books, movies & music Just Life by Neil Abramson, and Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley, each reviewed by Anna Cooke
Whatever we do to the animals, we are doing to ourselves. An unidentified dangerous virus has broken out in a New
York City neighborhood. It appears that young school children are most susceptible to contracting it. There has been one known death. Amid the growing panic and a demand for immediate answers, suspicion abruptly falls on dogs as the source. Soon the governor is calling in the National Guard. What will you do when they come for your dog? Just Life is the second novel
by Neil Abramson. It is, to say the least, engrossing at its intense pace. The story’s protagonist is Samantha Lewis, a veterinarian, dedicated to running her no kill sanctuary in the city for unwanted, abused and aban- doned dogs. Sam is already at her breaking point at the shel- ter when she learns about the unidentified virus. She knows from personal experience that, despite the lack of real
evidence against the dogs, a quarantine
ordered by the governor is only the beginning. There’s an election coming up and the City will be in the
national spotlight. As questions about the source of the virus mount so does pressure for a politically expedient resolution. Follow the money—big pharma—by way of a large veterinary technology company, is represented in the novel as well.
“Two hours after she would make the call, Sam knew their heads would be off and their brains biopsied. The proximity continuum would seize every dog at the shelter and then each one in the neighborhood - including her own. The con- tinuum would demand their lives, just as it had those of the pigeons. When it came to animals, those in charge had a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality that resulted in unacceptably high body counts.”
–from Just Life, a novel by Neil Abramson, published by Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Sam’s allies in her fight to save the shelter and the City’s dogs
from death include a local priest, a troubled teenager, a smart- mouthed former psychologist sent to Sam’s shelter as part of her community service sentence, and a cop. Each one of them finds solace from personal demons, with a dog. Samantha knows the one person who has the answers that can save the dogs is the last person on earth she ever wants to
44 THE NEW BARKER
speak with again. Contacting him will mean she must confront the traumatic past she has fought so hard to escape from all of these years. Of course, dogs play a major role throughout the book. One
of the most interesting twists is the legend of the Central Park Pack, a group of stray dogs that have formed a tight-knit unit around a leader and roam Central Park. The lore is that they come to the aid of people about to be assaulted or robbed in the park. About the author:
Neil Abramson was born in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations and received his law degree from Northwestern University. He has been active in animal rights and welfare for 20 plus years. He calls himself a worrier by nature and says, “I write about what keeps me up at night. What if a city or state health official knocked on my door with a court order and told me I was required to hand over my dog or cat or bird because they are the carrier of some disease? I did some research and learned that, unfortunately, this is not at all a far-fetched scenario. Emerging zoonotic illnesses (those that are passed from animals to humans) are frightening as hell. Health officials often need to make quick decisions with irrevocable consequences based on limited information. I wrote Just Life to explore how fear—of forces both known and unknown—can impact our relationships with animals.”
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“If you spend your entire life trying to cheat death, there’s no time left over to embrace life. Don’t be afraid. That’s all I’m saying.” An excerpt from Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley. When we find ourselves in love with someone so fiercely,
it’s hard to imagine the hole that will be left in your heart when they’re gone. Someone recently said to me, “I’ve come to look at the pain and grief of losing a dog as the ‘price’ we pay for rescuing them. So hard. But so worth it.” In Rowley’s novel, Ted
Flask’s love for Lily is all-con- suming. He trusts her. They have wonderful, silly conversa- tions, go on fun daily outings. Enjoy Friday night pizza and watching TV. He cannot live without her. Lily is Ted’s aging Dachshund. When he discovers the octopus grow- ing on Lily’s head, he argues with it and eventu- ally does battle with it on the high seas, all in an
effort to save his beloved Lily. The writing of
the scenes during Flask’s battle with the octopus rivals that of any scene out of Herman Melville’s book, Moby Dick. The octopus is how Ted sees Lily’s tumor. Accepting the truth that she is dying is too hard. (Continued on next page)
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