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Reviews
Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-And-Rescue Dog by Susannah Charleson
wearethedepinets's review
5.0
LOVED THIS BOOK! I felt like I was part of the story the entire way through the book. It really helped the reader to understand the bond between a handler and their search and rescue dog and all the hard work both put into the job they love to do.
hollisen's review
5.0
This book is an amazing peek into a life I knew nothing about, volunteer search and rescue teams. While the author never presumes she is a writer, but rather a pilot, she has an amazing way of expressing herself and a strong voice. Even though I do not think I will ever participate in this type of work, I would recommend this to dog lovers and people who enjoy autobiographies, not just readers with an interest in search and rescue.
jellokites's review
3.0
I really thought I was going to love this book. I don't know, as I cannot put my finger on it, but I found it to be mediocre. Usually when a book centers around dogs, I fall in love, and this one I did not. I found myself skimming it about 50% the way through. I hate skimming books, but just was not interested in it. I was even bored at times. :(
ablotial's review
4.0
I picked up this book on a whim back in January when I was using up a gift card I got for Christmas. We have a golden retriever, so that helped catch my attention at first. And I've been interested in search and rescue since junior high when I was a member of the Civil Air Patrol. I was very worried that the dog would die during the course of the book -- I always hate when that happens, so sad!! -- Well, she didn't, though other dogs do and there are some very sad parts of the book regardless (but I suppose that is to be expected... not all search and rescue efforts have happy endings).
The book was really informative. I learned a lot about training a search and rescue dog and the crazy amounts of time and effort required. But it wasn't TOO informative, either; it was still a lot of fun to read and watch the relationship between Puzzle (the dog) and Susannah (the owner/author) grow over time. Puzzle's behavior and attitude and personality really shine throughout the book (I loved reading certain parts and seeing how similar Puzzle is to our own dog at times, but also how completely different at other times), and happily we see the author grow as a person as well.
Throughout the story, we experience real search and rescue missions, training sessions, Puzzle's fear of snakes and men in firefighter uniforms, and the aftermath of the explosion of the spaceship Columbia in 2003. And it really is a story more than anything else, though the chronology gets a little mixed up at times it is quite cohesive. I really enjoyed it and will be passing it on to other dog lovers.
The book was really informative. I learned a lot about training a search and rescue dog and the crazy amounts of time and effort required. But it wasn't TOO informative, either; it was still a lot of fun to read and watch the relationship between Puzzle (the dog) and Susannah (the owner/author) grow over time. Puzzle's behavior and attitude and personality really shine throughout the book (I loved reading certain parts and seeing how similar Puzzle is to our own dog at times, but also how completely different at other times), and happily we see the author grow as a person as well.
Throughout the story, we experience real search and rescue missions, training sessions, Puzzle's fear of snakes and men in firefighter uniforms, and the aftermath of the explosion of the spaceship Columbia in 2003. And it really is a story more than anything else, though the chronology gets a little mixed up at times it is quite cohesive. I really enjoyed it and will be passing it on to other dog lovers.
curiousnoel's review
5.0
This is a fascinating book, full of descriptions of how search dogs are trained, what it's actually like out in the field with them, and detective-esque stories of this or that case. Charleson wrote with such strong visual detail that the book flowed more like a fictional narrative than a memoir. Very engaging and even at times suspenseful. I recommend it to all dog-lovers or anyone interested in search and rescue.
crysania's review
5.0
Overall, I found this a fantastic read. Charleson writes extremely well (Patricia McConnell said the words were so rich she didn't know if she should read it or eat it and I agree!) and the story about her dog's antics and progression from puppy to trained search and rescue dog was wonderful. She did have some excursions into earlier searches that sometimes seemed confusing, but were still touching. I highly recommend this book!
sunshower12's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
The writing is fantastic. You really get a sense of the strong emotional connection that exists between a sar dog and their handler, and the ups and downs in those kinds of relationships. I also thought that the book did a great job explaining what it is like to work sar, and the nature of the field. That all being said, it is rather boring at times. It reads more procedurally, without a great climax or conclusion. It's just not exciting per-se. But not every book needs to be exciting, and I think the excellence it imparts in other ways more than makes up for any excitement it may lack. I think it's worth a read, and should be standard reading material for all who may be interested in becoming a sar handler.