Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
Haley Richardson and her search and rescue dog, Jax, are recruited by the FBI to search for a missing 11-year-old boy in Alaska. Haley is gifted in finding the lost due to an extraordinary ability. As a child, she sustained a head injury that gave her a dog’s superior sense of smell, including detecting emotions. However, she keeps her gift a secret. Haley is paired with a local resident who knows the area as they search. However, the volunteer’s sinister motive to help becomes clear as they trek through Alaska’s back country. Forced to abandon her supplies to save herself, Haley flees into the wilderness, even as she continues the search for the boy. With no way to let authorities know where she is, Haley navigates the unknown as she also faces Alaska’s wildlife and natural disasters. To survive, she must depend on two strangers and make a daunting choice to save the boy.
Tags
Is Scent of the Lost (Scent Series Book 5) appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 13 and up.
A suspenseful survival thriller with moderate peril involving a missing child and a dangerous wilderness trek. Contains kidnapping/captivity themes and wildlife danger but no sexual content or graphic violence.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include child harm, kidnapping, and captivity (see the full list above).
Publisher ages reflect reading level; our rating reflects content maturity — they can differ.
Who'll love this
A gripping wilderness survival story where a woman with a secret superpower must rescue a missing boy while escaping a dangerous volunteer.