Henry Brock's “Vicious Dogs” isn’t going to be for everyone, since it begins with a decapitated cat. Still, the book’s dark humor keeps the grisly plot afloat. Our Canadian antihero is Derek Lasker, an unsuccessful private detective, who is not only living in his car, but also works as a guinea pig for drug companies. Lasker knows he’s a loser, but he’s funny about it. “I hated to think of all the crap that was floating around inside of me… Being infested with untested drugs was a bit more frightening than the recreational variety that I favored in my younger days.”

When worried father Bob Senior hires him to shadow Bob Junior, an unruly teen suspected of beheading the neighbor’s cat, Lasker is quick to take the case. Compared to other cases he’s worked, this one sounds dull, but the PI is tired of living on the street. As it turns out, decapitating cats may be the least of Junior’s crimes.

While following the young man, Lasker is lead through Toronto’s mean streets, from a psychotic dojo master to a dogfighting ring that pits knife-wielding humans against Rottweilers. Thankfully, the dogfighting scene is mercifully short, although it still makes for uncomfortable reading. On a more positive note, Brock loves to set stereotypes on their clichéd heads. There is a surprising turnaround when one of the bad guys turns out to be an animal-lover who can’t wait to take the nasty Bob Junior apart.

Despite its gruesome subject matter, “Vicious Dogs” remains an excellent, vibrant read, even though it does rather tarnish the image of Canada being an always gentle country where the most untoward behavior is ordering an Americano at a Tim Hortons.

manhattan book review

Star Rating 5/5

It's amazing how a year without work has the ability to alter a person's sense of well being. A victim of the above-mentioned circumstances, Private Investigator (PI) Derek Lasker is one level short of living on the street. An out-of-the-blue phone call from Bob Linehan gets Derek temporarily out of his funk. Bob hires Derek to keep 24-hour tabs on Junior, his seventeen-year-old son, since he is certain that Junior decapitated the next-door neighbor's cat. Toward the end of the first day of the investigation, a twist in the case results in the termination of Derek's assignment. Regardless of the case's outcome, Derek inconspicuously continues the investigation. But just as he is at the cusp of solving the case, Derek has to re-think his evidence when a chain of unexpected events with sinister underpinnings is revealed. 

Brock reshapes the traditional gumshoe persona in his debut noir novel. Set in Toronto, Canada, Brock's first-person plot features Derek Lasker, a quasi-typical loser PI who feigns a tough outer shell. Yet underneath the artificial display is a man with a penchant for classic literature, such as the works of Shakespeare, Orwell, and Kafka. Brock surrounds his principal character with a tight and colorful cast of characters who serve for the most part as foils; many of these foils are just plain bullies. Nonetheless, Derek always finds a way to either work around or with these surly characters while attempting to bring his case to a close. Brock's narrative is a pleasant mix of conventional and not-so-conventional hard-boiled noir, which includes a good deal of captivating dialogue and a pinch of banality amid a heavy surge of mystery-laced twists and turns that is all woven together with light humor. This balanced combination is certain to become a new favorite for noir aficionados. Obviously, since Vicious Dogs closes on a cliffhanger, fans should be on the look-out for its sequel, tentatively named String Theory. 

Eryk Pruitt

Author of Dirtbags and Hashtag.

In VICIOUS DOGS, Henry Brock takes us on a tour of Toronto's seedy underbelly while reinventing the hardboiled noir. The first (of, I hope, many) Derek Lasker Investigations delivers a whip-crack plot and devilish humour that goes down like a tall can of Molson's after a plate of poutine. 

Paul D. Brazill

Author of Cold London Blues and Guns of Brixton

ERIC BEETNER

Author of Rumrunners and The Devil Doesn't Want Me

A classic PI story with a fresh new voice. Vicious Dogs hits all the right notes. And who says Canadians are so polite? By the end, this dog bites!

A north-of-the-border PI story from down in the gutter. Derek Lasker is an investigator with nowhere to go but up, but watching him do so is great fun and will surely launch a long-running series. Spot on for PI fans who like a character to root for tangled in a messy investigation.

So it's still possible to reinvent the Private Eye novel. This really nails depression and self loathing, as we follow our hero's journey from near destitution to regaining his self respect. Sympathetic protagonist, vile villains, heart and gut wrenching moments, unbearably tense climax. The final ordeal was entirely new yet totally credible. There isn't a false note throughout. Excellent

GARY ANDERSON

Author of Animal Magnet and The Gwousz Affair

Vicious Dogs, by newcomer Henry Brock is, well, Canadian noir. Who knew such a thing even existed? Canadian noir—replete with a self-effacing, overly apologetic, and downright decent protagonist, Derek Lasker. Don’t get me wrong—Lasker is a private dick through-and-through. This down-on-his-luck, can’t-seem-to-get-back-on-his-feet, bordering-on-loser P.I. has total gumshoe cred: he drinks to excess, smokes like a chimney, curses without cause, and womanizes (unsuccessfully, of course, which both feeds into and is fed by his loser persona).

But Lasker is notably different than many of the “new noir” protagonists (if one can call them that) who seem pervasive these days—the soulless, irredeemable misanthropes with cockroach hearts and reptilian minds. On that front, Lasker is a breath of fresh air: he quotes from Macbeth, reads the Classics, embraces multiculturalism, and ponders the plight of women in the male-dominated profession of policing the State. Of course, he does all of this while living in the backseat of his too-old-to-be-hip Toyota (let’s just say it ain’t a Prius) after getting the bum’s rush from a fleabag hotel. Brock’s Lasker harkens back to the gumshoes of an earlier era—the intelligent, two fisted, and sometimes sensitive Marlowes and Spades of the hard-boiled world. And these traits serve Lasker well as he searches for a psychotic cat killer and mutilater in his hometown of Toronto. Yes, you read it right—cat killer and mutilater.

Brock spins a tale both twisted and twisty in Vicious Dogs. The intriguing plot keeps the reader turning pages while the colorful characters bid said reader to slow down and enjoy the ride. And what a ride it is—one that doesn’t let up until the final denouement arrives and Brock adroitly wraps up the mystery in a satisfying bow. If you like noir—real noir, with hardboiled dicks, dames, and good old fashioned psychotic killers—then you’ll love Vicious Dogs. Trust me, this one’s for you.