Rain Dogs

by Sean Doolittle

It was one hell of an inheritance for former Chicago reporter Tom a broken-down pickup truck, ramshackle campground, a canoe livery—and one pot-smoking, barely working employee he doesn’t need, doesn’t want, and can’t afford. But the truth is, after losing a child and a marriage, Tom doesn’t really care. And life is nice and quiet in the middle of nowhere. Until a drug lab blows up near his property—putting Tom in contact with the woman he once loved, a small-town cop with a chip on his shoulder, and a powerful local who doesn’t want him poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Tom doesn’t want to get involved in the first place. But in the hardscrabble Nebraska Sandhills, storms gather suddenly and bad blood runs deep. Now a quiet summer on the river is turning into a dangerous season of grudges, betrayal, and violent reckoning—and it’s already too late to find shelter...

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Noir, Novels

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING: 3.25
PROTAGONIST: Tom Coleman
SETTING: Nebraska (US)
SERIES: Standalone

It’s not much of an inheritance—a campground, some canoes, an old pickup truck—but maybe it’s just what Tom Coleman needs. He’s been wallowing in the dregs of his miserable life for some time now, having turned to the bottle after the failure of his marriage and the death of his daughter. Formerly a Chicago reporter, he’s returned to his hometown of Valentine, Nebraska, a place where his father was once involved in law enforcement and his first love, Abby, still lives.

Tom keeps the campground running with the help of a down-on-his-luck pot-smoking loser by the name of Duane and Abby’s headstrong stepson, Scott. When Scott and two of his friends are involved in a meth lab blowing up that takes one of their lives, the local law and federal Drug Enforcement Agency step in. It appears that a sleazy drug lord by the name of Harlan Pack may be running his operation through the area, possibly using Duane, Scott and some of the other locals to move the goods.

Tom is pretty much a loser who disappears into the bottle on a regular basis. The campground is largely run by Duane and Scott. Tom comes to admire Scott who, although difficult, is a very hard worker. When they have a run-in, Scott disappears. Tom and Abby finally bring him back home, but Valentine has turned into a heartless place and there’s a lot going on about the area drug activity.

In a book like this, the reader harbors the hope that the protagonist will turn his life around and become ennobled and save the day. IN RAIN DOGS, this doesn’t happen, which may be realistic but is somewhat disappointing. I never really got a handle on Tom and what made him tick. A lot of the details aren’t really explained, most especially Tom’s earlier relationship with Abby. And Abby is very passive. When Tom is completely drunk, she doesn’t even comment on his condition and treats him like he is sensible.

RAIN DOGS is more of a character study than a true mystery. Unfortunately, the characters weren’t very fully developed and never really came to life for me.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very fun, quick read. Great atmosphere that captures the Nebraska setting wonderfully. The main characters are both real and tragic in the events that lead them into the story.

While the plotting gets a little muddled and character motivations vague as the story progresses, the story works its way to a satisfying ending.

This book was my introduction to the author. I would definitely be interested in reading more.

[Esther Somorai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read 5-19-2016 (own)
This is a pretty good novel that kept me reading to see what would happen next. Some things get pretty unpredictable and down right crazy.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a little hard to get started on, but I was glad I stayed with it. A fine mystery and full of emotional trauma.

Tom has just inherited his grandfather's campground and canoe rental, along with a very odd employee he really can't afford-- turns out he really can't afford to do without the employee either. The reason he has such a need of the employee is his drinking problem. To be really honest, I had trouble liking him as a protagonist because he is constantly drinking himelf into a stupor and ignoring things going on around him. He is nursing a deep, emotional pain after losing his five year old daughter to leukemia and his struggle to deal with her loss sends him into a spin that causes him to lose his career and his wife. The drinking goes on throughout the book and at times I wondered if he would have made better decisions if he had been sober.

He encounters a former love in his new community and quickly runs afoul of a local cop-- one whose uncle and father have some sort of long-standing disagreement-- and doesn't get much help from the chief of police. A meth cooking operation blows up near his place and soon he finds himself drawn into a plot, (not by his desire for justice-- because the only thing he wants to do is drink and feel sorry for himself) a plot that hits pretty close to home. Even in his drunken state, he makes some mental leaps and his father (an ex cop) helps him make some further connections. Meanwhile, the former love is hanging around and showing interest in rekindling, but he is too wrapped up in his own emotional pain to have anything to offer her.

Then suddenly, the novel shifts into passing gear and wow does it move. The sad thing is that he never really accomplishes anything heroic, despite a few feeble efforts, but just goes with the flow-- because he is almost devoid of feeling anything other than self-pity, though he does have some empathy for others that are involved.

Despite his lack of heroism, this is a refreshing read. It is a great change of pace for once to read a story about a normal guy, suffering his own real pain, who isn't a Jack Reacher or Gray Man superman. He's just a normal guy-- caught up in a mess he would prefer to stay out of so that he can suck down another pint of whiskey. Not a fighter, or even a shooter... not even a clever detective.. just a sad, depressed man.

