One Good Dog
Posted by Book Mavens on February 10th, 2011
Title: One Good Dog
Author: Susan Wilson
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, March 2010
Summary: “One Good Dog” is One Good Book!! If you enjoyed “Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein, then you will really enjoy this book. The story begins with Adam. Adam is a very rich and powerful executive that has it all, including 3 houses and a beautiful wife and daughter. Adam is not a very nice man to the people that work for him or those that he feels are beneath him. One day he receives a message from his assistant Sophie to call his sister. Unbeknownst to his staff, Adam’s sister has been missing for years. When he tries to ask her about the message, Sophie ignores him which sends Adam into such a rage that he strikes her. He is then escorted out of the building and fired. Adam’s court appointed punishment is a year of community service at a men’s homeless shelter. He is appalled to have to do this!! It only gets worse from there, as his wife divorces him and his daughter refuses to have anything to do with him.
On the other end of town, there is a group of boys who organize illegal dog fights in the basement of their house. This were we first meet Chance. Chance tells his story about life as a fighting dog confined in a cage in a cold dark cellar, only to be let out to fight to the death. This is all he knows. When police raid the house and all the dogs are taken, Chance gets away for a little while only to be caught again and taken to a shelter and caged again. At least the shelter is warm and light, but fighting dogs are rarely adopted and most are eventually put to sleep
As time goes on Adam starts to enjoy going to the homeless shelter every day and begins to realize that all people deserve to be treated with respect. He befriends one man named Jupe who owns a dog named Benny. One day Jupe is taken to the hospital and Benny goes to the animal shelter, where he meets Chance. Benny becomes Chance’s mentor. When Adam visits Jupe in the hospital all the man cares about is his dog. He asks Adam to find Benny and take care of him until he gets out of the hospital. Adam’s visit to the animal shelter leads him to the dog he names Chance. He and Chance become the best of friends and Chance eventually helps Adam come to terms with his difficult childhood-they are both fighters who have had to overcome tragedy and abandonment in their lives. Even if you are not an animal lover, you will enjoy this book. “One Good Dog” depicts the lives of two fighters, one human and one dog, and the challenges they are forced to overcome to live better lives.
Recommended by: Virginia, circulation assistant
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