2024 BOTW Club, Week 3: Foley’s THE DOG Bites and Never Lets Go
For the past several years, I have read very few books. A once avid reader and creative writer, I had done neither at any significant amount in what feels like a lifetime. So, in 2024, I will continue to to read at least a book a week… and as is my true self (see Letterboxd, Untappd, and other such list apps that I’ve filled up with my selections for year), I must log every book or it feels like it didn’t happen. While I have a Goodreads account, some of the self-published and independent works in my collection aren’t seemingly available to log in any such app. So… I figured that there was no better place to share my weekly reads than right here on The Farsighted.
Thanks for embarking with me on my 2024 literary journey – my own personal book club of sorts – and please feel free… even encouraged to comment on the books I cover, grab copies for yourself, and recommend future reads for me in the comments or via email.
While it shouldn’t be a surprise that a genre writer from New England would write a novella heavily influenced by Stephen King that is set in Maine and features Dunkin Donuts references, it is never a given that said novella will be worth actually reading. In the case of Brendan Foley’s The Dog, what we’re treated to is a breezy 100ish page novella that you’re unlikely to be able to put down once you pick up. While a short read, it is a truly stellar story that blends in real, relatable emotion with genuinely frightening moments, creepy atmosphere, and… a dog – but not just any dog, a loving and loyal little buddy that every reader will want to take home and make their own.
The set up is not unlike The Shining in the sense that the lead character is hired to tend to being the overseer of a vacant location. In this case, it’s not a sprawling hotel, but a nice country home with something spooky in the woods. The family meets him, before they send off to Europe and leave our kindly “hero” alone in the home… but not before thoroughly freaking him out.
What follows is a fantastic little tale of moody atmosphere, dark creatures, and my favorite literary dog in quite some time.
You can buy yourself a copy of The Dog on Amazon now. It’s a short but rewarding read and extremely inexpensive. Published by Little Terrors, an imprint of Little Demon Books, the novella is the first of the Little Terrors series and, most certainly, excited me to see what else the imprint has in store.
