Russia, just after World War II ends. Dogs are very rare in Russia. They were either recruited for the army or killed because they were German. Although the war is over, there is still a lot of anti-German sentiment remaining. In this environment, young Mikhail finds a German Shepherd named Zasha. Can he keep her safe from prying eyes, particularly those of dog thieves? The ending is a little neat and tidy, but I found the audiobook engrossing.

Better than An Abundance of Katherines, quite good, but I don't have the gushy feelings that a lot of other people seem to have. Perhaps I am just an odd duck.

I feel like I must be in a reading rut right now, because a lot of books that are getting praised are not quite doing it for me. Lest I get myself into another "When You Reach Me" situation, I've been trying to keep my reviews relatively short. I wanted to LOVE this one. Nuns who are also assassins? Totally up my alley. But I didn't. And I don't know if it's because I was annoyed at the two main characters off and on or if I plowed through it too quickly but it just didn't click for me in the way the Theodosia books did (same author). This review is the one that made me read it and I agree on a lot of it but I don't think I have the same admiration she does. I guess I'll just have to keep reading to see if I can find the right thing to gush about (Wonder and the Amulet graphic novel series are quite good, aren't they? I did just gobble those up.)

This one didn't quite hook me. Maybe it was the audio reader, or maybe it's this reading slump I'm in where very little is keeping my attention.