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Leslie W P Garland
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The Little Dog: A story of good and evil, and retribution. (The Red Grouse Tales) Kindle Edition

by Leslie Garland (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.7 out of 5 stars 72
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Told in The Red Grouse Inn, this charming, adult, speculative, spiritual and philosophical tale will intrigue, entertain and keep you guessing in equal measure. Bill, a retired forester, recounts a week in his early working life when he was paired with an unsavoury workmate. This commences with them finding a little domestic dog sitting beside a forest haul-road way out in a remote part of the forest. As Bill wonders what this little dog is doing in such an unlikely location the week becomes increasingly uncomfortable. When the little dog disappears events take an unexpected turn and our young troubled and naive Bill starts to learn some awful truths. The universal appeal of this enjoyable, entertaining and intriguing short story, with its beautiful and atmospheric imagery, surreal and paranormal concepts of angels, ghosts and devils, will have you turning the pages and ready to read the next one. (Warning to sensitive readers; this tale does contain a tiny bit of bad language and references to sex)
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  1. Part of series
    The Red Grouse Tales
  2. Print length
    105 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    July 12, 2015
  6. File size
    2028 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

My initial idea was oftwo men finding a small domestic dog sitting beside a road out in the back end of beyond. It struck me as bizarre - what is a dog like that doing in a place like that? But what if the dog was not as it appeared to be - then perhaps, its presence was not so bizarre. Link this with the age old question of "what makes men evil?" together with a modern take on an old Biblical battle and I felt I had a story. Of necessity the narrator had to be ignorant of what was going on - a crime story when you know whodunit and why on page one is unlikely to be much of a crime story! - so Bill (the narrator) had to be young and green at the time of the action and only gradually realise what was happening as the story progressed. I also needed someone emotionally and spiritually solid to metaphorically hold Bill's hand and so the Reverend Money was born. Yes, the ending is a bit ambiguous, because it is an account of what Bill thought he saw. What did actually happen? I'll leave it up to you the reader to decide what you think.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B011J1YI88
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Leslie W P Garland (July 12, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 12, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2028 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 105 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 out of 5 stars 72

About the author

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Leslie W P Garland

Leslie W P Garland

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I didn't start out in 'writing', but in engineering, having qualified as a Chartered Civil Engineer. For several years I worked on projects in the UK, the Far East and Africa. During this period I won the Institution of Civil Engineers "Miller Prize" for a paper on tunnelling - a bit of a dry technical thing (but a start in writing?) and my experience in tunnelling has given me a wonderful idea for my next novel. Changing times resulted in a change in direction and after qualifying as an Associate Member of both the British Institute of Professional Photography and the Royal Photographic Society I started my own stock photograph library and wrote for the trade press. An unexpected break in my Internet connection fortuitously presented the time to make a start on a long cherished project of a series of short stories, and the first two of "The Red Grouse Tales" were drafted. Two more tales and a novel have since followed. Since then I have completed a further three novellas and a novel and started winning awards for my writing. Right now I am trying to complete a second batch of 'tales' and am part way through writing a trilogy.

More information is available on my web site: http://www.lesliegarland.com

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bonnye Reed Fry
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read!
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
You don't have to attain a great age to put into perspective your naive youthful miscues on life. But it helps. Bill is now a retired forest ranger in England, looking back on a week in his youth when he worked with another ranger he did not know but could not like. As they cut the remaining scrub trees on an old clearcut site, Bill is exposed to a level of unspoken malice that shocks him. Looking back he is sure it was not an exaggeration. But the little dog was really special...

The story is fine - the descriptive passages of the beauty and grandeur of the forests he was working in are exceptional. I want more by Leslie W. P. Garland.

I received a free electronic copy of this novelette from TheFussyLibrarian and Leslie W. P. Garland. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.
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N Tredoux
3.0 out of 5 stars Almost but not quite
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2019
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I must admit that I was attracted to the title because I love dogs, and the fact that the dog was mainly a symbol was disappointing to me. There is something about the writing style that made it difficult for me to like this book, and I found myself persevering just to get it out of the way. I prefer to have moral and philosophical matters suggested to me more subtly. There were times when the book felt preachy and belaboured the moral. Also, the editorial care could have been better in a book that aspires to be quite erudite in its vocabulary. There were too many typographical errors. Judging by the other reviews, the book clearly has its audience. For me, it missed the mark.
One person found this helpful
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Cristella
4.0 out of 5 stars Where are you Headed? Heaven or Hell?
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2016
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I would have liked to give this five stars but haven't for the simple reason, the story began too slowly. In fact I almost gave up reading due to that.
Thankfully - I didn't because now that I have read it all, it certain is well worth continuing.
I also felt in the beginning that this was a man's tale, and narrated in the way of male description.
I wanted Bill to insist on Blackman stopping the truck on way home to take the little dog with them. However, almost by the end of the terrifying events, I was glad, for Bill's life, he hadn't.
I didn't like Blackman, and saw him as a vile mouthed bully.
This story gives way - to much thought. And I know I will be mulling it over for a long time.
And I certainly won't forget it! Which means it was GOOD!
What we sow on earth, we reap at the end of our life, and that may not be a long one.
Are people born evil? Some are. Some are the devils spawn.
Don't let this story pass you by - it is well written and the descriptions marvellous.
2 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Morality Play? Perhaps
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Author Leslie W P Garland has created a deeply thought-provoking story. Young Bill spends a week working high in the forest with a curmudgeon of a co-worker, but it is only after a serious shock on the last day of the week while riding the ferry back across the lake that leads to learning just how bad a man his colleague actually was. I won't ruin the story, but one must wonder at Bill's experience the following week: did he suffer somewhat of a psychotic break, or did he actually witness something supernatural? Read the book and decide for yourself. A+ Bravo!
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Kelly Tarr
3.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking but a bit slow
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2017
This book took a little while to get into. I liked the idea of two men finding a little dog along the side of the road on their way to work. This book had a lot of philosophy and deep questions about good versus bad and what constitutes evil. However, it left me wanting more. As a short story, I missed some relationship building and character development. For example, I wanted Bill to talk to Blackman and just ask him a few questions about his life. I wanted Bill to be more sympathetic and to find out what Blackman was going through and what made him so grumpy. Especially after Bill had talked to the priest, I thought he would at least try to find out more personal information about Blackman or just be more sympathetic in general. All humans are going through battles and struggles that we don't know about, it is our duty to sympathize and assist humankind. Could some of the evil been prevented if Blackman had felt kindness or sympathy? We didn't have enough information.
I really didn't like how Bill considered the little dog to be evil towards the end. The dog was a sweet, innocent creature. I wanted Bill to take Mickey home and use him as a companion.

A book with a lot of good questions about human nature and deep thoughts on philosophy.

Note: I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Carmen
4.0 out of 5 stars Internal Thoughts
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2018
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The narrator does a lot of 'good vs. evil' thinking, which in turn means that he ends up spending quite a bit of time in his head. Those that prefer plot driven stories will most likely have to give this one a skip. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Attention grabber
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2019
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A short story that grabs you and refuses to let you go until the very end and leaves you wishing for more. Excellent storytelling.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2018
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A story that explores good and evil and which is exceptionally written. The imagery is excellent and beautiful. The tale itself will make you believe in avenging angels.
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Top reviews from other countries

George G
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting touches to country life.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2016
Verified Purchase
Interesting thoughts and nice twists. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though it is a bit long to be believed as an old man's pub tale! Great start from an author who is new to me.
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