Lisa78 reviewed on 4/5/2009 + 25 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 9

I hate to be the lone dissenter, but here goes. I love dogs. I love books about dogs. Did not enjoy this book at all. It is emotionally manipulative; plot lines are contrived and not believable (and I'm not talking about the suspension of disbelief at the end...I was actually ok with that piece). There was just not one thing in this book that rang true for me. I'm ok with sad books. But there's a difference between poignant and heartwrenching. It is possible to write a book that is very moving without being maudlin or manipulative. This author didn't hit that note for me.

That being said, there was a kernal of a good story here to be told. The author needed a good story editor (or perhaps he needed to stop listening to a bad story editor). It could have been told in a way that was much more believable and certainly more subtle. Also, I could have lived without the car-racing minutiae. While I'm not a fan, I can read about and appreciate things I don't generally find interesting if it is presented in an engaging way. This was not. It was like a friend who becomes obsessed with something and proceeds to bore you by talking about nothing but the "thing".

In closing, if you love car-racing, and you're a fan of books that drag your heart through the mud by any means readily available, you may enjoy it. Many did.

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