A review by book_concierge
A Man of His Own by Susan Wilson

3.0

Digital audio read by Fred Berman, Christina Delaine, Rick Adamson, Jeff Gurner.


Three people connected by one dog. Rick Stanton is the promising professional baseball player who finds the puppy he’ll call Pax in an alley. Francesca is the love of Rick’s life, the young wife he leaves behind when he’s drafted into World War II. Keller Nicholson is the lonely orphaned young man who will bond with Pax in the Army’s K-9 Corp. When the war is over, Keller brings Pax back to the couple with a request to keep him. But Rick has been badly wounded and is broken in both body and spirit. Keller agrees to stay on for a time as Rick’s aide, helping Francesca with the heavier tasks that are simply too much for her. He’ll also help train Pax to be Rick’s helper.

This is a kind of romance novel with a twist. There’s plenty of drama and emotion, as well as the potential for new relationships. We have three people who are all emotionally fragile, and yet somehow are “guided” by this remarkable animal. That synopsis sounds trite and predictable, and in a sense the book is that, but I have to say that I was entertained and engaged by the story, as unlikely and unbelievable as some elements were.

I’m not a dog person, but I had previously read Wilson’s One Good Dog which I thought was very good. This book doesn’t quite come to that level, but it’s a decent read.

Each of the four talented voice artists who narrate takes on a different major character, including Pax (the dog). Unfortunately, other than for Christina Delaine, the sole woman, I can’t tell which artist is voicing which character. Still it’s an effective device to use different narrators for each change in point of view. Berman and Adamson also co-narrated the audio of [b:One Good Dog|6928893|One Good Dog|Susan Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442535715s/6928893.jpg|10475576].