The Dogs

by Allan Stratton

Overview

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch something moving by the barn.

When I look, it disappears. Wait. There it is again, at the cornfield.

Some movement, some thing.

Mom and I have been on the run for years. Every time he catches up with us, we move to a new place and start over.

But this place is different.

This place is full of secrets. And they won't leave me alone.

"Brilliant, page-turning, and eerie. Had me guessing to the very end." -Joseph Delaney, author of The Last Apprentice series

"It's about ghosts and terrifying danger and going mad all at once. I didn't know what was real and what was imagined until the very last page. I loved it!" -Melvin Burgess, Carnegie Medal and Guardian Prize winning author of Smack

Allan Stratton is an acclaimed internationally published playwright and author. His awards include a Michael L. Printz Honor award, multiple ALA picks, and the Independent Publisher Book Award.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492609391
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	09/02/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	957 KB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

Read an Excerpt

1

It's ten p.m. Mom's at the living room window staring at the car across the street. She's been there for an hour. Our lights are out so no one can see her.

I'm downstairs in the rec room playing Zombie Attack. No sound. I don't want Mom to know, although I'm pretty sure she guesses. The longer we're quiet in the dark, the creepier it gets.

Mom's imagining things.

But what if she isn't? I focus on the zombies. More silence.

"It's probably nothing," I call up.

"Shh. Keep it down."

"I'm in the basement, Mom. You think someone outside can hear me?"

"Stop it, Cameron. Turn off that game and go to bed."

"Aw, Mom—"

"Cameron."

A zombie jumps from behind a tree and rips my head off. Thanks, Mom. Way to help me concentrate. I turn off the game and head up to the living room.

Mom's squeezing her phone. "I'm calling the police."

"Why?" I try to sound normal. "They won't come for hours. By the time they do, whoever's there will be gone."

"It's not ‘whoever.' It's him. I know it." She dials.

"Mom, it's a street. People park there."

"Not in neighborhoods where they don't belong. Not opposite the same house three nights in a row. And they don't stay in their car either. It's only a matter of time before he does something. Hello, police?"

I can't breathe. I go upstairs and brush my teeth while Mom gives her name and address to someone who's apparently deaf. The more they tell her to calm down, the angrier she gets.

Go to bed. Everything's fine.

Mom's room is at the front of the house. I sneak to her window and peek down at the car. It's out of the light, in the shadow of the trees on the other side of the street. Is there really someone inside?

Even if there is, so what? They could be waiting for a friend.

All night?

It's not against the law to sit in a car.

That's not the point.

Stop it. Don't be like her.

The car drives off like it did last night and the night before that. I go to my room and crawl under the covers. Two hours later the cops arrive.

Mom's ballistic. "I called hours ago. We could be dead."

"Sorry, ma'am. It's been a busy night. Did you get the license number?"

"No, I didn't get the license number. He parks in the shadows. You want me to go out and check with him sitting there waiting for me?"

The cops ask more stupid questions. I stick my fingers in my ears and pray for everything to be over.

The cops leave. Mom slams the door. Next thing I know, she's sitting on the side of my bed, holding my hand. "Cameron, honey. We have to go. Get your things."

"Go? What? Now?"

"I don't know how long we've got." She gets up and heads to her room. "He could be anywhere...around the block, who knows. But he'll be back. You can count on it. And the police will be too late."

"Mom—"

"There are things you don't understand, Cameron."

Oh yeah? I understand lots, Mom. I understand I'm scared, for starters. But why? Because he's tracked us down? Or because you're crazy?

My clothes are already in a suitcase under my bed; Mom made me pack two days ago, just in case. There's room in the car for our bags, some coats, a box of dishes, some sheets and towels, and the little TV. My grandparents will store the rest of our stuff in their basement. There isn't much, since the places we rent come furnished. I wish we could go to Grandma and Grandpa's. Mom says we can't. She says that's the first place he'd look.

He—him—the guy in the car: Dad.

Mom backs the car onto the street. I look at the house. After a year, I was getting used to the place. This city too. I'd actually started making friends at school. So much for that.

We drive away slowly with the headlights off.

