Name of the Dog: A Novel

The Dog Stars meets The Deluge in this haunting debut novel about survival and the mysterious link between humans and nature.

Years after a swift and bewildering global illness, humanity is still living in the shadow of the amaranth, and puzzling over its canine origins.

Billy has secluded herself in an isolated mountain homestead, where she’s approached by a border collie that inexplicably survived the catastrophe. With Billy’s help and fierce protection, the collie becomes the matriarch of a hidden bloodline of healthy dogs that all science and recent events say cannot exist.

Owen is an amaranth investigator, lost in its maze of scientific dead ends. He finds solace in his weekly visit with one of the amaranth’s rare survivors as she prepares for her annual tide—an echo of the original event that brings trepidation and confusion every summer. They barely talk, and don’t know each others’ names, but what Owen receives from her is enough for him: a tender glimpse into the heart of the illness and everything he can’t understand.

Curtis has nothing better to do than follow his nose. Which he does, everywhere. Often into places he doesn’t belong. His curiosity leads him to a group of fanatical survivors who have a dangerous plan to save themselves—and maybe everyone—from the looming threat of the amaranth.

These three and others will converge around a single extraordinary animal: a black dog so invaluable that everyone from the government to rogue breeders will stop at nothing to claim it.

Propulsive and suspenseful, sneakily funny and unflinching in its portrayals, The Name of the Dog is a heartfelt and humane exploration of what endures after the things we love most have been lost, asking whether salvation lies not in mastering nature, but in learning to hear its voice.