David Barbur Presents Taking Refuge: A Tye Caine Wilderness Mystery - Book 5 - A Personal Favorite for 2026...

 “Things like that can make us lose little parts of our soul,” Agnes said. “A person can only stand so much of that. Let me know if you ever want help finding those parts again.”

“It’s been so much lately,” Tye said. “So much death. So much violence. So many bad people.”

We’ve run into some genuinely evil people lately—killers.”

He got the blank look that often came over his face when facts interfered with whatever desire had just popped into his head.

You seem angry sometimes.” “That’s because I am. I’m angry that these people exist in the world, and there’s very little I can do about it.

“Why are you angry?” Agnes’s voice was soft. The sun had moved far enough to the west that she now sat half in shadow. “Because I’m frightened,” Tye said. “It’s like I flipped over a rock and found all sorts of ugly, evil things crawling around underneath. If it were just me, that would be one thing, but I’m worried something will happen to my girlfriend Kaity or one of my other friends.” In the back of his mind, he realized he’d come here to get information from her, but he was the one sharing. But it felt like the right thing to do to him. Tye had trusted his gut when it came to other people all his life, and he’d rarely been wrong. “I think I scare Kaity sometimes.” That was out of his mouth before he realized it was coming. “In another time, another place, another culture, you’d have elders to guide you through this,” Agnes said. “Nowadays, we expect soldiers, police officers, firefighters, people like that, to deal with this all alone.” “I’m not any of those things,” Tye said. “But you are a protector, a guardian. You just don’t have the official blessing of a government.” “What do I do?” That question hung there between them for a few long moments. From outside, Tye heard the crunch of tires on gravel as the people from the meditation retreat left. “I can help you,” Agnes said. “But this presents me with a conundrum. I have some prior obligations to think about.” “Do you mean Brianna and Pauline?” She took a deep breath and settled in her chair. “I think all I can say is that if I had information that either of them was in danger, I’d certainly share it.” “That’s all I’m getting?” “For right now. Yes.” He looked at his watch and realized much more time had passed than he realized. He stood. “Guess I’ll be going then. If you change your mind, let me know.” “I still have your business card.” She stood and offered a hand. “Come see me when this is all over. We have much to talk about.” He shook her small hand, with its palm calloused from years of garden work. “I’ll do that.” As he returned to his truck, Tye tried to figure out what had just happened. Agnes knew more than she was telling. When he got to his truck, all the other cars had pulled out of the lot, and he stood there for a while. The only sound was the prayer flags flapping in the wind. A faint scent of incense wafted on the breeze. Tye felt a tremendous sense of peace here, like the retreat center was a little oasis of sanity in a world he was increasingly viewing as dark and malevolent. Over the years, he’d watched as Gary delved deeply into Buddhism and Taoism, but he’d never felt the need to be anything more than a half-interested observer. Lately, during the dark stretches of the night when he struggled to sleep, his head full of images of the death and violence he’d seen, he’d often wondered if there was a way to find a place of peace to counterbalance the evil and darkness he’d uncovered. He wondered if this was one of those places.

Truthfully, I didn't have a clue what I might encounter in this book. I was hoping for a series similar to that of Nevada Barr, who roams through the country as a ranger... But I never would have thought that it would include, partly, a reality crew who was shooting two women who were to be survivalists--in the nude! Yeah, they made a point that on the film, there would be appropriate coverage in the right place, but, really?

And Tye Caine was wondering why he kept getting pulled into this type of job by a questionable producer of such films... Interestingly there were only two women. It was hoped that they would get snarky, you know, like those stupid--my opinion--Housewives have been known to do, although that's only what I've heard. I'm not really a reality fan... Nevertheless, the hopeful plan did not happen since the two women soon began to work together to build shelter, find food...

Until one of them disappeared from the site location...

Ok, the plot was fairly open in my opinion, but that did not affect the basic mystery storyline--which proved to be quite creative and tense... There were many subplots that gave readers a chance to start playing around with what and how the story would flow... And, for your info, Tye Caine is a fantastic wilderness guide in all ways that are important.

Even to the point of having a female business partner who begins to be revealed in this book that intimates that her background is far more comprehensive in security methodology than he could have imagined! Should prove to increase the suspense in following books...

Of course, since one woman disappeared soon after the book starts, there is immediately a dual responsibility for Caine--keeping the second woman handling the activities she was dealing with as a survivalist. But, now, there was a search through the mountains trying to find what happened to the other one. They had found her backpack, but after intensive surroundings were searched, it was concluded that there had to be somebody who had been involved in her disappearance!

As with many books being published in the mystery, suspense, thriller genres these days, there are clear lines of the emotions of those involved. Some act criminally to gain riches... Some are pure evil and yet hide it from many through lies... Even from family members... But, sooner or later, even those who find it difficult to work to respond to the needs of others, must take a stand. And fight...

And the first concern was that night lights began to fly across the area, finally revealed to be the use of Morris Code between two areas. But who and why was this type of communication being used? Well, for one reason was, of course, that cell service was minimal. But readers learn that there are other types of technical methods used in tracking that could be both helpful as well as detrimental, especially when there was no known awareness that other types of surveillance had even been going on...

One of the unique aspects of the character creation is that Barbur brings in individuals as part of the story; however, does not mention who or why. A young delightful boy was the perfect character to call attention to the humanity of the "good guys" versus those who are not... And in this book, there is the extreme in one way and the other... The boy so delightfully alive while at the same time, soon, they found the location, where the slightly sunken ground proved to be...graves of young girls who also disappeared...

Tye had found his behavior odd the whole time but hadn’t been able to articulate quite why. Now, it finally came to him: Kenneth Howley was acting less like someone with a missing daughter and more like someone missing a valuable piece of property. Maybe the two weren’t that different to him.

“I think one of the things that’s bothering me the most is that the people who are supposed to help just seem inconvenienced by all this. First, it started with Brianna and Pauline, and everybody at the sheriff’s department seemed to care more about how they had better things to do than look for them. Now there’s a bunch of dead women in the forest, and the biggest priority is getting the paperwork right.” “Almost makes you lose faith in the institutions here to protect us,” Tye said. “The other thing that bothers me is I could be one of those women,” Kaity said. “It’s like they got picked off by some kind of predator.” “Except the other elk in a herd will at least try to protect one of their members if they can,” Tye said. “I’m not sure how I feel about being compared to an elk, but yeah.” They stood there for a while under the hot water. Tye had still felt a chill settle over him despite the heat of the day, and right now, standing there with Kaity seemed to be one of the only things that could drive it off.

Finally, it didn't surprise me to learn of supernatural additions to the story... Great! Right? In the mountains there was historical  awareness of having the "sight" or dreams that are used to help find the way forward. Caine is one of those who "sees," but still has internal doubts and fears as he strives to understand, "Why him?" I'll be checking out more of this series as possible... I hope what you've learned here will help you realize that in this time of turmoil, lies, and conmen, that we must be working to help those who are captured in the sights of those who've chosen evil as a pathway for their lives... And rid the world of those who violently turn toward others for strange and weird types of satisfaction... Do check out this writer and this series in particular!

GABixlerReviews