A brilliant interaction between a young teen and a middle-aged cynic continues through murders, kidnapping, strange encounters, and a suspense that stays right up to the end. This book is about damaged people and their world. Its beauty lies in the way characters are portrayed and the humanity of everyone involved. Descriptions are at a minimum, but provide all that is needed for an exciting and entertaining read. I read it in one day because I was not able to put it down once I began reading.

I think dogfighting is so barbaric that I nearly quit reading SLEEPING DOG by Dick Lochte. But, the story was so good it kept me going; instead, the volume of my daily reading reduced drastically.

There’s a very old-fashioned feel to the story—I kept expecting Humphrey Bogart to appear. The good guys are repeatedly attacked and beaten up, for what seems like slight reason. And there are plenty of horrible deaths.

Not my kind of story, you would say.

The ingeniousness of SLEEPING DOG comes from the two point-of-view characters: one, a world-weary, hard-boiled private investigator and the other, a precocious, strong-willed, fourteen-year-old. The P.I. writes spare text with an awareness of human depravity, while in alternating chapters—without ever telling the same story twice—the young Miss provides a fuller emotional explanation of events, only slightly twisted by her unique attitude.

At the end of the book Dick Lochte writes about the numerous awards the story has received and it’s obvious to me they’re well deserved. The original story was written in 1985 and Lochte made some small modifications to the ebook version. I think the book would have been better had he added a Cast of Characters (I think most books would be better for one). As it was I had to go back to reread large sections of the book to search for a character’s prior deeds.

If you haven’t read SLEEPING DOG by Dick Lochte, I suggest you dash out, grab the book and put it on the top of the reading pile.

Flavia de Luce move over! Dick Lochte's lively neo-noir novel from the 80's features a rugged middle-aged private eye that inadvertently teams up with a precocious teenager who adds both spice and complexity to his attempts to find her missing dog and resolve his office-mate's murder.

I loved every minute of this fast-paced mystery, and for me it read more like The Odd Couple, or a buddy story. The unlikely pairing was both tender and funny and their head-butting never grew tired for me.

The story itself was very complex with layers and layers of evil-doers, but Lochte pulls it all together in the end in a very satisfying manner. I would love to encounter this unlikely team again.

Twisty plot and two delightful protagonists who recount the case in tag team fashion. Good to see it back in print!

My initial impression of this book was very mixed as the chapters are written in different voices - often giving differing viewpoints of the same situation or incident. But around 4 or 5 chapters in, the book really clicked and the different voices gelled into one story for me and I started to understand the voices and their views on life.
The dog of the title doesn’t sleep as much as be a background to the story, so the title doesn’t really tell you much about the book, but the dog certainly does cause a considerable sequence of events to occur.
As a PI the main character is very short on the more traditional fighting skills you light expect for him to have but as a result is somewhat loveable as he does keep getting beat up, the girl he is employed by is certainly very precocious, perhaps being brought up by a grandmother has exacerbated her natural tendency towards this.
It is difficult to say much about the dog without spoiling a major part of the story - except that it was of a terrier breed.
Overall, I liked the story and found the method of writing interesting and somewhat refreshing - once I got used to it. I would recommend this as a story with a difference - less of the alpha male too and more of the feminism with the teenager.

More twists and turns than a drive along the Mohawk Trail. With a precocious teenager displaying the wit and subtle sarcasm of a seasoned stand-up comic. This whodunit thriller leads the reader through big cities and rural villages in quest for who? Even they do not know who they are chasing but during the entire chase they are being chased, and they do not know who is chasing them. Sound like a dog chasing his tail? As the author explains in the end notes this is a book written some few years ago and revised, but minus mention of modern day technical contrivances such as smart phones or GPS but do not let that cloud your decision. This is an engaging read set in a time readers will recognize only by description of the cities and surroundings. Lacking also is the super hero sleuth who easily defeats any and all opponents as he gets his ass kicked more than a few times. A five star page turner that will not disappoint.