The Labrador Pact Book

This interesting book is the second adult novel from Mr. Haig, the author of the excellent and heartbreaking Dead Father's Club. The Labrador Pact is told exclusively from the point of view of a labrador named Prince, and the book details Prince's efforts to save his human family from being broken up by the forces of the outside world.

The entire book is a kind of extended (but loose) retelling of some of the main issues presented in Shakespeare's history plays. As with Dead Father's Club's reworking of the issues presented in "Hamlet," the Labrador Pact is not a strict interpretation of Shakespeare's histories. Rather, Mr. Haig somewhat ingeniously distills the essence of what is at stake in those plays into a modern storyline. At the same time, Mr. Haig does not fail to give copious hints of what he's about throughout the text, from the sprinkling of Shakespeare quotes to the naming of major characters after those in the plays.

In an offhand, almost sly way the book deals with such themes as the sanctity of the family unit, the meaning of love, the meaning of commitment, the question of duty and, most importantly, whether any of us really have the power to fully protect those that we love.

Like all good authors who deal with serious issues, Mr. Haig does not, of course, fully answer any of these questions. But the entertaining, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking exploration of these issues was a joy to read.