I wanted to read this book because of its very interesting premise - it's supposed to be a reworking of Shakespeare's "Henry IV Part 1", set in modern-day England and with a dog as the main character.

Prince is a Labrador and as such strictly adheres to the Labrador Pact ("Remain loyal to your human masters, serve and protect your family at any cost"). But all around him the world seems to be falling apart, and it seems to be the result of the other dog breeds (especially the Springer Spaniels) giving in to hedonism and putting their own pleasure before the well-being of their human families. Prince is determined that his family will remain safe from harm and bad influences. With the help of his mentor, Henry, a much older Labrador, he goes about trying to steer his humans away from danger.

It's a very interesting story, although I'm not sure that it gets the Shakespeare right (I'm not all that familiar with the play, but from the synopsis I got off Wikipedia, there seem to be very few correlations in the book's plot). Shakespeare aside, it's a good, original read. Parts of it are quite amusing and, for a dog lover, it was fun to see the world through the eyes of a faithful family pet. The end, however, was very disturbing - not only the final scene (which is basically revealed at the very beginning of the book), but the events which led to that scene as well. The first half of the book is good, ingenious fun, the second half felt like an unstoppable downward spiral.
Still, it's piqued my interest and now I'm curious to see what Haig has done with Hamlet in The Dead Fathers Club.

More info from the publisher.

I'll be sending this to Eponine254 as part of the South African release relay.

Received from snufkin81... Thank you! Got a lot on at the moment, so I fear I may be a while with it, but I'll read it and send it on asap.

All right fine, I have no will power. While sitting down to study for my Psych test, I picked up this book to read the first chapter or two and ended up reading the whole thing. I really loved it. It was unusual, quirky, interesting and ultimately tragic. It left me feeling deeply sad, but it's an excellent book that I'm very glad I read (failing Psychology aside).

RELEASE NOTES:

During the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, I stumbled across this book. Now I took it back to Swaziland, where I'm going to school. Here I want to read it and release it fairly soon.

CAUGHT IN GRAHAMSTOWN EASTERN CAPE SOUTH AFRICA