The Plague Dogs - by Richard Adams (Paperback)

Number of Pages: 528
Genre: Fiction + Literature Genres
Sub-Genre: Literary
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Age Range: Adult
Author: Richard Adams
Language: English

About the Book

Originally published: London: Allen Lane, 1977.

Book Synopsis

Rowf, a shaggy black mongrel, and Snitter, a black-and-white fox terrier, are among dozens of animals being cruelly held in a testing facility in North West England. When one of the handlers fails to close Rowf's cage properly, the two dogs make a daring escape into the English countryside, where they befriend a red fox who helps them survive in the wild. But as rumors circulate that the dogs may have been the test subjects for biological weapons and could be carrying a terrible plague, they soon find themselves cartnears of a great dog hunt. Local farmers, politicians, scientists, and even the military join in the search to track them down. An unforgettable tale of fantasy and adventure, a powerful exploration of the limits of human cruelty and kindness, The Plague Dogs stands as a modern-day classic.

Review Quotes

"Gripping. . . . A compelling tale of emotional force and high suspense." --The Wall Street Journal

"Adams takes us to places where no author author has taken us." --The Washington Post

"Engrossing. . . . Bears the abundant mark of sheer genius." --The Plain Dealer

"Better and more powerful than Watership Down." --Providence Journal

"Marvelous. . . . An excellent drama." --Newsweek

"Excellent." --New York Daily News

"Adams writes brilliantly about animals. . . . When these dogs are on the move, they compel us to follow, trotting along the narrative path on all the legs we have." --Saturday Review

"The genuine and moving feeling for animals that dominated Watership Down emerges here in intense dramatic form. Adams engenders such compassion, such desperate, urgent sympathy for 'the plague dogs, ' that the reader yearns for a happy ending." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Richard Adams is the author of many bestselling novels, including Watership Down (1974), Shardik (1976), The Plague Dogs (1978), The Girl in a Swing (1980), Maia (1985), and Traveller (1988), as well as several works of nonfiction, including his autobiographical The Day Gone By (1991). The winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award for Children's Literature, he currently lives in Hampshire, England.