You know, after the intro and then first few chapters, there was something very familiar going on in this novel. Then I caught on! Author was utilizing character names and tenor and basic plot of Willie S's famous tale about the Prince of Denmark. It was relatively easy to predict what would occur in terms of story-line. To be honest, I thought that this "borrowing" was a bit cheesy. I do have to offer kudos for the author's knowledge of dogs, canine behaviors and motivations though. They were the true surprises of this freshman novel.