Jennifer 2008-07-12
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Every once in a blue moon a great piece of artwork, whether it being a movie, a book or music, is created while at the same time possessing the two most important qualities of any piece of art: enchantment and emotion. Although these qualities are extremely rare in today's creative achievements, they do thankfully sometimes occur. Some examples of this include (in music), Coldplay's album "A Rush of Blood to the Head," and in film, the great "Field of Dreams."
And now in books: "The Secret of the Dogs," by Rich Douglas.
The Secret of the Dogs begins with four dogs, a greyhound, Basenji, a Pomeranian and Airdale Terrier, trapped mysteriously in a square city park. Dangerous, mysterious flames appear if the dogs step one paw print over the boundary layer and try to escape the park(as on the cover). They want to escape so badly and find human Master's of their own, but they can't. Yet when Leroy, a Basenji, discovers that a young boy who visits him at the park is being physically abused by his father, he finds a way to escape the boundary layers with the help of The Great White One, a magical dog who has the powers to take the flames away. But Leroy and the other dogs must find the boy and rescue him, and work together as a team and fight the Mastiff named Brick, a hateful beast who has evil powers and tries to stop the four dogs from accomplishing their mission.
The characters are engaging and very relatable, including Pooky, the cute girlish Pomeranian, the selfish but powerful Diggy, the Terrier, the complaining but quick Ms. Quickfeet, the greyhound, and the main character of the novel, Leroy, who the entire story is told from. There are also the smelly dirty but loveable mutts, Led, Sed, Sned and Fred, who are stinky but hilerous!
The Secret of the Dogs approaches spiritual issues without being preachy or demanding, emphasizing faith issues. In a contempory novel, it is hard to do something like this, but this novel pulls it off, showing that in the end good always dominates over evil, regardless of a particular beliefs, religions or creeds.
Last but not least, the novel's ending packs an emotional wallop that is so strong in may just be the one of the strongest conclusions to any book that I've ever read. I don't want to spoil it. You have to experience it for yourself. Every reader should.
