As a young man, Bill is a forester sent to a remote part of the area to finish off some logging. His colleague for the week’s work is the older and much unliked Stan Blackman. While travelling there, they find a dog on the side of the road and then at the same spot again on the way back. Wondering what it could mean and why the dog would be there, Bill is surprised to see it there the following day, although looking around he doesn’t find anything untoward. Unsurprisingly, Bill becoming more and more uncomfortable, not only, about the situation but also his colleague’s behaviour which seems to become more and more unwelcome as time passes. And then, tragedies overcome both them and the village they live in.

This is a simple story wrapped up in a fair amount of philosophical thought following the experiences of the narrator and his attempts to come to grips with some of the deeper questions on the nature of good and evil. The story is very well written and it did keep me hooked for the most as I was waiting to see what happened and perhaps gain some understanding of what was going on. The passages are descriptive and give a really good idea of the beautiful wilderness they are within, as well as the feelings of loneliness and isolation they can also have, while still bringing out the warmth and close-knit nature of the village. Each of the main characters adds a little to the story helping to flesh out the points of view and make the reader think along with them. What did let it down for me was the slight hint of supernatural towards the end when in some ways, given the content of the book, it almost felt extraneous to the emotional struggles going on and almost detrimental to what had occurred previously.

This is certainly a book to make you think a little more and poses some interesting questions without trying to give out all the answers. If you are looking for something a little more meaty, it’s worth reading and taking those thoughts away to ponder further, despite the ending.