- The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, 320 pages, $27.95.
From the cockpit of his plane the land below looks serene to Hig. He flies with his dog Jasper as copilot and from his vantage point he looks for signs of visitors.
In this near future envisioned by Peter Heller, company is not a welcome sight. A deadly flu has wiped out most of the world's population. Those few survivors that remain cling to what they have and will defend it to the death.
Hig is caught between the reality of his existence and his sense of loss for the life he had. His partner at their airport location, Bangley is all about survival but Hig is looking for a reason to survive.
Heller draws us into Hig's fight to hold on to his humanity while portraying the stark landscape of this new world where you can never let your guard down. A brief but compelling radio transmission drives Hig to risk everything in search of something more.
With a broken heart and a tiny glimmer of optimism Hig shows us even in the darkest days there is some light.
