A Dog Named Christmas
Series: The McCray Family, Book 1
By: Greg Kincaid / Narrated By: Mark Bramhall
Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins
An audiobook that just keeps getting better and better with each listen!
When I first listened to A Dog Named Christmas, I kinda sorta thought it was all over the place and stated as much in my review on Audible. After all, to me, the book wound up as rather a mixed bag. I thought it was soooo sweet, somewhat predictable. But, when all was said and done, I wound up with a dopey smile on my face.
But I listen to the audiobook year after year, and each year I just think it’s a nicer and nicer story, rich with family, devotion, people who work hard and deserve to have happy endings. And it’s a truly wonderful series that starts here with the introduction to the McCray family: George and Mary Ann, their son Todd who, at 20, comes off as wise yet innocent—a young man with disabilities here, mega-abilities there (primarily when it comes to animals).
The story begins when an announcement comes from the local animal shelter about an Adopt A Dog for the Holidays program, and Todd simply can’t contain himself. Getting papa George to agree to having a visitor for that time is far from a done deal. George actually isn’t a dog grouch, but he has painful memories of dogs loved and lost, dogs who saw him through difficult times (the death of his father, a tour in Vietnam)—he’d just as soon leave hard memories in the past.
Soon, however, he buys into the program and a soon to be named Christmas, a large black Lab mix, joins their family for the holiday. He’s a good dog, a great dog, a keeper. And George finds himself torn but determined that Todd show maturity when it’s time to take the dog back to the shelter.
Mark Bramhall narrates A Dog Named Christmas so well. Originally, I thought his delivery too tired, too old-sounding, but now I find it perfect. George IS tired, and his body, wounded in Vietnam, makes him feel old (Todd was a late-in-life baby). Bramhall conveys the exhaustion, the emotional conflict, the quandary such a man would find himself in, in a warm and humane way.
Love it! Love the series.
C’mon, give it a try if you’re in the mood for something sweet and filled with the joy of giving during this Season.
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