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Max Bravo #1
The Dog Park Club
Raymond Chandler meets David Sedaris—the first in a dynamite new cozy series that’s “a lot of fun, full of unexpected depths and twists.” —Josh Bazell, bestselling author of Beat the Reaper
Amy Carter is missing. And there’s no one less capable of finding her than Max Bravo.
Max Bravo is a mid-rung opera singer with a diva's towering ego. And he doesn’t do favors. Not until the day he visits a troubled friend in Berkeley and offers to walk her dog.
Max quickly discovers the local dog park. It’s an odd, private little world—a preserve for neighborhood crackpots and lay-abouts, and, incidentally, their dogs.
But, the park regulars are friendly. Clubby. They even serve beer. Before long, Max can’t stay away.
When one of the regulars disappears, Max’s interest in the dog park turns to obsession. Amy Carter – beautiful, adored, pregnant – has vanished. The circumstances bode the worst.
What happened to Amy? The dog park club has brewed up a theory. And they mean to prove it.
Amy Carter is missing. And there’s no one less capable of finding her than Max Bravo.
Max Bravo is a mid-rung opera singer with a diva's towering ego. And he doesn’t do favors. Not until the day he visits a troubled friend in Berkeley and offers to walk her dog.
Max quickly discovers the local dog park. It’s an odd, private little world—a preserve for neighborhood crackpots and lay-abouts, and, incidentally, their dogs.
But, the park regulars are friendly. Clubby. They even serve beer. Before long, Max can’t stay away.
When one of the regulars disappears, Max’s interest in the dog park turns to obsession. Amy Carter – beautiful, adored, pregnant – has vanished. The circumstances bode the worst.
What happened to Amy? The dog park club has brewed up a theory. And they mean to prove it.
295 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 2010
6 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Robinson
3 books6 followers"Cynthia Robinson lives in San Francisco, where she works as a part-time advertising shill, and a full-time raconteur. Cynthia has an MFA in creative writing from University of San Francisco, where she also taught fiction writing. She was nominated for the Best New American Voices award 2007 and Best of the Web, Humor 2008." (http://cynthiarobinsonauthor.com/main/)
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
October 10, 2010
the cover is cute, but that's about the only interest this book held for me. I read about half before I was forced to admit the plot and the writing were not going to improve any. It plods and assumes the reader has little intelligence to sort out details on thier own, and the author seems oddly preoccupied with describing the racial background/heritage of every SINGLE character, even the 'supporting roles' (if they could be counted as supporting something so flat, it would require no support at all).
Sorry Ms. Robinson, but I find it hard to believe you were emotionally invested in writing this.
Sorry Ms. Robinson, but I find it hard to believe you were emotionally invested in writing this.
December 9, 2013
I thought this book was going to be about dogs or dog owners which it is to an extent. This is one of those books that does not give you any closure or definite answers as to what happened. One of the dog park owners goes missing and the group thinks her husband has killed her so they both investigate her. It is a cast of random people of which there is no real character development so you don't get a true picture of who each person is. By the end of the book, you still don't truly know what happened to the missing woman if she is dead or is still alive somewhere and with whom. You don't have closure as to the other cast of characters and their part in this if any at all. This is one of those books you have to guess at what happened in the end as the author doesn't make it clear by any means, she leaves it very open ended to make you guess at what happens. I truly did not like this book, it was weirdly written and I didn't like the way it was open ended and I didn't leave teh book knowing what truly happened. I do NOT recommend this book.
May 15, 2011
I love dogs and dog parks, even though my dog is crazy and doesn't abide going to dog parks. So I grabbed this book eagerly, thinking I could live vicariously. Turns out I wouldn't want to live vicariously through these assholes if you paid me to.
The narrator could not have been more annoying. I didn't care for Claudia, either...but then again I never care for super rich people who complain a lot. And okay, I get that Max doesn't like hippies but did he have to tell us over and over again?
The writing was just...bad. It was almost like the author was trying so hard to be clever that she neglected to make any sense. I read about 1/3 of it before I realized that I really couldn't care less about any of these people and I was tired of playing mental gymnastics to figure out what the hell the author was saying.
The narrator could not have been more annoying. I didn't care for Claudia, either...but then again I never care for super rich people who complain a lot. And okay, I get that Max doesn't like hippies but did he have to tell us over and over again?
The writing was just...bad. It was almost like the author was trying so hard to be clever that she neglected to make any sense. I read about 1/3 of it before I realized that I really couldn't care less about any of these people and I was tired of playing mental gymnastics to figure out what the hell the author was saying.
