The Friend -- Take 2

I liked The Friend a lot.  I was predisposed to, on account of the dog on the cover.  I feel like putting a dog on the cover of a book is a sure way to get into certain readers' hearts before they even open the book.  I am one of those readers.

Really, the primary relationship in the book is between the narrator and her deceased friend, but since he's dead, there isn't a whole lot of meaningful conversation going on.  Some of the few conversations in the book happen between the friend's widow and the narrator, when the former asks the latter if she will take in the Great Dane left behind.

Reluctantly, the narrator agrees, and the second relationship in the book develops.  It is through the relationship with Apollo, the Dane, that the narrator begins to untangle her complicated history with her dead friend, and also through her relationship with Apollo that the narrator herself begins to move on.

The book does take a strange, and non-dog-related turn, near the end.  I could have completely done without that part.  I didn't feel like it added much to the story, and what it did add seems like it could have been done differently.  But other than that, quite enjoyable.