Title: The Dogs of Lenin
Author: Linda Freeny
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 1949502708
Pages: 434
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Aaron Washington

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The Dogs of Lenin by author Linda Freeny generally talks about how partisan the media can be; seeing it is the common channel the masses use to get information and the goings-on. Meet Lisa Danton Cummings, a lovely and well-to-do journalist. Lisa is described as the most popular local news anchorwoman of all major networks. It is also said that she attracts more viewers compared to her male counterparts; suggesting she is liked more. She is obviously successful at her age, big in the industry and financially stable. There is a lot to love about Lisa. Her bubbly and lovely personality adds to the many likable things about her. She drives a white 280 Mercedes and everything about her screams ‘classy’. Simply stated, she rocks.

We are first introduced to Grant Chandler when Lisa has a flashback. It’s January 1967, in San Francisco. Grant and Lisa are in the same American history class. Grant has a different personality. From the text, we can tell that Grant has an aggressive temperament. He asks questions and is bold enough to differ with what’s being said if he doesn’t agree with it. Later on, the two conversed about their backgrounds, personal things and got to know each other more. Readers will like that as the book started, the readers had not just a glimpse of the characters, but also learn a few things about history.

Linda Freeny writes intriguing dialogues between Grant and Lisa. Each of them has individual traits but always they seem to fall into engaging discussions and stories. The book gets more interesting as Grant and Lisa fall in love. Their relationship is good but also weird in some way. Readers will love the romance bit as Freeny has the reader connect with the characters’ story. Their love, however, was somehow ill fated.

The book talks about how the lives of a typical activist and an extraordinaire media personality intertwine. Linda Freeny, in her creative way, wrote the book in a fantastic manner, that almost every story bore a new and interesting tale. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense throughout the book. The hook of every chapter was absorbing enough, that the reader wished to finish up so as to enjoy the next part of the book. It gets better when Grant and Lisa reconnect later in the book both being in different professions but having the same goal.

Linda Freeny is obviously talented. I enjoyed how every character was depicted. Boris, Karin, Simon and every other character mentioned were important in the making of this plot. Grant’s knowledge of Russia, North Korea, and other countries impressed me. His act of aiding someone to escape from East Berlin, his dealings with the sect he joined and his love life were extremely interesting scenes for me in the book.

The Dogs of Lenin is a work of fiction but the events and occurrences mentioned in the book are very credible and happen in the real world. A lot of topics covered comingled fact and fiction. Power, politics, activism, mainstream media’s influence, romance, friendship, and bonds are some of the themes the author covered in the book. If you are among those who enjoy adventure, stories about the underground world and extreme life then this book was written for you. The writing style was nothing short of excellent and the plot was amazing from the start.

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