A madcap, entertaining escape from reality from the canine perspective.
An imaginative “autobiography” by Leo, a mixed-breed, large-eared dog with extraordinary abilities.
We meet Leo, who at this point is nameless, while he’s riding in a car with Mary, a woman who works with Hoover Animal Control. She rescued him from the road where he landed after he was thrown from a van while it was speeding down a desert highway. The pup has a broken leg and a badly bruised head and is barely conscious when Mary brings him to the vet, Dr. Francis. The trauma of his injuries causes Leo to lose all memory of his life before he was thrown from the van. That night, Birdie, a cat who lives at the veterinary hospital, comes to visit and taunt Leo, telling him they’re going to cut off his leg and his “doodads.” Fortunately, Mary comes to his rescue once again, offering to pay for the expensive orthopedic surgery that will save his leg. So begins Pass’ complex, frequently comedic fantasy, an adventure in which all the animals speak with one another, but they can’t communicate with humans—with one exception. As the story progresses, Dr. Francis discovers he can understand Leo, a revelation that begins to drive the poor doctor mad. After the surgery, Mary brings Leo home, names him Leonardo DiCaprio (aka Leo), and introduces him to the other rescue animals who live with her: Shakespeare, an ebullient pug; Antonio, a loquacious macaw; and Dwid, a one-eyed cat. Shakespeare, delighted to acquire the big brother he’s always longed for, devotes himself to Leo, who gradually begins to recover the skills he’d accumulated during his life before the van. He can read—he loves books—and he’s a philosophical thinker who changes his name to Rousseau, aka Rou. But he has no recollection of his puppyhood. He knows only that he’s different—not quite like any other dog, yet certainly not human—and he’s determined to solve the mystery of his origins. With the faithful Shakespeare by his side, he escapes into the desert, convinced that the bright light in the distance holds the answer.
The author, a former veterinarian, portrays his canid characters (both dogs and coyotes) and cats with an understanding of each species that brings them to life, no matter how far-fetched their capers. He takes readers on a lengthy, complicated, rowdy ride through the desert, to a coyote den, and through a city of lights and fountains. The humans in the narrative have more quirks than the animals, especially Dr. Francis, whom we meet again roaming with a pack of stray dogs. Rou is a stalwart lead, smart as a whip and tenderhearted, and second banana Shakespeare is an endearing, jovial ball of energy. Pass’ novel abounds with witty dialogue, biting sarcasm, and page-turning action. The short epilogue suggests that a sequel may be in the works. Although most appropriate for YA readers, this sometimes overly intricate romp will appeal to all ages.
A madcap, entertaining escape from reality from the canine perspective.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798989180509
Page Count: 387
Publisher: Thiessen Press
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hokey plot, good fun.
A business executive becomes an unjustly wanted man.
Walter Nash attends his estranged father Tiberius’ funeral, where Ty’s Army buddy, Shock, rips into him for not being the kind of man the Vietnam vet Ty was. Instead, Nash is the successful head of acquisitions for Sybaritic Investments, where he earns a handsome paycheck that supports his wife, Judith, and his teenage daughter, Maggie. An FBI agent approaches Nash after the funeral and asks him to be a mole in his company, because the feds consider chief executive Rhett Temple “a criminal consorting with some very dangerous people.” It’s “a chance to be a hero,” the agent says, while admitting that Nash’s personal and financial risks are immense. Indeed, readers soon find Temple and a cohort standing over a fresh corpse and wondering what to do with it. Temple is not an especially talented executive, and he frets that his hated father, the chairman of the board, will eventually replace him with Nash. (Father-son relationships are not glorified in this tale.) Temple is cartoonishly rotten. He answers to a mysterious woman in Asia, whom he rightly fears. He kills. He beds various women including Judith, whom he tries to turn against Nash. The story’s dramatic turn follows Maggie’s kidnapping, where Nash is wrongly accused. Believing Nash’s innocence, Shock helps him change completely with intense exercise, bulking up and tattooing his body, and learning how to fight and kill. Eventually he looks nothing like the dweeb who’d once taken up tennis instead of football, much to Ty’s undying disgust. Finding the victim and the kidnappers becomes his sole mission. As a child watching his father hunt, Nash could never have killed a living thing. But with his old life over—now he will kill, and he will take any risks necessary. His transformation is implausible, though at least he’s not green like the Incredible Hulk. Loose ends abound by the end as he ignores a plea to “not get on that damn plane,” so a sequel is a necessity.
Hokey plot, good fun.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781538757987
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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