Let me just say, in prefacing this review, that this particular book is so, so, far out of my reading comfort zone, that the three stars I allocated ut indicates a good read. I’m not denigrating the style or genre in any way, it is just so not what I would normally read, however, that being said, I did enjoy the novel, despite the ridiculously long title, no doubt designed to get higher rankings in searches.
I’ll admit to being fairly old-school when it comes to genres. Until recently I had no idea even what dystopian was, let alone cyberpunk or one word used here in the title Lovecraftian, which is still very much a mystery to me. Okay, I’m on a learning curve and at least, I know what dystopian means now. This particular book is described as dystopian, cyberpunk and Lovecraftian story. To me, it was a futuristic fantasy, but as I said, I’m not up to speed with all these new-fangled terms for the differing genres. Anyway, it’s fair to say, this particular genre is not my cup of tea, sorry!
The book is well written, well edited and although fairly short, did take me some time to read. I suspect that was more the difficulty I was having coming to grips with some of the concepts Futuro was introducing in the story. The writing is good enough to ensure that even though I struggled with the concept, I was still able to identify with, admire and enjoy the lead character, Saru.
Set in a dystopian Philadelphia; Saru, a kick-ass, female PI, is as strong a female lead character as I’ve read in recent times and I did enjoy her laid-back, don’t give a sh*t attitude to all the cr*p that was happening around her and to her. I think she was well written and for me lifted the book above my initial expectations.
Futuro does, in this book take a swipe at many of our current-day obsessions with instant gratification and electronic aids and it appears does hark for a simpler, less technological time. I did also enjoy the Author’s attempt to address that age-old question; what are we here for?
There is a lot to recommend No Dogs in Philly. If this is your genre, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. The writing is crisp, clear and the author does use the story to tackle current moral and societal dilemmas. I liked the book, rather than loved it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a read.
Review was first published by Grant Leishman at: http://www.grantleishman.com/book-reviews/no-dogs-in-philly-a-lovecraftian-cyberpunk-noir-special-sin-volume-1-by-andy-futuro
For more information about Grant Leishman, visit: http://www.grantleishman.com/
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