Unleashed - Emily Kimelman

Unleashed

By Emily Kimelman

  • Release Date: 2011-10-15
  • Genre: Hard-Boiled Mysteries
Score: 4
4
From 1,765 Ratings

Description

My dog once took a bullet that was intended for me. 

A bullet that ripped through his chest, narrowly missing his heart, and exited through his shoulder blade, effectively shattering it. This left him unconscious on the floor of my home. Amazingly, this bullet did not kill him. 

Ten years ago I adopted Blue as a present to myself after I broke up with my boyfriend one hot, early summer night with the windows open and the neighborhood listening. The next morning I went straight to the pound in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Articles on buying your first dog tell you never to buy a dog on impulse. They want you to be prepared for this new member of your family, to understand the responsibilities and challenges of owning a dog. Going to the pound because you need something in your life that's worth holding onto is rarely, if ever, mentioned. 

I asked the man at the pound to show me the biggest dogs they had. He showed me some seven-week-old Rottweiler-German shepherd puppies that he said would grow to be quite large. Then he showed me a six-month-old shepherd that would get pretty big. Then he showed me Blue, the largest dog they had. 

The man called him a Collie mix and he was stuffed into the biggest cage they had, but he didn't fit. He was as tall as a Great Dane but much skinnier, with the snout of a collie, the markings of a Siberian husky, the ears and tail of a shepherd and the body of a wolf, with one blue eye and one brown. Crouched in a sitting position, unable to lie down, unable to sit all the way up, he looked at me from between the bars, and I fell in love. 

"He's still underweight," the man in the blue scrubs told me as we looked at Blue. "I'll tell you, lady, he's pretty but he's skittish. He sheds, and I mean sheds. I don't think you want this dog." But I knew I wanted him. I knew I had to have him. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. 

Blue cost me $108. I brought him home, and we lived together for years. He was, for most of our relationship, my only companion. But when I first met Blue, a lifetime ago now, I had family and friends. I worked at a crappy coffeehouse. I was young and lost; I was normal. 

Back then, at the beginning of this story, before I'd ever seen a corpse, before Blue saved my life, before I felt what it was like to kill someone in cold blood, I was still Joy Humbolt. 

I'd never even heard the name Sydney Rye.

P.S. The dog does not die.

**Beware: If you can't handle a few f-bombs, you can't handle this series.**

Reviews

  • Impressive style

    5
    By ugly 12
    Ms Kimelman has definitely found her voice. I cannot say that I liked joy as a person, but I never doubted her. This is amazing to me as I have read many accomplished authors who had characters I did not believe. I am very impressed with the authenticity the author maintained. There is a style that it’s both minimal and complete. Thank you Emily Kimelman Clint worstman
  • Unleashed

    5
    By varyyoung80
    You r a new author for me & I was both surprised, entertained, moved. Thank you.
  • Unleashed

    5
    By mrobertson 2747
    Loved this book...couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait to read the next one in the series!
  • Unleashed

    5
    By Count E
    Fast moving. Enjoyable characters. Plot surprises.
  • Just couldn’t give it 5 stars.

    3
    By Squidgymom
    Spoiler alert! While it was an interesting read, Joy was too impulsive, which got her brother killed. It made no sense that she could have saved her brother, but “didn’t want to be a murderer”. I would have blown the mayor away! I get it made her want revenge, but a little too late.
  • Unleashed

    5
    By WakeUp&Read!
    Smart dogs and their human walkers, sunken history and mysterious buildings riddled with secret passages! What’s not to like!
  • Unleashed

    5
    By Clean romancer
    Fun read. Couldn’t put it down. Love the characters.
  • Great read

    5
    By Gsc10
    Fast action, well developed characters. Good action. Great start to a series.
  • Unleashed

    5
    By Grandma Fox 85
    One heck of a good book which started out slowly and turned into a very good one. Never read any of her books before but will continue readings from this author. Thanks for a great book. Another old grandma.
  • Unleashed

    3
    By Ranger&Sadie
    Interesting but a little neurotic and predictable.