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)

My favorite

I have listened to this book 5 times. 5 TIMES! Read it, you can thank me later.

What does it mean to be human?

I read this book because I attended the Denver Comicon and sat in a lecture with all Colorado Authors. I listened to Petter and really liked what he had to say. I ended up meeting him and purchasing this book on audible.

I loved the narrator and found the flow of dialogue pleasing on audible. I found it to be accurate oh how someone might think after losing everyone he has ever known and loved. Imagine you were the main character, Hig? I think after going though everything he has gone through you would feel shock, remorse, terrified, in a state of dullness, and probably would be suffering from PTSD. Anytime he starts to reminisce on his old life, the narration abruptly shifts to make himself stop thinking. I didn’t find this to be annoying but rather realistic to someone’s inner dialogue who is going through pain and is trying to snap back to reality aka the apocalypse.

Hig and his neighbor Bangley have two jobs, secure the perimeter and survive. They don’t necessarily like or dislike each other and are in a lot of ways, an old married couple with little to talk about but they continue to push on.

I don’t want to give away too much about this book because I loved it so much and want readers to enjoy it without knowing the whole plot. But this book questions what does it mean to be human? Is it securing a perimeter and staying alive? Hig and Bangley are really good at that and fight off threat after threat. But Hig is hungry for more. He wants human connection and the only thing that keeps him grounded is his dog Jasper (who obviously can’t talk back to him).

There are parts of this book that are hilarious, scary, thrilling, romantic, and devastating. In a way, this book encapsulates the wide spectrum of human emotion. It questions, now what do we do when the human population has been wiped out to a flu pandemic? Is it kill or be killed? Is there room for human connection when conditions are so brutal? The book also questions whether or not people were truly “living” before this flu hit or if we are all just waiting- waiting for what? When does your life start and what does it mean to be a human living a fulfilled life?

There are so many thought provoking things that have bubbled up for me since finishing this book and I can tell it will haunt me for years to come. Just read it and decide for yourself!

One of my favorites

A very personal post apocalyptic story. A very human look at how things may really be if things really fell apart. Also a love story. Great narration.

Excellent Listen with plenty of action

Would you listen to The Dog Stars again? Why?

Great plot and character development - the attention to detail the author gave to his characters made this a standout book that will be worth a second listen.

What other book might you compare The Dog Stars to and why?

This book compares to the writing style to George Steward and his book Earth Abides with a pinch of Lucifer's Hammer and Farley Mowat thrown in. The book was well thought out and the character development was excellent - this provided a very cohesive and solid book that kept me listening straight through to the end.

My favorite fiction book of all time

Everything you want in a book to escape reality for a while. The story and details take you right there

Survivors are not your friends

It has been 9 years since the human race was mostly wiped out by the flu, but Hig and Bangley are getting by. Hig’s dog Jasper smells trouble and Bangley is there to put it down. They have a defensive position and towers to shoot down hostile humans that get within a couple thousand yards. Other humans are not contagious but they are usually violent and greedy.
Hig is a pilot and flies his Cessna on scouting missions for recon and for supplies.
This is a philosophical book with great characters and some action to keep the plot moving.
What do you do at the end of times when the world has moved on and things are harder to find? Life is slipping away, and you keep thinking of those left behind. Sometimes you need to get away and find some fresh air even when only one other is around. You start to take things for granted again. Even the oddest friendship makes the days better.

A beautiful violent sad and rewarding story

This novel surpassed by cautious expectations having just finished A Boy And His Dog and the End of the World. What I so admired about the book is the character development and careful pacing that allowed one to move with the protagonist, feel his pain and appreciate his skill and perspective. The world in which he lives is populated by people who have devolved into animals. Survivors are either skilled enough to kill or sick enough to scare off marauders. Yes the "good" survivors have skill levels that are almost beyond reason but to survive in this world it makes sense even if the "skills" are brutal to the point of sadistic. I love the sadness, the reflection, the hope, the unwillingness to surrender what is human and what is good. The reader is rewarded with the worst of humanity and the best with a satisfying ending reminiscent of Lonesome Dove. And yes, in my car, stuck in traffic, I cried when the dog died.

absolute top shelf PA

not many books have captured my mind quite like this, and none of those had the hope that this one had. gorgeously written, I'm about to go read everything else Heller has written.

Great read, gritty reality with a dash of hope

A bit slow at the beginning, but we’re winners and we push through!
Great story about love, loss, and apocalypse.

Good story and narrator

I don't typically get into apocalypse stories but I really enjoyed this one. Hope there are more books to come.