Hell Hound

by Ken Greenhall, Grady Hendrix (Introduction)

‘What are the possibilities of my strength? That is a thought I have never had before. What if some morning as the old woman stood at the head of the staircase she were suddenly to feel a weight thrusting against the back of her legs? What if she were to lunge forward, grasping at the air, striking her thin skull against the edge of a stair? What would become of me if she were found unmoving at the bottom of the stairway?’

Such are the thoughts of Baxter, a sociopathic bull terrier on the hunt for the perfect master, as he contemplates the demise of his first victim. The basis for the acclaimed 1989 film Baxter, Ken Greenhall’s utterly chilling and long-unobtainable Hell Hound (1977) has earned a reputation as a lost classic of horror fiction. This first-ever reissue includes a new introduction by Grady Hendrix.

Cover illustration by Henry Petrides

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Animals, Dogs, Classics, Halloween, Adult

139 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Ken Greenhall was born in Detroit in 1928, the son of immigrants from England. He graduated from high school at age 15, worked at a record store for a time, and was drafted into the military, serving in Germany. He earned his degree from Wayne State University and moved to New York, where he worked as an editor of reference books, first on the staff of the Encyclopedia Americana and later for the New Columbia Encyclopedia. Greenhall had a longtime interest in the supernatural and took leave from his job to write his first novel, Elizabeth (1976), a tale of witchcraft published under his mother’s maiden name, Jessica Hamilton. Several more novels followed, including Hell Hound (1977), which was published abroad as Baxter and adapted for a critically acclaimed 1989 French film under that title. Greenhall died in 2014.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 5 out of 5]

bAXTER Is sUch A sWeEt doGgiE! yoUR hEart wILl Just meLt oVeR thIs LiL cuTiE!!

The book is a chilly wind blowing away all of those notions that humans are truly capable of compassion, selflessness, thoughtfulness, altruism. Life is essentially meaningless. All of our various gestures that pretend to be reaching higher, to be connecting with others in real ways... all of those gestures are actually rooted in sentimentality, nostalgia, and a need to be perceived by others that we are acting in a way that is appropriate to the given situation. Human nature itself is an example of pointless form over genuine meaning. All we really want to do is live in our boxes, our compartments that we have built for ourselves, burrow into our little holes, stay safe within our little minds.

dOgs eXisT tO ProVidE prOtecTion anD cOmPaniOnsHiP tO loNely huMAn BEings. aLL tHey Ask foR iN reTurn iS yoUr afFectiOn!!

The book laughs coldly at your notions that animals are here to provide us love and affection rather than simply needing a warm place to live and food to eat. The book smiles condescendingly at your idea that humans are able to understand each other, let alone animals. The book is not sentimental, to say the least. The book is... dark.

wHen BaxTer looKS aT yOu, hE's lOOking aT yoU wiTh noNjudgmeNtal LOyaLty aNd deVotIon, likE aLL DoGs dO!

My understanding of the basic difference between "psychopath" and "sociopath" is that the former is able to blend into society by hiding their inability to empathize, while the latter is unable to blend. The book provides two examples of the former: the not so loving dog Baxter, and his third owner, the loveless child Carl. Both murderous, both nihilistic. A match made in, well, not heaven.

aniMAls bRinG oUt thE beSt in huMaNity! ouR FurRy coMPanioNs reMinD Us aBouT whAt Is moSt imPorTanT iN liFE: naMelY,

My favorite part of the book (probably the same for most readers): those passages from Baxter's perspective. Some ingenious writing there. Baxter's thoughts are by turns dryly amusing, sadly accurate, hilariously inaccurate, disturbing and threatening (Baxter's plans often made me surprisingly tense), and eventually for this reader, entirely sympathetic. Sympathy for a psychopathic killer? Yes!

humANs and AniMaLs arE aLL gOD's cHiLDren! NuRture wILL cHanGe nATure! aS The sOng goEs, "alL YoU neEd iS LoooOOOOooooVe!"

I am far from a nihilist and I certainly don't share the dire perspective of this icy novel. That said, Hell Hound was all of the things I love in a book: gripping, thoughtful, mordantly witty, and full of ambiguity when it comes to the human condition and why we do the things we do. I admired its circular structure, the terrible inevitability. Greenhall is a phenomenal writer: sardonic, unsentimental, elegant with the prose, clever with narrative, and both damning and subtly empathetic with the characterization. This is a very smart and layered book, one that gave much food for thought - albeit food that was bitter to the taste. It is not about showing off that intelligence in a way that calls attention to itself. Ambitious but modest, slim and trim, decidedly a "genre" novel. It is also a perfect work of art.

