2 p.m. Saturday at The King’s English

Posted: August 2, 2013 — The Salt Lake City Police Department invites you to meet Adam Russ and Mike Serio, the author and K9 Officer behind the new book “Bloodhound in Blue.”

Published in July by Lyons Press, “Bloodhound in Blue: The True Tales of Police Dog JJ and His Two-Legged Partner” tells the story of Salt Lake City Police Officer Mike Serio’s efforts to integrate bloodhounds into the department’s mix of police service dogs. With the late-JJ by his side, they captured nearly 300 criminals together and changed the face of K9 programs in Utah and the West.

Russ and Serio, along with the latter’s new public service dog Junior, will be at The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City Saturday afternoon and Dolly’s Bookstore in Park City Monday afternoon.

Excerpt from “Bloodhound in Blue”:

He caught his first criminal—an intoxicated hit-and-run suspect—at age two. By his sixth birthday he had successfully tracked down missing children, drug dealers, burglars, thieves, kidnappers, armed robbers, batterers, rapists, child molesters, and murderers, including Utah’s most wanted criminal—all on his way to becoming one of the top police dogs in the country.

Known by family and friends as JJ, by law enforcement personnel throughout the West as Officer Serio’s canine partner, and by captured criminals as “that damned dog,” Jessie Jr., an exceptionally talented bloodhound, loved his job. His distinctive voice, a deep, reverberating bay sounding like a sea lion that had swallowed a foghorn, let everyone in earshot know that JJ had found the track and was on his way. 

Along with Officer Serio, JJ’s efforts in almost nine years of service to the greater Salt Lake City community resulted in the apprehension of nearly three hundred criminal suspects. Bloodhound in Blue is their remarkable story, fleas and all.

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