Intense. Riveting. Heartbreaking. Frustrating. All these words describe this story. At times, I had to take a break as I felt the heavy emotions of the first responders. The book provides insights into just how hard their job is in searching for survivors of a building collapse. Each chapter begins with a word and it's definition that give you a clue as to what will be in that chapter. Meg and her K-9 Hawk along with Brian and his K-9 Lacey search diligently for survivors while Meg's fiancé Todd is in the wreckage working as a fire fighter and paramedic trying to rescue those still in the remnants of the building. Meanwhile McCord, Cara's fiancé, digs into the background of the structure and finds not only a story for the newspaper, but cause to call in the FBI for help. It takes everyone to help make sure no one else ends up hurt and that the group responsible is found and behind bars. The ending is wonderful as it adds happiness after the intensity of reading the book.

This book begins with a disaster--an apartment building collapse in Washington DC--with no apparent mystery at the outset. At first, the focus is on the FBI Human Scent Evidence Team's search for victims in the pile of rubble, but when her reporter brother-in-law begins looking for reasons why a building would simply collapse and her firefighter fiance finds remains of an explosive detonator, the search for the criminals ramps up. It seemed that the actual crime-solving part of the story seemed rushed after so much time was spent in the beginning setting the scene for search and rescue. Not my favorite book in this series. While this is the 8th book in the series, it can be read as a standalone.

Thanks to Kensington Books for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

FBI, K-9, local-law-enforcement, action, suspense, buildings, collapse, search-and-rescue, family, friendship, scent-dog, Canadian-author, firefighters, first-responders, extrication, unputdownable, fiance, atmospheric, teamwork, fast-pace, thriller, investigation, intense, learning-opportunity, unstable, stress, exhaustion, research*****

Every minute counts when the first responders search for live victims at a highly populated apartment building. This book is a real testament to their work and a clear look at many of the dangers they face. This is and excellent work of fiction and has a real story which tell not only about what is done, but also about the kind of investigative work done to determine the cause. Riveting!
At the beginning of each chapter is a definition of a useful word in specific terminology.
I requested and received an EARC copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Action-packed, phenomenal writing. I couldn't put this one down. Driscoll does an amazing job at giving you the horror and the impact of the attack without getting too gory about it. I felt like I was living this. Terrifying page-turner!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

That Others May Live is a heart-stopping, gut wrenching, emotional story that had me hooked from the very beginning. After the collapse of an apartment building in downtown Washington, DC, first responders are called in to search for survivors. Meg, her K-9 partner, Hawk, and her team members are included in the call for help and are some of the first to arrive on scene. As the hours pass, the hope plummets for finding anyone alive. The descriptions of the devastation are so vivid, I felt the anguish of those watching and waiting to hear about their loved ones. This is a tribute to all the first responders, including K-9s and their handlers, who are on the front lines throughout a devastating ordeal such as this. It is a reminder that life can change instantly. Such an excellent book!

Wow! This book is gripping from the first page and kept me glued to the story. It’s emotional, tense, complex, intriguing, and totally captivating. I learned a lot, was fascinated by the details of the search and rescue, the extraction of victims, the hunt for motive, and the way details came together to bring closure. I’ve loved all of these FBI K-9 books, and this is one of the best! I highly recommend the whole series! I enjoyed some references to details from those earlier books, and cannot wait for the series to continue.

A great addition to the series. I immediately felt the relationship bonds, the sense of urgency, and the talent of the dogs and team. The story covers a heavy topic and a surprising twist to the tragic loss of life that occurred at the beginning of the series. This book can be read without having read the rest of the series, but I would recommend reading the whole series to fully appreciate the development in the friendships, team dynamics, couples, and work colleagues. The canine role is unique and stays relevant the entire story as the k-9 teams are instrumental to the actions and their training/reactions/care is shared with detail. A good read!

Realistic characters keep this book moving. The story is intriguing. The talented author has written a page turner. Be prepared to be touched by this narrative. Thank you Netgalley.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sara Driscoll, and Kensington Books, for allowing me to read this ARC. I was so excited to see that I was approved to read a copy of their book!

I have been an avid reader of Driscoll's work, as well as Jen J Danna's NYPD Negotiators series, and the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries. So, I feel I know exactly what I am going to get when I open a new book of theirs. This book did not disappoint! Kudos to Jen for carrying on with the chapter openings with a word and definition. I learn so much.

I enjoyed the inside look at rescue and recovery of a building collapse, and I felt emotionally invested in the fates of the tenants of the building.

