Night Dogs - Softcover

Anderson, Kent

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099277670 ISBN 13: 9780099277675

Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd, 1998

Synopsis

The North Precinct of Portland, Oregon, is home to two kinds of cops: sergeants who've screwed up elsewhere, and patrolmen who thrive on the action on the Avenue. Officer Hanson is the second kind, a man who seems to fear nothing, except his memories, in his fight to keep the mean streets clean.

About this title

Review:

"Every June 15th out at North Precinct, 'A' relief and graveyard shift started killing dogs. The police brass and local politicians only smiled if they were asked about it, shook their heads, and said it was just another one of those old myths about the precinct. The cops at North Precinct called them 'Night Dogs', feral dogs, wild and half-wild, who roamed the districts after dark. Their ancestors had been pets, beaten and abandoned by their owners to breed and give birth on the streets." That's the stately, carefully weighted language and metaphor that begins what James Crumley (The Last Good Kiss) calls "the best cop novel I have ever read." Of course, the "night dogs" are not only the roaming canines but also the people from the rougher neighbourhoods of Portland, Oregon--most particularly the police who work out of North Precinct. Seen through the eyes of a patrolman named Hanson, a Vietnam vet who thought he had seen the worst the world had to offer over there but is proved wrong every day, the story at first seems episodic, unconnected. But gradually all the threads of anger and pain come together to create an unforgettable picture of urban angst. Author Kent Anderson, who was a Vietnam vet and a Portland policeman in the 1970s, says that some readers might find his book disturbing or offensive: "The truth sometimes affects people that way." Then he adds a chilling footnote: "Things are much worse now than they were in 1975."

Review:

Praise for Kent Anderson's Night Dogs:
"The best cop novel I have ever read. There's never been anything like it."
--James Crumley
"Fiercely authentic and deeply disturbing...Extraordinary."
--Los Angeles Times
"Anderson makes his mark in Wambaugh country with his eloquent, literary voice and an anguished, haunting sensibility. Many novels have been written about the lives of cops and soldiers, but few have probed the American propensity for violence as well as this one."
--Publishers Weekly
"Night Dogs reads like Long Range Reconnaissance. If you come back alive, you'll be different. That's mastery."
--Carsten Stroud
"Night Dogs is not just a fine book, it is an important book."
--James Crumley
"Be warned--start Night Dogs before dinner, forget dinner, next comes glaring morning sunlight and muscle cramps. This is very good writing!"
--Janwillem Van de Wetering
"Kent Anderson knows that wisdom is mourning."
--A. A. Attanasio
"Every so often, you come across a crime novel that flat-out blows you away and restores your faith in the entire genre. Night Dogs... is one of those books. I think it's the best novel I've read, period, in the last couple of years."
--George P. Pelecanos

Praise for Kent Anderson's Night Dogs

"The best cop novel I have ever read. There's never been anything like it."
--James Crumley

"Fiercely authentic and deeply disturbing...Extraordinary."
--Los Angeles Times

"Anderson makes his mark in Wambaugh country with his eloquent, literary voice and an anguished, haunting sensibility. Many novels have been written about the lives of cops and soldiers, but few have probed the American propensity for violence as well as this one."
--Publishers Weekly

"Night Dogs reads like Long Range Reconnaissance. If you come back alive, you'll be different. That's mastery."
--Carsten Stroud

"Night Dogs is not just a fine book, it is an important book."
--James Crumley

"Be warned--start Night Dogs before dinner, forget dinner, next comes glaring morning sunlight and muscle cramps. This is very good writing!"
--Janwillem Van de Wetering

"Kent Anderson knows that wisdom is mourning."
--A. A. Attanasio

"Every so often, you come across a crime novel that flat-out blows you away and restores your faith in the entire genre. Night Dogs... is one of those books. I think it's the best novel I've read, period, in the last couple of years."
--George P. Pelecanos

Praise for Kent Anderson's Night Dogs
"The best cop novel I have ever read. There's never been anything like it."
--James Crumley
"Fiercely authentic and deeply disturbing...Extraordinary."
--Los Angeles Times
"Anderson makes his mark in Wambaugh country with his eloquent, literary voice and an anguished, haunting sensibility. Many novels have been written about the lives of cops and soldiers, but few have probed the American propensity for violence as well as this one."
--Publishers Weekly
"Night Dogs reads like Long Range Reconnaissance. If you come back alive, you'll be different. That's mastery."
--Carsten Stroud
"Night Dogs is not just a fine book, it is an important book."
--James Crumley
"Be warned--start Night Dogs before dinner, forget dinner, next comes glaring morning sunlight and muscle cramps. This is very good writing!"
--Janwillem Van de Wetering
"Kent Anderson knows that wisdom is mourning."
--A. A. Attanasio
"Every so often, you come across a crime novel that flat-out blows you away and restores your faith in the entire genre. Night Dogs... is one of those books. I think it's the best novel I've read, period, in the last couple of years."
--George P. Pelecanos

Praise for Kent Anderson's Night Dogs
"The best cop novel I have ever read. There's never been anything like it."
--James Crumley
"Fiercely authentic and deeply disturbing...Extraordinary."
--Los Angeles Times
"Anderson makes his mark in Wambaugh country with his eloquent, literary voice and an anguished, haunting sensibility. Many novels have been written about the lives of cops and soldiers, but few have probed the American propensity for violence as well as this one."
--Publishers Weekly
"Night Dogs reads like Long Range Reconnaissance. If you come back alive, you'll be different. That's mastery."
--Carsten Stroud
"Night Dogs is not just a fine book, it is an important book."
--James Crumley
"Be warned--start Night Dogs before dinner, forget dinner, next comes glaring morning sunlight and muscle cramps. This is very good writing!"
--Janwillem Van de Wetering
"Kent Anderson knows that wisdom is mourning."
--A. A. Attanasio
"Every so often, you come across a crime novel that flat-out blows you away and restores your faith in the entire genre. Night Dogs... is one of those books. I think it's the best novel I've read, period, in the last couple of years."
--George P. Pelecanos

Praise for Kent Anderson's Night Dogs

"The best cop novel I have ever read. There's never been anything like it."
--James Crumley

"Fiercely authentic and deeply disturbing...Extraordinary."
--Los Angeles Times

"Anderson makes his mark in Wambaugh country with his eloquent, literary voice and an anguished, haunting sensibility. Many novels have been written about the lives of cops and soldiers, but few have probed the American propensity for violence as well as this one."
--Publishers Weekly

"Night Dogs reads like Long Range Reconnaissance. If you come back alive, you'll be different. That's mastery."
--Carsten Stroud

"Night Dogs is not just a fine book, it is an important book."
--James Crumley

"Be warned--start Night Dogs before dinner, forget dinner, next comes glaring morning sunlight and muscle cramps. This is very good writing!"
--Janwillem Van de Wetering

"Kent Anderson knows that wisdom is mourning."
--A. A. Attanasio

"Every so often, you come across a crime novel that flat-out blows you away and restores your faith in the entire genre. Night Dogs... is one of those books. I think it's the best novel I've read, period, in the last couple of years."
--George P. Pelecanos

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0099277670
• ISBN 13: 9780099277675
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 533