I thought I was reading a story about a mute boy and his family's special dogs. When ghosts started showing up delivering psychic messages, it still seemed pretty cool, just not what I was expecting. Unfortunately, the surprises didn't stop and the ending went beyond unexpected and into unsatisfying. Still a good read for the dog parts, though. Update: I have just learned that this story is based on Hamlet, which I haven't read; but the ghost parts, the brother-wife debacle and the ending now make a tiny bit more sense. However it makes me wonder if this book just didn't do it right, or if Hamlet is that disjointed.

Just finished reading this book. I am distraught. An intense emotional experience. It is a masterful book on many levels. However it fails to deliver that sense of justice you find in other great American stories such as "To Kill a Mockingbird". Remember THAT end? I think the author was too hung up on a certain Shakespearean play. Final note, if necessary, return to the prologue and read it again.

One of the best (and saddest) books I have ever read. Beautiful and haunting. Destined to be a classic, in my opinion.

Very good read ! Not exactly feel good read though . I am writing this a week or so after reading and I am still milling it over in my brain.

Edgar, a farm boy who is mute, who's best friends seem to be dogs, tries everything he can to prove that his uncle is behind the death of his father. This fiction book is very differently written, with lots of detail through out the whole book. Despite the climax, it wasn’t very intense. Although I did like this book, not much really happens, and it’s a little hard to say what the characters are like. Many people say that this book ties with Hamlet, but I have not read it so I wouldn’t know. I suggest maybe you should read Hamlet first?

Great read. Loaned from SLL. Tough ending, but the dogs know the way.

This book was actually an audiobook that I finished. I think the audiobook was well done with Richard Poe (the person who read the book) although it took me a while to get into and concentrate on this new process of visualizing with someone else's voice reading the words. Now the story itself, I personally found it long-winded and no real point of the story. Although the ending was sad, some parts of the story that didn't add value or give the story any more insight. The story sort of just drifted off like ashes from fire of the barn.

I wanted to LOVE this book, but it didn't happen. Nothing happened. I read, and read, and read some more, waiting for a significant event to occur or for some THING to happen. I read the whole thing and while I feel slightly guilty saying this, I really wished I'd given up on it sooner.

I couldn't figure out if this was a mystery, story about man and dog, story about the supernatural...what? It was beautifully written and could have been any one of these but I felt the author was pretty unclear himself and couldn't decide which, of course, leaves the reader confused. All in all, disappointing since it COULD have been really good, in my opinion.

This was an enthralling book which I truly could not put down until it was finished. The author describes the relationship between a boy and a dog in intricate detail with an intuitive understanding of what can be felt but not necessarily easily expressed. The plot and the interrelationships between the family members is complex and fascinating.