If you have ever been home alone with a pet and caught them staring into space, often just over your shoulder, you will have almost certainly thought of the idea that animals can see things in the spirit world that we cannot. In Mean Spirited, Nick Roberts takes that idea and runs with it in a highly entertaining read.
Matt is a teacher and a barely functioning alcoholic. When learning of the death of one of his former students, he heads to her house to leave a poem she had written in English class. While there, Matt finds her dog and decides to take him to the vet, who just so happens to be his ex-wife.
At the start of the story, we are shown that all might not be right with Conehead, the loveable dog, but things quickly move downhill once Matt decides to keep the dog to make his son happy.
The story unfolds at a rapid pace, with all who come into contact with the dog put into immediate danger. Conehead is a mean-spirited pup, or is he? Is there something more nefarious going on? To tell you would spoil all the fun of this one, but I can tell you that there are a couple of cool little twists along the way.
I was tempted to give this one a 5, but the regular interrupted thoughts from Matt got in the way. It was cool to get inside the head of a man struggling with alcohol, but there were times when I found it distracting. It’s a small complaint and not one that would stop me from recommending Mean Spirited.
4 stars out of 5