Member Reviews
In this third book of the series we find Brynn at a bachelorette party trying to be good and not drink. She ends up leaving before doing anything bad and is called out the next morning to a crime scene. She finds herself on a playground looking at a pair of ears, the crazy thing, she recognizes the earring in the ear. She saw it the previous night on the ear of a man she met while at the party. When a tongue is later found it has Brynn asking herself what these body parts symbolize. Does it have anything to do with the utter disregard the locals have for travellers? Could it be a killer trying to manipulate the police into thinking one thing when it is actually something totally different? With body parts showing up and no bodies being found the police aren't sure exactly what direction they should take. No matter the reason Brynn must figure out who the killer is before more parts are found and someone else ends up dead. Meanwhile Brynn is going to mandatory meetings for alcoholics and drug users even though she feels like she can control things. Can Brynn pull herself through the darkness that surrounds her or will she let the past take hold. This was a great read, Brynn is such a multi-layered character that makes you just want to keep pulling away the pieces to get to know her even more.
This book and series is very dark and haunting. I usually stay away from this type of book but it is so beautifully written and isn't to dark that it disturbs me after I read it. The main character Brynn is a tortured soul, who grew up as a traveler in Tennessee. Body parts begin showing up in the town of Bone Gap and Brynn and her trusty sidekick Wilco have to uncover the truth. I had a very hard time putting this book down after I started it because I had to know what happened next. If you like dark mysteries you will love this book. If you have not read this series before you might want to go back and read the first two to really understand Brynn. I look forward to future books in this series and hope that as the series continues Brynn finds more peace from her demons.
What am I? The question and answers I'd heard my whole life passed through my head -half breed, loser, weirdo, gypsy, whore, scarred, and only half a woman but the the one that stuck with me was the one that was the most accurate. Damaged.
Brynn Callahan comes from a long line of Irish Travellers. Descendants of nomadic Irish who settled in a Bone Gap outside of McCreary, Tennessee. Most of the town people call her kind Pavees. Byrynn along with her dog and partner in crime Wilco who served with her in Afghanistan. She and her dog both serve now in the local police department with the baggage they both brought from the war. They both are damaged but they have loyalty to each other that few ever find. Out with girls, a fellow Pavee is last seen with a missing male dancer and parts of body is found later with a note. Hear no evil. What does her friend know about the missing person.
A girl and her dog now must find out why a local dancer was targeted. With Brynn's past of addiction, hiding her pain, trust issues, and her people being of accused, she and Wilco look for more clues. As another body part is found, with another note, speak no evil, the questions begin to be how are the two related. The crime becomes more about a personal vendetta. Brynn is also dealing with personal issues of family and relationships that play into the case at hand.
Shattered Justice is about shattered lives. Byrnn and the people she is in community with. She picks her battles and is loyal to the ones she fights for. Including herself. I was won over with the character development as she fought her own demons and fighting for the truth.
A Special Thank you to Kensington Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
Shattered Justice by Susan Furlong is the third A Bone Gap Travellers Novel. I have not read the other books in this series and I did feel I was missing important details especially at the beginning of the story. I picked up Shattered Justice because I enjoyed the author’s A Novel Idea Mystery series (written as Lucy Arlington). Shattered Justice is not what I expected. I like that Brynn Callahan is a veteran along with her dog, Wilco. They both suffered injuries in an explosion and, understandably, have PTSD. Poor Wilco suffers from nightmares as does Brynn who has been self-medicating with large quantities of alcohol and pain pills. If Brynn wants to keep her job, she need to give up both and begin attending AA meetings. I was not a fan of Brynn. My main reason is she feels she can take the law into her own hands (plus her addictions, attitude, etc.—felt like a cliched character). It was interesting to learn about the Irish Travellers or Pavee as they prefer to be called. It is a terrible shame that people are prejudiced against them because of their heritage. The mystery was complex with active investigating. I liked the action which helped propel the book forward which was helpful since the pacing was slow. The mystery can be solved before all the clues are revealed. As the law enforcement professionals uncover evidence, there are some descriptions that are best not read while eating (fair warning). Shattered Justice does contain graphic violence along with foul language and spousal abuse. My favorite character in the story is Wilco. I found him to be sweet and courageous. It is amazing what dogs can accomplish with training. As you can tell, Shattered Justice was not a good fit for me. Shattered Justice is a grim, tension filled story with a disturbed killer, surprising secrets, a clever canine, the amazing Appalachian, a dogged deputy, and a caring granddaughter.
