MATT BURGESS

DOG FIGHT, A Love Story

DON'T LET THE TITLE FOOL YOU.   This is not about dog fighting.  At all.

What is is, is a terrific novel with fabulous, inventive writing, possibly the best you will have read in the past year or two (or more). Matt Burgess has found resources in the English language that are utterly unique.  Some authors "phone it in" as if they were typing while asleep. This usually means the writing is tasteless, a meal as appetizing as a McDonald's knockoff. Here, in Dog Fight, you will not find that. Matt Burgess thinks. He applies brainpower and an artist's sensibilities to his novel. This is one to be savored, paid attention to, passed along to a friend.  Highly recommended. Obviously.

UNCLE  JANICE

Wow. This one is great, but you have to like superb writing and atmosphere. If you need gunfire and car chases to be happy, then John Sandford is likely to work better for you. Or Vince Flynn (and now Kyle Mills). However . . . now that I've read UNCLE JANICE I feel like I have been on a "ride-along" with undercover narcotics cops in Queens. Not much in the way of glamour, but gritty all the same. Very highly recommended.