{Synopsis} – Man's best friend goes to war.
When Gus Dempsey joins the US Marine Corps, he knows without a doubt that he will make a great dog handler. He's always been good with dogs. In fact, he's often better with dogs than he is with people.
But Loki is not the dog that Gus was expecting. Fun-loving and playful, Loki acts more like a pet than the well-trained, bomb-sniffing Marine that he's supposed to be.
When Gus and Loki deploy to Afghanistan, though, they have no choice but to learn to work together. Because in war, getting along is a matter of life and death.
{My thoughts} – Gus Dempsey joins the US Marine Corps. despite the fact his mother isn’t okay with it. It has a lot to do with his dad had been in the military and when he had come back home from fighting he and his mom fought a lot and then one day his dad just left, didn’t even say good-bye. His mom seemed to think that Gus was going to do the same thing that his dad had done or worse die in action and she wasn’t able to deal with those thoughts so she more or less resented his choices.
Gus had joined the Marine Corps to make a difference. To go to war and in the words of the book kill some dragons. Gus gets selected for a program that allows regular infantry men to become dog handlers. His superior believes that he would be a great candidate for that program. Gus also thinks he will be good for it because he loves dogs and have always enjoyed their company of that of the human population.
After Gus get to the place where he will train he is taught how to use his imagination. He learns that he is capable of more then he thought he ever could be, which in the military I believe is a common end result. Eventually he gets to meet his dog named Loki and they continue to train together. Once their training concluded everyone in their class is certified but Gus and Loki. They are called into the Superiors office and told they have orders to go right to war. This is when everything changes for Gus and Loki. They start to learn what it really means to rely on one another and how much they need each other just to survive.
If you want to learn about what happens while they are in Afghanistan you should read the book. I didn’t want to put it down at times and I love how it is so kid friendly and not all filled with military mumble jumble. It’s a well written book and well worth the read. I look forward to reading more books in this series in the future.
Final Conclusion: 5 Star Rating.
