Talk:The Last Dog on Earth

Reviews

• "Not as funny, but equally gripping is Daniel Ehrenhaft's "The Last Dog on Earth" (234 pages, Delacorte Press, $15.95). All around Logan's town, dogs are getting sick and attacking whoever is nearby. But Logan is too busy to notice. His stepfather has given him a dog and, in spite of his all-consuming anger, Logan meets the challenge, training Jack and growing to love the dog's untamable nature. When Logan gets in trouble can Jack save him even as he struggles to save Jack from dog-hunting vigilantes? A memorable story of self-discovery for ages 9 to 12." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), May 28, 2003. Archived at LexisNexis
• "This fast-paced thriller set in Oregon blends elements of science fiction and a Gary Paulsen - like survival story with a coming-of-age tale about a rebellious teenager and his dog. Logan, at 14, has not seen his father since he was seven. His stepfather, Robert ("the All-Knowing Dictator of Everything"), wants to send him to Blue Mountain Camp for Boys, a kind of boot camp run by an ex-marine, but opts for a dog instead, to teach Logan "the value of discipline and responsibility." Choosing Jack, a feral stray, rather than the purebred Robert prefers, gives Logan the upper hand - but not for long. The author makes clear that Logan is not a bad kid; his small acts of rebellion simply tend to escalate. For instance, when Logan takes Jack into a local deli, the deli owner's dog menaces the two and things reel out of control. So it's off to Blue Mountain for the teen. Meanwhile, a mysterious virus begins spreading from dogs to humans, its progress tracked in a series of increasingly ominous e-mail messages, newspaper clippings, faxes, etc., interspersed throughout the narrative. The story's third plot line involves a reclusive scientist, the only one who can create an antidote to the deadly disease - but he requires an immune dog. Ehrenhaft (the Techies series) keeps things moving at a rapid clip, with tension and violence mounting incrementally as the story lines converge. If the bittersweet ending stretches credibility, this is still a smartly written, thoroughly engrossing tale. Ages 9-12. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly Reviews, January 27, 2003. Archived at LexisNexis
• "Warning: the dog dies. Actually, most of the dogs on the West Coast die here, victims either of a prion plague (think Mad Cow Disease) that turns them suddenly vicious in its last stages, or of systematic extermination. Worse yet, bitten humans turn out to be susceptible, too. Ehrenhaft, author of entries in the Bone Chillers series, places Logan, an Oregon teenager with family problems, and Ja forced to place themselves in the care of Logan's estranged father (a brilliant epidemiologist, forsooth) after Jack is brutally beaten by vigilante exterminators. Though happenstance plays a large role in the plot, and the author has a tendency to trot in typecast characters, then summarily drop them, disaster-tale fans with a taste for the lurid will not be let down by this melodramatic, if predictable, chiller. (Fiction. 11-13)" Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2002. Archived at LexisNexis