sigma Force series (Sandstorm, Map of Bones, Black Order, The Judas Strain, The Last Oracle, The Doomsday Key, The Devil Colony, Bloodline, and The Eye of God); six individual adventure thrillers; and the Jake Ransom middle grade series (Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow, Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx.)

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ This is a short story about how Tucker and Kane work together as a team. He is on an assignment to prevent a Russian business man from any attempt to kill him. With Jane’s help he gets both assassins and a big paycheck. This story also leads into two books — Blodline, where he works with Sigma and War Hawk, where he escorts someone out of Russia via back channelsThe first part of this short story is about how Tucker and Kane help a woman find her father who was captured by rogue Hungarian government agents who found out that he had located a buried gold treasure that a former Nazi had buried under a Jewish cemetery in a cavern. These two are very effective together.

⭐ I was so excited to get this short story. I first encountered Tucker and his canine partner, Kane, in the author’s Sigma Force book, Bloodlines, another great series.Tucker can’t stand by when he sees a damsel in distress. Before he can say s**t storm, he’s in one. Turns out the men following said damsel are after a treasure stolen by Nazis during World War II.The action and danger are palpable. There’s hardly time to breathe. And there’s no guarantees that Tucker or Kane will get through it unscathed.This is an up close and personal introduction to Tucker and his mighty dog, Kane. They work as a team, their bond so strong it seems like they read each others minds. It didn’t take me long to become attached to them, and it was fascinating to see them in action.Tucker and Kane now have their own series and I’m already reading the second book. These characters are larger than life and the action never stops.I own a copy of this book. My review is voluntarily given.

⭐ James Rollins, author of a number of best selling action novels, introduces readers to a new pair of heroes, Tucker and Kane, in his fast paced, entertaining story “Tracker.” Tucker and Kane are a lot like any pair of action buddies– best friends who know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and form a well oiled, highly trained team. There’s one big difference, however between these two and every other pair you’ve read about: only one of them is human; the other is a very special dog.”Tracker” doesn’t waste much time on character development or backstory, instead starting out with Tucker and Kane in the middle of a fast moving criminal plot. We do learn that Tucker was a former Army ranger in Afghanistan, who, along with Kane, served as trackers, either trying to rescue people or find unsavory characters. After Tucker gets out of the military, Kane is released with him and the two find themselves in Budapest, the how and why of which are never explained. While sitting at an outdoor café, Tucker notices an attractive woman being followed by three unsavory characters and decides to help.Tucker’s instincts prove correct and he has to rescue the woman, Aliza, from her pursuers. He soon discovers that Aliza holds the key to a fortune in treasure looted by the Nazis and hidden somewhere in the city during World War II. The pursuers and their boss want the treasure, and Tucker and Kane find themselves having to save Aliza and find the treasure as well.Author Rollins has done his homework on the training and equipping of trackers like Tucker and Kane, and the story contains a good bit of fascinating detail without getting bogged down in rambling wonkish technicalities. It’s a story written by a military enthusiast but one told with general audiences in mind. He also manages to create a quite credible and interesting back story involving how the treasure came to be hidden somewhere in Budapest and why Aliza is so important.”Tracker” is a very meat-and-potatoes type of story, lean and well written, but without a lot of character development or romantic interplay between Tucker and Aliza that one might expect in this type of story. However, although “Tracker” lacks the usual components that make a story interesting rather than mechanical for readers, it has a very unsual hook that gets readers’ interest… namely, the canine half of the team, Kane. Rollins details Kane’s training and the special equipment Tucker uses to keep in touch with Kane at a distance. Parts of the book are told from Kane’s point of view, so readers see how Kane overcomes danger and literally comes to Tucker’s rescue in the nick of time. Readers may not find Tucker all that unique or compelling a hero, but Kane is definitely memorable.Although Rollins bills this book as a short story, it’s actually a novelette of roughly 40 pages (over half the book consists of excerpts from some of Rollins’ other novels). That extra length allows Rollins to let the action and suspense develop naturally and explain what’s going on so the readers can easily follow what’s happening. He’s also given readers quite an original hero in Kane. A story about Tucker would have been fairly routine and indistinguishable from lots of other action tales. However, a story about Tucker and Kane is one of a kind.

