The Dogs

July 1, 2015

Gr 7-10-Cameron and his mother have been on the run from Cameron's father for years. His mother's terror is palpable, but Cameron doesn't quite remember what his dad did to cause all this fear. That's not to say that the teen isn't haunted-when their latest move lands them in a creepy old farmhouse, Cameron's nightmares, irritable behavior, and his burgeoning friendship with a dead child who used to live on the farm point to either a sensitivity to the supernatural or a descent into mental illness. As the protagonist becomes more interested in the property's grisly past, he turns a blind eye to the terror and trauma of his own past, to a dangerous end. Cameron's earnest, straightforward narration takes some of the energy out of what should be, detail by detail, a satisfying horror story. It's only through Cameron's chilling phone conversations with his estranged father that readers will get that electric charge. The tone and structure of the novel indicate a younger readership, but the specifics of the story are fairly grim. VERDICT Psychological family horror for those not quite ready for Daniel Kraus's Scowler (Delacorte, 2013).-Beth McIntyre, Madison Public Library, WI

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Starred review from July 1, 2015
Cameron Weaver's father tried to kill his mother, and now they are on the run, again. Cameron and his mother have moved into a "creep house" in Wolf Hollow, a house perhaps haunted and rumored to have been the site of murders and bodies never recovered. What seems to be known is the former owner of the house, Mr. McTavish, was an abusive husband and father, and some believe he murdered his son, wife, and her lover. Cameron seems to see the ghost of young Jacky McTavish, and his active imagination begins concocting murder scenarios, such as bodies wrapped in plastic and hanging from a rafter in the nailed-shut attic. Stratton masterfully constructs a creepy gothic setting, using italicized interior monologue to show Cameron's mind at odds with himself, and readers will soon suspect that Cameron may well be unhinged as they try to discern what is real and what is the product of Cameron's "thinking like a lunatic." A monstrous, stalking father, unhinging nightmares, a ghostly boy, wild dogs, and a moldy basement add creepy deliciousness to a murder mystery and tale of a boy who, in trying to solve a mystery, may just discover what a loving family might be.An engrossing blend of murder mystery and family story. (Suspense. 12-16)

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