Dog Days

A breezy summer read full of sparing prose and briskly-paced scenes, Dog Days mixes elements of supernatural horror with detective fiction to lay the foundation for protagonist Mark Eckert's gritty and provocative coming of age story.

Although set in the early 80s, this is nevertheless a poignant tale that acknowledges the tensions which permeate the often complicated reality of contemporary life. Mark's parents fight a lot, due in large part to their conflicting professional schedules (his mother is a physician and his father is a police officer), and he struggles to understand them when he's not having adventures with his friends or, in his quieter moments, reading classics of genre fiction. As a series of bizarre murders hits ever show more closer to home and further strains his parents' marriage, Mark's own sense of alienation from his family and friends compels him to take on increasingly dangerous challenges.

On the surface, the story is simple: a boy learns that bad things can happen to good people, and courage is what it takes to stand up for oneself and others. However – and hopefully without giving too much away – the underlying suggestion, i.e. that the use of force is sometimes a necessary tool for self-defense, is complicated by Mark's relationship with firearms. Additionally, although the issue of mental illness is addressed when his mother challenges Mark's description of the murderer as a crazed “freak”, this consideration seems superficial, as mental illness ultimately becomes the justification for a de facto summary conviction.

There is a lot to like about this novella – most notably its insight into the family dynamics of police officers – as it prompts the reader to question one's assumptions about the character and motivation of other individuals, and it also touches on serious themes (gun safety, mental health). Given the book's intended audience (and the protagonist's keen interest in genre fiction), any number of plans for Mark to capture or thwart the murderer in a more creative way would have sufficed to provide a satisfying resolution without compromising the message of personal accountability and the attendant responsibilities of power. show less

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review. I found it to be a new and refreshing look at the werewolf mythology and appropriate for younger readers, though not too young as there is some bad language in some spots.

The story is from the perspective of a teenage boy and is set in the 1980's. I did enjoy the references to the 80's since I, too, was a teenager during that era. It was refreshingly free of cell phones and computers.

There were some jarring moments in the story, where the parents were fighting one moment and then everything seemed fine the next moment without any transition between the two states. However, relationships in the story were believable and the characters were engaging.

There were a lot of show more deaths in the story and some were more noteworthy than others. But the suspense of finding out who the real killer is and following the adventures of Mark and his faithful companion Max the police dog makes this worthy of reading for young and old alike. show less

Rating: 3.5 of 5

A page-turner for young adult readers. Especially perfect for teen boys under 15. The horror elements were quite mild, but there was some creepy atmosphere in the Swamp, and enough suspense with the "werewolf" that I jumped in one scene. I loved all the references to horror movies and dark fiction classics.

Recommended to teens who want soft horror with minimal gore.

Dog Days is a small town Gulf Coast take on the classic werewolf tale that does a better job at telling a teenage boy growing up over the summer than it does the horror. A stronger (and less confused) horror villain in the werewolf would have helped, as it was, the teenage bullies came across as much more menacing, but maybe that was the point.

I really enjoyed this book. It has some great quotes such as:

"There are very few feelings as bitter and as hateful as being at that stage in life when you realize you're not quite a kid anymore, but then something comes along and stuffs it back in your face that you're not really an adult either."

It also has good, complex characters, and a spooky and realistic setting. I liked Mark and thought the author did a great job of letting the reader get a clear sense of who he was and who he was trying to be. Mark's feelings are presented in a fresh and honest way without placing too much judgment on them. I think this would be a great book for teens to read especially reluctant readers. McKinney nicely feeds into the current YA desire for show more supernatural but also managed to write a bit for the often neglected mystery genre.

All that said, I did find a few faults in the story. It moved a little bit too fast and I think the final act played out somewhat unrealistically. 1983 is a bit before my time but I think even then, the cops would be patrolling the house 24/7. Also everything else Mark goes through is approached intricately with all sides to the story examined except what he does in the last chapter. Seemed like at that point the author was just trying to quickly get to the end for some reason.

Still, overall I really liked "Dog Days". It read like Stephen King's "The Body" and I'd be interested to read more from the author. show less

I'm still not quite sure I've come to a conclusion about this book. Let's start with: it was quite good. The horror part was meh, but let's face it, any horror author is competing with the nightly news. NBC scares me; Joe McKinney doesn't. And as horror books go, it was a little formulaic.

That said, the author did a nice job focusing in on that specific period in adolescence when a kid starts taking a step back, seeing himself in a context of a community and asking himself, "who am I? who am I within my (family, friends circle, community)?" So while many horror stories are about good triumphing over evil (or vice versa), this book becomes a coming-of-age novel. Paulsen's character in "Hatchet" finds his adult self when he crashes and show more must survive; McKinney's character in "Dog Days" finds his adult self when he decides whether or not to confront the monster. But there are subtle bits, too -- like in a scene about midway through the book where the main character realizes that he and his longtime friend just aren't really working on the same value system, and won't be friends for much longer.

Not horror, not scary, but a good read. I'd consider recommending it for a middle-school audience, but because the book is set in the early 1980s there are numerous references that a contemporary middleschooler would need explained. show less

Have you ever been in a hurricane? If so, you know the damage they can cause. If not, you’ve likely seen TV reports and newspaper articles, which give you an idea of their ferocity. Hurricanes destroy property; they also destroy lives.

In Author Joe McKinney’s award winning YA novel, DOG DAYS, the year is 1983 and fourteen-year-old Mark just wants to hang with his best friend, Jeff, and his dog Max and enjoy summer vacation. But Hurricane Alexis has left its calling card in Clear Lake, a small town between Galveston and Houston, TX, and the boys soon discover that the hurricane is the least of their problems. Dead men are found in a shrimp boat that was washed ashore and landed in a neighbor’s tree. The men had been eaten. Other show more people are discovered dead and eaten. What sort of creature is terrifying the area? As if Mark doesn’t have enough to worry about with a monster running loose, he also has to face the bullies that never leave him alone.

DOG DAYS is the story of a boy and his family and how they deal with tragedy, each in their own way. It’s a story of fear and of love, friendships and understanding. The author has created characters that are real, with faults as well good points. Even the dog, Max, plays an important role in the story. Black- and-white drawings scattered throughout the story add a nice touch. I do recommend that you read this novel with your lights on. Enjoy.

The publisher sent me an ARC for my honest review. show less