⭐ With his short story, “Tracker,” James Rollins debuted two kickass new characters to bolster the ranks of the Sigma Force, sort of. Because it’s a connection that’s more tangential than pervasive. Tucker Wayne is a lone wolf sort of gent, once a decorated Army Ranger captain but now a, what, restless world traveler? By his side is his constant companion, a Belgian Malinois named Kane, a military war dog that Tucker, um, “borrowed” when he left the service. If you love dogs, and even if you don’t love dogs, Kane is the compelling piece of argument for trying on this story. His ex-Special Forces handler, Tucker Wayne, he’s aw-ight, too.In Budapest, Hungary, somewhere in the medieval plaza of Trinity Square, Tucker is minding his own business, having a cuppa, when he observes an agitated woman being followed by three men. He shadows the three men shadowing the woman, and before you can say “Budapest cuppa!” he’s neck deep in kidnapped historians and lost Nazi treasures and trigger-happy rogue Hungarian operatives.From the opening page Rollins plants you thick into the action as we’re immediately alerted to that special bond between Tucker and Kane, and I’ll tell the world that Kane is somethin’ spectacular. He truly is an extension of Tucker’s will. Now I’ve off and on glimpsed my neighbor’s dogs, those canine hooligans that take joy in loafing around and mooching snacks and begging for belly rubs. Kane is cut from a different cloth. He’s a working dog that boasts a thousand-word vocabulary and understands a hundred hand gestures. He’s served multiple tours in Afghanistan. He’s geared with a fully tricked-out tactical vest – also “borrowed” by Tucker – that comes equipped with a full surveillance package. Kane doesn’t mooch meals. He’s a working dog, son. And, okay, my neighbor’s dogs are actually pretty harmless. It’s the neighbor who mooches snacks.Rollins takes great care in detailing just how highly trained Kane is and how his impressive skills set works to save lives. It’s neat that bits of the narrative are viewed thru Kane’s doggy perspective. Rollins also weaves in these truly grand fun facts such as that all military war dogs are ranked higher than their handlers. This is so that were the handler to abuse his dog, the act is deemed a court martial offense – for striking a superior officer. That is awesome.”Tracker” is over before you know it. It does go on long enough for you to get hooked by Tucker Wayne and especially by Kane the wonder dog. This duo can next be found in the eighth Sigma Force novel, Bloodlines, followed by The Kill Switch, first in what I hope and assume is an ongoing series of Tucker & Kane thrillers. What’s that? Timmy’s trapped in the well? Oh, hey, no, Lassie. Chill. We got this. There’s Kane braiding together some vines to form a ladder. Yeah, he’s that badass. No, he can’t really braid a vine ladder.

⭐ This is the short story that introduced former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his war dog to us. Tough, solitary, and completely connected to his dog, Kane, Wayne takes on a job for Sigma Force.”Off the streets in the medieval heart of Budapest, Captain Tucker Wayne and his war dog, Kane, rescue a mysterious woman fleeing three armed men. The secret she holds will unlock a terrible treasure, one steeped in blood and treachery, tied to a crime going back to the fall of Nazi Germany and a heritage of suffering and pain that reaches out from the past to wreak havoc today. In a final showdown in the depths of a lost cemetery, truths will be unearthed, treasures exposed, and the fate of all will rest upon the shoulders of one man and a dog whose courage is beyond measure.”And boy howdy, is this one a page turner. The worst part is that it’s a short story. I was left thirsting for more of Tucker Wayne and Kane. Thank goodness he shows up again in Bloodline, and finally gets his own book in The Kill Switch.Another hit for James Rollins.

⭐ Tracker by James Rollins is a Sigma Force novel that I gave four stars. It is a fast book to read with suspense-filled Tracker by James Rollins is a Sigma Force novel that I gave four stars. It is a fast book to read with suspense-filled moments.Tucker worked with his hunting dog Kane. When he was wearing camera gear, he saw through the shepherd’s eyes. “The dog was as much an extension of his senses as he was a partner.””The army had trained him to maintain such diligence, to watch for the unusual amid the ordinary. When he’d been a captain with the army rangers, he and his partner had served as the unit’s trackers through two tours in Afghanistan-for search-and-rescue operations, for extraction, for hunting down targets of acquistion.”I received a complimentary copy in an Amazon promotion. That did not change my opinion for this review.Link to purchase: Tracker: A Short Story Exclusive (Sigma Force Series)

⭐ Captain Tucker Wayne and his highly trained military dog, Major Kane, left the military behind them rather abruptly and are now relaxing in Budapest. That is until Tucker notices a woman being followed and he and Kane jump in to help.This short story introduces Tucker and Kane before they are brought into contact with Sigma Force.I loved the sections about Belgian Malinois Kane, brilliant working dog. This story has killers and treasure involved and is worth the read.Be warned that the actual story only takes up about half the space. The rest gives short previews of other Sigma Force adventures and background on the story.I’m moving on now to read THE KILL SWITCH, full-length book with Tucker and Kane and Sigma Force.

⭐ Tracker is a short story that is the introduction of Tucker and Kane. Two new associates in a new series by James Rollins. Tucker is a former military man in the K9 unit with his 4 legged partner Kane. In this short story, Tucker is in Budapest and notices a girl being followed by 3 thuggish looking men. Nazi Germany, a Jewish cemetery , and millions of dollars of gold all come in to play in this story. Not a fan of these kind of short stories but this is a nice introduction for a new series.

⭐ Having a Belgiun Malinois of my own I found this book exciting to read. It is told from Tucker, the hero’s point of view and from Kane, Tucker’s military trained Belgiun Malinois’s point of view. Such a unique way to tell a story.This is a short story but I became invested in the main characters very quickly. Tucker has left the Army Rangers and travels the world with Kane. Tucker and Kane are currently in Budapest, Hungary. While sitting outside a cafe having a coffee Tucker spots a woman in trouble and with the help of Kane tracks her down to help her.The story is based around why the woman is in trouble, how Tucker plans to help her and most importantly showing how Tucker and Kane work together as if they are an extension of one another.If you love dogs you will probably love this story of mystery and intrigue where there are two heroes. One of them being Kane, the dog.I couldn’t give this book 5 stars because some of the storyline involving Kane’s abilities were too far fetched…no pun intended.A nice short read.

⭐ We really enjoy James Rollins books. I enjoy reading them. Mr. Rollins does his research and the character depth is great. We also really enjoy listening to his books when we go on road trips. The stories hold our interest all of the way through! You know a book is good when the characters seem like real people! 🙂

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