THE RESCUE

Narrator Victoria Villarreal keeps this canine-themed thriller on track, providing the empathy and consistency required to get into the mind of Joe, a mutt with a gifted nose, a DEA pedigree, and a price on his head. Villarreal convincingly voices a Mexican drug lord, a Texas cop, a mysterious sharpshooter known as "The Roman," and the audiobook's protagonist, Bettina Blazak, a skeet-shooting California newspaper reporter who hates being told what she can't do. The audiobook careens back and forth across the Tijuana border as Bettina fights to protect Joe and vice versa. Despite a shaky premise, the audiobook holds together with enough forward momentum and surprises that even dog-challenged listeners will stick with it to the end. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2023]