Book

Folks in West Texas tend to put high value on family, religion, guns, petroleum and good home cooking. They’re often too damn comfortable with racism, violence, kickin’ dogs and doing as they’re told by the powers that be.

It’s a place where teaching a pooch to talk can get a guy killed. And his little dog, too.

An irreverent, funny, sometimes dangerous coming-of-age story, it’s a philosophical satire wrapped in a character-driven thriller.

So, what if a dog really did learn to talk? No tricks. No gimmicks. No radioactive spider bites. But with the persistent love and guidance of Danny, a young man who sees the world in his own unusual way.

A brilliant mixed-race teen with autism, Danny is still recovering from the heartbreaking loss of his mother, as he helps his new mutt, Lido, learn to speak English. The two rascals shine a light on what dogs really think of people, life, love and the true nature of everything. 

Their friend, Claire, turns them into overnight sensations through their chatty podcasts, and it lands them smack into a red hot skillet-full of Texas-crazy misadventures. Powerful voices want it stopped. A preacher calls it blasphemy. A CEO calls it a threat. And Danny’s own father, the town sheriff, has to make the problem go away. At all costs.

Danny’s odd but inspired problem solving, Lido’s sass and warm canine soul, their common pursuit of perfect pancakes and the meaning of the universe, all make this inter-species young team into celebrated activists, hunted criminals and targets for murder. 

This unlikely buddy story delivers the unconventional love and devotion you’d find in Of Mice and Men wrapped up in the coming of age friction found in the personal storyteller of Catcher in the Rye—where a smart, funny teenage outsider carries the grief of a lost loved one and a fear of being lost and alone in an unforgiving, judgmental world.

Told in Lido’s funny, loyal, and unforgettable voice, Particles of Light is a powerful story about friendship, courage, and what happens when one simple truth threatens a small-town community’s, and maybe the whole world’s, way of life.