Shattered Justice by Susan Furlong
Bone Gap Travellers #3
Well done addition to the series that sees Brynn Callahan wrestling with demons that are not easy to beat. She and her dog, Wilco, were together when they were injured by an IED, both suffer flashabacks and PTSD and they rely on one another to remain grounded when triggers are pulled.
Brynn has grown up in the Traveller/Pavee community but straddles the cultures of her childhood and those they called The Settled. She has suffered and seen much with loyalty sometimes divided between her “people” and the people she works with. She has coping mechanisms that have caused her boss to require her to attend AA whether she thinks she needs to or not and that is a deeply embedded bit of her life and also it would seem of the Pavee. This is a murder mystery but it is so much more!
What I liked:
* The telling of the story – hooked me and kept me interested
* The sense of family being there for one another
* Brynn – flawed and damaged as she is
* Wilco – a K-9 companion in more ways than one – a dog that will not give up...just like the woman he lives with
* The twists and turns and surprises
* The slow revelation of who everyone was and what they had been doing
* The men who care for Brynn...even when she doesn’t realize it
* Wondering what will happen to Brynn in the future and how she will get her life together – I really hope she does
* Hoping it won’t be a LONG time till book four comes out
What I didn’t like:
* The bad guys I was meant not to like
* The prejudice and bigotry that exists in life and in this story
* The grim reality of the lives of some of the people in the story
What I want to know:
* More about the private militia – Viper seems to be a person that might be interesting to hear more about
* How Brynn will get her act together
* What will happen to some of the women Travellers mentioned in this book
* What will happen next
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Shattered Justice is the first book that I’ve read by Susan Furlong. Also it’s the 3rd in the Bone Gap Travellers Series. I didn’t realize it wasn’t the start of the series, but that did not stop me from enjoying it. Yes, there are mentions of previous things, but provided enough info so I wasn’t lost. We follow Brynn a former Marine turned deputy sheriff who is also an Irish Traveller. There is a horrific murder that she’s trying to solve along with happening with her own people. Twists and turns right to the end that I didn’t see coming! I definitely want to go back and read from the beginning.
*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.
Brynn Callahan is a former Marine who is recovering from addictions to alcohol and narcotics, as well as dealing with PTSD. She and her human remains detection dog (HRD), Wilco, are now working with a sheriff’s department in Tennessee. Both Brynn and Wilco suffered loss of body parts overseas due to an IED, and Wilco is now deaf. These injuries resulted in them being deemed unfit for service. Brynn is also a Pavee (what Irish Travellers prefer to be called) and deals with discrimination as a result.
I appreciate that the author chose to show a woman veteran as I feel like we often see this from a male perspective. I loved Wilco; he’s an important character here, not just set dressing.
As you can tell from the book blurb, there are some graphic descriptions of injuries related to the current crimes, as well as Brynn’s time in the military.
I knew nothing about Irish Travellers prior to reading this book and the details, including how the clan has to deal with prejudice, make for a difficult collision of Brynn’s family and her work. This is the first book I’ve read in this series and, unfortunately, I do feel like I need to go back and read the first two in the series in order to really understand the character relationship dynamics. I hope that reading the series in order will give me a broader understanding of this ethnic group. So I’m stopping now and I anticipate coming back in the future once I’ve read the first two books.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #ShatteredJustice #mystery
Another intense, book-hooking entry to the Bone Gap Travellers series that has you alternately cringing with reading faster. Ex-Marine Brynn Callahan returned to her family home after an IED ended both her tours and that of her cadaver dog, Wilco. But it wasn't easy to return to the Appalachians to her Irish Travellers (or Pavees) and assume a job with local law enforcement (the "settled"). Her community keeps to themselves and wields their own sense of law enforcement.
Brynn is suffering from PTSD, as is her dog, and daily struggles with staying clean, relief she'd found in booze and prescription meds. Her first person dialogue plops you squarely in her head where the fight is unrelenting.
