John Levitt

Unbelievably, Levitt captures the essence of dogs and their magical qualities even better in Play Dead than the previous books in the series. Lou is *always* a dog, ever ready to abandon Mason for a quick snack of bacon or ham–but ever mindful that he is Mason’s protection, friend, and loyal companion. There is something more to Lou, just like most dogs; that keen intelligence that shines from their eyes, the unquestioning loyalty and a happiness that radiates. Lou may be an Ifrit, but show more as you read Play Dead, you start to believe that…just maybe, all good dogs have a little Ifrit in them. From the tilt of his head to Lou’s fierce defense of Mason, he is a dog, he is magic, and his is a story that is easy to love.

Mason is Mason; he’d be more admirable if he weren’t *quite* so careless, but he gets talked into things too easily, whether it’s a job or the fact that no one in their right might should donate even a drop of blood to a black practitioner–not in the name of learning, not in the name of…anything. Because in the end, forwarding black magic always goes bad. It isn’t that Mason is stupid, but his decision-making borders on “for the sake of the plot” in a couple of instances. Mason redeems himself just in time…only to get careless again, in a cycle that has the reader wanting him to just once keep it all together. One of the things that saves the plot is that Levitt takes the time to draw complex characters; ones you aren’t sure are all bad. In fact, you see the good. Just like in real life, you’re dealing with lots of variables and lots of hope. And Mason has stayed in character throughout the series; he’s basically a good guy, and he means well, he just sometimes wants annoyances to go away so he does something “quick” instead of smart.

Mason really shines in his love of music and improvising spells. He’s unique in the way his magic is layered, and Levitt always takes time to create the magic rather than wave a wand–you’re there, you’re watching the elements come together like the notes come together in a song. There’s no sloppiness there, and I love the cleverness.

Levitt is the only writer I read or have read who makes the villain entirely too human. Instead of feeling a complete lack of empathy–hatred even–for the bad guys, when the time comes for justice, you feel their pain. You watch their loss with a sense of…but if only. The villains are evil, sometimes insane–but you know who they are, how they got where they are and the complex good and bad inside each character. You may not like them, but the sense of loss is there nonetheless. This is a skill that captures war or death as the real necessary evil–even as we suddenly realize that the guy on the other side could be us and is us.

The mystery plot is always good; there are miscellaneous clues here and there brought together in a knot that gets tighter throughout the book rather than tied neatly at the end. This book also visits “fantasy” with a touch of quest without the urban, but it works.

There’s talk/rumor that this might be the last in the series; that would be a shame because there’s still a lot of heart and soul here. There’s a magic that merges the real world into something special. This will no doubt make my top ten of the year, not because it is perfect but because, in the end, this book ended with such poignancy, I couldn’t help but love it.

And Mr. Levitt, you owe me a pan of brownies. Mine seem to have overcooked while I was reading. show less

Sometimes, I find to my annoyance, I allow myself to be swayed by others' opinions. For example: a while back I tentatively suggested John Levitt's Dog Days for a group read on a GR group I used to belong to, and one comment the suggestion received was that it "sounds really bad". There was a little support, too, but I actually allowed my preconception of the book to be swayed by others' concentration on the possibility of cheesiness in the concept, and I dropped the idea and moved on to show more other books.

But it filtered back up to the upper stories of my TBR skyscraper. I seem to be trending right now toward urban fantasy: here and now and with at least one foot in reality. So I settled down with Dog Days, set in present-day slightly-alternate San Francisco.

Moral: I need to not let myself be at all influenced by others who have not read a given book.

I loved it.

Was it perfect? Of course not. Did it inspire Dresden-like feelings? No – but then, neither did Storm Front, really. Was it cheesy? Not at all. Is it ill-served by a somewhat questionable cover and over-abundance of canine puns in the title and marketing? Oh, my, yes. Whoever had the idea to put the series titles' focus on the dog and choose some fool's punny comment as this edition's cover blurb should be flogged (even if the titles were Levitt's idea). The packaging gives every impression of just another annoying entry in the Animal Companion subgenre, a book and series throughout which the hero will be having many conversations with his smart-alecky or wiser-than-he-is or what-have-you TelCom (Telepathic Companion).

It's really not.

More going up shortly on my blog. show less

With this latest addition to the "Dog Days" series, I am officially a fan. "Unleashed" is my favorite so far. Levitt did a great job of building suspense, creating vivid images of the paranormal, and keeping the reader guessing.

The second book in the series, "New Tricks", was fine, but did not grab me as much as the first book, "Dog Days." "Unleashed" just seems more put together as a story and is definitely more creepy. I wish I could comment in more detail, but I don't want to give show more anything away--however I was glad to see some characters from earlier in the series back and I am interested in seeing what Levitt does with them in future editions.

There is one issue in this novel that the author addresses, but ultimatley leaves unanswered. I suspect it will be part of the next book, and I am looking forward to seeing how it is handled. I can say I was pleased how this story ended.

If you are a fan of Butcher's "Harry Dresden" or Brigg's "Mercy Thompson" series, you will probably enjoy Levitt's stories. show less

Dog Days gets off to a rough start. The main character not only drops cliches, he gets them wrong, and his self introduction is a little long winded, but once the mystery starts up and people start dying the wit becomes more focused. The worst parts of the book are in the beginning ("Black isn't a color, but this black is"? What does that mean?).

The Ifrit angle is a neat one, and I am partial to animal sidekicks.

If you can get through the begining you'll have yourself a nice, short urban show more fantasy to pass the afternoon with. show less