A Ghost Dog! Here boy! A Review of Under the Whispering Door.

 I had to go out and buy an almost new spittle-o-meter due to this book, but I'll explain that later.

I found Under the Whispering Door quite charming. It's also profound in it's way, if you look deeper at what's really happening to the characters. And the dog, Apollo! Why can't my dog stay with me as a ghost? I would snuzzle him and woofle him and love him. This novel gives us hope in many ways. Hope for people. Hope for the afterlife. Hope that our dogs hang around us after they're dead. I went into my back yard awhile ago just in case Yahtey was still out there.

The characters are just smart-ass enough that their goodness doesn't get irritating. They are good but not goody-two-shoes. I have to admit there was something attractive about Wallace, the protagonist, when he was a jerk. I guess it was because he was so good at it. And the Manager! His assholery was a highlight. Mei, is too perfect in what she does, but she endeared herself to me because she knew just the right insults to make her goodness even out.

Back to the spittle-o-meter. As you know, if you follow my reviews, it irritates me that modern books are full of smirking, eyeball rolling, and lip-biting. I'm happy to say that I didn't have to use my smirk-o-meter at all on Whispering Door. It's out for repairs, anyway, as so many novels cause it to top out. My eyeball-roll=o-meter got about halfway across it's arch. But, every character in the book had to gnaw on their lips. Changing bite to gnaw does not make it original. My lip-bite-o-meter had to be oiled after this. And, and, I've noticed that more and more spittle-on-lips is showing up in books. Almost everyone in Whispering Door had spittle on their lips including the ghost dog. My new spittle-o-meter smoked...smoked!

Authors are so original with their stories, yet they copy each other with such silly things as lip biting (or gnawing), eyeball rolling, smirking, and now spittle...of all things. I'm begging all writers, begging them on my arthritic knees, to please think twice before smirking, spiitling, eyeball rolling and chewing on lips. Too many say the same thing. Think of new words. Make them up if you have to. Shakespeare made up words and everybody wants him over for dinner, right?

I'm going out again to see if my ghost dog is here. Here, boy! Good Dog!