This novel sets the old saying on edge as ears are found followed by a severed tongue, but the plot won't be that simple and soon revisits the closely held secret of her beloved Gran setting a strong distraction. There must be two bodies, but they are missing. Are they connected to the Pavee brought in?
The author has an amazing writing style, often producing quotable moments.
Brynn is intelligent, flawed, and damaged. The well-developed support characters provide a graphic mindset and along with descriptions of the deeply wooded mountains, foreboding and sinister, there hides more than the Travellers. An extremely disturbing depiction moves forefront along with some stomach-turning descriptions. The dialogue is brutal, many times raw, threatening, and the tension builds to a massively intricate conclusion and one you won't guess.
I was given a digital download by the publisher and NetGalley and am extremely grateful for the opportunity to read and review my third book in this series--and looking forward to Book 4. Recommended to any looking for a unique premise and genuinely engaging mystery. 4.5/5 stars
This is the third in the Bone Gap Travellers series. If you’re looking for a cozy, this book isn’t one. It is a little more on the dark side but insightful. Ms Furlong deals with social issues, such as addiction, Brynn Callahan is trying to live her life between two different communities, the settled community and the Irish Travellers, also called pavers or gypsies. She is a veteran (Marine) whom has returned home and is now a Deputy Sheriff. She and her dog, Wilco, suffer from PTSD.
Brynn is damaged goods but I enjoy routing for the underdog. I believe in the long run she’ll get past her demons. It's a slow process.
I was saddened by the ending but know there is much more in store for Brynn.
Shattered Justice by Susan Furlong is the third novel in the thrilling Bone Gap Travellers series. Each book of the series has had it’s own main case to be solved so this could be understood as a standalone. However, there are some things that have carried over from book to book that make reading from the the beginning the best option.
This series is set around a group of Irish Travellers that have settled in Bone Gap, Tennessee in the Appalachian Mountains. After events in her past Brynn Callahan left the group to join the Marines but now after an IED explosion has left her injured she’s returned with her cadaver dog, Wilco. Being ex-military and also a travellers herself Brynn has taken to working with the local police to be a bridge between the traveller community and the locals.
Shattered Justice has Brynn once again called in to help with her dog Wilco when a severed pair of ears are found without the body they belong to. Once Brynn arrives however she does recognize the earring still attached and thinks she knows the victim who happened to be with a friend of hers the night before. With Brynn’s friend an immediate suspect she becomes even more determined to solve the case.
Once again the author did a wonderful job of taking on the setting of this group of Irish Travellers in the mountains. With every page there was tension set with anticipation as the story went deeper into the murder mystery and the world it was set in. Brynn is one very flawed character after her time in the military along with her dog Wilco as they both pull emotions from the reader with their struggles. However, despite the flaws Brynn is one tough cookie that I’ve come to enjoy following and would continue to join in her journeys.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Shattered Justice is well written suspense. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. My thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.
Love the dog. The humans are flawed but interesting. The story is emotionally exhausting. Lots of heart-wrenching situations.
Shattered Justice by Susan Furlong is the 3rd book in the Bone Gap Travellers series. Brynn Callahan is an ex marine now working for the McCreary County Sheriff in her home town of Bone Gap, Tennessee. Travellers or Gypsies live in Bone Gap and Brynn grew up a Traveller, so she understands their ways. When body parts, like human ears hanging on the monkey bars, start showing up, Brynn is determined to find out who is doing this and why. Brynn has a lot of issues after being injured in the Marines, along with her dog Wilco,who is a body tracker. Brynn has spend most of the time drinking and popping Vicodins, and making poor choices, but she working hard to get and stay clean. This book had me hooked from the beginning, I do plan on reading the next book in the series, I highly recommend this book/series.
I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.
A police procedural with some action, and it's very easy to read. The characters and the plot are great, but there's maybe a little too much crazy stuff.
