Fiction Book Review. "King of Dogs" by Andrew Edwards
The South Western desert took my breath away the first time I visited it. I arrived late at night, at the end of a 9-5 work day followed by a six hour drive. This was truly a desolate land, I was there at night to hike to Delicate Arch. It was still hot and musty. The hordes of tourists babbling as they left at perfect odds with the quiet desolation. Arches is the tourist trap, the nightmare of Edward Abbey. A weird kind of modernist horror. Technological advancement juxtaposed against relentless desert sun, heat, and wind. Moab is an odd town, perched in this wild land. Now home to the thrill seeker mob. Mountain bikers, OHVers, climbers. The adrenal junkies. A town with just enough semblance of civilization for the SWPLs.
This tourist town is the backdrop for Andrew Edwards “King of Dogs”. Our Orthodox (Russian) protagonist is there looking after his dead friends brother and family. Then all hell breaks loose. One problem with collapse focused fiction is often authors stray too far into technicality - to a form of fantasy that their gun toting readers are meant to salivate over. Edwards manages to avoid this - he clearly is in the know about guns, tactics and the like but he does not beat you over the head with it. He understands it is part of the journey, it adds a good sense of realism to the book. The realism is a bit offset with the sudden rush of ticking of a number of boxes:
Foreign Mercenaries on US soil - Check.
Pedophile rings - Check.
Organ harvesting - Check.
Snuff films - Check.
Some of these elements feel a little forced, dialogue is not necessarily the strongest part of his writing (but is by no means weak or bad). It certainly pales in comparison to his fast paced action and vivid descriptions of the desert. As I mentioned, the desert around Moab is a harsh and unforgiving place. I have suffered through it myself in perfectly good times and the times our protagonist, Grayson, is suffering through are far from good.
The decay and collapse of America feels a bit too accelerated in Edward’s universe. It feels in places a bit mismatched, more so when he alludes to the wider collapse he is trying to paint. Overly violent and disjointed. Perhaps this is a bit of empty criticism, this is fiction, and we do know plenty of what kind of violence ‘our troops’ have wrought upon the ‘enemy’. Edwards is certainly at his best by not pulling punches. He effectively skewers a good amount of Special Forces worship that is ongoing in our society by pointing out that many Americans would end up fighting at the behest of the shadowy evil corporate interests of the book (many already do). I did chuckle somewhat however at the inclusion of evil South Africans, the Boer’s just can’t catch a break, even from a side perhaps sympathetic to them. Edwards also accurately portrays the reality of infighting of factionalism. This small militia group versus that one, betrayal for greed and simple pleasures. All realities of the human condition.
As we follow Grayson on his mission there is a lot that is alluded to that never quite works out. Edwards also mixes his pacing a little too much. Towards the end if one were being harsh it almost feels as if Michael Bey is directing the action and things happen so fast it just feels rushed. This contrasts with the lengthier sections that string you along through many pages, it is odd to feel the book suddenly slows down as the action speeds up towards the climax. For all these moments of realism there are a few moments where it feels Edwards does take a bit of liberty in describing the evil which man is capable. This might be a problem if he did not also include characters more banal in their actions, those characters' motivations appear to bring balance to the world. True evil certainly does exist, and it must be dealt with.
This book will stick with more for a number of reasons. It is easily one the best written about any kind of collapse scenario in the US. My own visitation of the areas described also cements it in my mind. The urge to find out more about the universe he has crafted remains but I think this book is best as a one off. There is a mystery to collapse and ‘how bad’ things will get. I look around today and quietly remind myself we are already living in a dystopian nightmare society. If anything the future of Edwards offers more clarity. The battle lines are drawn and the shadowy bad guys from helicopters are there to be fought. There is an underlying acknowledgement of the truths of reality in the future he paints. The walls have collapsed but order is in a way restored. That is something to ponder.
4 out of 5 stars.
-Arthur Powell
