Sign In
Close
Police Dog Ch. 14 – Wherever Home Is by wwwolf (critique requested)
There is only one police officer in the small town of West Woodburn, England. His name is Forty-Two, and he is a Dog. Genetically engineered and bred to conform to the ideal standard, he can do anything a human can. His kind are so dedicated to their task that society no longer sees any reason to pay for human police.
Forty-Two's quiet, rural life is shattered when a murderer begins stalking everyone the Dog has ever called friend.
The greatest scientific advancements come from war, and the Dog program is no exception. Originally developed as living weapons for World War II, it wasn't long after that they were repurposed to their current role. It's only been fifty years, and not all men have forgotten that Dogs, like their masters, fought on both sides.
Forty-Two must track down the killer and suppress the case before an inquiry can be launched. Any investigation into Forty-Two's own past would reveal that he too has secrets to hide. While he is far too young to have any memories of war, Forty-Two's unmasking would destroy all confidence in the Dogs that now carry the justice system.
And here we are, the end of Forty-Two's story. For now at least.
A big thank you to everyone who has read this far, and an extra thank you to those of you who have commented or faved. I hope you enjoyed the Police Dog.
Check at the end for the expanded Author's Note.
Submission Information
- Views:
- 622
- Comments:
- 13
- Favorites:
- 0
- Rating:
- General
- Category:
- Literary / Story
Comments
-
-
Thanks for reading! :-)
I was fairly pleased with this ending, it was a real challenge to bring the two plot lines together in a way that worked. I'm curious to know what you were expecting, I'm always open to new ideas!
Oh, and there is a sequel to Police Dog. It'll get posted on here eventually, but if you hunt down the original site you can find it there already.
-
Found it, read it. Not quite as good but it 'is' a logical continuation and has a happy ending for jonathan of sorts
You do have a good and rather 'british' slant on the start of anthro's compared to my more capitalistic slant. I would like to see more of jonathan and his 'family' as well as the world. For example, what are his kids like. maybe more struggle to get the kennel to be more 'humane'. You kind of paint the highway patrol as some sort of otherworldly thing too.-
Wow, you're a fast reader! I'd love to get you hooked on my Hunters series...
And you're right, I never truly felt that Police Dog 2 quite lived up to what it could have, but I'm reasonably proud of it.
And if I ever get around to PD3, his pups will definitely be taking a larger role. Or more to the point, one pup in particular...
-
When I like the material i consume it. :P
the main things that kind of felt off about it was the aforementioned super natural like appearance of the the highway patrolman. And the whole one injection completely changed their loyalty.-
The Highway Patrol were meant to be my equivalent of Token's "Tom Bombadil". An outside force that are never fully explained and leave you asking questions. I wonder if they're doing their job? :-)
Oh, and which injection are you thinking of? He gets a good line or two in both PD1 and PD2.
-
The ones in two. I understand you portray them as a more 'advanced' version of what jonathan received. But I feel it is a little 'overdone' in the case of sixty that all it took was basicly a single one at the least. Hunter though is more understandable as the time difference between the pack's failed assault and jonathan's assault would allow several shots.
A chemical need is understandable, there are some pretty nasty narcotics that can hook people after one hit. But to have sixty's loyalty change seems contrary to the theme of the world.
But this is just my feelings on the matter and overall it is a good story.-
Actually, the Highway Patrol are meant to be something quite different from Forty-Two and his brothers. I don't want to say too much as every person who's read the book has given me their own (wildly different) theories on them.
And you may be right about Sixty near the end. Sadly I became pressed for time at the end of writing PD2 and a lot of things all got forced together into a single scene. The original plan was to have things more spaced out.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I enjoyed this very much. Both Forty-Two and his alternate 80s are very well portrayed, with an air of menace hanging over the English countryside. (And no dogs! How did people cope? D: )
You also carried off the English setting very well. There was only one real giveaway for me, and that was the word 'truck'. We might use truck more now the internet is bringing much more North American English into our homes, but the usual British word is 'lorry', and certainly would have been in the 80s. Plus 'fire engine' rather than 'fire truck'. (And 'ice cream van', but I don't think any of those turned up in Police Dog!)
I was a bit worried about whether I should be reading this, as I have a genetically engineered police dog story at first draft stage, but I think there are enough differences for it to be OK.
-
Would you believe that I used the term lorry in the first draft? :-)
I ended up removing it because I was submitting it to North American publishes, and it was the one term that I felt many folks on this side of the pond wouldn't understand!Thanks for the heads up on Fire Truck vs. Fire Engine. I've never heard of that one.
Anyway, thanks and I'm thrilled you enjoyed it. Hey, give me a poke when your own police dog story is complete. I wouldn’t be against having a few references to the number Forty-Two in it...!
-
Now there's a thought!
-
I uploaded the original short story! Working on something novel length now and may I say once more how much I admire and envy your productivity? :)
-
-
-
This is the first book of yours that I've read. To be honest for the most part of the book it wasn't THAT thrilling but the ending made me rush out to the next book the second I've finished this one. Your books take a while to convey the full plot, but when they do... oh mai... This is actually a book that got me into reading. Thank you for your magnificent work and I am looking forward to reading more of your creations c:
Link
Ligerstripe
Not quite the ending and closure I was expecting. Still i want to know if he and richard survives. But i guess that is for some other story.