Editorial Reviews

"Stratton masterfully constructs a creepy gothic setting, using italicized interior monologue to show Cameron's mind at odds with himself, and readers will soon suspect that Cameron may well be unhinged as they try to discern what is real and what is the product of Cameron's 'thinking like a lunatic.' A monstrous, stalking father, unhinging nightmares, a ghostly boy, wild dogs, and a moldy basement add creepy deliciousness to a murder mystery and tale of a boy who, in trying to solve a mystery, may just discover what a loving family might be. An engrossing blend of murder mystery and family story." - Kirkus, starred review

"A fast-paced psychological thriller...Readers will find the supernatural insinuations and elements terrifying; wrapped up in a mystery that the boy must solve, they will also begin to hope that they are real-as they are preferable to the possibility that Cameron is losing his mind. A shocking ending and an unexpected visit from the titular beasts make this novel a compelling choice, and one that reluctant readers will also find appealing." - School Library Journal

"The Dogs is a creepy thriller that explores the effects of trauma, paranoia, and fear... with the eerie supernatural element, it will keep pages turning well into the night. It is a great book to read on a storm fall night with the wind howling and the branches tapping at your window. A great thriller for MG and older." - Young Adult Book Central

"An Agatha Christie mystery novel on cocaine" - SLJ Teen Newsletter

"A real page-turner... [The Dogs] stayed with me for days, author Allan Stratton having created an unsettled aura the likes of which Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King routinely built into their work, too... Stratton's depiction of setting and characters is masterful, and his ability to create tension and keep readers on edge is equally strong.
" - Montreal Gazette

"It is increasingly rare to find genuine, convincing narratives that have us looking over our shoulders. The Dogs is such a narrative... At every point in the story there are two possible interpretations of the events: one based on accepting the supernatural and one based on realistic possibility... The architecture of these intertwining plots is strong and graceful... What would it be like if the most frightening thing in your world lay at the heart of your own family? Stratton imagines this horror fully and convincingly.
" - Quill and Quire

"The Dogs allows the reader to use their imagination. Like Fuzzy Mud, by Louis Sachar, it's a great book to use in a classroom or a book discussion group. " - By Hook Or By Book

"There are secrets that nobody wants to talk about and nightmares about things in the past. It's hard to tell what is real and what is in Cameron's imagination. The unexpected ending makes this sure to be a favorite with mystery readers. Recommended.
" - School Library Connection

"In this gripping psychological thriller, the reader wonders whether the tenuous grip Cameron seems to have on reality is because of his own past or if there is truth to the visions and voices the teen perceives. As his increasingly odd behavior begins to alarm his mother, Cameron wonders if he can trust his own mind. This thrilling page-turner builds to a dramatic climax which interweaves the personal story Cameron has managed to suppress, as well as the sad, violent story of the McTavish family" - VOYA Magazine

"This novel derives its horror from Hitchcockian suspense rather than torture and bloodshed, with the steady revelations of the old house's gruesome mysteries paralleling Cameron's increasing endangerment. This will be an easy sell to teens on the prowl for a done-in-a-night thriller." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

★ 2015-06-16
Cameron Weaver's father tried to kill his mother, and now they are on the run, again. Cameron and his mother have moved into a "creep house" in Wolf Hollow, a house perhaps haunted and rumored to have been the site of murders and bodies never recovered. What seems to be known is the former owner of the house, Mr. McTavish, was an abusive husband and father, and some believe he murdered his son, wife, and her lover. Cameron seems to see the ghost of young Jacky McTavish, and his active imagination begins concocting murder scenarios, such as bodies wrapped in plastic and hanging from a rafter in the nailed-shut attic. Stratton masterfully constructs a creepy gothic setting, using italicized interior monologue to show Cameron's mind at odds with himself, and readers will soon suspect that Cameron may well be unhinged as they try to discern what is real and what is the product of Cameron's "thinking like a lunatic." A monstrous, stalking father, unhinging nightmares, a ghostly boy, wild dogs, and a moldy basement add creepy deliciousness to a murder mystery and tale of a boy who, in trying to solve a mystery, may just discover what a loving family might be.An engrossing blend of murder mystery and family story. (Suspense. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews