Two dogs, Snitter and Rowf, escape from a research laboratory in the Lake District where it is wrongly supposed they have been purposely infected with a deadly virus and now pose a dangerous threat to the human population. As the authorities give chase, the two friends make their way through the hills and across the moors, along the way learning to survive on their wits and finding friendship and help from a fox they encounter. They dream of finding their original owners and a safe haven - but the hunt is on. A lyrical and engrossing tale, The Plague Dogs is a remarkable journey into the hearts and minds of two canine heroes.
This modern-day classic is an unforgettable tale of fantasy and adventure, a powerful exploration of the limits of human cruelty and kindness. A “gripping ... compelling tale of emotional force and high suspense” (The Wall Street Journal). Rowf, a shaggy black mongrel, and Snitter, a black-and-white fox terrier, are among dozens of animals being cruelly held in a testing facility in North West England. When one of the handlers fails to close Rowf’s cage properly, the two dogs make a daring escape into the English countryside, where they befriend a red fox who helps them survive in the wild. But as rumors circulate that the dogs may have been the test subjects for biological weapons and could be carrying a terrible plague, they soon find themselves targets of a great dog hunt. Local farmers, politicians, scientists, and even the military join in the search to track them down.
Chronicles the rabies outbreak in South Texas, the politics of the response to it, and the 1995-96 USDA program for dropping an experimental vaccine over nearly fifteen thousand square miles of brushland.
In a bitterly divided world, a giant bear becomes an object of worship in “the extraordinary fantasy novel by the author of Watership Down” (The Guardian, UK). In a burning forest, Kelderek the hunter encounters a gigantic bear unlike any he’s seen before. Surely this is the reincarnation of Lord Shardik, the messenger of god whose return has been anticipated by the primitive Ortelgan people. In service to Shardik, Kelderek becomes a prophet, then a soldier, and finally an emperor-priest. Swept up by fate and his impassioned faith, Klederek will come to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in the bear’s divinity. Written after his bestselling debut novel Watership Down, Richard Adams’s Shardik is an epic fantasy of tragic character. A fascinating depiction of the power of belief, it explores themes of faith, slavery, and war.
Sold into slavery to the dealer Lalloc by her mother when her stepfather seduces her, the beautiful 15-year-old Maia is almost raped by Genshed, one of Lalloc's employees but is saved by Occula, a black slave girl. With no-one but Occula at her side, Maia must summon all her courage, strength and intelligence as she navigates the seedy side of the Beklan empire.
When a race of elegant, superintelligent dogs arrives in twenty-first-century New York, they become instant celebrities, but, unable to adjust to the modern world and confronted with an incurable disease, they construct a fantastic castle and barricade themselves inside.
The astounding new novel from the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of Time Travelling with a Hamster, this is a story for everyone of ten and older who loves adventure, laughs and tears.
From Neil Abramson, USA Today bestselling author of Unsaid, comes a riveting novel that explores the complex connection between humans and animals. Veterinarian Samantha Lewis and her team are dedicated to providing a sanctuary for unwanted, abused, and abandoned dogs in New York City. But every day it gets harder to operate her no-kill shelter. Sam is already at her breaking point when she learns of an unidentified, dangerous virus spreading through their neighborhood. The medical community can only determine that animals are the carriers. Amid growing panic and a demand for immediate answers, suspicion abruptly falls on dogs as the source. Soon the governor is calling in the National Guard to enforce a quarantine--no dog may leave the area. Samantha knows from her own painful history that, despite the lack of real evidence against the dogs, a quarantine may only be the beginning. As questions about the source of the virus mount and clash with the pressure for a politically expedient resolution, Sam is forced to make life-altering choices. She finds allies in a motley crew of New Yorkers--a local priest, a troubled teen, a smart-mouthed former psychologist, and a cop desperate to do the right thing--all looking for sanctuary from their own personal demons. But the person Sam needs the most to unravel the mystery of the virus and save the dogs is the last one she'd ever want to call on--because contacting him will mean confronting the traumatic past she has fought so hard to escape.