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the late 70's, I started reading horror in earnest, and I honestly thought I was familiar with most horror writers of the time. I was wrong. I'd never heard of Ken Greenhall until Valancourt Books brought him to my attention. Now, I want to get my hands on everything he's written.

Baxter, the bull terrier, is a sociopath. But he's just a dog, you might say! It's true, but he's observant, willful and extremely dangerous. With some portions of this book being from his point of view, the reader gets a clear look into what's going on in that doggie head of his.



I know this book sounds cheesy, and perhaps like a rip-off of Cujo, but the facts are that it's not cheesy at all, and it was written before Cujo. Featuring keen insights into human behavior, precise but spare prose, and bringing to the reader a growing sense of dread and horror, I'm pretty sure this will be among the best books I will read this year.

My highest recommendation!

You can get your copy here: Hell Hound

*Thanks to Valancourt Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*

[Johann (jobis89) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What if some morning as the old woman stood at the head of the staircase she were suddenly to feel a weight thrusting against the back of her legs? ... What would become of me if she were found unmoving at the bottom of the stairway?"

Baxter is a sociopathic bull terrier who is on the hunt for his perfect master, as he plots the demise of his current owner...

Days later and I am still thinking about this book. I even gave my boyfriend a detailed description of the events in the book (which I'm pretty sure he loved - let's not ask him though). I just honestly did not expect SUCH a great story, in fact I'd never even heard of Hell Hound nor the author before - thank god for The Nocturnal Reader's Box, eh!?

What I really enjoyed about this was the fact that the story is told from a number of different POV's - we have the POV of the dog, Baxter, and then a number of the humans that come into contact with him. This book started off being quite humorous, some of Baxter's thoughts and comments were hilarious. Then it takes a bit of a dark turn... although some humour is still retained. I actually got quite intense Apt Pupil vibes at times, and we all know that novella is dark as shit!! I was uncomfortable for sure. However I did feel like I was looking at dogs a little bit differently after reading this one... WHO KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON IN THEIR MINDS? Are they plotting to kill us?! I don't know!!

The story itself didn't feel dated, it almost felt like it could have been written in recent times. There are seriously dark undertones and I constantly felt on edge as I really didn't know what to expect. Greenhall kept me guessing right until the end, and holy SHIT, that ending. I LOVED IT. I did have a teeny tiny minor issue with the story that I can't really go into much detail on without giving a potential spoiler, but some ridiculously bad parenting left me a bit pissed off and felt a tad unrealistic (hence it doesn't get the full 5 star treatment).

Basically, I DIG THIS. Very much. But if you are a bit sensitive when it comes to doggos...beware. I just tell myself that it's fiction and therefore it's fine. But I know that doesn't work for everyone. Thoroughly enjoyed this one - 4 and a half stars!

[Mindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I changed my star rating. I spent an entire day thinking about this book, and it's definitely 5 stars for me. It got into my head.

First lets dispel any similarities between this book Cujo. Whoever thought this book should be compared to Cujo didn't read either of them. They both have a dog. That's it.

The dog in Hell Hound is a Bull Terrier named Baxter, and apparently he's a sociopath. Now, we all know that dogs aren't actually capable of sociopathic behavior, but this is 70's horror, so just go with it. Baxter doesn't like his current owner, an old lady who spends most of her day staring at the TV and has little time for Baxter. He would much rather live with the young couple who moved in across the street, because they look much more interesting and exciting. So one day Baxter decides to take matters into his own hands. Or paws.

I was expecting over-the-top 70's shlock horror with this one, and instead I got a quietly terrifying and nuanced horror novel that could easily have been written today. This book is dark, but it isn't ridiculous. Especially when Baxter ends up living with a teenage boy and his family. This is where the novel shifts, and Baxter is no longer the antagonist. Suddenly, a sociopathic human becomes a much scarier focus of the novel, and then in an ending I never saw coming, the novel goes full circle.

This is deep for 70's horror, which may be why Greenhall fell into complete obscurity. People wanted gore and campiness, and instead Ken Greenhall gave them a literary horror novel. I'm so glad Valancourt books brought this one back into publication, and that Grady Hendrix, who also wrote the introduction for this edition, gave Greenhall an entire section in his book Paperbacks From Hell. I would love to read more from Greenhall now. I just hope I'm able to find his other works.

