Synopsis
The debut novel from viral horror sensation Brian Asman, Good Dogs is a heartfelt and harrowing story of survival, belonging, found family, and the lengths we’ll go to protect it.
No one ever said being a werewolf was easy. Take Delia, for instance. She’s spent much of her life fighting against her own nature, plagued by nightmares of childhood trauma, and trying to find her place in the world. Many werewolves are just like her: ostracized by their families, forced to live alone and in secret as they await those nights when the Change overtakes them.
Becoming the den mother to an odd bunch of lycanthropes in Southern California isn’t exactly the answer Delia was looking for. But under the strict rules of the house, they are able to manage the Change safely, and hunt without endangering their San Diego suburb. And they aren’t lone wolves anymore, they’re a pack—a family.
But when one member’s carelessness leads to the discovery of a severed leg in their backyard, Delia and the rest of her family are forced to confront the cold, hard fact they’ve known all along—they don’t belong here. Their only option is to cover up the kill and head into the wilderness, far from people. There, hopefully, they can live out their lives without posing a threat to anyone else.
At home, they might’ve been apex predators. But in the wilds around Talbot—a town abandoned for a century—Delia and her pack aren’t the only ones with a savage bite …
Review
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!
Werewolf stories come in all shapes and sizes, but Brian Asman’s debut novel, Good Dogs, highlights perhaps some rather emotionally compelling aspects of this well-loved subgenre. From ideas of found family to love and acceptance in the face of harsh change, this story packs an emotional punch to rival the gory grotesqueness that makes this a horror story. We meet Delia, a woman whose life has some sense of stability thanks to her pack. Instead of a chaos-fueled existence, their “Changes” are regulated with strict rules and protective technology. But what happens when those safeguards fail? This reality becomes all too real for Delia and her pack, leading to an uprooting of home, friction between pack members, and lots of turmoil. Settling in the allegedly abandoned town of Talbot, California, it’s time to start anew. Yet, something lurks in the woods, something even werewolves may not be able to contend with.
Any “monster” novel comes with its own unique set of fascinating details. For instance, we all know the typical lore of silver bullets and full moons surrounding werewolves, but it is always up to the author to determine what pieces of lore fit their story best. It’s in this way that these types of stories contain a unique sense of world-building, something that Brian Asman utilizes expertly. In this fashion, Good Dogs is a story completely of its own in terms of originality and uniqueness for the details by which these werewolves exist. And it would be wrong of me to say I’m not curious about what other happenings occur in this universe Asman has crafted given the creativity exhibited here.
Another shining facet of this debut is the character work Asman champions. There is an undeniable sense of a family forged with authenticity within these pages, showcasing a multitude of personalities, motivations, and meaningful dynamics. Of course, this is a horror novel, so these familial ties elevate feelings of suspense, especially in the last 30% of the book, to heart-pounding proportions. Asman takes his time setting the stage for the unstoppable reckoning headed for the pack, a gut-wrenching, stress-inducing, wild conclusion.
A snarling, suspenseful story, Brian Asman’s Good Dogs certainly scratches the itch for the werewolf stories we have all come to know and love while still implementing novelty and nuance. It’s a tale made possible through an immense care for characters only to be matched with tremendous violence and bloodshed by the story’s end. A werewolf story turned emotionally-fueled family saga turned somewhat slasher, Good Dogs has it all and then some.
Good Dogs by Brian Asman is out NOW from Blackstone Publishing!
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