Top Dog - Softcover

Carroll, Jerry Jay

3.76

211 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0989826910 ISBN 13: 9780989826914

Publisher: Jerry Jay Carroll, 2016

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Alice in Wonderland meets Wall Street in Jerry Jay Carroll's brilliant and witty novel. A high-powered corporate raider gets a real lesson in looking out for No. 1 when he wakes from a nap to find he has been transformed into a huge dog. Gone are the wheeling-and-dealing, the ultra-luxury lifestyle, and the high-maintenance wife. In their place are fairy-tale forests, magical creatures, and hideous monsters straight out of a nightmare. It's a world where you are either good or evil. William G. Ingersol decides market research and due diligence are needed before he decides which side to pick. Just because he has four paws and fleas now doesn't mean he's an idiot. And moral decisions were never a great strength for him in the first place."A captivating romp." -- Entertainment Weekly.

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Review:

William Bogart Ingersol (Bogey) is a cynical, unsentimental Wall Street insider whose major preoccupation is making deals and adding to his substantial wealth--or it was, before he found himself transported to the Fair Lands, trapped in a dog's body, and of interest to both sides in a war between Good and Evil. Bogey figures his priority is to get back home, get back into human form, and get on with his life: "When I have a problem, there's only one question I ask--how do I solve it? Goodness doesn't enter into it, unless there's some PR angle you need to watch." He needs to figure out who is likeliest to win and get him out of this mess. As he continues dealing with both sides, however, he begins having second thoughts.

This is an unabashed morality play in the form of a novel. It works because Jerry Jay Carroll makes Bogey such a recognizable modern Everyman, and because the representatives of Good and Evil are real characters, not just cutouts. Bogey's running internal commentary on the straightforward, Tolkienesque fantasy setting and characters surrounding him, and on his former life, also helps keep things from getting too preachy. --Nona Vero

About the Author:

Jerry Jay Carroll is a former reporter, writer and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. Carroll graduated in journalism from San Jose State University and was a Ford Foundation fellow in political science at Stanford University. His first novel, TOP DOG, was described as “a captivating romp” by Entertainment Weekly. Wrote Publishers Weekly, “This follow-up [DOG EAT DOG] is equally fine, an entertaining hybrid of fantasy, thriller and moral tale.” From the starred review of THE GREAT LIARS in Publishers Weekly: “This meticulously constructed thriller from Carroll delivers healthy doses of political conspiracy, paranoia, and pulse-pounding suspense.” It was a BookLife’s Top Five for 2014.

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