THE BOOK FAIR

The author, a screenplay contributor, strains in the effort to sound cool with the use of heavy sarcasm, unnecessary expletives, and 1950’s jargon.   The novel shows little sensitivity in the relationship between Charlie, the master, and Pete, the dog.  Though Charlie claims to love Pete, the relationship rings mostly of business, as Pete is Charlie’s “meal ticket.”  Name-dropping along with bizarre, course characters and uncouth actions litter the plot.   It is not problematic that Pete speaks in the novel but rather that Pete’s dialogue is that of another crass-like character in the story.

Russ Ryan’s novel is different than those of Bruce Cameron, Spencer Quinn, Garth Stein or David Rosenfelt.