January 4, 2012
There were some promising parts to this book, namely Baba, the ghostly Romany grandma who steals cigarettes and booze, and dispenses mostly unwanted advice. Beyond her, I found few reasons to like the book. 90% of the characters were repellant, and the plot was so muddled, I almost gave up on it a few times.
October 12, 2011
I wish it were possible to give a book a negative rating, because I would with this one! It is downright awful. I was trying to give it a chance, but then she used two words that were unnecessary and offensive, so I stopped.
First she used the "f" word (not the swear word, the derogatory word for gay). I am sometimes OK with this word, but when the main character, who I can't stand to begin with, uses it in a very offensive way, I just can't continue reading. Why the author would use this word in a book written in 2010 is beyond comprehension, and she obviously has no concept of reality. It's not just the use of that word though....
She also used the "r" word (derogatory word for mentally disabled). While it wasn't being used about a person, it was still used by the other main character.
Why would I want to read a book about two characters that are self indulgent? I wouldn't.
I don't think I had ever really been offended by a book before this one. Normally I would pass on a book I don't like to trade or donate to the library, because others might like it. This piece of offensive trash is going right there...in the TRASH! I would return it, but I don't want it available for sale.
I am glad, in reading other reviews, that many others feel the same way as I do, and I really hope she never tries to write another book in this series with these characters. Please, Cynthia, don't do it!
First she used the "f" word (not the swear word, the derogatory word for gay). I am sometimes OK with this word, but when the main character, who I can't stand to begin with, uses it in a very offensive way, I just can't continue reading. Why the author would use this word in a book written in 2010 is beyond comprehension, and she obviously has no concept of reality. It's not just the use of that word though....
She also used the "r" word (derogatory word for mentally disabled). While it wasn't being used about a person, it was still used by the other main character.
Why would I want to read a book about two characters that are self indulgent? I wouldn't.
I don't think I had ever really been offended by a book before this one. Normally I would pass on a book I don't like to trade or donate to the library, because others might like it. This piece of offensive trash is going right there...in the TRASH! I would return it, but I don't want it available for sale.
I am glad, in reading other reviews, that many others feel the same way as I do, and I really hope she never tries to write another book in this series with these characters. Please, Cynthia, don't do it!
February 7, 2012
I thought the cover of this book was great which is what drew me to it in the first place. However, the story inside was not at all what I expected. The writing was sloppy and the main character was very annoying. For a man, he was selfish, vain, jealous, and very cruel to some of the other people in the group.
I heard this was going to be a "series" but I won't be reading it.
Very disappointing!
I heard this was going to be a "series" but I won't be reading it.
Very disappointing!
January 10, 2013
You're at least half way through the book before the mystery takes place. I think the hardest part is to stay with this book. I kept putting it down. The characters grow a little exhausting, including the protagonist. When you find the narrator difficult, it can be a real challenge to finish the book- or care to.
May 21, 2018
I'm on page 30 and it's already a struggle. The cover, title, and blurb had me thinking this was going to be an easy and fun summer read. Nope. I'll give it another 30 pages but life's too short to read bad books
June 5, 2011
I only finished this because I am not a book abandoner. Gave it a chance. Wasted my first weekend of the summer. :(
January 28, 2012
Weird mystery that tries too hard to be edgy, cute, and gritty, all at the same (confused) time. Plus, there really is very little about the dogs, and the characters who met at a Berkeley dog park are all quite unlikable, whiny, drink too much, and feel sorry for themselves.
It was just interesting enough that I didn't stop reading, and then I was all pissed at the end.
AND the point of view is from a bisexual opera singer, with a touch of the paranormal (dead Gypsy grandmother coming in halfway through, see what I mean about all over the place?), and I don't think the author pulls it off at all well.
It was just interesting enough that I didn't stop reading, and then I was all pissed at the end.
AND the point of view is from a bisexual opera singer, with a touch of the paranormal (dead Gypsy grandmother coming in halfway through, see what I mean about all over the place?), and I don't think the author pulls it off at all well.
October 16, 2012
The characters were completely unsympathetic and the ending left me going, "UGH! What a waste of time!"
October 28, 2017
I'm kind of having a hard time giving this the 4 stars I did. Here's the problem, it was bit slow to get into but once snagged I was hooked, then the author did something dastardly at the end that I'm not sure I can forgive...yet it gave me an experience like none other. Don't let the cute dog on the cover fool you. It's a murder mystery and there's a lot going on, sometimes too much. But it's also a comment on life wrapped up in these oddly plastic-y real characters. I don't exactly recommend it but if you're interested I'm not going to stop you either.
