The Voice of the Dog, a novel by David Benjamin

Coming Soon from Last Kid Books:

The Voice of the Dog

by David Benjamin

Farfel has sworn an oath to serve and protect the people of New York. Unfortunately, his master is killing the people of New York.

Farfel is a German shepherd and a retired NYPD K-9 police officer. Early in David Benjamin’s novel, The Voice of the Dog, Farfel realizes that his new master, Reggie Stockwell, is murdering people in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Reggie, perhaps the most sexually frustrated man in all of New York, has determined to kill as many lovers as he can—especially women—in hopes of starting a trend that results in the end of sex as we know it.

Farfel’s only hope to end the carnage is to talk Reggie out of the next murder, or maybe the murder after that.

As Farfel explains, all dogs can talk. Unfortunately, the rare human who understands Dogspeak is usually either a lunatic or a little kid. Reggie, who’s nuts, understands every word Farfel utters.

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January 2022 • Saturday Afternoon at the Bookstore

On a chilly day in January, Literatus & Co., a congenial bookstore on Main Street in Watertown, Wisconsin, proprietors Wes and Isabel threw a launch party for the third in David Benjamin’s small town crime series, featuring police chief Jim Otis, Woman Trouble.

In a cozy reading room at Literatus, a group of Midwestern literati gathered to talk of books, writing and Benjamin’s books, of cabbages and kings. This informal roundtable turned into a lively conversation that lasted longer — and rendered more enjoyment — than expected.

Videographer Michael Raymond, the creator of Benj’s YouTube channel, was on hand to record the whole session. Later, he edited away all the hemming, hawing and surplusage. He titled the resulting video ”Saturday Afternoon at the Bookstore.” Take a look!

Click for YouTube video

 

Last Kid News:

The awards continue to accumulate for Last Kid Books.

In the past week, two more havre been announced. Judges for the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards have recognized David Benjamin’s just-published collection, The Melting Grandmother and Other Short Works as a 2024 Finalist in Short Stories (Adult Fiction). Notably, this honor marks the ninth independent publishing organization that has recognized Benjamin’s work.

Almost simultaneously, Benjamin got word from the Book Excellence Awards that judges there have named Witness to the Crucifixion, published by Last Kid Books in 2022. This is the fifth panel of judges to honor Witness, a historical “murder mystery” set in first-century Palestine.

Meanwhile, the flow of new Last Kid Books titles continues apace. Benjamin’s thriller, The Voice of the Dog, has officially gone to press, at Park Printing Solutions in Verona, Wisconsin, with copies available to readers right around the fifth anniversary of Last Kid Books on April 1.

Benjamin also hit another milestone by finishing the first draft of Cheat. This novel is the fifth installment of Benjamin’s well-received smalltown crime series, featuring Jim Otis, the police chief of Hercules, Wisconsin. The series, recognized in 2022 as a Finalist in its category by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group’s Next Generation Indie Book Awards, began with Jailbait, followed by Bastard’s Bluff, Woman Trouble and Dead Shot. In Cheat, Chief Otis once again matches wits with his nemesis, teenage femme fatale, Josie Dobbs.

Cheat is scheduled for release this summer.

 

The Voice of the Dog, a novel by David Benjamin

The Voice Of The Dog

 

The Melting Grandmother and Other Short Works by David Benjamin

The Melting Grandmother

 

Bistro Nights, a book by David Benjamin

Bistro Nights

 

Dead Shot by David Benjamin

Dead Shot

 

Woman Trouble Cover for Book by David Benjamin

Woman Trouble

 

Fat Vinny Cover for Book by David Benjamin

Fat Vinny’s
Forbidden Love

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Last Kid Books

is a publishing house with a sense of humor. Dedicated — at its outset — to publishing the works of prolific storyteller David Benjamin, LKB embodies Benjamin’s wry wit and narrative adventurousness.
Last Kid Books takes its name from David Benjamin’s beloved Midwestern coming-of-age story, The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked (published by Random House in 2002). Benjamin is also author of SUMO: A Thinking Fan’s Guide to Japan’s National Sport, a Charles E. Tuttle title, revised in 2010, that has been in print since 1990. Two previous Benjamin novels, Three’s A Crowd (a noir comedy) and A Sunday Kind of Love (a football romance), have been added to the Last Kid Books imprint, as well as Black Dragon, released in July 2019.

Next up, in time for Christmas, the first in the Jim Otis small-town mystery series: Jailbait.
David Benjamin is also a tireless essayist, a line of work reflected in one of his first LKB titles, Almost Killed by a Train of Thought: Collected Essays by David Benjamin.
David Benjamin is a novelist, journalist, provocateur and habitual humorist who has lived his life — occasionally to his chagrin — by the words of Nobel laureate Juan Ramon Jimenez: “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.”

Last Kid Books is Benjie’s showcase.

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