Dogs

Though not typical of Kress' hard science fiction novels, I enjoyed this book. I don't know if Kress is attempting a switch to more "mainstream" stuff, but I think it was successful. You probably won't convince the more hard core scifi folks of the books merits, but this was better than say Greg Bears attempts to leave the genre. I rank it up there with the popular stuff that Preston/Childs or Rollins has put out. I haven't been disappointed in her stuff yet.

Written as if ripped from the newspapers of a v. slightly alternate Earth, Dogs is fast moving and irresistable from start to finish. The characters -- mostly from a small town not-too near Washington D.C. -- are simply drawn yet interesting; the puzzle stayed one step ahead of me throughout, and the dogs of the title... well, they lived up to their titular role. Dogs is a look at how people live up, or down, to their true selves in an emergency; a sharp commentary about how we treat pets as children; a sad reminder of how anymore, few of us trust our Government in an emergency, and a compelling page-turner with a wonderfully satisfying ending.