Eoin Colfer is best known for his bestselling Artemis Fowl series, which inspires fanatical devotion in its fans. Entertainment Weekly raved: "The...
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This is a fun and original novel that also happens to be very well written. (A pleasurable read that isn't a guilty one!)
The novel's originality lies in its first person narrative, which is conducted by a sentient, well-read black lab--with a penchant for Dante. Randolph's mistress, Imogen, went missing a year earlier, and Randolph (literally) sniffs out the guilt and emotions in potential suspects and prods Imogen's boyfriend, Harry, in the right direction to solve the case. (According to this novel, at least, a dog's sense of smell is 100,000 times superior to that of humans--I'd love to see Englert develop this scientific angle further in the next books.)
The novel ends with a cliffhanger....but luckily for me, I only read this first book a few weeks ago, and the second book in the series (A Dog Among Diplomats) will be out in a few days.
This book will appeal to mystery and animal lovers, as well as anyone who is just looking for a good novel to pick up that won't end up sitting unread on their night stand for weeks..
One of my favorite lines: "If Imogen's disappearance had taught me anything it was this: men need to be loved or they will slowly and invariably go bad. A perfectly adequate male in his twenties will become, in little more than a decade--if unloved--a strange creature statistically prone to die of an ingrown toenail in an apartment crammed with hoarded newspapers and unwashed cereal bowls."
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A Dog Among Diplomats could definitely be enjoyed on its own, as a quick recap of the backstory is provided at the beginning of the novel--but it is a series after all, so I would still recommend beginning with the first book, A Dog About Town (which I also reviewed).
I called the first book a fun read--which it was, and this one is too (If you like Vespas, I think it's not spoiling the plot to say that one takes a prominent role in this novel. Has product placement $s begun for books now?). --But I would also add that these light-hearted elements give the book a deceptively simple air.
In this sequel, Englert introduces a whole cast of additional characters, and the plot (mystery) as well as the themes grow more complex. Englert's writing skill is seen in that the plot does seem to unfold so effortlessly (it's a quick read), when in fact he is juggling dozens of plot threads and characters at a time.
My favorite part of these novels, though, is probably not the plot itself but Englert's prose and his wry commentaries, such as his tongue-in-cheek defense of obvious distortions of history, filtered through a character who intends no irony, "Leopold was merely taking the ideal sentiment of human brotherhood and rescuing it from the sordid march of history." (This said just before a senseless murder occurs..)
One more philosophical take-away, filtered through, Randolph (labrador-cum-detective and avid reader):
"Writing is the craft of the illusionist. A writer frames and reframes reality, and soon this mirror trick becomes the world."
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A Dog about Town by J F Englert
elo, May 8, 2008
This is a fun and original novel that also happens to be very well written. (A pleasurable read that isn't a guilty one!)The novel's originality lies in its first person narrative, which is conducted by a sentient, well-read black lab--with a penchant for Dante. Randolph's mistress, Imogen, went missing a year earlier, and Randolph (literally) sniffs out the guilt and emotions in potential suspects and prods Imogen's boyfriend, Harry, in the right direction to solve the case. (According to this novel, at least, a dog's sense of smell is 100,000 times superior to that of humans--I'd love to see Englert develop this scientific angle further in the next books.)
The novel ends with a cliffhanger....but luckily for me, I only read this first book a few weeks ago, and the second book in the series (A Dog Among Diplomats) will be out in a few days.
This book will appeal to mystery and animal lovers, as well as anyone who is just looking for a good novel to pick up that won't end up sitting unread on their night stand for weeks..
One of my favorite lines: "If Imogen's disappearance had taught me anything it was this: men need to be loved or they will slowly and invariably go bad. A perfectly adequate male in his twenties will become, in little more than a decade--if unloved--a strange creature statistically prone to die of an ingrown toenail in an apartment crammed with hoarded newspapers and unwashed cereal bowls."
(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
A Dog Among Diplomats by J F Englert
elo, May 8, 2008
A Dog Among Diplomats could definitely be enjoyed on its own, as a quick recap of the backstory is provided at the beginning of the novel--but it is a series after all, so I would still recommend beginning with the first book, A Dog About Town (which I also reviewed).I called the first book a fun read--which it was, and this one is too (If you like Vespas, I think it's not spoiling the plot to say that one takes a prominent role in this novel. Has product placement $s begun for books now?). --But I would also add that these light-hearted elements give the book a deceptively simple air.
In this sequel, Englert introduces a whole cast of additional characters, and the plot (mystery) as well as the themes grow more complex. Englert's writing skill is seen in that the plot does seem to unfold so effortlessly (it's a quick read), when in fact he is juggling dozens of plot threads and characters at a time.
My favorite part of these novels, though, is probably not the plot itself but Englert's prose and his wry commentaries, such as his tongue-in-cheek defense of obvious distortions of history, filtered through a character who intends no irony, "Leopold was merely taking the ideal sentiment of human brotherhood and rescuing it from the sordid march of history." (This said just before a senseless murder occurs..)
One more philosophical take-away, filtered through, Randolph (labrador-cum-detective and avid reader):
"Writing is the craft of the illusionist. A writer frames and reframes reality, and soon this mirror trick becomes the world."
(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)