Lucky Dog (Mark Barrowcliffe)

Mark Barrowcliffe's previous three books all had a similar lad-lit Nick Hornby like style to them and to be honest all three were brilliant.

Several pages in to this book I noticed there was shift from the authors usual style and I was a bit worried.

Not the usual boy meets, boy mucks up, boy finds another girl but very funny on the way formula. For crying out loud this time the main character's mother passes away and his best pal is a dog, Lucky Dog, which speaks to him and helps him out in smokey Poker games. Unusual!

Now to begin with I thought this was a bit on the silly side but as you get in to the first few chapters the dog's role starts to feel more and more realistic.

Dave Bartok, the main character, is a well intentioned estate agent, again unusual, and his latest good deed leads him and his dog to become involved with powerful local businessmen.

The path he follow is hilarious and you soon forget about the fact that you are becomming increasingly interested in to the capers card shark of a canine and a hapless doomed businessman.

The book is brilliant throughout and, as with all of Barrowcliffe's previous books, will have you giggling at each page turn.