A review by jpjackson
The Fox, the Dog, and the King by Matt Doyle
4.0
Cassie Tam is a perpetually grumpy, stubborn, slightly ornery PI, and her gruff nature has once again shone through in the second Cassie Tam book, The Fox, the Dog, and the King. She reminds me of the loveable curmudgeon from Pixar's movie "Up" - you know the type - cane-wielding, arm shaking, "You kids get off my lawn," yelling senior citizen - this to me sums up Cassie perfectly. But in this sequel to Addict, we get to see a bit of a softer side as Cassie's relationship with Lori - the Tech Shifter from the first book starts to develop.
Now having said that, the relationship is not the point of the novel, more of a side arc. The mystery is the tracking down of a Japanese Anime inspired Performance Artist named Kitsune, who is convinced that their dog has been abducted.
As Cassie traces down her leads, she soon realizes that the large number of dog-nappings that have occurred lately throughout New Hopeland is only the proverbial 'tip of the iceberg'. After uncovering a dog-fighting ring, Cassie discovers a much deeper revelation.
Now that you're sitting on the edge of your seat, I couldn't possibly reveal that - you'll have to read the book yourself!
What I will say is this: The plot is clever. Although mysteries are not my usual fare, there was some careful story weaving in order to convey this tale. And what's the one thing I always say? "Give me a clever story." So, to that end, I say, well done Mr. Doyle! The intricacies and detail, and once again the attention to the tech detail were incredible. The back of the book even contains an "Owner's Manual" for the Tech Shifting suits. Fantastic!
Pet Owners and Animal Lovers beware! I have to say, I'm fairly dark and twisted, and I can subject myself to a rather wide range of topics and not have it linger within my soul. This story did though...one scene, in particular, took me out of reality and placed me right in the ring...the dogfighting ring. That bothered me, a lot. As a dog owner, this scene rattled my bones and disturbed me because I was able to easily place my little chihuahuas in place of Fish - the abducted dog. I know my sweet little pups wouldn't have lasted 30 seconds in that environment, and that violent imagery left me haunted. Now, some of you may be thinking how terrible that was, and you'd be right, it wasn't pleasant. BUT, and this is a monumental BUT - the author was able to create several pages of detail that made me remove myself from reality - step into their world - and live it so deeply that it made me have emotions outside of their world.
And that, my reading friends, is called true storytelling, and I wish every book I picked up would transport me like this moment did.
Well done. Very well done. Bring on Cassie Tam #3 - which I understand has been completed...and so we wait. What trouble will the PI who can straddle both worlds of Light and Dark get herself into next?
Now having said that, the relationship is not the point of the novel, more of a side arc. The mystery is the tracking down of a Japanese Anime inspired Performance Artist named Kitsune, who is convinced that their dog has been abducted.
As Cassie traces down her leads, she soon realizes that the large number of dog-nappings that have occurred lately throughout New Hopeland is only the proverbial 'tip of the iceberg'. After uncovering a dog-fighting ring, Cassie discovers a much deeper revelation.
Now that you're sitting on the edge of your seat, I couldn't possibly reveal that - you'll have to read the book yourself!
What I will say is this: The plot is clever. Although mysteries are not my usual fare, there was some careful story weaving in order to convey this tale. And what's the one thing I always say? "Give me a clever story." So, to that end, I say, well done Mr. Doyle! The intricacies and detail, and once again the attention to the tech detail were incredible. The back of the book even contains an "Owner's Manual" for the Tech Shifting suits. Fantastic!
Pet Owners and Animal Lovers beware! I have to say, I'm fairly dark and twisted, and I can subject myself to a rather wide range of topics and not have it linger within my soul. This story did though...one scene, in particular, took me out of reality and placed me right in the ring...the dogfighting ring. That bothered me, a lot. As a dog owner, this scene rattled my bones and disturbed me because I was able to easily place my little chihuahuas in place of Fish - the abducted dog. I know my sweet little pups wouldn't have lasted 30 seconds in that environment, and that violent imagery left me haunted. Now, some of you may be thinking how terrible that was, and you'd be right, it wasn't pleasant. BUT, and this is a monumental BUT - the author was able to create several pages of detail that made me remove myself from reality - step into their world - and live it so deeply that it made me have emotions outside of their world.
And that, my reading friends, is called true storytelling, and I wish every book I picked up would transport me like this moment did.
Well done. Very well done. Bring on Cassie Tam #3 - which I understand has been completed...and so we wait. What trouble will the PI who can straddle both worlds of Light and Dark get herself into next?