I went to the Strand recently and while I was there I wanted to see if Kirsten Bakis had any other books I could buy at the not-quite-low-enough-but-who-cares-it's-right-here Strand prices. What I saw were seven or so copies of Lives of the Monster Dogs.
I was vindicated, it seems. You see, LMS was fun to read, but it wasn't that good. The plot had everything going for it: monsters with a mysterious origin and lots of money, a smart, young female narrator, New York in the near-future, diary entries of a mad creator, etc..
But it was flimsy. I enjoyed reading the diary entries and the analysis of the dogs origins by a dog researcher, but the plot and the protestations of the human narrator were annoying and just not fine enough for this book to transend the SF/horror ghetto. It was a good bathroom book.
I would like to read more by Bakis. This was her first novel,first novels are always a little uneven (or most of the time-- don't email me!), and I'd love to see what she turns her imagination to next.
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