[M. Sprouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some charm and a sense of atmosphere. Sean Doolittle helps us imagine working at "The Landing", shuttling canoes, floats and kayaks for the recreation of tourists. At first the hired help doesn't really seem out of place, a seasonal pot smoking drifter and an angry teenager. A little over halfway we discover things are not exactly as they seem. Our alcoholic hero, Tom, with the help of his old lover try to make the troubles go away. Unfortunately, they soon learn that there things are deadlier than expected.

Sean Doolittle's writing is the strength of this novel. However, there's a lull in the middle and the ending is so convenient, that it's a little unbelievable. Worth reading, but low on the "WOW factor".

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sean Doolittle lost his daughter, wife, and job. A bequest from his Grandfather, a small campground/outfitter on the Niobrara River, is a bump in his slide to full on alcoholism. Shortly after he arrivees another cabin on the river explodes. He checks it out with his father, retired from the State Patrol, and learns that three teens were there. All are injured, one is life flighted to Lincoln, and one is the step son of his high school girlfriend. This is enough that his journalist's antenna begins to quiver a bit.
Doolittle captures the beauty of the region, while telling a funny, engaging story.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thriller - Tom Coleman has lost his young daughter to leukemia, lost his marriage, and taken to the bottle. He inherits his grandfathers small boat rental concession on the Niobrara River and leaves his Chicago reporting job. In Nebraska he gets involved with a hostile Deputy, some drug dealing, undercover DEA agents and his old flame and her arrogant son.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rural noir about alcoholic ex-journalist from Chicago inheriting his grandfather's Nebraska campground and finding himself in the middle of meth-based drama. Structurally sound and very readable, but a bit anticlimactic (in the way realistic outcomes tend to be).

[RyleeAnn Andre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good re-introduction to my mystery/crime books. It was easy to follow but also had some surprises that made me ready to keep reading. Also, cool to read books set in places I am familiar with!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sean Doolittle can write a crime novel, with humor to boot.

[Robert Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read. GCL Book Sale

[Emma Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely developed story. The MC is no saint but he keeps the story interesting. The Nebraska campground setting was unique.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting thriller. I like the fact that the setting is Nebraska.

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Coleman is just beginning to approach middle age, but some days he feels much older. A native of the northern Nebraska sand hills, he had escaped to Chicago and a journalistic career, and a marriage and a daughter, and he was doing okay. Then his daughter died of leukemia when she was four, and his wife left him. He’s been trying to replace them both with booze. Then his grandfather back home died and left him a broken-down campground and canoe-rental business on a wilderness river, and Tom sees it as a retreat. But he forgot about Abby, the girl he left behind, who has since married, too -- and become widowed as well. Hell, maybe he can make his meager inheritance support him while he hides out for the rest of his life. He has even inherited an employee who also seems to be looking for a place to escape to.

And then, when he’s barely beginning to settle in, a cabin up the way explodes and several teenagers are injured. Tom’s father is a retired high-ranking state cop and Tom himself is still a newspaperman at heart, and he’s pretty sure the place was a meth lab. And then other things begin to happen, small things, but they all seem to be coming together. There’s the wildlife photographer sleeping in one of his tents, and Abby’s stepson, Scott, whom Tom has taken on for the summer, and Duane, his stoner handyman, and Harlan Pack, from the reservation casino in nearby South Dakota. And there’s Sheriff’s Deputy Severs, who likes to swagger and beat up on civilians.

In many ways, it’s a depressing story and no one is innocent, really, except maybe Abby. Doolittle is good at constructing characters and putting them through their hoops. And his writing certainly scintillates. But it’s difficult to care much about what’s happening here. There are no great surprises in the plot, but you’ll wonder along the way just how many of these people are going to survive. (Not all of them. But you knew that, really.) So it’s a pretty good read, but it’s not going to leave you with a smile on your face.

[David Rossetti · Rating 1 out of 5]

My strong suspicion is this was one of Doolittle's early attempts he pulled out of the trunk after the success of his other two novels. It was a mistake to do so. Without substantial rewriting, "Rain Dogs" should have been given up for lost.


It probably should have been a tip-off that there were only blurbs from writers on the paperback edition and if nothing else it guarantees I'll never take another blurb from Dennis Lehane seriously. I haven't read Doolittle's previous books but they have to be better; this one is flat, amateurish, dull, and lacking in anything resembling a plot, characters, or memorable settings. The protagonist Tom Coleman substitutes alcoholism and a dead daughter for a personality and the remaining characters follow suit, remaining flat and lifeless throughout the book. He inherits a river rafting business from his grandfather and if there's a memorable passage (or even a description?) of the river it must have come and gone without my noticing. Quite honestly, the plot might as well have done the same.