[Stu Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll never look at a dog the same way after reading this!

I was expecting some kind of rehash of Cujo. I couldn't have been more wrong. Baxter is a sociopathic Pit Bull Terrier who moves in with a couple across the street after the death of his previous owner. He's on the hunt for the perfect owners, and Baxter is a bad boy!

The story is told through various perspectives - including Baxter's - which must have been a fresh take on horror back in the 70s. There is a general feeling of helplessness that seems to be an overarching theme throughout the book. The writing is excellent, the story is short - but packs a heavy punch- Another winner from Valancourt. I listened to the audiobook and R.C. Bray absolutely nails playing the dog. I highly recommend this one for dog lovers. It's a dark one, though!

4 Stars.

[Justin Tate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realllly close to 5 stars. Some of the best animal POV I’ve read. Genuinely unsettling. You’ll never look at dogs the same way again. Definitely scarier than Cujo although not nearly as well developed. So glad it got dusted off for a re-release. Hope to see more lost horror novels from the 70s and 80s resurface!

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I can say is that this one just wasn't for me. |The writing was good, but the storyline itself was just too disturbing for me at this time.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is a slim volume, it really packs a punch in a deeply disturbing way. Hell Hound features two main characters-- Baxter (a dog) and Carl, a 12 year old boy. Yes, this is something of a creature feature-- Baxter is quite sociopathic, if a dog can be considered as such, and intelligent enough to get what he thinks he wants. Perhaps more disturbing is Carl and most of the people in the book in general.

Carl is basically a loner who spends most of his time in the informal junkyard just outside the small town lines, hanging out in his 'bomb shelter' and fantasizing about Eva and Adolf Hitler. His parents are, lets say, aloof and there is little shared affection among them. Also featured on the people front is a man who loves his dog more than his daughter, a school teacher who bemoans the meaningless life most of her students stumble into, and a 'new couple' in town. None of the characters are very redeeming to say the least; seriously flawed is something of an understatement.

So what makes this story so disturbing? It is hard to put a finger on what exactly. A sociopathic dog? There is something there, especially if you have ever had a dog. A young preteen who idolizes Hitler and masturbates to pictures of Eva? Parents who have no love for their kids? The deeply self-centered nature of all the characters involved (included the dog)? Greenhall presents us with a deeply troubling foray into the human condition here; something even more scary than a sociopathic dog. Truly a haunting novel that hits a deep punch into the psychological realm. You will probably need a bath, or at least a shower, after this one. Nice intro by Hendrix as well. 5 doggie stars!!

[Karl]

This hardcover is copy 40 of 250 published and is signed by Will Errickson (Introduction) and Thomas Walker (Cover, art).

This is book number 5 in the Vintage Horror Series of books.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsettling and disturbing. This reminded a lot of Stephen King’s short story Apt Pupil in which a teenage boy becomes enamored with the old nazi living next door. In this story we have a teenage boy, already infatuated with Hitler, forming a decidedly unhealthy relationship with Baxter the dog who has already killed humans. A very bleak story without a single redeeming character.

[Abbie | ab_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a disturbing little book! In it we meet Baxter, a sociopathic bull terrier who I’m not ashamed to admit I rooted for all the way through, I’m sure he’s just a silly little egghead at heart and it’s all the humans’ fault. I liked how Greenhall didn’t rely on gore and jump scares to get under the reader’s skin, it’s really quite an elegant and clever horror novel. I would have preferred the entire thing to be narrated from Baxter’s POV though, as they were the most fascinating.

