Review: One Good Dog by Susan Wilson (audio)

I haven't been listening to as many audio books lately, not really sure what is going on there, as I continue to drive a lot with work. Truth be told I am probably walking less which is where the audio book really comes into its own for me.

Consequently it has taken a while for me to work my way through One Good Dog.  This does not do it justice, as One Good Dog is an original, wonderfully conceived and executed story.  There are two parallel stories really, one is of Adam March, a fallen executive who has to try and piece his life back together after a rash moment at his office costs him everything: his good name, his marriage, his lucrative work, just to begin.  The dog, later known as Chance, is a battle hardened pit-bull fighter.  I don't think one needs to be clairvoyant to see that man meets dog, dog meets man, and both learn something from each other.

The audio book was deftly narrated by two men (Fred Berman and Rick Adamson), corresponding to the two, first person points of view of Adam and Chance.  Susan Wilson is clearly a dog lover as the sections of the book told by Chance are insightful and often hilarious.  Adam's story also strikes a chord in relation to how easy it is for anyone to lose themselves in the modern quest for professional power, when they are running from unresolved personal demons.

While part of me wants to complain that at times it was all just a bit too sentimental for this cat lover, I can't honestly do that, because I still found myself laughing and crying at different times.  Wilson writes succinctly, and gloriously evokes a dog's eye view, which well and truly transforms this story of self discovery and redemption, into something unique and thoroughly entertaining.