Based on previous reviews I'm not quite ready to write Doolittle off yet, but seriously, give this one a miss.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jsou knihy, u kterých člověk po přečtení ani vlastně neví, jestli se mu líbily. Rain Dogs je jednou z nich. Je to rozhodně zajímavá a skvěle napsaná kriminálka, ale jde hodně proti proudu. Většina podobných románů (zvláště těch, točících se kolem drog) staví hrdinu do středu událostí a ustavičně stupňuje tlak - tady je celý příběh něco, co plyne kolem hlavního hrdiny, občas mu to zmáčí nohavice a pak zase zmizí. Hrdina je tu z větší části jen pozorovatel... a to celé je navíc vyprávěno velmi poklidně, tlumeně, bez silných emocí. Ono, když si celý příběh shrnete, tak zjistíte, že se ani vlastně nic moc nestalo, že největší půvab je ve vyprávění Seana Doolittla. Ten zvládá jak skvělé dialogy, tak věrohodné charaktery a okolí. Nechystá na čtenáře žádná překvápka, spíš je donutí věřit postavám, kterým je od pohledu nesmyslné věřit.
Momentálně mám z knihy rozporuplné pocity. Z jedné strany se mi vážně líbí její styl... z druhé strany si říkám, že je na mně možná až příliš poklidný. Ale asi časem zkusím od Doolittla další knihu a pak se teprve definitivně rozhodnu.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun to read about real places I have seen and roads I have actually driven on weaved into a mystery story unlike most I've read. Tom Coleman inherits a camp/outfitter site from his grandfather on the Niobrara River in Nebraska. He quits his job at a Chicago newspaper to try and make a go of it. His college sweetheart, Abby, lives near Valentine, now a widow with a daughter and two stepsons. Tom also inherits the hired help, Duane Foster, a misfit drifter from Omaha who makes all his money in the seven months the camp is open so he can hang out in Omaha all winter without having to work. When Abby's 15-year-old stepson, Scott, is burned along with two of his buddies in a fire that is suspicious for a makeshift meth lab, Tom is drawn into finding out what's really going on in Cherry County, Nebraska.

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sean Doolittle writes intelligent thrillers with complex and very human protagonists. In [Rain Dogs], Tom Coleman, an ex-journalist mourning the death of both his daughter and his marriage, has inherited a small outdoor outfitters that includes a campground, rafts and kayaks, and an employee he doesn't really need. He's working hard to drink himself to death, but moving back within driving distance of his parents and an old girlfriend isn't making this easier. Nor is the explosion of an old cabin a few miles away that Tom suspects was meth-related, although the sheriff isn't handling it as such.

This was a fun, fast-paced book for a busy time of the year. It's not The Cleanup or Lake Country, but even at less than his best, Doolittle is worth reading.

[Ed Napiorkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have to admit I actually purchased this audiobook by mistake thinking it was another I was interested in. Not a bad mistake though. Turned out to be an interesting story with plenty to keep me listening. Majority of the characters are consistently portrayed, the writing style enjoyable, sufficient pace to keep you going, a plot sufficient to maintain interest and get you guessing as to how the ending will unfold. Not brilliant but certainly worthy of three stars and a recommendation as one to consider for those interested in American country town stories. My thanks to the author and also the narrator.

[Abholler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Coleman, the main character, is mourning the loss of his wife and child. He drinks too much and he doesn't care much about anything. Of course, he gets pulled into a problem near the campground he's inherited, and begins to regain an interest in life. A good read, better than it sounds, with some humor to it as well.

[Beverlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geesh! This book certainly knows how to have its way with you. The last choice you have is when you begin. At first I was interested more in the characters and the setting of the setting, so without realizing it I slid too far into the plot to get out of it until it was done with me. Good thing I didn't start the book late.... Excellent mystery!

[Emily Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former reporter Tom Coleman inherited a campground and river float operation from his grandfather. There was one employee and worn out equipment, but Tom had lost his child to leukemia and his wife to divorce, so he really does not care about anything. That's why it takes so long to figure out what is happening around him. Riveting story.

[MARY HESTER · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first time reading this genre of books and I loved it. I am from Nebraska and it was great having this book take place in my state and feeling like I was a part of the story telling. You feel like you are living with the book and it kept me very interested. I couldn't believe how fast I flew through this book and want to keep reading this author's works in the future.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just recently reread this book, and it makes me feel like I'm reading a gregory macdonald story inside a charlie huston novel. the language/dialogue is spot on and there's not a good place to put the book down at!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this since I met Sean at an event in Omaha a year ago. Since I lived in the Nebraska Sandhills for 20 years, I was interested to see his take on it. I enjoyed it, thought he got the atmosphere just right.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid crime novel. The writing is really strong, and when the plot gets a little hard to follow, it's the writing that carries the novel through.

I'm definitely interested in reading more from Doolittle.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a page turner with cliff-hangers throughout the book. I loved how it was set in the Sandhills. I sometimes struggled to keep the names straight and was often very frustrated with the protagonist and his alcoholism.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rain Dogs is a challenging and complex novel about the drug trafficking (and lots of other kinds of ways of breaking the law). While it's a challenging read to keep all the characters apart, the read is worth the effort. I am hopeful someone will pick up the rights to do the movie. .

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as dark or intense as previously-read Sean Doolittle titles--more like James Lee Burke or someone. Still very good. Would read more by this author.

[C.S. Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. Fast paced, flawed characters, and a believable mystery. Can't ask for much more than that.