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Gafas y Ojeras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dentro del terror, existe algunas propuestas que vienen a contarnos la misma historia de siempre pero desde un punto de vista menos convencional, lleno de originalidad y que aportan una frescura necesaria al género. Es el caso de esta curiosa novela, Baxter, en la que se nos presenta lo que podríamos denominar orígenes de un perfecto psicópata pero desde el punto de vista de…un perro.
Tan solo con esta premisa ya el libro genera la suficiente curiosidad como para dedicarle toda nuestra atención. Pero, cuando comienzas a leerlo aprecias el acierto que ha tenido Ken Grenhall en derribar las limitaciones de un punto de partida tan estricto para diversificar su novela y poder conocer el día a día de varios de los habitantes del barrio en el que habita nuestro Baxter, sus miedos, sus relaciones con los demás y, sobre todo, las razones que les llevan a sospechar de que no deberían perder de vista los movimientos de ese perro.
Esa manera de enfocar la historia convierte esta novela en una radiografía de una sociedad compleja, enfocada en la individualidad de cada uno de sus miembros en los que personajes como el propio Baxter no dejan de ser un mero reflejo de aquello en lo que nos hemos convertido los seres humanos. El perro nos mira, analiza nuestro comportamiento y se para a tratar de entenderlo aun sabiendo de la poca lógica de nuestros actos. Al mismo tiempo que nos invita a liberar nuestro lado más animal para encontrar la manera más correcta de realizarnos en nuestra vida.
Sin embargo, la realidad cotidiana de Baxter cambia cuando encuentra un espejo en el que reflejarse. Un personaje que, al igual que el mismo perro, no entiende de convencionalismos, de normas, de seguir los designios de una civilización que impide liberar nuestros instintos más primarios. Baxter encuentra a Carl o Carl encuentra a Baxter, y ven en el otro las infinitas posibilidades que ofrece una vida acompañados por alguien a quien entiendan.
Toda esta serie de variantes, la sucesión de personajes que entran y salen en la novela, los sorprendentes giros en la trama, la ambición de Baxter y su encuentro con Carl se acumulan en apenas doscientas páginas que se devoran sin que apenas te des cuenta, destacando algún que otro momento terrible de los que quedan grabados en la memoria. Sin embargo, la escasa duración de la novela, unida a tantos puntos de vista, impiden esa empatía necesaria en una historia como esta, restándole el dramatismo necesario para poder redondear la propuesta. Por otro lado, los personajes no dejan de ser pequeños esbozos carentes de profundidad, cargando sus conflictos en una serie de clichés que parecen seguir los principios de villanos de manual, restando la terrible sugestión de que el mal que anida en cada uno de nosotros no necesita de ídolos para poder manifestarse.
Aun así, la novela es divertida, no tiene reparos en mostrar la crueldad desde todos los puntos de vista posibles y te deja con un excelente sabor de boca por las implicaciones que se extraen de su desenlace. Una propuesta perfecta para estos días en los que lo único que uno necesita es una historia diferente que te invite a reflexionar acerca de lo que nos vuelve humanos sin que nos explote la cabeza.

[Irma Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llegué pensando que me encontraría con el típico libro de terror gore de perro despedazando gente (estilo Cujo) y me di de bruces contra un análisis de la naturaleza humana fascinante y una sensación de angustia vital terrible. Ken Greenhall se acaba de colocar en el centro de mi radar; tengo que leer TODO lo que haya escrito este señor.

[Latasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved R.C. Bray's reading but i'll have to agree with my friend Wendy. This book wasn't for me.
I received this audio book upon request from freeaudiobookcodes. com in exchange for a review.

wendy's review-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one disturbing work. At first, I was excited by its newness. We have a very serious story told realistically from a dog's perspective. I didn't mind that this dog wasn't nice. This is a horror book after all. Who concocts a horror story purely from the perspective of a dog and makes that so realistic? How refreshingly innovative!

It turns out, not even Greenhall ultimately does. (The rest of my review describes why what at first looks like a five star book - the it's amazing rating - becomes a three star book - I liked it. To do that, however, I have to describe some plot elements. I therefore use spoiler tags for light spoilers I can't avoid.) A third of the way through the book a new character is introduced, a sociopath named Carl Fine, who becomes the main protagonist. We still get some cool chapters written from the dog Baxter's perspective, but more and more it becomes Carl's story. The portrayal of Carl is a highly (perhaps too highly) realistic one of a sociopath. How do we the reader know Carl is a sociopath? We're exposed to Carl's thinking, actions, and lack of empathy through extremely disquieting events featuring Carl and Baxter, sometimes just Carl.

There's no comic relief either. Carl is a sociopath in part because his parents aren't right either. In fact, no character in this book is kind or sympathetic, not the love interest, Veronica, or her weird father, not the emotionally limited couple who lose their baby, and not even the teacher who takes a romantic interest in Carl. This book is full of really sick stuff when you get down to it.

