Dogs of God by Pinckney Benedict
My rating: 5/5 cats
let’s see if i still remember how to write a decent book review…
of the five of my goodreads.com friends and “friends” who have read this, all of them have given it five stars, but not one of them has bothered to write a review. so i guess this makes it my responsibility, but i apologize for the timing of this, because i have been in a real rut lately when it comes to writing reviews. i have been boring even myself over here. but i will try to do this one justice, because it was a fantastic read.
this was recommended in the RA group as a good literary horror novel. so as i was reading it, i had certain expectations, and every time something eventful would happen, i would be on the edge of my seat, waiting for the horror.
it is not a horror novel.
it is a novel in which horrible things happen, but don’t expect any supernatural ghoulies or anything. it is just a really well-written west virginia crime story in which creepy, potentially supernatural things circle the text, but never actually enter it. this is just kill or be killed backwoods violence; what lee k.abbott calls “writing from the sharp and serious end of the stick” (and i wonder if he is sad his name is misspelled on the back cover)
it is a third-person, multi-character novel—we are perched above the action, watching it all unfold underneath us, helplessly swept away as cause leads to effect leads to massive and spectacular ending.
not too shabby for a first novel.
this falls under the eloquent-yet-terse category of these kinds of stories. benedict is not afraid to use his words, and there are some lovely poetic descriptions in here, but just as many things that are only hinted at and left to the imagination. it is a perfect balance of lovely and revolting. definitely my kind of book.
if i could say more without giving too much away, i would. if i ever get my review-mojo back, maybe i will return and do a better job on this one. or maybe mike reynolds could take care of this—we count on you, you know…
and because i love lists:
scary dogs
anchorite
crazy cult
sexy lady
marijuana
broken bones
dead bodies
secret caves
gravestone snuggle
kabooms
read my book reviews on goodreads
