Review: ‘Dog World’ by Jason McKinney

It’s book review time! I just finished Dog World by Jason McKinney, and I’ll say it right off the bat, not only is Dog World one of the best werewolf books I have read, it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Dog World tells the tale of a group of US soldiers in Iraq who are faced with a new danger – werewolves. It starts out with a deadly battle between one unit versus the werewolves and quickly turns into a full out war of great proportions. The werewolves are everywhere, they’re among enemies and they’re even hidden amongst their own men. No one knows who to trust anymore, they don’t know if that person sitting next to them is safe or actually a ferocious werewolf waiting to attack. But the problem is bigger than that, because the werewolves are taking over the entire world.

If you have watched an apocalyptic movie or read an apocalyptic book then you know that the tale usually starts after the shit has already hit the fan, after the world is already screwed by some big bad, but not Dog World, McKinney takes his readers through the entire journey – the before, the during and the after. It all begins in Iraq and eventually spreads to the whole world.  Readers never miss a step, we are there reading as the entire thing unfolds. I absolutely loved that about the book, I loved the background story and how everything played out.

I was highly impressed with Jason McKinney’s storytelling and found it hard to believe that this was his first novel. The story is so detailed that you can picture every moment perfectly, but the author never goes overboard, he doesn’t throw in unnecessary filler and the writing is never tedious. Big plus! Also, in most books you are waiting for the action to begin, but Dog World is instant action that never lets up, it never leaves you bored. But it’s not some shallow hack and slash action book, McKinney took it beyond that by adding a level of depth and intelligence. His comprehensive knowledge on the military mixed with a great understanding of character growth made for an incredible story of war and how one deals with the issues thrown at them.

One of the things I loved the most was the werewolf mythos, of course. Jason McKinney didn’t just throw some werewolves into his tale, he created an entire story for them – how they were created, where they came from, how the virus spread, why they have their powers…etc. He left no stone unturned. Loved it! And something that you werewolf fans will love is that there are also vampires in this book, but unlike other books these vamps aren’t dreamy intelligent aristocrats, they’re seedy and disgusting “cockroaches.” The werewolves dominate the vampires in every way, the wolves are badass and the vamps are pathetic vermin. Just what every werewolf fan wants.

Overall, I absolutely loved Dog World. It was a captivating and surprisingly well-written story about werewolves taking over the world and one group of individuals at the heart of it all. It was an incredible novel, and one that was completely believable, which is most impressive. To have a reader think to themselves “hey, this could totally happen!” is an impressive feat. Bravo Jason!

If you love fierce and edgy werewolf horror books, then I highly suggest Dog World. I will note that it is for adults only, it’s a highly graphic novel that’s really not appropriate for younger readers.

You can buy Dog World here and for more info on the book check out the interview I did with the author himself here.

– Moonlight

By moonlight

One of the writers for werewolves.com, as well as vampires.com.

21 comments

  1. I’m glad im not the only one who thinks something like this could happen lol. It really was a great read im glad someone else enjoyed it as much as I did.

  2. I’ cant wait to get my paws on this book! (Sorry, bad joke.) Anyway it looks like an amazing read! If you see me (and I doubt it) I will be in the library with my nose shoved in this book.

  3. This sounds PERFECT for me! im always up for a great story and haveing werewolves in the mix would be like iceing on the cake. correction, werewolf books are like chocolate cake, and haveing it well writen is the iceing, i’ll have to read it.

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  9. FINALLY the vamps are the underdogs for once! there is way too many leech lovers in this world! that is ONE of the only reasons i kind of liked twilight (without the romantic crap) because the werewolves were incredibly racist to he vamps and were openly degrading :) (i do like their designs as well) so i will DEFIANTLY read this book.

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  15. I really enjoyed this book! I especially liked the ending where Mr Mckinney left it unclear weather the story ends there or if he will write a sequel.
    I am fine with the story continuing or ending which rarely happens for me (although if you do write a sequel I will definitely buy it). I just hope that you continue to write stories with werewolves in them Mr. Mckinney^^

    1. Thank you so much, koozen! I do appreciate your praise and for taking the time to read Dog World. I am currently working on the sequel “Dog ‘Verse” and hope to have it out by the fall. Also in the works (I’m halfway through with it now) is a nice little werewolf/zombie mash-up titled, “Werewolves of the Dead”. I’m really hoping to have that out early next year. Again, thank you for everything!

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