There's a market, maybe even a need for a book like this. People who read fiction for truth, however nasty and grimy, will find this book a refreshingly, if brutally, honest portrayal of it, even if weird because of the incorporation of the dog's perspective. It is no surprise to me that this book had no market in the 1970s and only a limited one today. The 1970s were not a time when an author could tell a story this unremittingly bleak. You had to have a happy ending for the most part even when writing horror. For example, The Exorcist, horrifying as it may be, ends basically happily. The only exception that comes to my mind is Carrie, but even King's novel has hopeful moments. There is no hope or uplift anywhere to be found in Greenhall's book. It's an awful situation everywhere: on page 1, page 10, page 80, and on page 139, which is the last page (thankfully), wherever in the book you want to go. You just couldn't sell that in the 1970s. There was no market for an experiment of that magnitude. There is now. As disturbing as this book is, I basically like it because I have never read anything like it. It really makes me think.

I have changed my mind. I'm raising the book from three to four stars because of the quality of the writing. Greenhall is a major craftsman. His prose while not ornate is a model of precision. It is concise, clear, and never gets in the way of the story by intruding on the fourth wall. The writing style is highly readable, exactly what it should be for this type of work.

[Lizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

Was the dog the villain? In a world of sociopaths, a sociopathic dog is simply average. Greenhall had a clever idea and executed it perfectly.

This quote is from the mind of Baxter, the bull terrier.

“I must be more careful. Pity is not an emotion I want to encourage in myself. It is something for humans to feel, one of the jumble of odd sentiments they burden themselves with. Their emotions are like diseases, I think, diseases that can spread among those who try to understand them. Let their feelings be a mystery, like dozens of other strange traits they have. They live too far from reality. They stare at the television set if it were something real, and not just a jumble of noisy shadows. I suppose even those shadows inspire emotions in them. The ways they have to deceive themselves are endless.”

[Tyler Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was very disturbing. The ending, due to personal reasons, made me throw the damn book. TW Fire I hated every character, even the dog. Often went like "wtf?" Though at times it made me think...in horror. I don't think I'm ever rereading that. I'm having trouble deciding on a rating, so if it changes...

[Will Errickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spectacular, chilling novel about a sociopathic bull terrier! Baxter makes Cujo look like a clumsy amateur. Greenhall can really write and tells parts of the novel from Baxter's POV, which makes for compelling reading. Ignore the cheesy Zebra cover; this book's got the goods. Highly recommended!

My full review is here:
http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot....

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was worried when I started this book that it would diminish my love of dogs. But fear not, that is surely impossible. Instead I now have an anti-hero canine to love, a Batemen-esque Baxter. Sure, I wouldn't want him as a pet (I kind of do), but he's an amazing protagonist to read. Credit to Ken Greenhall for imbuing Baxter with inhuman human emotion. To create a novel where we see the world through Baxter's eyes and to communicate this gap in human and canine was done so subtlety that Baxter felt more human than Carl. Following that thread, Carl's lack of humanity was underscored by Baxter's observations. Greenhall wove everything together masterfully. Another fantastic overlooked horror classic looking spiffy again thanks to Valancourt.

[Jon Recluse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enter the mind of Baxter, a bull terrier who is seeking a perfect master.
Baxter is amoral, and extremely deadly.
His new master is a sociopathic teen.
A chilling novel of psychological horror that had me wondering who to stand with when these two dangerous individuals finally decide who is in charge....

Highly recommended.

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memoirs of a sociopathic bull terrier! And much more. Remarkable prose, for starters. Greenhall pairs an economical writing style with clinical observations and ditto reasoning; the exquisite art of using little words and saying a lot. Now that I like.

Makes the book modest in size, but there's plenty of psychological meat on every character. And that includes the dog. I loved the parts where the story takes his POV. Baxter is his name, finding the perfect master his game. And he's not taking prisoners, so to speak. His thoughts, his logic; from hilarious to downright threatening.

Fascinating too, how his perspective contrasts with the human one. Same place, different world, although everybody does have something in common. Me, me, me. And me. It gets pretty dark rather quickly, but things really become uncomfortable when Baxter is being adopted by a not entirely normal 13-year-old boy named Carl.

Soulmates, but in a disturbing kind of way. A bond from which can come no good. With that oozing from every page that remains, it's sweaty hands and an accelerated heartbeat all the way to the unsettling end. Five stars, without a shred of a doubt.

[Cody | CodysBookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ken Greenhall’s long-forgotten horror masterpiece, Hell Hound, is finally getting the recognition it deserves, thanks to a recent reissue. This was my first novel by this author, but it certainly won’t be my last.

