The Blue Horse

The Blue Horse, the third installment in the Porter Beck series by author Bruce Borgos, checks all the boxes when it comes to exciting, unputdownable suspense thrillers. It’s a taut, fast-paced, action-packed story with dynamic characters involved in a race against time to stop the bad guys.

Borgos’s expertise at maintaining a high intensity level while weaving multiple plotlines involving prevalent issues is impressive and highly entertaining. I found it extremely hard to stop reading once I started this one and now find myself anxiously waiting for the next one.

Sheriff Porter Beck returns along with several series favorites, including his adopted sister Brinley and his love interest Detective Charlie Blue Horse, in The Blue Horse. Beck and his deputy are observing a wild horse roundup herded by a helicopter from a cliff above a Nevada canyon when he witnesses the copter crashing. Arriving on scene, they quickly determine the crash was the result of the pilot being shot. The leader of an anti-roundup activist group protesting in the area becomes a suspect, but when another tragic death occurs, Beck, who isn’t primary on the case, follows his gut instinct, looking beyond the obvious for motive. As he and Charlie work the clues, a disturbing, emerging pattern leads them to take a closer look at a Canadian lithium mining operation buying up land in the area. The stakes skyrocket for Beck when Brinley goes missing from a wilderness camp, as he suspects her disappearance may be tied to the killings. Time is of the essence, and Beck will move heaven and earth to find Brinley. Will he be in time?

Wild mustang roundups are controversial with strong emotions and reasoning on both sides of the issue, and author Bruce Borgos taps into those often-heated, contrasting points of view in the fictional The Blue Horse. I found it interesting that Borgos states that after his in-depth research into the pros and cons of both sides, he’s landed firmly on one side, but he sincerely hopes his opinion doesn’t show in his rendering of this story. In my opinion, it does not. Having wild horses roaming free on the Outer Banks in North Carolina where I live, I’ve witnessed their majestic, breathtaking beauty, but like Borgos, I won’t disclose my opinion here. I will say Borgos has done a magnificent job at weaving the pros and cons into a tension-laden plotline that kept this reader on the edge of her seat from start to finish. A menacing tone drives a pace that increases chapter to chapter to the explosive climax. The author incorporates the trials and tribulations we all experienced within the confines of the COVID pandemic, adding additional complications to the storyline. Complex characters are well defined both professionally and personally. Beck’s continuous battle and insecurities learning to maneuver life with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that renders him with extremely limited night vision, with the aid of a devoted dog, is a lesson in perseverance while learning to cope with a handicap. The author also shines a light on groups helping troubled teens cope with PTSD through Brinley’s work (herself a victim of childhood abuse) with the wilderness group, especially one troubled teen, Rafa.

As the story unfolds, various plotlines begin connecting like pieces of a puzzle. The result is a highly entertaining suspense thriller with a lot of heart highlighting some controversial, real-life issues. Beck’s wry sense of humor lends a bit of comic relief to an otherwise serious subject, as does his budding romance with Charlie. While this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone as the talented author flawlessly incorporates needed backstory into the narrative; however, I suggest you treat yourself by diving into the previous books. The Blue Horse is a tautly written, intense, must-read thriller that fans of suspense thrillers will enjoy.