September 13, 2011
I picked up this book because I thought it might be about dogs but not really; it's a murder mystery. A group of odd people are pulled together who share taking their dogs to the dog park and further joined when one of their number disappears, probably murdered. Unlike the police, they are sure the murderer is Amy's husband Steve and decide to find the evidence. The inept murder investigation by the dog people kept me reading but I didn't really like the materialistic, hysteric, sex-hopping people, although they were a quirky and entertaining mix. They were always getting drunk or hopping into bed with someone to avoid being alone. Our main narrator is Max Bravo, a mid-rung opera star who probably is in love with his bestfriend Claudia but is having a homosexual relationship with Wolfgang. Then there is the handsome homeless guy Gator, the old war Vet Ed who lives in his trailor, and the Catalan Jordi who is sweet and clueless. Not to mention lesbians Kim and Marcy who round out the numbers and Max's dead grandmother Baba appearing now and then to warn him, chide him, and try to get him married to a nice Romany girl. Nobody is quite who they seem and the story didn't really end; maybe we know what happened to Amy but not for sure. The writing is witty and insightful if a bit sarcastic and judgmental. I was especially impressed when Max, in one of his depressed states, faced that he was getting old and with age "there would also be the loss of companionship that too often accompanies the loss of youth. I could already hear the thrumming of empty air in solitary rooms." Imagining that end made me appreciate the comfort and love and security that comes with growing old together with your spouse. The real treasures in life really are your companion and your children and they shine more brightly as treasures as you age.
January 27, 2014
Wow this book could turn me off of not only the author but also opera singers, opera in general, and all of California if I didn't know better.
First of all, the reviewer from Booklist didn't do his homework. This is not a dog mystery. Dogs are so much on the sideline in this book they don't really count.
Kirkus Reviews says it has charismatic characters? Really???
Jeremy Duns describes Max Bravo as appealing? Although, I will go with original.
Please read my progress reports
I think whenever I see a book by Cynthia Robinson, if there are anymore which is hard to imagine, I shall run as quick as I can to the other end of the store just as I do when I am confronted with a crying screaming child exhibiting a tantrum.
The only thing positive I can say about this book is that it does keep you reading to see just how weird the characters can get. That's one way it doesn't disappoint. For me, the only way.
I am now going to read a more pleasurable book by with more likable characters by Stephen King or John Saul or Dean Koontz.
First of all, the reviewer from Booklist didn't do his homework. This is not a dog mystery. Dogs are so much on the sideline in this book they don't really count.
Kirkus Reviews says it has charismatic characters? Really???
Jeremy Duns describes Max Bravo as appealing? Although, I will go with original.
Please read my progress reports
I think whenever I see a book by Cynthia Robinson, if there are anymore which is hard to imagine, I shall run as quick as I can to the other end of the store just as I do when I am confronted with a crying screaming child exhibiting a tantrum.
The only thing positive I can say about this book is that it does keep you reading to see just how weird the characters can get. That's one way it doesn't disappoint. For me, the only way.
I am now going to read a more pleasurable book by with more likable characters by Stephen King or John Saul or Dean Koontz.
February 23, 2012
Most unusual for me !!! I did not
Finish the book !!! I was 1/2 way through and felt like i kept rereading the same page . Like groundhog day ! The words and sayings that people spoke were clever and funny
But the rest was tedious , so sad , i had high
Hopes . I did read the last 2 chapters to see what happened and was
Left with no answers !!!!! Hateful !
Finish the book !!! I was 1/2 way through and felt like i kept rereading the same page . Like groundhog day ! The words and sayings that people spoke were clever and funny
But the rest was tedious , so sad , i had high
Hopes . I did read the last 2 chapters to see what happened and was
Left with no answers !!!!! Hateful !
August 17, 2010
This wasn't at all what I expected. I found the main characters to be very unlikeable and the plot uninteresting. Plus, I hate when a book is open-ended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2011
couldn't make myself care about the characters
January 13, 2011
Horrible book. So horrible - I didn't even finish it. A mystery would actually be solved - this one isn't. Awful, shallow, stereotypical characters and a plot that plods. Ugh.
Read
January 15, 2014Don't remember this book
April 15, 2014
this book confused me at the end. what the heck happened?
August 6, 2025
In concept, the book sounded like a quick reading cozy mystery. Man gets thrust into the dog park scene among a cast of unusual characters brought together by their canine companions when the pretty young woman among them disappears, and it's up to the Dog Park Club to figure out what happened to her. I would have taken that thick, predictable, full-of-coincidences plot that lets the Club solve the mystery despite none of them being detectives over whatever this was.
