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)

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.

a must-listen

This novel is like a symphony. The language flows like a melody, alternately slowing and speeding as is appropriate for the narrative. It simultaneously is and isn't about living in the apocalypse -- it's about trauma and emptiness and the search for something that you don't know what it is until you find it. The story itself isn't as interesting or exciting or gritty as some other post-apocalyptic novels, but to be perfectly honest, I did not care (because as I said, that's not really what it's about). This novel is a journey through the psyche and can speak to your soul, if you let it.

Lots of reflection

The story is interesting and the language is well chosen. The sex is more detailed than necessary but the rest of the book is enjoyable.

The creativity of describing a very often written about scenario. Armageddon of the earth but with a new twist

One of my favorite books. No dislikes. Great characters and setting. 5 stars from me.

Stars Shine Bright

My reading list includes very few stories with post-apocalyptic settings. I have high regard for "On the Beach" and "Alas Babylon" but those were of another era. I wasn't sure I would enjoy "The Dog Stars." It was almost an impulse purchase.
I was very pleased with my purchase. Peter Heller has written a very well rounded novel. The overall melancholy and the episodes of violent encounters were there, as I expected, but it was the description of introspective thoughts and emotions which made the novel stand out for me.
Heller does an excellent job of introducing story threads into the novel and then following and expanding them with great attention to details and overall pacing of the tale. Nothing gets shoved into a corner or suddenly dropped in the next chapter.
Heller's writing of Hig's relationship with his dog Jasper touched me most of all, and a man's love for his dog is something that's as timeless as the constellations in the sky.

Betting this is a better listen than a read

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

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I am a fan of apocalyptic literature, and this did not disappoint. However, I think the apocalyptic scenario was more the background, against which played out themes of trust and faith in oneself and others. It delves into the basic dependence we must have on others to survive, and is very thoughtful. I think if I had read this, I would have skimmed over much of the internal dialogue the main character has with himself. I tend to do that when trying to get to the action. I am glad I listened to this book instead - I would have missed so much had I skimmed over some of those parts. Thought provoking and it stays with you. The reader was great.

Awesome post-apocolytic story based in CO!! But...

What did you love best about The Dog Stars?

Being a Colorado native, I was a huge fan of the detailed descriptions of the land and use of actual geography! Thank you Mr. Heller. I'm excited to read your next book, sound like a good one too!

What did you like best about this story?

Post-apocolyptic stories are always good, and this is a new take on that genre. I enjoy the introspection the protagonist endures.

Did Mark Deakins do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I am not pleased with how the narrator read this one. It makes me want to purchase, if not just peek in at the bookstore, to note if there are ellipsis' after every sentence. The book is read like a poem, with just-to-long-of-a-break between each sentence. It drove me nuts, but the storyline made up for that oddity. I do not think I will purchase another book that Mark Deakins has narrated, unless it is the book, not the narration.