The Boston Globe also had praise for the novel, stating, 'Peter Heller serves up an insightful account of physical, mental, and spiritual survival unfolded in dramatic and often lyrical prose, a difficult tale in which unexpected hope persistently flickers amid darkness. But it also succeeds as a dark, poetic and funny novel in its own right.' NPR described the novel as crackerjack and said 'With its soulful hero, macabre villains, tender (if thin) love story and action scenes staggered at perfectly spaced intervals, the story unfolds with the vigor of the film it will undoubtedly become. When a mysterious transmission comes through on the radio while he’s flying his old Cessna, it sparks a hunt for the provenance of the sound. Set in Colorado, a man lives a lonesome existence in an airplane hangar with his dog and a door gunman he has befriended.

If you like the sound of this then check out our review of I Have Waited, and You Have Come by Martine McDonagh.The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic fiction novel by Peter Heller. Described as savage, tender, brilliant this debut novel is quite unique and immensely readable. Hellers great talent is fusing a sparse and clipped style of writing with enormous sensitivity. However he imbues it with a feeling of mysticism that gentles the panic and introduces a blossoming of warm emotion that leaves you feeling that love truly can conquer all. Heller describes an endless, empty landscape, engendering a sense of isolation where even the slightest sign of life appears infinitely precious. Higs only neighbour and they cant do without each other. ∜ountry boys will survive is his favourite phrase. Or can be tempted to go beyond the point of no return. He can make local sorties, check against bands of killer marauders. With its evocative descriptions of hunting, fishing, and flying, this novel, perhaps the world’s most poetic survival guide, reads as if Billy Collins had novelized one of George Romero’s zombie. His best friend is the Beast, a small plane, a 1956 Cessna 182. He is also wonderfully optimistic and in this situation, that means everything. Even his precious trout: If I ever wake up crying in the middle of a dream, and Im not saying I did, its because the trout are gone every one. You can tell he is a sensitive soul, poetic and nature-loving. He has lost everything in the aftermath of the great disaster his beloved wife, his home, his friends and family.

The dog stars review