Justin Nicholes, author of the novel Ash Dogs (Another Sky Press), has set up for himself quite a challenge with this debut offering. His protagonist, former high school football star and current Iraq war veteran, Marcus Green, has returned home from his tour of duty and must assimilate back into domestic life. The novel focuses on Marcus’s attempt at a simple, comfortable existence far removed from the rigors of war, which by design downplays the forward momentum present in most longer fiction works.

Because the novel focuses almost entirely on Marcus’s life post-war, his strive for comfort can be mistaken for lack of motivation which then infuses his domestic relationships with a passive ennui. It is important to understand this intent when reading Ash Dogs. Know that you aren’t getting explosions and military strategy here. This is a novel of relationships and the soldier’s reintegration paranoia that reinforces the frailty of those relationships:

Who did they think he was? And how many would guess I’ve done what I’ve done, have leapt to the ground at incoming fire and, finding myself wallowing in human remains, burrowed more deeply? [pg.26]

And later, this exchange between Marcus and Bill, his summer baseball coach, also touches on this paranoia:

“So when you going to come by the school again?” Bill asked.

“When my face stops scaring kids,” Marcus replied. [pg. 43]

Marcus’s home life tends to mimic scattered battlefield shrapnel, with family members spread far, each piece responsible for its own damage. Part two (of three) of the novel is dedicated to Marcus’s journey to Mexico to meet his half-brother, Oscar, where Marcus gets caught up in activities closely resembling the chaos that he may have witnessed in Iraq. It is during this visit that Marcus begins to realize the bonding power of carnage:

“Nothing, he thought, not even having blood in common binds people together like shared witnessing of violence” [pg. 93].

Ash Dogs, the third novel and fifth book offering from donation-driven publisher Another Sky Press, enhances the press’s reputation of quality work while at the same time diversifies the catalog at a time when many could dismiss the press as an “outsider only” brand. We’ve seen the Burroughs-esque cut-and-paste style novel, Click. We’ve seen the Falling from the Sky anthology, filled with recognized Bizarro genre authors. We’ve even seen a coloring book by Jesse Reno, an artist known for his shamanic painter inspired style. In contrast to these subversive offerings, Ash Dogs hits like a well timed respite, but maintains a power of its own accord.

This post is tagged Ash Dogs, Justin Nicholes