Matt Hlinak

Culann Riordan was a high school English teacher with poor impulse control and a taste for liquor. He fled to Alaska before the state could yank his teaching certificate and possibly toss him in jail. He hires on as a commercial fisherman aboard the Orthrus, a dingy vessel crewed by a colorful assortment of outcasts seeking their fortune beyond the reaches of civilization. As he struggles to learn how to survive the rigors of life at sea and the abuses of the crew, he fishes a mysterious orbout of the depths of the ocean and comes into conflict with the diabolical captain of the Orthrus. If he is to live long enough to see the sunset, Culann must escape from the Captain, survive on an island in the Bering Sea populated only by a pack of feral dogs, find out how to control the orb?s destructive power, and come to grips with his sizable character flaws.

Ethan E. Harris

4 out of 5 stars
PROS: Very unique fictional story centering on temptation and sacrifice.
CONS: The environment is seedy and the main problem is delicate.

DoG. Turn it upside down and the reader gets a mere hint at this unique mystery. DoG is published by Bizarro Press, ISBN: 978-0615700212. The author promises a story about Culann Riordan, a high school teacher who skips town to avoid trouble and accusations of molesting one of his female students. He flees to an Alaskan fishing town where he meets up with his cousin and his new coworkers, the crew of the Orthrus. What happens next is good story telling.

The main character is believably fallible and real. There is no doubt he is seriously faulted, partly reflected in his choice to move a fishing village where the pastime is getting drunk. It does not seem like a wise choice for Culann's redemptive path to a new life. Culann is plagued by his bad decisions and realizes this a little too late for his own good.

The supporting narrative is unique. The person identified as the antagonist is only subtly revealed throughout the story. The author makes an interesting choice in presenting the climax between the main character and the protagonist at least two chapters before the conclusion. And the great thing here is that the remaining chapters develop with even more significance. It doesn't feel like unnecessary filler at the end. Often I am struck that once the final thrust of the story is done, the rest is just blather, cleaning up loose story ends. Not so in DoG. These last chapters are essential in resolving every bit of conflict built up from page one and the author does it smoothly in a way that avoids reading like the flayed ends of the narrative rope. I say, "Well done."

This is not a cut and paste horror/mystery/thriller. It's not easy for me to classify according to genre. It seemed to cover a wide swath of fiction without getting bogged down in gotcha moments or machetes behind every tree. This is a good story without being forced. It's smooth. It unfolds in a way that makes sense.

There is no way I could have predicted the story's development. Major themes include temptation, selfishness, merit and self-sacrifice. There is resolution to the main character's story, but it won't resolve in any predictable way. What you may expect for the character is not what you'll receive.

The author definitely took his time in creating a disturbing, but highly addictive story. I recommend this to any reader who might enjoy something like "Mutiny on the Bounty" but with a supernatural sort of twist.

DoG

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