Pacing-wise, it may just be that I haven't read an FBI-K9 book in a while, but I felt like a lot of the book was the action - which is good! But I felt like it took a while to get to the possible explanation for the building collapse, whereas in other books, it felt like we were thrust into the mystery a lot faster. I also might have liked a little more time spent on motivations, etc.

All that being said, I love Sara Driscoll's novels, their writing style, and I love the family of characters - Meg, Cara, Todd, McCord, Brian, Hawk, Lacey and all the other dogs. I especially loved reading about Saki doing her therapy doggo job. I would only hope that if I needed a comfort dog, it would be one as good as Saki.

I cannot wait to read the next book of the series, and anything else Sara/Jen writes! Well done!

That Others May Live, the 8th book in Sara Driscoll's outstanding FBI K-9 series, is a novel that will stay with you forever. If you are old enough, you have seen images on television of disasters with dogs and their handlers searching for survivors. Your heart has gone out to those who have been lost, those who are waiting, and for the responders who do the gut-wrenching work to find survivors and the lost so their families can have some closure. This is a tale of a manmade disaster and first responders who work so hard to keep losses at a minimum, who work hard to hold in the agony of what they encounter, and the hopes that are dashed as they work for that one rescue that makes the job a little more possible.
Author Sara Driscoll juxtaposes this difficult tale with the holiday Meg and her friends have been looking forward to sharing with their families. Meg's team and Webb's work backbreaking and heartbreaking hours every day with the hope that some families will be able to celebrate Christmas together rather than mourning for loved ones no longer with them. Ms. Driscoll's ability to create a reality in which happiness can exist in a world of pain, makes That Others May Live a truly memorable hope filled read even with all the sadness.
Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this intense and amazing book.
#NetGalley #Kensington #FBIK-9 #SaraDriscoll #ThatOthersMayLive

"That Others May Live" is a K9 suspense. This book is the 8th in a series, but it works as a stand-alone. The author wanted to write about what rescue personal go through when working a horrific building collapse. Most of the story involved Meg & the K9 team searching the fallen building wreckage while Todd, the firefighter/paramedic, first worked with those clearing what remained standing. While this was interesting, the building fell in a way that few people could survive and many of the remains were only identifiable through DNA (and it didn't get any more graphic than that). It's nitty-gritty depressing.

Their journalist friend and others at his newspaper gathered information about why the building might have fallen--bad design? terrorism? The last third of the story was uncovering what happened and the arrest of the bad guys. It felt to me like the author got her collapsed building research down, started writing the book, then couldn't figure out a good reason why someone would destroy a luxury apartment building full of people. So she went with: the bad guys were gullible, illogical, and believed a lie (which, however unlikely, wasn't actually proven to be a lie). There was no point in trying to understand their motive because it made no sense to logical, sensible types.

I was shocked when one of the FBI boss characters went so far as to say he hated conspiracy theorists, implying that anyone who believed one is illogical and potentially dangerous. Oh, so it's somehow logical to group together and vilify people with a wide variety of beliefs and personalities? And Meg's fiancé jumped from 'I know a fellow firefighter who's gullible' to actively considering if that person might have been the terrorist. Hmm. Being gullible usually makes one a victim, not a violent murderer.

Anyway, the main characters were generally likable, interesting, and reacted realistically to events. The high suspense came from the danger to everyone working the building collapse site. There was some bad language. There were no sex scenes.

That Others May Live by Sara Driscoll is a complex, well researched and developed story. This is the first book I read by these authors and I’ve really enjoyed it. Is easy to read, fast-paced, engaging and has an interesting plot. It involves dogs, too, so, that was the selling point for me.
It’s about a Search and Rescue in urban conditions after a building collapses, the combined efforts of firefighters, rescuers, EMS, and then the investigation by reporters and law enforcement.
This book showcases the hard and dangerous work of the SAR dogs and their handlers and the emotional load they take.
Looking forward to the next book about Meg, Hawk and the other dogs.
Thank you for the chance to read this book in exchange for my review.

A must read series! This is another great story about Meg and Hawk and the entire crew. When a 12 story building partially collapses in DC there is an immediate need for rescue teams. This brings on more help for the K9 unit and Todd with the FD. Local and multi state units show up to help recover any possible victims, although there seems to be very little hope of finding many alive. It takes a toll on all involved from the start to the finish. This one had me feeling like I was right there with the characters and I felt the heartbreak as time went on.

That Others May Love, the eighth book in the FBI K-9 series by Sara Driscoll, hits close to home in the devastation that surrounds not only Meg, Hawk, and the entire K-9 rescue team, but also Todd, the DCFDEMS team and multiple other emergency groups. The suspense and action explode (no pun intended) from the opening page and gain momentum as the layers of the heinous crime are uncovered and on through to the very gratifying ending. There were several heart-pounding moments, but none is much as Todd’s (no spoiler here, you'll need to read the book) rescue of a victim.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily submitting my honest review.

