The Dog Stars

By: Peter Heller

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A riveting, powerful novel about a pilot living in a world filled with loss - and what he is willing to risk to rediscover, against all odds, connection, love, and grace.

Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life - something like his old life - exists beyond the airport.

Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return - not enough fuel to get him home - following the trail of the static-broken voice on the radio. But what he encounters and what he must face - in the people he meets, and in himself - is both better and worse than anything he could have hoped for.

Narrated by a man who is part warrior and part dreamer, a hunter with a great shot and a heart that refuses to harden, The Dog Stars is both savagely funny and achingly sad, a breathtaking story about what it means to be human.

©2012 Peter Heller (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Richly evocative yet streamlined journal entries propel the high-stakes plot while simultaneously illuminating Hig's nuanced states of mind as isolation and constant vigilance exact their toll, along with his sorrow for the dying world.... Heller's surprising and irresistible blend of suspense, romance, social insight, and humor creates a cunning form of cognitive dissonance neatly pegged by Hig as an apocalyptic parody of Norman Rockwell...a novel, that is, of spiky pleasure and signal resonance." ( Booklist)

"In the tradition of postapocalyptic literary fiction such as Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Jim Crace's The Pesthouse, this hypervisceral first novel by adventure writer Heller ( Kook) takes place nine years after a superflu has killed off much of mankind.... With its evocative descriptions of hunting, fishing, and flying, this novel, perhaps the world's most poetic survival guide, reads as if Billy Collins had novelized one of George Romero's zombie flicks. From start to finish, Heller carries the reader aloft on graceful prose, intense action, and deeply felt emotion." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Leave it to Peter Heller to imagine a post-apocalyptic world that contains as much loveliness as it does devastation. His likable hero, Hig, flies around what was once Colorado in his 1956 Cessna, chasing all the same things we chase in these pre-annihilation days: love, friendship, the solace of the natural world, the chance to perform some small kindness, and a good dog for a co-pilot. The Dog Stars is a wholly compelling and deeply engaging debut." (Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted)

A little slow, but worth the wait.

This book has a slow pace to it. But there are just enough interesting things happening to keep your interest. Well done.

A Must Listen!

The Dog Stars is my favorite kind of book. The kind randomly picked up or recommended that turns out to speak to who you are. I don’t know you or what you do, but if you like this book, then there’s at least a kinship of thought that I can salute. A knowing nod that says “Carry on and good luck.” This is the kind of book that when I get done and recommend to someone else, they look at me funny after a few chapters in. I think it worries my wife a little.

I’m an avid reader of survival stories, both real and fictional. Something about the call to overcome the difficulty that life presents – as if reading about it will make it so for me. I find it unsettling, even in the little parts of life, when I find people resigned to their troubles. I’m not saying I’m better, but there is something in me that says, “I want more. I will not stop. I will overcome this too.”

This story follows Hig – a survivor of the plague that has wiped the world free of all but a few people. He and his misanthropic friend Bangley work to protect their little corner of Colorado. Hig’s dog Jasper is his closest friend and constant companion. This threesome try to live and overcome the challenges of foraging for food, fending off other marauding survivors, and finding meaning in an apocalyptic world that has few answers.

Peter Heller expertly guides you through the inner currents of Hig’s psyche as he deals with the lot life has cast. You root for Hig as he grasps for a hold to control an unwieldy loneliness. His solitary plight is recognizable to many even in our connected age. You wish for him because it’s a wish for yourself. There is plenty of humor, wit, fear, and wisdom – and maybe something like finding love.

Earlier this year I read On The Beach by Nevil Shute. The world is ending and the story follows some normal people through the last oppressive days. While tinged in sorrow, the book is hopeful. The Dog Stars likewise is a search for hope. These are the stories I like best. “and hope does not disappoint…”

Audible Listeners: Mark Deakins did a fabulous job. His voice carries you forcefully through the story.

8.5 stars out of 10

poetic apocalyptic book

Peter Heller wrote this very well. it isn't as "action packed" as most other apocalyptic books. But how other reviewers have put it, this is a more realistic story. poetically written and read.

Really glad I gave this one a shot.

Great narrator. Believable characters. A bit of the "men writing women" trope but not gratuitous.

Devastatingly well written

I almost never review books (just a time thing) and have never written a review prior to finishing a book. That said, "The Dog Stars" merits breaking all the rules. I am a 61 year old woman with no interest in hunting, fishing or the great outdoors. But this book grabbed me in the first few minutes and never let go. There were none of the usual initial questions - Will I get used to this book? Like the narrator? Keep the characters straight? I am a fan of post apocalyptic fiction; this one delivers a new voice to that genre. The main character, Hig, doesn't muse too much over what happened to the bulk of humanity or why. He tries very hard to live in his new normal - with just enough of those niggling thoughts of his past to flesh out his personality. His main concern is survival, and while he concentrates on that his thoughts focus on what really matters in life, what brings joy, how to cope with loss and how to figure out what exactly he is doing and why.
The prose and dialogue are spot on. I find myself stopping the book and repeating a sentence or phrase to revel in its truth or beauty or meaning. I think this is my first book read by Mark Deakins. The subtle emotions and emphasis he puts on Heller's words add an incalculable depth to this work. This is an absolutely beautiful book - multilayered and complex and a joy to listen to.

Incredible story and performance

This book had all kinds of glowing reviews - I can see why - it is fabulous story and performed perfectly.

Thoughtful & Provocative

First read of this genre. Was doubtful, but reviews spurred me on to try it. I loved it ... didn't want it to end! The narrator was awesome as well. A great pandemic read, lol.

Well worth the expenditure of a credit!!

A masterfully written, wonderfully narrated, and delightfully entertaining book. Who knew that the end of mankind could be expressed so poetically. Bravo!!!!

All-around great great great!

I just finished it so it'll take some time to clear my head but, I had to start somewhere to get the review going... thank you to the author, narrator, and whoever else was behind this story. It got me through almost an entire drive across California with my dog in the back seat along for the ride. Wonderful.

Good story - no Zombies, blood, guts, or gore

What made the experience of listening to The Dog Stars the most enjoyable?

I'm not sure why post-apocalyptic novels are interesting to me - and a lot of other people. I don't follow the Zombie craze and frankly don't understand the fascination with it. I like stories of survival and the psychology of societal breakdown and rebuild. Heller's book chronicles the path of Hig, a survivor of a population-thinning flu pandemic who gets around in a 1956 Cessna single engine prop airplane and lives, for much of the novel, at Erie airport in Colorado. Erie's one of the airports I practice landings at, and the stuff he sees out the window of the Cessna are the same things I see flying here today. There is no gore, little violence, just some soul-searching by a man who has lost nearly everything dear to him. He still has flying, and that saves him in ways a pilot can relate to.