A Dog's Promise: A Novel

by W. Bruce Cameron

Overview

A Dog's Promise continues the story of Bailey, the good dog whose journey started in A Dog's Purpose and continued in A Dog's Journey (both major motion pictures).

This time, Bailey is joined by Lacey, another very special dog, who helps Bailey fulfill his promise over the course of several lives. This charming, wise canine soul brings joy, laughter, and comfort as he unites a family fractured by life's inevitable obstacles.

The love and loyalty of these two memorable dogs shows us the incredible power of hope, truth, and unending devotion in this moving novel by award-winning, New York Times bestselling author W. Bruce Cameron.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250163493
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/23/2020
Series:	Dog's Purpose Series , #3
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	114,984
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	670L (what's this?)

About the Author

W. BRUCE CAMERON is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Way Home, and A Dog's Journey (all now major motion pictures), The Dog Master, Ellie’s Story, Bailey’s Story, Shelby’s Story, The Dogs of Christmas, The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man, and others. He lives in California.

Editorial Reviews

Fans of Cameron's previous dog stories (A Dog's Purpose and A Dog's Journey, both made into films) will enjoy the further adventures of these wonderful animals and their people. Newcomers will also be charmed by a farm family's story told from a canine perspective.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/01/2019

Bailey is back! In this third outing, the dog is reincarnated as Cooper, who is adopted by a father to assist his son Burke, who's in a wheelchair. Cooper quickly learns the commands necessary to get his boy up and out of the house and back to school. An operation means the boy doesn't need the chair, but Cooper still helps the family around the farm. Also new in this tale is Lacey, a special female friend for Cooper. As in the previous volumes, Bailey/Cooper and Lacey enter and exit the lives of their human family several times over the course of the book. Burke and his brother grow up and move away from the farm. Two special women also move in and out of their lives, including Ava, who helps run a dog rescue. Through ups and downs, these special dogs help their humans in ways big and small. VERDICT Fans of Cameron's previous dog stories (A Dog's Purpose and A Dog's Journey, both made into films) will enjoy the further adventures of these wonderful animals and their people. Newcomers will also be charmed by a farm family's story told from a canine perspective. [See Prepub Alert, 4/15/19.]—Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green

Library Journal

2019-09-30
Bailey, an adorable malamute-Great Dane mix, finds his purpose in helping a young boy and his family navigate life's tribulations.

Cameron (A Dog's Way Home, 2017, etc.) offers the next in his series of books tracing the reincarnated souls of good dogs who go to heaven but are recalled to Earth as guardian angels of a sort for troubled children. Happily ensconced in dog paradise, filled with toys, sticks, and miles of shoreline to run, Bailey promises his previous owners to be a good dog again for another child. Of course, returning to the mortal realm as a puppy means that Bailey's memories of his previous lifetimes will be erased—at least until he reunites with his beloved Ethan, his owner from the first book in Cameron's series. Bailey (renamed Cooper) is given to a paraplegic boy named Burke, who trains him as a service dog. The work pays off when Burke can finally go to a real school, but soon enough, Burke's family must take on the school district, which opposes having a dog in the classroom. Worse, the Trident Mechanical Harvesting Corporation's drones have trespassed on the family's land, prompting Burke's father to shoot one with his rifle, thus risking a second lawsuit. On the homefront, Burke's older brother, Grant, is having trouble accepting Burke's disability. And on the romantic front, Bailey's love for his soul mate, a boxer named Lacey, inspires both Burke and Grant to find true love, too. Told from Bailey's perspective, Cameron's tale reflects on human behaviors that confuse dogs, from the sad capture of Bailey, his mother, and siblings to his adoption by a loving family beset by companies threatening their land and eco-friendly farming practices. The effect is, unfortunately, more juvenile than deeply philosophical.

Fans of Cameron's series will delight in this latest syrupy installment.

Kirkus Reviews