Our narrator, Max Bravo is an opera singer who travels the world but comes home when his lush friend, Claudia gets abandoned by her husband and begs for him to come to commiserate with her. She gets drunk, he discovers her dog still needs to be walked, and ends up at the dog park. He talks about how Claudia lives far away from him, yet he still repeatedly ends up at the dog park with her dog even after she's gotten over her initial trauma. The plot had plenty of giant leaps like that, where time passes, things happen, but readers are just expected to accept the developments as the book continues on. I found no connection to any of the characters, the focus was almost entirely on Bravo and Claudia, and the book ended nonsensically, which is fitting with the rest of it.
Our narrator, Max Bravo is an opera singer who travels the world but comes home when his lush friend, Claudia gets abandoned by her husband and begs for him to come to commiserate with her. She gets drunk, he discovers her dog still needs to be walked, and ends up at the dog park. He talks about how Claudia lives far away from him, yet he still repeatedly ends up at the dog park with her dog even after she's gotten over her initial trauma. The plot had plenty of giant leaps like that, where time passes, things happen, but readers are just expected to accept the developments as the book continues on. I found no connection to any of the characters, the focus was almost entirely on Bravo and Claudia, and the book ended nonsensically, which is fitting with the rest of it.
November 2, 2020
I rated this two stars because I finished the novel. I'm not sure if it deserves two stars.
The main characters in novels are meant to be relatable. The main character in this novel, Max, is not. He is not relatable, likeable, but he is memorable. However, he is memorable for the wrong reasons. And the supporting cast are not much better. Some are okay, but they are all stereotypically contrived, which is a fairly lazy writing practice. By the end, I didn't care about any of them, not even the missing woman.
By the end of novel, I felt confused. Not because I was lost in the plot, of which there barely is one, but because I don't know how to classify this novel. There's a mystery element, but it's not obvious until almost half way through. It's meant to be a humorous novel, but the attempts are too forced to be funny. I think I'd class this novel as a bad facsimile of a Steve Martin movie.
If your motivation to read this novel is because you're a dog lover, then give it a miss.
The main characters in novels are meant to be relatable. The main character in this novel, Max, is not. He is not relatable, likeable, but he is memorable. However, he is memorable for the wrong reasons. And the supporting cast are not much better. Some are okay, but they are all stereotypically contrived, which is a fairly lazy writing practice. By the end, I didn't care about any of them, not even the missing woman.
By the end of novel, I felt confused. Not because I was lost in the plot, of which there barely is one, but because I don't know how to classify this novel. There's a mystery element, but it's not obvious until almost half way through. It's meant to be a humorous novel, but the attempts are too forced to be funny. I think I'd class this novel as a bad facsimile of a Steve Martin movie.
If your motivation to read this novel is because you're a dog lover, then give it a miss.
November 25, 2017
Considering that the characters are all brought together in a dog park, this novel is rather negligent about telling you the fate of the missing woman's dog! It drove me crazy!
Max is not a particularly likeable character, nor is Claudia. If the other dog park regulars, and their dogs, hadn't been likeable I don't think I would have stuck this one out. The end suggests a solution to Amy's disappearance, but it isn't one that I found particularly believable. All in all not the most satisfying read and I don't think I'll read more in the series.
Max is not a particularly likeable character, nor is Claudia. If the other dog park regulars, and their dogs, hadn't been likeable I don't think I would have stuck this one out. The end suggests a solution to Amy's disappearance, but it isn't one that I found particularly believable. All in all not the most satisfying read and I don't think I'll read more in the series.
April 24, 2025
I am surprised at the number of one and two star reviews and especially at some people's objection to some of the language.
Let's deal with the language issue first. I think that the words used, while often offensive in real life are used in an appropriate way as it is how the characters would speak, I found it authentic.
The book itself has an interesting if not overly complex plot and has a distinct mid-century vibe, think Valley of the Dolls or Jack Kerouac.
I enjoyed it.
Let's deal with the language issue first. I think that the words used, while often offensive in real life are used in an appropriate way as it is how the characters would speak, I found it authentic.
The book itself has an interesting if not overly complex plot and has a distinct mid-century vibe, think Valley of the Dolls or Jack Kerouac.
I enjoyed it.
September 10, 2018
Nice writing, ok character development. The way the book ended I thought I was missing pages, unsatisfying. Main questions left unanswered. If you like drawing your own conclusions then this book is for you.
February 2, 2022
Started out fine but then kind of dragged out. The "dog park' in Berkeley part was ok but the rest of the story was a little haphazard and not very interesting. Full of folks smoking cigarettes which is definitely NOT Berkeley!
September 5, 2017
Pretentious, unpleasant characters and I was unable to finish it. Dreck.
June 16, 2018
I love it 😅?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2019
I disliked every character in this book and it wasn't really a mystery. There wasn't really a clear ending either.
May 15, 2022
First book of a cute series. I liked it and will probably be reading more of this series. If you like dogs and cozy mysteries, I recommend it to you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews