Fluke

Product Information

Through out the novel, Fluke remembers bits and pieces of his former life as a human and this is what drives the story in a vague direction.

There is so much love, care and personal involvement running through the very backbone of the tale that it seems to breathe with the very life of Fluke. We follow his story - which is told in the first person (or rather dog) - from being in a litter of pups, through his boisterous time of adolescence whilst living on the streets, to becoming an adult and his quest to find out the truth about his past. It was story I knew that people would love: the tale of the shy, clever, autistic boy and how he met David Bowie, who was kind to him, and as magical as anyone could hope for. Fluke is the moving story of a dog with the memories of a human, with the signature twisting plot James Herbert is famed for. Lynch layers his voice with urgency and a desire for revenge as he evokes Fluke's desperate need to find out what happened to him and his human family.

Fluke is a dog, he realises from a young age that he isn't normal, he then goes on an adventure to discover the truth about himself. When you read the blurb of this book, the plot may seem template based on the surface, but the fluency and the make-believe manner, in which he describes the common sights, sounds and smells that surround us humans re-scaled from the sensory viewpoint of the canine is one of strengths of the book. Round and round that kitchen we ran, knocking chairs over, crashing against cupboards, shouting and screaming at each other, too far gone with animal rage to concern ourselves with the noise we were making and the damage we were doing. Somewhere in the depths of his consciousness was memory clawing its way to the surface, tormenting him, refusing to let him rest.

Whilst we’re constantly told that dogs are natural born optimists, what Herbert fails to mention is that they are also controlled by their stomach. A dying Rumbo tells Fluke that the black-and-white snapshot of a man in a sailor suit on Bert's wall was him and Bert was his brother and that he wishes to smell the sea again, suggesting that he died in the line of duty. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. The next night, Brian goes missing while looking for Fluke and Carol implores Jeff to help, so Jeff drives back to their house. Fluke’s experience with his first owners doesn’t work out and he finds himself back in a dog’s home where he feels unloved and becomes a bit of a troublemaker by howling and snarling a lot and tormenting some of the other dogs.

I have read books a bit similar to it (White Fang, Marley and Me, and the Redwall series to name a few) but this one is still unique. This is the story of a dog named Fluke who, since being a very young pup, believes he was once a man.

Nikki from United Kingdom After reading this book, you will never look at the world through the same eyes. Although he became famous with the ‘Rat’ books (there were two sequels to Rats— The Lair and Domain) and other gory horror books he didn’t totally restrict himself to this sub-genre; although most of his books would be classed as horror some were more supernatural stories, ghost stories or thrillers. Towards the end of Fluke Rumbo comes back as a Red Squirrel, he later appears in the James Herbert Novels The Magic Cottage and Once. In fact, I found it quite eye opening and it strengthened some of the points that I think this book was trying to make. After Bella dies of an illness, Fluke meets a street-wise dog named Rumbo who takes him to see a man named Bert who feeds them.Those books were best sellers because many readers (including me) were too horrified to put them down. Herbert manages to wrap everything up neatly leaving nothing ambiguous at the end, although it’s pretty clear what is going to happen Herbert does have a little twist at the end.