Our friend Bret recently published a book – and in a gesture of support, I thought I’d fork over the cash to purchase it.  I’ve known Bret since college, but his first job was with the guy destined to become my husband at a burger joint when they were in high school, so you know, collectively, we go back. Way back.

Clippings is the tale of a dog groomer (his name doesn’t come up often, but I think it’s Peter?), who can talk to dogs. When his girlfriend Wendy learns this, she devises a plan to use this talent to get rich quick, although not entirely on the up and up. It’s a fun read, the kind that sucks you in and moves pretty quickly.  Along the way were some twists and some laughs. The book is written in first person from the perspective of the groomer who may have resembled Bret at a few points (so if you don’t know him, you won’t sit there wondering if his wife knows about this), which is sort of the fun of reading a book by someone you’ve known a long time. I’d recommend reading it to people who don’t know him though too, because as it turns out, he can write and at least one of the turns in the book I did not see coming, which is way more than I can say of the last two fiction books I read recently.

Well done Bret. Congratulations on publishing your first novel. I absolutely got my money’s worth – every last one of those 99 cents.