Terrier

by Tamora Pierce

Since she was very young, Rebakah Cooper has shown an unusual amount of determination to bring justice on those who do wrong. When the Lord Provost hears of this, her family to live in his house until she is old enough to become a Dog, one of the crime-fighters of the city. Now Beka is sixteen years old and a Puppy—a Dog in training—paired with Clara Goodwin and Matthias Tunstall, two of the best Dogs in the Lower City. Once the three have gotten used to each other they work well as a team, which is something they will need. The Shadow Snake is on the prowl, taking children from their families and demanding payment or else the child dies, men are leaving to find work, but never returning, and the Lower City is becoming more dangerous by the day. Even with the help of her violet-eyed cat, Pounce, members of the Court of the Rogue, and her Birdies (both human and feathered), can Beka prove that she’s a true Terrier and not a Fishpuppy before more lives are lost?

Taking place some two hundred years before the popular Song of the Lioness Quartet begins, and narrated through Beka’s journal, Terrier explores a side of Tortall that is only glimpsed in Ms. Pierce’s previous series, introduces us to a new “shero” who is resolute and realistic, and unfolds an exciting plot. Beka’s adventures continue in the next books in the Provost’s Dog Trilogy, Bloodhound and Elkhound.