This tale — one of a psychotic and cunning Bull Terrier — is bloody and mean and aims for the throat; told in precise prose, this is a terrifying hellraiser not concerned with sentimentality or sympathy. The obvious comparison is to Stephen King’s Cujo, though these stories are wildly different. Of the two, Cujo is perhaps better written, but something must be said for this book’s heartlessness.

This is a title more horror readers should be aware of. The length of a long novella, really, this is a quick, effective read: one that is finally getting its due.

[Chris Berko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure I read the same book as everyone else. It was fast paced, I'll give it that, I read it in one sitting over about a three hour time period, but it just didn't do it for me. Nothing scary, nothing chilling, just sort of a bland, sterile narration of a couple of situations that had potential but in the end were timidly written. I have a friend who makes fun of me because a lot of my movie tastes are against the grain, I don't know, maybe its me. Anyway I was reminded of the old Amazing Stories episode the Family Dog while reading this, for whatever that's worth.

[Amy Noelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Took me quite a long time to get really into the story but once I did I loved it. I think animal attack books just aren’t really my thing. But if you love them, this one has some unique elements and some thought provoking ideas I enjoyed.

[JennRa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una joya del género. Si buscas aterrarte, este no es tu libro. Pero si quiera un terror mas sutil, cotidiano y que te deje la sangre helada por otros motivos ¡adelante!.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It quickly went limp, and I stood back and watched until I knew its feeble hold on life was broken."

This was wild!

RTC

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this audiobook (the review is entirely voluntary) and I really loved everything about it. The writing, the story and the narration were all excellent.

It was a lot more than what I judged from the cover, which as everybody knows, one should never do. I thought it was just going to be another rabid doggy tale (tail, get it?). It is also super difficult to pull of the inner monologue of animals effectively, but somehow Greenhall did it. Who the hell is this Greenhall guy anyway?

Is it wrong to really like Baxter?

I think it might be.

But I do anyway.

4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 based on strong narration, excellent writing and amusing inner doggie monologues.

[n0s4a2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baxter es un bull terrier con una peculiar visión de lo que le rodea viviendo entre humanos, sus valores, y un sentido muy diferente de la vida y la muerte. Acabara teniendo como dueño a un niño psicópata que le planteará muchas cosas a Baxter.

Una historia diferente de terror, desde otro punto de vista y muy directa.

[Maricruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iba yo a verme una película sobre un perrete con muy mala idea que han puesto en Netflix, y que pensaba yo que era una comedia negra al estilo de Ocurrió cerca de su casa, cuando en los primeros créditos vi que estaba basada en la novela de un tal Ken Greenhall. Total, que miré por aquí si merecía la pena, y llegué a la conclusión de que también en este caso tenía que leer el libro antes de ver la película.

Baxter me ha sorprendido porque me ha resultado muy original. No solo por el hecho de atribuirle a un perro una maldad que parece imposible en esos animales y que en clave cómica se le atribuye siempre a los gatos. También me ha resultado inesperado el encuentro que plantea entre dos psicópatas, uno animal y otro humano y adolescente. De hecho su retrato del chaval resulta una descripción tan convincente del psicópata en etapa de aprendizaje que parecería que Ken Greenhall o era psiquiatra o había estudiado de cerca a este tipo de personas. Más: tiene una forma increíble de representar a las personas por sus rasgos menos halagüeños pero también muy empáticamente (en especial los personajes femeninos, esos SÍ que es original, y encima en los años 70). Me ha recordado algo a Patricia Highsmith, a esa misantropía convencida de que los seres humanos no somos nada de lo que estar muy orgullosos. Pero al mismo tiempo deja un resquicio de calidez, aunque solo sea la manifestación de un instinto social gregario. Sea como sea, contra esos remanentes de afecto destaca aun más la absoluta frialdad de la psicopatía.

Ken Greenhall me ha parecido uno de esos autores que parece que escriban desde una casita aislada en el quinto pino, al margen de modas, de influencias. Siempre es una delicia encontrar a narradores así.

A veces me hubiera gustado que Greenhall hubiera dedicado más tiempo a algunos personajes, que quedan algo colgando en la trama, como el vecino maniático de la jardinería. También hay algunas imprecisiones que me han sacado momentáneamente de la lectura, pero de todos modos el tono general de la novela me ha convencido de que quiero leer más cosas de este señor. Ah, sí, y ver la película por fin, ya que estamos.