Canis

by Robert E. Armstrong

Book Overview

One cold February morning the mangled body of a homeless derelict turned up in one of Houston's wooded and desolate suburbs. The body was deteriorated and torn apart by animals.

Animals disturbing bodies was not unusual, however, forensics showed clear and very convincing evidence that one or more animals may have been involved in the killing itself. Perplexed Houston police asked the Health Department's Animal Control Director, Dr. Duncan MacDonell,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595297951
• ISBN13: 9780595297955
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A dark and enjoyable vet mystery

CANIS is a dark story-- have you ever noticed that nearly all good vet mysteries are dark? Robert Armstrong's main character, Duncan MacDonell, is the Houston city vet. He works for animal control in a city where the annual euthanasia statistics are given in TONS. He spends a lot of his time trying not to beat the snot out of local politicians who want to look good to the animal-loving public while doing absolutely nothing to help hisdepartment, where morale is understandably low. And then something starts attacking homeless people.CANIS is a good example of Lawrence Block's comment that people who really know their subject can confidently take you along without telling you every step. Armstrong injects credible information when and where it's needed, and he doesn't overdo it. At the same time, readers are so steeped in the miasmaof the Animal Control department that I had to stop reading several times, because I was getting as depressed as some of the euthanasia techs. A warning to sensitive readers: chapter twenty-four is very hard to read. We're taken along as Mac does his weekly walk-through of the shelter, and in few vivid lines he describes what the workers there deal with every day. There were a few descriptions of animals in the euthanasia ward that hauntedme all weekend, even though they were only a couple of lines long. (Your pets ARE spayed and neutered, right? Right?)The thing is, by this point in the story, Mac is up to his neck in trying to figure out who and what is responsible for the gruesome deaths of at least four people, and the chapter reinforces our impression of his state of mind. It's atmospherically very effective. And his feelings of anger andhelplessness are channelled into his quest to solve this crime.Mystery-wise, I suspected everyone. There's at least one unexpected turn of events that converts the story from a thriller to a true mystery, and although I suspected everyone, I completely missed a number of clues and so was honestly surprised by the solution. I also give Mr Armstrong kudos for making the victims into real people, rather than pieces of a puzzle. This isn't a story for the squeamish, but it features real people and a satisfying mystery.

Great read

I loved this book. It was fast-paced and suspenseful. I couldn't put it down. The characters were great. Even though he's jaded from years in a big-city work environment, Dr. Mac is very caring, but no push-over. His wife, Jeannie, is the ultimate dream-wife, and Dr. Mac's co-workers are very real.I'm ready for Mr. Armstrong's next book. Hopefully, he'll have something new soon.

Food for Thought

Dr. Duncan MacDonell is one of the most interesting characters to grace the pages of a mystery. The story centers around mauled bodies. When the police realize that two of the victims had been alive at the time they were mauled, they turn to Dr. Mac for help. Mr. Mac is a vet with the Houston Bureau of Animal Regulation & Care (BARC). There's humor, suspense, and an education rolled into one book. Sprinkled among the pages of politics and police work are startling statistics regarding animals discarded like daily newspapers. The author has created some colorful characters and injected some subtle lessons in life. A must read.

A tour de force

A great read: a fascinating mystery with with interesting, flawed characters. The author also eloquently addresses the sheer mass, the tonnage if you will; the near-hopelessness of the animal control problem in a metropolis. I think the numbers, the incredible mass of animal lives passing through, and the constant undercurrents of despair in shelters are well past the ability of folks who haven't actually seen the operation of an urban animal-control facility to comprehend, but Dr Armstrong has made both a strong literary statement and a touching plea successfully in the same book, and that's not easy. Get this book to enjoy it. Get this book to learn.

CANIS, by Robert E. Armstrong

In Canis, by Robert E. Armstrong, the head of Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation & Care is Dr. Duncan MacDonell, a man of compassion, intelligence and common sense who's already doing what anyone will recognize as a difficult, depressing and thankless job. Then street people begin to turn up dead, victims of attacks by a huge canine. The police come to MacDonell for help. Is this killer beast a loose dog? A wild animal? A wolf-dog hybrid? Is it under someone's control? In the process of sorting it all out, MacDonell goes up against local politicians, his boss, the news media, animal rights activists, and some shady characters who sell vicious guard dogs to criminals and to ... well, politicians.MacDonell, with years of experience as a military veterinarian behind him, enlists the help of his employees, some trusted and some not. He recruits a former Air Force colleague who is an expert dog trainer. MacDonell even seeks the aid of his delightful wife, Jeannie. Just when he learns who is turning huge canines on homeless people and why, MacDonell finds himself in immediate danger of becoming the next prey in a deadly hunt.This gripping story, its details handled with sensitivity, balance, and just the right dashes of humor and brilliance, will keep you enthralled to the heart-palpitating end. A great read.