Reviews for The Plague Dogs

The average rating for The Plague Dogs based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-11-07 00:00:00 Trong Nguyen I hated this book. I will never read it again, ever, as long as I live. And it absolutely deserves five stars. The Plague Dogs is one of the most visceral, wrenching, emotional reads you'll ever find. It follows the fortunes of two dogs, Snitter and Rowf, who escape from a medical testing lab. In an attempt to cover up the unnecessary nature of the research done there, the humans running the lab start a media scare about the dogs, claiming that they carry a serious virus which may kill humans. In this way, the dogs find themselves effectively on their own, without a person to turn to for help or kindness. The dogs fall in with Tod, a fox with a thick Scottish accent, who gives them advice as they attempt to adapt to the harsh realities of living as wild animals. But dogs are not wild animals -- they crave and need the companionship of people; and as Snitter and Rowf try to reconcile their need for humanity with their circumstances as de facto wild animals, they remember and relive the better times, when they were pets, before they ended up at the lab. It's an emotionally grinding book, bleak and ultimately painful. The final scene is tragic and still brings tears to my eyes as I remember it, more than fifteen years after reading the novel. It's the kind of story that, once you've visited it a single time, will remain with you, powerfully, for life. And for that, along with Adams' gorgeous writing and deft storytelling, it deserves five stars and more. But because it's too bleak to read again, I can never really love this book. I can respect very deeply the message it conveys and the skill of the author in telling such an honest, affecting story. But I just can't like this book.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-02-11 00:00:00 Matt Ammerman DNFing at 38 pages in. I left 2 instead of 1 star, because it’s not bad writing, but I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be a book for me. Not sure why I ever added it in the first place, to be honest. The animal abuse and despair is too much and I’m just getting started, so yeah I’m gonna save myself a LOT of heartache and move on to another book!