Wild Instinct

Wild Instinct by T. Jefferson Parker
11/11/25; 336 pages
St. Martin's Press/ Minotaur

Wild Instinct by T. Jefferson Parker is a recommended procedural  and the start of what may be a new series introducing Orange County California Sheriff’s Department Detective Lew Gale and his new partner Daniela Mendez.

Lew Gale, a former Marine sniper, is now the detective who is assigned to track and shoot a mountain lion that has reportedly killed a man near Laguna Beach, California. The victim is Bennet Tarlow III, a well-known and wealthy developer. Lew himself even worked for the man and liked him. While out tracking the mountain lion, Lew is called off the task because the coroner has discovered that Bennet was shot. Now he is on a murder investigation with his new partner Daniela Mendez. At the same time Daniela is concerned about her 18-year-old son, Jesse, and who he is hanging out with.

While the opening of this procedural grabs your attention, the pace then slows down to a crawl, not really picking up until much later in the novel. The quality of the writing is very good, but the actual plotting of the novel is lacking and drawn out. The purpose of this book seemed to be to introduce us to new characters for a series, and in that capacity it is successful. We learn all manner of background information about them and their concerns. The actual investigation and search for clues almost seems an afterthought at times, overwhelmed by other events, until late in the novel when it seems a serious investigation is actually taking place.

While they are looking for who killed Bennet, Daniela is secretly tracking the movement of her son, Jesse through his phone and also secretly spying on his activities. There are additional chapters involving a priest.  In Lew's story arch, there are excerpts from a book about his ancestors that Lew is reading. There is almost an over abundance of mentions that Lew is descended from the Acjachemen people, an indigenous tribe of Southern California that is not recognized by the federal government. It is mentioned on nearly every page of the novel. I found the first half very slow but the second half picked up and did have a satisfying ending. 

Wild Instinct may be enjoyed by those who like procedurals and/or follow T. Jefferson Parker's writing. Thanks to St. Martin's Press/ Minotaur for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.