If Animals Could Speak
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Lincoln, NE
Number of pages: 258
First sentence: Rooster's vibrant voice announced the beginning of another day, waking the other farm animals from a deep, untroubled sleep.
Description: If Animals Could Speak  is a marked departure from Don LoCicero’s previous works. Inspired  by 9/11/2001, the central themes of the novel are also terror, loss, heroism and love. Unlike that infamous September day, however, the primary victims and heroes of LoCicero’s work are not human, but a band of farm animals. Faced with the destruction of their farm after its sale to developers, they valiantly but vainly battle the construction workers and their cruel, scar-faced  boss. Exiled and pursued, their numbers grow as they recruit a dog, a bear, a colony of bats, a band of raccoons, an eagle, and ultimately a human who was an eyewitness to the terrorist attack on New York’s Twin Towers. The latter, a stage actor nicknamed Shake, is also a fugitive, suspected by overzealous government agents of being a terrorist. 
	Horse ultimately takes the unprecedented action of revealing the animals’ most guarded secret to Shake. The latter repays their trust after making a remarkable discovery in the far recesses of a mountain cave, a find that has the potential of securing them lasting peace and freedom. In order to do this, however, they must locate Farmer and enlist him to their cause.
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