Happiness Is A Book: FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOK: A TROUBLE OF FOOLS BY LINDA BARNES
Friday, September 24, 2021
FFB Review: MEMOIRS OF A BAD DOG (2012) by Curtis Moser Reviewed by Barry Ergang
From the massive archive…
MEMOIRS OF A BAD
DOG (2012) by Curtis Moser
Reviewed by
Barry Ergang
This
is not an easy book to review because it contains so many surprises and
unforeseeable turns, and I don’t want to reveal them and spoil the reader’s
enjoyment. Suffice it to say, then, that for Bogart the basset hound, who
narrates the story, what starts out as a lark results in a tragedy, leaving him
with a corrosive sense of guilt and a desperate need to redeem himself.
Certain
that his human, whom he calls Swifty, knows what he did and is deeply
upset about it, Bogart sets out with his
border collie girlfriend Ginger to retrieve an important item, the return of
which he hopes will somewhat mollify Swifty. When things go awry, Ginger
herself is thrust into mortal danger, and Bogart knows that only he has a
chance of saving her. Teaming up with a cat named Snowball, he sets out to do
just that. Things do not go smoothly. In fact, Bogart’s dual quests get him
into still deeper trouble, both physical and emotional, intensifying his guilt.
Written
in a breezy style, with plenty of moments that will have readers smiling and
even chuckling aloud, Memoirs of a Bad Dog, though obviously very much
an adventurous fantasy, touches on some
serious actualities, often prompting Bogart to sober reflections—e.g., “Great
cosmic scales. They’re somewhere balancing everything out; I just know it.
Everything has an opposite—black and white, good and evil, happiness and
sorrow. Even you can see that. It’s because everything has to be balanced.
That’s the greatest secret I know.”
Two
caveats. First, I read the novel in the Kindle edition and found more than a
few grammatical errors I don’t believe are meant to be intentional aspects of
characterization. For instance: “I wonder if I would have been a good enough
dog to broadside the German shepherd as my father did, or if I would have
went for the chicken.” (Italics mine.) Second, one of the issues the story
deals with is dog fighting, and to do so it depicts some examples and their
aftermaths. These are fairly brief, but they are rather graphic. I never
had the feeling they were included for the sake of cheesy sensationalism, but I
suspect many readers will probably find them hard to take if they‘re dog lovers
like I am—and I doubt that readers who don‘t love or at least like dogs will
bother to pick up this book.
Caveats notwithstanding, Memoirs of a Bad Dog is a very entertaining, thoughtful, and moving novel.
Barry Ergang © 2014, 2021
Derringer
Award-winner Barry Ergang’s written work has appeared in numerous publications,
print and electronic. Some of it is available at Amazon and at Smashwords. His website
is http://www.writetrack.yolasite.com/.
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Blood-Red Pencil: 2021 Workshops and Conferences October to December
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Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Secret Sisters, Invisible Man, At Risk, You Never Forget Your First
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Secret Sisters, Invisible Man, At Risk...: Reported by Garry We had a great mix of historical fiction, thrillers, fantasy and non-fiction brought to the table and Zoom screen ...
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Beneath the Stains of Time: Penelope's Web (2001) by Paul Halter
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Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Anthologies and Collections from the Book Sale
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Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: AN OAK COFFIN
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Short Story Wednesday Review: No Dead Body in Sight: A Noah Milano Short Story by Jochem Vandersteen
From the massive archive….
The elderly Ms. Albert is not being
taken seriously by the police or anyone else because she claims to have found a
dead body. She is sure the body was of a dead man, and that he had been shot in
the stomach. Unfortunately, by the time she left the beach and returned with
the police, the body was gone with no sign of anything. She wants Noah to find
out what happened to the body.
She certainly seems to have her wits
about her and Noah likes her and believes that she believes she really did see
a dead body. Thanks to her legendary film producer husband, she does have the
money to pay security specialist Noah Milano’s fee which means money isn’t the
issue. A rare thing indeed with Noah’s clients. Noah isn’t sure he can really
help her nor does he have a really good idea how to proceed as this is not the
normal type of case he deals with on a daily basis. Still, she is adamant and
something probably happened. He reluctantly begins to dig into the case and
before long has an idea or two about what might have happened.
Published in 2012 this is another
fast moving Noah Milano tale. Son of a legendary Los Angeles gangster, Noah
knows how to work both sides of the street to solve cases. A fast and pleasant
read, No Dead Body in Sight: A Noah Milano Short Story by Jochem
Vandersteen, packs a couple of surprises along the way.
No Dead Body in Sight: A Noah Milano Short Story
Jochem Vandersteen
http://www.sonsofspade.blogspot.com
August 2012
ASIN: B008Y0YQTY
eBook
18 Pages
Purchased using funds in my Amazon Associate Account to read and review.
Kevin R Tipple ©2015, 2021
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Little Big Crimes Review: Incident at a Diner by Chris Miller
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Bookblog of the Bristol Library: DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor
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SleuthSayers: Three Best by Michael Bracken
SleuthSayers: Three Best: Over the years, SleuthSayers have been well represented in The Best American Mystery Stories , as John M. Floyd pointed out when he reviewed...
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