Rating: 
Summary: illuminating
Review: This surprising and original first novel seems destined to become a horror classic. In New York City in the year 2009, 150 dogs arrive, walking upright, speaking English and clad in 19th century Prussian formal wear. It turns out that the "Monster Dogs" were created by an insane German named Augustus Rank, whose mad vision it was to create a race of super-soldiers. In 1882 he was forced to flee to Canada, where he and his successors perfected their creations. But ultimately the dogs rebelled and now they are ready to enter the world. Ms Bakis greatest achievement is to make this whole scenario seem totally plausible and she creates a set of characters who earn our affection and eventually our pity, as the dogs begin to descend into insanity. If ultimately she seems a little less sure-handed when the time comes to wield her creations and conclude the story, we are prepared to forgive her because the set up has been so provocative. Like all the best monster fiction, the creatures serve to illuminate the question of what it means to be human. GRADE: B+
Rating:
Summary: Hunderdemmerung
Review: I came away from Lives of the Monster Dogs most wistful. Sometime in the near future, according to author Kristen Bakis, the great Monster Dogs would leave thier north Canada village, and bring thier Victorian elegance, thier Frankenstein bodies, thier doomed lives to Gotham*s refuge of New York City. The story line is alternated largely between the sad German Sheppard Ludwig, and a young (human) woman who becomes thier intermediary for most of the outside world. Much is made (too much?)of the life of thier mad creator and *father* August Rank, he learns, he experiments, he kills his half-brother. (Though it is never stated so in the book, I wonder if the young woman is descended from the brother*s posthumous child.) We are given the remote town Rank and his Dogs flee to, the opera written of its rebellion and destruction; in New York the Monster Dogs hold a parade in the snow, build a fairybook castle. And all the while the Dogs are slowly going mad and dying (with the odd exception of a female Samoyed). There exists no fully driving storyline, much of the book exists in retrospective, in describing its portrait of an ultimately doomed society; the beauty is that this techinique is so effective. Ludwig tries, in increasing desparation, to convey his loneliness, his fears to his human friend. I come away wishing the Monster Dogs were real, that such wonders could really invade our simian world. At best, there is only a dark, beautiful glimpse.
Rating: 
Summary: scary
Review: In reference to an earlier poster (the first one who gave it 1 star)- this woman is a creative writing professor.... scary, huh?
Rating: 
Summary: An off beat, poignant, original story
Review: Original and powerfully presented, Kirsten Bakis' "Lives of the Monster Dogs" is a compelling tale about 150 anthropomorphic canines -- aristocratic, charming, wealthy and plagued by their own madness and self-perceived hideousness -- descending upon the City of New York in the year 2008.
Written with agonizing attention to detail, the story transports you to the lavish flats of the Upper West Side and down to the stinking slums of Alphabet City. The exquisite 19th Century Prussian dress of the monster dogs can almost be seen on the Bull Terriers, Alaskan Malamutes, German Shepherds and other canines of Bakis' tale. The characters themselves are well rounded, with complex personalities which, though only outlined to the reader in some places, are given enough idiosyncrasies as are necessary to be understood and captured.
The format of the story takes the reader through several centuries, giving them a feel for times past and present, laying the foundation for not only the character's lives, but their backgrounds as well. All of these elements lead to exotic, otherwise unbelievable, "monsters" whose lives, spirits, minds and emotions thrive in a reader's imagination, keeping them turning the pages.
Those, such as myself, whose emotions are moved by the lives, and deaths, of the heroes and heroines of this book will find a wide range of hopes, and sadness, from chapter to chapter. Though not uplifting, "Lives of the Monster Dogs" is still intriguing and gives one food for thought as the dogs explore their reason for being and their conditional acceptance based on wealth.
Driven forward by a doomsday plot, the quirky, mad conclusion made this story a 9 instead of a 10. Crippled by the burgeoning weight of an inevitable, forseeable ending, this roller coaster novel comes to an abrupt hault. Though some questions can excuseably go unanswered, one gets the feeling that remaining loose ends were tied up rather rapidly in the final chapters. Still majorily excellent throughout, "Lives of the Monster Dogs" is wonderfully moving, touching and vivid. You'll miss Ludwig too.
Rating:
Summary: These aren't Clifford Simak's talking dogs.
Review: This is another book review from Wolfie and Kansas, the boonie dogs from Toto, Guam. This book is about a group of "monster" dogs, who walk upright, have prosthetic hands, and speak like humans. In reviewing this book, a miscaninthropic reviewer from the New York Times Book Review stated, "I look at dogs differently these days. Where once I saw slavering lumps of fur, I now see intelligence, grace, the hint of personality." Grrrr . . . .
