Review: The Dog Talker
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 25, 2013
Ninna Bradford is starting a new clerical job at a combination pet hospital, spa, and shelter. She's never had a pet or been around animals much in her twenty-something life, so she's unsure how she'll react and relate to being surrounded by so many pets. She's also had some health issues lately that had kept her from working for months, so she really needs to be able to work through her doubts and keep this job.Luckily for Ninna, the pet center's veterinarian, Stuart McIntosh, befriends her on her first day and helps her get settled in and introduced around to the other workers. An extra bonus is that Stuart is handsome and single and seems to be attracted to Ninna.The many dogs and cats and other critters roaming around have Ninna almost overwhelmed, but she's managing to keep cool while waiting to be given her first work assignments. That is, until one of the dogs, an overweight basset named Mosey starts talking to her telepathically and wants to be her new best friend. Of course, Ninna thinks she's losing her grip and probably her mind along with it and tries to ignore the mutt and his sometimes cheeky comments, but Mosey tends to make himself hard to ignore.But Ninna has an even bigger problem than a talking dog, one that she's yet to become aware of. She's got a stalker, and this guy is bad news from his yard-long rap sheet to his skill at breaking into houses.What will happen? Will Ninna be able to deal with her new four-footed chat buddy? Will she find out about the stalker in time to save herself? Will she lose her mind and run screaming out of town as fast as possible?This story is hard to classify, beyond the obvious "fiction" category. It's part romance, part fantasy, part thriller, and definitely a large part dog story. We never find out too many details about Ninna's past or specifics on her health problems, even when those may impact how she deals with her situation with Mosey and at work. Granted, it is a short story, and not a lot of time can be given to detailed background, but having a bit more of it would have helped to understand Ninna's reactions better if we'd been given more information.This story is a light, quick read that has a little something for just about everyone without being overwhelming. The clever ending the author comes up with is worth the visit.