Metzger's Dog: A Novel Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Metger's Dog is one of the finest novels I have read in quite a while -- and working in publishing (don't hold it against me) I see hundreds a year. There are moments in this narrative, many moments, when the reader realizes he has placed his or her attention in expert hands. Humor and seriousness are expertly blended. Perry is a subtle observer of people and of life. The character of Chinese Gordon is revealed only on the very last pages of the book ( and never fully), and rarely have I seen such judicious treatment of a CIA type as with Perry's creation of the character Porterfield. Good and evil are carefully intertwined in this text -- all of the characters trouble these moral boundaries. Even Gravirjas (sp?), a drug boss, is admirable in his assessment of circumstances, in his reasoning and objectivity given the life he leads, the hand he holds. His fatal mistake would have been impossible for him to grasp ahead of time -- circumstances just got way beyond what he knew.
In fact, only Poterfield and Chinese Gordon, the two main characters, are up to the chess board in this plot. And like two generals from opposing armies, they walk away respecting each other, though perhaps not equally.
The name "Metzger's Dog" is a metaphor -- the dog in the novel, a vicious animal, has been salvaged from a junkyard and tamed. At the end of the novel, this dog is given the name Porterfield.
In this story it is ultimately the CIA that has been tamed. The details of how this is achieved hold up to any test for authenticity.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Metzger's Dog: A Novel

The much-loved comic thriller by the author of the Edgar Award–winning The Butcher's Boy is now, by popular demand, back in print, featuring a new Introduction by bestselling author Carl Hiaasen.When Leroy "Chinese" Gordon breaks into a professor's lab at the University of Los Angeles, he's after some pharmaceutical cocaine, worth plenty of money. Instead, he finds the papers the professor has compiled for the CIA, which include a blueprint for throwing a large city into chaos. But how is the CIA to be persuaded to pay a suitable ransom, unless of course someone actually uses the plan to throw a large city into chaos—Los Angeles, for instance? Assigned to cope with the crisis and restore the peace, veteran agent Ben Porterfield steps onto the scene to remind us that the CIA's middle name is, after all, Intelligence. Enlivening the mix are Gordon's beautiful girlfriend, Margaret, his temperamental cat, Dr. Henry Metzger, and Metzger's friend, an enormous half-wild dog with huge teeth.

Click here for more information about Metzger's Dog: A Novel