Well, we do not look at humans differently after reading this book. Where once we saw chattering lumps of relatively hairless flesh, that's what we still see (excluding those humans who feed and pet us.) The human characters in this book, just like humans in real life, have less intelligence, grace, and personality than either real dogs or the fictitious monster dogs. Even the lead human character, Clio Pira, who narrates much of the book, is rather dense. In the preface she asserts that her daughter is the first child in the world to have a Samoyed for a godmother. Just who, pray tell, does this noncanine animal of primate derivation think has been watching over, protecting, befriending, playing with, and guiding human puppies for the past million years or so? Samoyeds, German shephards, beagles, boonie dogs, and other dogs, of course. We dogs have been the godparents of humanity almost since you lost your tails and fell out of the trees.
The monster dogs in this book are more interesting than the human characters, but we still found them less doggish than their counterparts in such books as Clifford Simak's "City" and Dean Koontz's "Watchers". The author seems less interested in keeping the monster dogs in canine character than in using them as symbols of alienation. We haven't figured out yet if that alienation is supposed to be that of mixed-race humans, of immigrants from different cultures, or of persons suffering from incurable diseases, or all three.
Despite all of the above whining, we still liked this book. Most of it is a good read. The dogs often were sufficiently doggish. The use of an opera libretta written by a dog was a nice touch, reflecting our natural, often sing-song and rhythmic, way of communicating. The picture on the book jacket is strikingly attractive. Finally, the book is a convenient, compact size, for easy carrying even by those of us who do not have prosthetic hands.
Rating:
Summary: I NEED a sequel ;)
Review: I'm a huge dog lover and found this story of walking, talking, intelligent dogs very interesting. There is a sad undertone to the whole story and an underlying thread of darkness , cruelty and the grotesque (the cow, the cow!). Very original and imaginative. The only small complaint I have, and it is because of the way the story is being told (in journal entries and by several different points of view) I'm unable to become connected to any one character or know any of them on an intimate level. My only complaint? I do wish it hadn't ended with so many questions left unanswered.
Rating:
Summary: Sophomoric
Review: Formulaic and predictable. Dogs with voice boxes - new; the plot - genre fiction. The ending is easily predictable, as the book follows its path, or genre, from the first word to the last. There are one or two interesting (though not terribly unique) characters. The the only human character granted the all-important access to meet the dogs, though, is nothing - filler, plot device, a major character not at all fleshed out. Ms. Bakis learned a formula and she wrote a book that uses it. She came up with a concept--dogs with advanced brains and voices and hands--then told the same story we've been reading our whole lives. No suprises here, nothing going on. I tried to like it and I wanted to like it, but the author's poor writing and story telling wouldn't let me. This is not an intelligent book about intelligent dogs and there are far better examples of genre fiction available. If you want _something_ original along with your dogs-with-voice-boxes, it's not in here.
Rating:
Summary: A Diamond in the Ruff
Review: It may be a cliche, but yes, this book has something for everyone. Rather than a tired old bestseller about one woman's struggle with weight gain (groan) or dealing with one's quirky New England (or Provence) neighbors, this plucky little debut novel offers more...much more. The Germanic penchant for precision, discipline and the scientific method, blessing or curse? This story has an opinion. The "infinite monkeys" problem...if a single-minded community worked tirelessly for a century with only Victorian technology, could they produce altered life-forms? This book says probably...but there would be important differences, wouldn't there? The "monster dogs" are thought by some readers to be metaphors, but maybe they reflect our anxieties and preparation for someday living among genetically engineered animals (and people). In a world full of transgenic organisms, talking dogs who walk upright and wear silk and velvet are not so far-fetched. Would dogs manipulated into human intelligence behave just like humans? Why not? The pace of the book is quickened by multiple viewpoints, flashbacks and foreshadowing. The "mad scientist" diary entries are counterbalanced with the libretto of an opera written by the monster dogs, chronicling their liberation from the mad scientist's doomed enclave. Similar to other classic science fiction from the 50's, this work will probably be more well-known in 50 years than it is now. Do yourself a favor and get in on the ground floor.
Rating: 
Summary: Ruff!
Review: Lives of The Monster Dogs, is an interesting premise, and for the most part effective. The overwhelming and most effective feeling Bakis conveys is one of sadness. Sadness because a mad genius has bred a race of dogs with prosthetic limbs, mechanized voice boxes and a higher intelligence (for dogs) and the dogs are fiercely unhappy, for, they are more or less machines in an otherwise organic body, a body that is rapidly deteriorating and they know it. One of the places the story fails to hold me is within the dialogue. It isn't bad, but it isn't good either. And the further I read the less interesting the story is. The climax I just sort of skim. The sense of action is too minimal to keep me interested. Plus, Bakis isn't very successful in the complete personification of the dogs . After awhile I just can't take the story to heart. A good effort, but not a real memorable one.
Rating:
Summary: Stuck with me after several years.
Review: I read this book on a recommendation around 3 years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I make no pretense that I am of book critic calibur, but I will say that I woke up this morning thinking deeply about the book. Impressed that it could affect me for so long, I decided to buy it as a birthday gift for a friend. Not the most brilliantly crafted prose, but sometimes you WANT to take a wild ride in a Jeep through the deep woods and high mountains. If you're looking for the tonic experience of a Cadillac, look elsewhere.
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