Another opportunity to learn about K-9 services in high tension situations.

An apartment building in Washington DC collapses on itself. Meg Jennings and her FBI K-9 Hawk join their other team members in Search & Rescue to shift through the piles of rubble to find survivors and bodies. Based in part on a real incident in Florida in 2021.

The details of construction are very familiar to me - concrete strengthened by rebar. The depth of engineering knowledge began each chapter with a simple explanation of a term.

The emotional and physical stress of the rescue and recovery personnel and the families of those injured and lost was well-written.

The final solving of what & who was behind the collapse was followed by Christmas Eve plans for Meg & Todd's May wedding.

Thank you Jen J Danna for this Sara Driscoll novel. Each one has been a joy to read.

That Others May Live is the first book that I have read by Sara Driscoll and I am beyond glad that I did! This book dives right in and doesn't let up. After a building collapses in Washington, DC, Meg and Hawk are called in as first responders to the scene. I was immediately drawn in as I live pretty close to DC and felt that the author did a great job of describing the scenes. There was a lot of emotional writing that had to go into this book and I thought it was very well done.
I also liked the fact that I did not have to read the other books that go with this one in order to know the characters and details of other things that have happened to them. The short recaps were perfect.
I would absolutely recommend this book. It was a powerful read and the topic was captured very tastefully.

Meg and Hawk are a perfectly in tune K-9 team. A building collapsed in DC and they are called in for the rescue of survivors. It is draining on both humans and their canines but they must keep a positive outward sign for their dogs. This series makes me keeps me in awe of these teams. Can’t wait for the next in the series.
Goodreads

What a ride. I absolutely love this series and have yet to be disappointed. This latest was as usual edge of your seat great, being ripped from the headlines was emotional. If you haven’t you need to read the whole series, you won’t be disappointed.

That Others May Live – Sarah Driscoll

This is an action packed, suspenseful novel that is loosely based on the 2021 apartment building collapse in south Florida; it takes the reader right into the heart of such a disaster, with vivid description from the scene - the exuberance of a rescue, the fear of an imminent collapse, the horror of realizing that the survivors are few – and the desolation of working that scene, day in and day out, until everyone is found.

It’s a chilly December morning when Meg Jennings, a member of the FBI’s Human Scent Evidence Team, gets word that a building has collapsed without warning in downtown DC, in the vicinity of the White House. Details are slim, but she knows she’ll be needed at the scene, so, quickly mobilizing, she and K-9 Hawk, along with close friend and news reporter McCord head to the scene.

Upon their arrival, it is every bit as bad as Meg had feared. A 12-story building has partially collapsed, each floor pancaking atop the other, with rubble extending into the roadway of a busy thoroughfare and countless victims trapped within the debris. The remainder of the building looks as if it will fall at any moment. Even worse, Meg knows her fiancé, firefighter Todd Webb is on scene amidst the chaos and likely in the wreckage searching for survivors.

As multiple disciplines converge on scene to gauge scene safety and to stabilize the area, Meg & Hawk await their orders. They are soon joined by her partner Brian & his K-9 Lacey - and are quickly cleared to begin working the debris pile, a three-story mountain of shattered concrete. Victories are few and far between, and the work quickly takes its toll on both human and canine searchers.

Readers learn of the incredible efforts put forth to find and save lives – from running simulations of where people may have been in their apartments at a particular time, to episodic quiet times, where rescuers deploy equipment looking for heat signatures & calls or tapping for help. We follow Webb and his fellow firefighters as they risk their lives to go door to door, clearing units in the portion of the building still standing and securing any pets that may have survived.

Webb risks his life to pull a lone survivor out of a deep pocket beneath the very unstable building, and in doing so he also finds something covertly tucked into a support beam. With suspicions mounting that this was not a structural collapse, McCord, an investigative journalist, digs deep into the possibility of resident being targeted, or worse a terrorist attack – but can they identify the culprits before they strike again.

This book was phenomenal!! I love all of the books in this series, but this one was stellar! I was fascinated by all the technology described, the work of the K-9’s, the ability of multijurisdictional teams to come together, working seamlessly to retrieve survivors and to bring home those who perished. The depictions of emotions, both high and low, human and canine…just an amazing read!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & Kensington Books in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Blog will publish ob 11/23/23

This was such a thrilling book. I kept finding myself holding my breath. There is so much action and suspense in this book. It was heartbreaking and angsty, There’s a lot of technical terms that are explained. I thoroughly loved this book and the series as a whole. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.