Mad Dog by Dave Wickenden

☆☆☆☆
ebook, 234 pages
Expected publication: July 30th 2020 by Black Rose Writing
About the Book:
Fourteen-year-old Daniel and his friends enjoyed the best that childhood could offer during the summer of 1975 in a northern mining town until someone started brutally killing family pets. Daniel, who wants nothing more than be the hero from his books, convinces his friends to help search for the ‘sicko’, but this only brings him to the attention of the killer. When evidence surfaces that points at Daniel as the killer and his two friends turn against him, he soon realizes that there is much more to being a hero than what he has read. Running away from home, he enlists two seniors and a neighborhood bully to help trap the real killer.

I would recommend this book to pre-teen and early teen readers, especially boys. There is some swearing and violence but no more so than video games or movies. The book is worth reading as it gives you a glace into what it was like growing up in Ontario in the 70's (LIKE ME). It also tells us that you can grow up in many different ways and a strong point of the book is that it is written in such honesty. You can easily put yourself in Daniel's place.

I think Dave Wickenden succeeded on the whole. He tells the story in a kids way, although there is a serious background behind the story. He didn't forget to install creepy experiences and that's what makes the book so fascinating and it was easy to read. I liked it very much, because the author didn't try to lengthen the story by any means. It's written just as it happened to Daniel and his friends and doesn't lose any detail. I expected the book to be about friendship and I was right.

It was much better than I expected it to be. I thought that the book would be more horrifying, but if you put yourself in the place of a fourteen-year-old, it was creepy enough.

Thank you NetGalley, Black Rose Writing and Dave Wickenden for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#MadDog #NetGalley