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)

Not a Nail Biter...

but still well worth a listen. What would the world be like after a pandemic? What would you miss? How would your values change? Even though this book is set in a depressing scenario, it is not necessarily depressing. It looks at how one man copes over the long haul. Worth the credit.

I need to do a better job of walking my dog!!

What made the experience of listening to The Dog Stars the most enjoyable?
I am a dog person and this book really struck a cord with me.

Who was your favorite character and why?
Jasper steals the show. He is true to what he is. A loyal devoted companion with a very important job to do.

What about Mark Deakins’s performance did you like?
Mark Deakins never gets in the way of the story. He lets it just flow and happen.

If you could rename The Dog Stars, what would you call it?
Always bring your dog when you go for a soft drink run.

Mediocre story...great narrator!

This was an interesting story. I purchased it because of the reviews, however, it wasn't a great story. I enjoyed the book, taking us on a journey through the world after most of the population has died. The author made all encounters with other humans, violent, which I don't think would actually happen in such a time. Each person was only in survival mode, killing anyone that ventured near. I would have liked to see more interactions with survivors instead of just killing. I know that there would be factions of survivalists, but except for the main characters and the Mennonites, everyone was out to kill each other.

I enjoyed the relationship with the two main characters, that made things interesting, to have such different men, but who really had a friendship. I think the entire part of the story at the Grand Junction airport was a little weird, didn't seem to fit well. The writing was well done, narrator was excellent, but I just didn't like the story as much as I thought based on previous reviews.

I'm sure that there will be a second book, as even though the ending was good, there were a couple of possible stories waiting to evolve.

Excellent read

This is lovely story in spite of the fact that it is a rather sad, post apocalyptic tale It is filled with beautifully descriptive words from the mind and mouth of the protagonist whom I learned to care for a lot. The reader's voice is melodic and warm and was a perfect choice to deliver these words.

excellent.

wistful and poetic yet exciting and shocking at key times. narrator is spot on perfect.

A Pleasant Surprise

Would you listen to The Dog Stars again? Why?

This book was my first by Peter Heller. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was well-written, with good a good plot. I did not see how, from the book summary, I would stay alert as I listen while commuting but I did not want to shut off my ipod. Kept me involved from beginning to end.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Dog Stars?

The significant scene when he goes out with his dog up the mountain.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed the entire book.

The Reviews do not do this book justice

I chose to listen to the Dog Stars after Audible suggested it on its preferred list.

The narration is difficult at first. The narrator speaks in a manner like Keanu Reeves; halting, abrupt, at times monotonous, but over the course of the book the poetic imagery associates itself with this voice and you begin to think of Hig as a character who is halting and monotonous in his manner.

This is a book that will appeal to the fly fisherman, the hunter, the pilot and certainly the student of poetic and limited prose. The author chooses his words well and they paint a very vivid visual image.

It is not a happy book. It is a story that takes place in a post apocalyptic America and one whose end leaves some uncertainty, but it is a book that very much causes one to consider the now. The characters are wrestling with the desire to preserve the beautiful and the civilized in the midst of a world that demands calculated savagery and violence.

I would encourage any listener to hear it through to the end. It touched me as a person who loves the english language, flying and the noble in life. It is a book for those who appreciate the solid friendship and certainly for those of us who count among those friends the ones with four legs and wagging tails.

I would recommend this book for anyone who meets the criteria above and certainly for those who just want to hear a unique perspective on a common theme.

Sweet Whispers

If I had more time tonight, I would finish this book because “The Dog Stars” is excellent. I have about 90 minutes to go, but I fear that I will lose my thoughts tomorrow as I finish this book. The pandemic story about the flu that pretty much wiped out civilization is too close to home. A pilot that lost his wife, friends, and pretty much life that what used to be, decided to fly his plane until the fuel gauge goes empty to see what happens, and finds new life past the horizon.

I am not going to spoil the story, but I am going to talk about this remarkable author. Peter Heller wrote his book as poetry. Reading this book is poetic as its best. He captures the pandemic as sweet whispers in your ears, where you see lights through the darkest time as the main character finds new life. The narration in the third person is like a structure of a poem. The book has stanzas and consistency. Each written word has a purpose and it’s not fragmented at all.

My headphones just died and I am continuing on listening through my computer speakers. If time wasn’t limited this evening, the last hour wouldn’t be a problem, but my bed is calling me. I can’t wait to get up to finish what I started in the morning.

A new fave in my favorite genre

My favorite genre being post apocalyptic survival stories in the sub category of 'Without Zombies'. (Although there are a couple with zombies that I like.) For me 'The Dog Stars' fits nicely alongside copies of 'Alas Babylon' and 'On The Beach' but sets itself apart from those two classics with some heart pounding action and laugh out loud humor. This book should be on your list of Post-Apoc must reads. And the narrator simply nailed delivering the authors unique cadence of the main characters internal dialog point of view.

Got a little draggy at times...

this book was recommended to me by some Colorado friends. it was okay and i was able to finish, but I've read much better post-apocalyptic stories.