Brynn Callahan walks between two worlds- the Settled and the Pave- in Bone Gap, Tennessee. Don't worry if you haven't read the earlier books as you'll be fine with this boffo addition to the series as a standalone. Brynn came home from her tours as a Marine maimed and with PTSD, as did her dog Wilco but now she's a deputy sheriff and he's still working with her finding corpses. Someone is leaving body parts around town, first ears then a tongue. The atmospherics are terrific; Furlong has captured a real sense of small town Appalachia, the opioid crisis, the woods, pave culture, and so on. Although a large part of the story involves something her grandmother did, Furlong gives you enough info to fully appreciate what happened and why. The small bits, such as the hen party, Meg, the militia in the woods add so much. Thanks to Netgalley for the aRC. This is a complex and rewarding novel with a terrific (albeit flawed) pair of heroes in Brynn and Wilco. This is one I highly recommend and can't wait for the next outing.
This is the 3rd installment of the Bone Gap Traveller’s series and my first introduction to this series. All I can say is Wow. This book has you hanging on to the edge of your seat and it has some pretty grisly clues for Brynn. Brynn Callahan is an Irish traveler who has become a sheriff deputy in her hometown of Bone Gap Tennessee and she straddles both the community of travellers and the community is interesting. I enjoyed the book as a standalone but plan to go back and read the first two in the series as Brynn is a complicated character.
SHATTERED JUSTICE, the third book in the Bone Gap Travellers Novel series, by Susan Furlong is another edge-of-your-seat read that left me turning pages until the very last word was read. I was impressed how the deeply-flawed protagonist, Brynn Callahan, captured my attention and had me cheering for her despite her many failings. Central to the book is her battle with alcohol and pills. Brynn had become dependent upon them as she recovered from the horrific injuries, both physical and psychological, that she received as a Marine. Ms. Furlong captures the heart wrenching agony of Brynn’s struggles on the pages, which I hope brings awareness for real-life situations in our society. In addition to her injuries and addiction, Brynn’s attempt to straddle the settled world and the Irish Travellers' society where she was raised, all contribute to the damaged adult she’s become. Despite that, Brynn continues to try to do what she has to in order to survive, which I found inspirational. Ms. Furlong pens a chilling story of retribution and the need to find justice in whatever form. The twists and turns were like following a gloomy trail in a dark forest where every little sound made me jump as I read. This is one book that left me thinking about it long after I’d finished and has me hoping there will be more in this suspenseful series.
Another welcome addition to this fascinating series
This is the third book in the Bone Gap Travellers series. I hav loved all the books to date but this is my favorite so far.
Brynn Callahan is a deputy in the Investigative Unit with the McCreary County Sheriff's Department but she is also a member of the Irish Travellers, a close-knit community that is looked down upon by the rest of the "settled" people in Bone Gap, Tennessee.
She is also an ex-Marine that was injured in the Middle East along with her cadaver dog, Wilco, by an IED. Both her and Wilco suffer from PTSD and she tends to over medicate with booze and prescription pain meds. But she's trying to do better, actually starting to attend AA meetings.
This book, like the others, has plenty of action. An old friend makes another appearance and, as always seems to be the case, people start turning up dead in and around Bone Gap. This was a very twisty story that kept me guessing and had a few different surprises in it.
I admire Brynn's character, damaged as she is. She loves her family and her dog and would do anything for them.
I'm already looking forward to the next book and this one doesn't even get published for a couple more weeks. Darn.
I received this book from Kensington Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
This was a first book for me by this author. And I have to say it got me hooked from the very first page.. I read this in two days love the story it is the third book but awesome as a stand-alone book.. this book is set in bone Gap Tennessee. Brynn Callahan and her Dog Wilco.. by the way I love that name. Her dog is a deaf dog but he is a very good guard dog. Wilco is a war Injured Dog and what a wonderful dog.. Brynn has the world on her shoulders trying to keep Grans secret hidden. Along Comes ex-lover to let her know his wife is out to kill her..
And many more things in this book. Just keep you enthralled Turning Page after page you won't want to stop I read it in two days and absolutely loved this book.. will definitely be reading more books by this author..
Thank you Netgally for letting me read this arc...
Thank you. Susan Furlong.
I will leave a review on Amazon or B&N on Dec 31, 2019
Shattered Justice is the third book in the Bone Gap Travellers series. Just like the previous two books I grow more attached to Byrnn and her dog, this one was action packed and so intense that I read it all in one setting today. I would certainly recommend it to everyone. I received an ARC of the book from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my own personal opinion of the book..