Title: A New Leash on Life
Author: Erna Mueller
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 978-1467995962
Pages: 227, Paperback
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Barbara Miller, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
High school “brainiac” Justin Andrews, at the age of 14, had his life all figured out. With an IQ of 130, not even his parents could hold a candle to his whimsical antics which consequentially got him spiraling into orbiting a cyber-hacking group of criminals. Undaunted in his escapades even when knowing he’s been identified by one of Seattle Police Department’s finest, Lieutenant Spencer Watley, Justin plows ahead with his actions; but the story takes a twist when the cop gets killed.Spencer’s soul takes on a journey of quite imaginative proportions, as author Erna Mueller unfolds a set of circumstances in her fanciful novel, A New Leash on Life. A path beyond human, beyond theological, into the realm of K-9 to be exact, is cleverly revealed. You see, Spencer returns to earth, not as he was, but reincarnated as a dog. His mission: To teach Justin Andrews to become unselfish, while at the same time solving the crime which took his life!
Erna Mueller’s writing has “Style” – that’s style with a capital “S!” Rarely have I read an entire book where virtually each sentence is written with such a combination of slang, comical innuendos, cool expressions, surrogate elucidations, and mental piquancy. What might seem to be on the verge of discombobulating for many readers, I assume it would be perfectly understandable to someone with ADHD. This, obviously is entirely intentional and by design. As by using this creative approach to wordsmithing, Erna Mueller disentangles one’s normal logical pathways and causes a mental environment of pandemonium whereas then her tumult of interrelations begins to make sense. Plus, by keeping the characters as high-schoolers, and of course, a dog, she appeals to the young adult market, showing her readers by example how to expand their minds to use the vast macrocosm of the English language in new and exciting ways. Even her table of contents foreshadows a book with “out-of-the-box” originality; thus allowing for the readers to think to themselves, “Now just what does that mean?”
A fantastic book to be given as a gift to any teenager, A New Leash on Life will certainly be enjoyed and remembered by all that page this fine work of such literary mastery. It’s not what they teach you in English class – but for all those in Creative Writing 101, this book would get accolades and praise. In fact, even if you’re not a teenager, you’d still “roll over” for this book if you’re a dog lover! After all, having a human inside a canine is something all dog owners believe has happened already!
