Creatures of the Rock: A Veterinarian’s Adventures in Newfoundland by Andrew Peacock
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published November 18th, 2014 by Doubleday Canada
Amusing collection of anecdotes from a veterinarian who left Ontario to work in Newfoundland and never left. An interesting tidbit of information, which is never mentioned in the story, is that this author is the brother of famous Canadian YA writer, Shane Peacock. Andrew, unfortunately, doesn't have his brother's gift for storytelling, at least yet. I'm not a pet person myself but find I'm fond of vet/zoo/animal expedition tales; what I found lacking here were a good narrative voice and a connection with the characters. The stories were interesting, amusing and certainly gave off a genuine love for the landscape and people of Newfoundland. The writing though is stilted and the humour often falls flat of where it seemed to be aiming. With hardly any repetition of recurring patients and owners, the book lacks cohesiveness and the potential for a reader to become invested in any characters, is lost. However, this certainly doesn't mean the vignettes collected here are not worth the read.
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