Lost Dog [Paperback]

Bill Cameron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2007

Peter McKrall is at a crossroads-out of work, fighting a klepto habit, and trying to figure out his next move. Life takes an unexpected turn when a search for his niece's stuffed dog leads him to something else entirely: a bullet-riddled corpse. Talking to reporters lands Peter on the local news, which turns out to be a dangerous spotlight. And now Darla, the troubled daughter of the victim, is reaching out to him-but can she be trusted? When a second murder takes place and evidence is planted in his trash, the cops dredge up Peter's painful history. The only ray of sunshine in this harrowing nightmare is Ruby Jane, whose warm smile melts the winter chill.
An unwitting player in a bizarre chain of events, Peter has no idea that the deranged killer is after him-until he takes a shot at Ruby Jane.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"LOST DOG is a heart-stopping, tightly-woven debut by a remarkable new crime-fiction writer." -- Anne Frasier, USA Today Bestselling author of HUSH, PLAY DEAD, and PALE IMMORTAL

"Lost Dog is an excellent debut filled with suspense, surprises, and memorable characters. I predict we'll be hearing more from the talented Bill Cameron." -- Alafair Burke, author of Dead Connection

About the Author

Bill Cameron lives with his wife in Portland, OR. His short stories have appeared in The Dunes Review and The Alsop Review. This is his first novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK; First Edition edition (April 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738709662
• ISBN-13: 978-0738709666
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,283,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Critically-acclaimed mystery novelist Bill Cameron is the author of the dark, gritty mysteries COUNTY LINE, DAY ONE, CHASING SMOKE and LOST DOG--featuring irascible Portland homicide cop Skin Kadash. In a starred-review of COUNTY LINE, Publishers Weekly said, "Contemporary sharp-edged noir doesn't get much better than Cameron's mournful novel featuring ex-cop Skin Kadash." And Library Journal called COUNTY LINE, "A perfect fit for Archie Mayor and William Kent Krueger fans."

New York Times Bestselling Portland author Chelsea Cain described DAY ONE as "an utterly engrossing page-turner." In the Vancouver Voice, Carolyn Schultz-Rathbun said, "The body count is positively Shakespearean, but in Cameron's vision of P-town's dark underbelly, love really is strong as death. Maybe stronger." DAY ONE was a finalist for the 2011 Spotted Owl Award for best Northwest mystery.

CHASING SMOKE received a starred review from Library Journal, and Booklist declared, "it engages the reader on an emotional as well as literary level." It was a finalist for the 2009 Spotted Owl Award. LOST DOG was nominated for the 2008 Rocky Award and was a finalist for the 2008 Spotted Owl Award. His short story, "The Princess of Felony Flats," was nominated for a 2011 CWA Short Story Dagger Award.

Cameron's short fiction has appeared in PORTLAND NOIR, SPINETINGLER MAGAZINE, the KILLER YEAR and FIRST THRILLS anthologies, as well as on Lit 103.3: Fiction for the Ears. In 2011, a pair of Skin Kadash stories appeared in the anthologies WEST COAST CRIME WAVE and DEADLY TREATS.

Bill lives with his wife and poodle in Portland, Oregon, where he also serves as staff to a charming, yet imperious cat. He is an eager traveler and avid bird-watcher, and likes to write near a window so he can meditate on whatever happens to fly by during intractable passages. He is currently at work on his next mystery.

Bill tweets at twitter.com/bcmystery. You can learn more at www.billcameronmysteries.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real people with real emotions, August 25, 2007

By 

Bryan Gilmer "Author, FELONIOUS JAZZ, a thriller" (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Dog (Paperback)

There's so much to admire about Bill Cameron's debut thriller. My favorite thing is that murder and being a witness to it evoke real emotion in the characters. These people are deeply real. The protagonist, Peter, is hardly a hero as the book opens, stifled underneath emotional scar tissue, battling the yuppie angst of losing his banking job and being henpecked by his maternal sister. He does find both the will and the strength to solve the murders, but doing so both costs him heavily and ultimately allows him to grow. And no one -- not the villain or his victim -- is bad to the core. They're all damaged people acting out the hurt they have suffered on others -- and often the appropriate people.

Cameron gets us to buy a string of coincidences that seem just implausible enough to really have happened. And there's a romance subplot in which neither character, even wearing makeup and heavily airbrushed, would make it into a Harlequin.

I'm being vague so as not to spoil it for you, but Cameron renders the climactic scene in an unconventional, unexpected, deeply felt and subtle way.

There are authors on the bestseller racks -- including one Robert Parker mentioned within the text of the book -- who should retire and make way for fresh, new voices of a more emotionally in-touch generation. Writers like Bill Cameron.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, April 3, 2007

By 

anne (the bleak midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Dog (Paperback)

On a gray Portland morning, unemployed Peter McKrall searches the park for his niece's lost stuffed animal, but instead comes upon a dead body. The trauma of the event is an uncomfortable reminder of his own dark history, and soon Peter, a man trying to break a kleptomania habit, finds himself trapped in the middle of an investigation he wants nothing to do with.

Cops make him uncomfortable. Dead people make him uncomfortable. Having his name and face on the evening news makes him uncomfortable.

He's alone with no one to trust or confide in until he meets Ruby Jane. When a second murder takes place, Peter's painful past comes back to haunt him and Ruby Jane's life is put in danger.

LOST DOG by Bill Cameron is a beautifully written and masterful work of character-driven crime fiction. One of the most fascinating and compelling main characters I've read in a long time. A bad guy real enough to smell. A plot that fits together like a puzzle.

I was starving for a personal story. Give me real people. Give me a story with truth. As soon as I started LOST DOG my heart began to beat faster. This was the book I'd been craving.

Bill Cameron manages to deftly strip away the distance. Not only does he give us a knockout plot, he gives us real people in real settings. He gives us characters we care about, characters we know and want to know. And like real life, the darkest moments often contain humor. I laughed out loud several times.

anne frasier

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'LOST DOG' FINDS A HOME, October 16, 2007

By 

ThrillerLover (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Dog (Paperback)

This is the first book I have read of Bill Cameron's (only because it's his debut book). But I can assure you, it won't be my last. I LOVED this book.

I'm a real sucker for anti-heroes, especially when they are written with such loving care as this author has done. Cameron's kleptomaniac protagonist happens upon a dead body in a park near his home and reports it to the police, trying to do the right thing. Big mistake, pal--but unavoidable. His grisly discovery happened while he was searching for his niece's stuffed pooch. A perfectly innocent endeavor that springboards this troubled man into a spiraling nightmare. And a surprising subplot of a romantic interest for this hapless hero was a real gem.

Cameron also paints a vivid picture of a frighteningly disorganized killer that sticks with the reader long after they've put down the book. Real people caught in a really bad day. Sign me up for Cameron's next book. This LOST DOG has found a home.