Land of the Free — Donna Ball

Winner of the "Best Fiction Book of the Year" Award by the Dog Writers Association of America
*****
No one knows the mountains of North Carolina like Raine Stockton and her search and rescue dog, Cisco. When they are called in to search for an elderly man who has wandered away from home it seems like a routine mission, until Raine looks through her binoculars and sees something she wasn't supposed to see. A dead man is very much alive, a felon is walking around free, and Raine is the only person who can testify to the fact. The problem is that no one takes her claims seriously...except the person who wants her dead.

Unwillingly thrust into the midst of an unpleasant child custody battle and a hotly contested political race, Raine finds herself questioning her own judgment and uncertain who to trust. Is she suffering from PTSD, or has a nightmare from her past materialized to haunt her? The police tell her one thing, her common sense tells her another. But when murder strikes too close to home, the hypothetical question becomes all too real, and no one is above suspicion: not the man Raine loves, not the man she once married, not even Raine herself. And they all must choose how far they're willing to go to protect the ones they love.

In this thrilling conclusion to the trilogy that includes HOME OF THE BRAVE, DOG DAYS and LAND OF THE FREE, Raine and Cisco face their biggest challenge yet, and when it is over nothing will ever be the same.