Set against the most dramatic time in our species’ history, The Dog Master tells the story of one tribe’s struggle for survival and one extraordinary man’s bond with a wolf-a friendship that changed mankind forever. We hope you enjoy this excerpt.
PRESENT DAY
At exactly 9:00 A.M. the uniformed guards at the back of the room pulled every door shut in muscular coordination, a metallic clang echoing throughout the college lecture hall. The security men were grinning: maintaining the peace on a liberal arts campus mostly consisted of tolerating unruly students while keeping them approximately in line, so this exercise, an annual ritual, gave them a fleeting sense of order triumphing over chaos.
The loud crash of the doors had startled the conversations into silence, and now the students arrayed in the stadium-style seats sat with their necks twisted toward the back of the room to see what was going on. Immediately a loud and urgent pounding of fists on metal proclaimed the desperate despair of those who hadn’t made it inside in time for class. Then, after just a moment, the pummeling abruptly halted, as the guards on the other side of the double doors told the late arrivals they were tardy and therefore had to exit the building.
It was the first class of the first day of the first semester for these freshmen. Prompt attendance was strictly required.
Welcome to college.
