I was in my car coming home from an evening appointment when I heard this book being reviewed on NPR.  I bought it as soon as I got home and began reading it right away!  Who can resist a story of a loyal dog looking for his master and risking sorcery, betrayal, and even death in the process? Not me and I hope you won’t be able to either!

“Venice, May 1815, a hundred and twenty seven years since I lost him.” With those words we enter the mind of Tomorrow, a dog in search of his master. We know immediately that there is something extraordinary about our narrator.  Not only is he fiercely loyal, but he has lived an incredibly long time. Tomorrow tells us that one of the last things his master said to him was that if they became separated they would meet on the steps of the cathedral in Venice, and so the faithful dog has stayed in Venice close to the steps of the cathedral waiting for his master. He might have remained there forever, but one day he senses a change in the air. A smell of something from his past, and then a whiff of his master, and this galvanizes our canine hero to begin a new journey to find his master. A hero, however, cannot go on such a journey on his own and Tomorrow is no exception. His campanion is Sporco, an abandoned,  street wise, dog who claims Tomorrow as his “pack.”

Moving back and forth through time, we learn about Tomorrow’s master as a renowned chemist and physik, who traveled through Europe and found employment at various courts. We also learn of a twisted, malevolent figure from the past who has been following Tomorrow and his master and causing his master great anxiety and fear whenever they encounter him. Tomorrow knows that this man has something to do with his master’s disappearance, and holds the answer to the longevity that his master, Tomorrow and this mans who stalks them seems to hold. In order to find the answers to his questions and find his master, Tomorrow must not only conquer his despair and fear but face extraordinary dangers and loss before he completes his quest.

Dibben has created a great canine hero whose love for his master is profound and unwavering. Although it must be difficult to write from a dog’s perspective, Dibben deftly creates a world of the senses evoking, the smells, the noises, and sights in each place Tomorrow goes, along with the information it conveys and the emotions and yearnings it evokes.  This is one of those books that compels you to put everything else aside and read it all in one sitting!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian and Lauren.

Book Study Worthy? Sure

Read in ebook format.