Day of the Dog

In the midst of all this, Mark Antonio struggles to cope. In the initial attack, Mark lost his wife and child leaving him alone to survive. Despite some survivalist preparation, he finds himself in a radical new world filled with vicious criminals, no centralized authority, and killer monsters. Fortunately, he manages to eke out a living before meeting up with other survivors. During the day, they plan on how to repel the Chinese, Russians, and opportunistic gangs that rose up during the attacks. At night, the deadly mutant dogs continue to stalk them while testing their defenses.

As it may be clear from the summary, “Day of the Dog” shines when it shifts focus, staying with Mark and the ordinary people joining forces to repel man and dog alike. Mark’s sections read like diary entries, lending the story a personal on-the-ground view of day-to-day life in a semi-post-apocalyptic thriller. When Mark rescues and saves a woman and her son, teaching them weapons handling and specialized knowledge; “Day of the Dog” blazes with dogged humanity in the face of unrelenting malevolence.

The sections focusing on a military command plane that goes down and the groups’ quest to notify the reigning authority, unfortunately, lends the story a redundancy that bogs down the story. Quite literally, as information presented to the reader naturally to Mark and his allies is given again for pages. These sections show a nearly identical arc, one that if removed would streamline an otherwise engaging story.

Despite these issues, “Day of the Dog” is a fascinating look at survival with a sci- fi/horror twist. Mark and his allies patriotically attempt to take America back, all the while monstrous canine mutants nip at their heels. The days are filled with tense gun fights and the nights are nail-biting bouts of defense. Crack open the book to follow Mark’s detailed survival adventure, skip over the military’s subplot, and enjoy the ride.