Nothing starts until you’re all together.

You’ll hold dinner until the last person’s seated. The engine doesn’t start until all seat belts are buckled; and if everybody’s not paying attention, you’ll wait. Hail, hail, the gang’s all here: as in the new novel, “My Three Dogs” by W. Bruce Cameron, things aren’t right until everyone’s gathered.

Liam was nearly mute with awkwardness when he met Sabrina.

He didn’t know how to engage her, couldn’t manage to charm her, but she fell in love with him anyhow and they moved in together. Riggs, Liam’s Australian shepherd, was distant with Sabrina at first, but he warmed up to her. Luna, Liam’s Jack Russell terrier, chose Sabrina as his “person.” And they lived happily every after, mostly.

But this puppy was the last straw.

When Liam brought Archie, a neglected eight-month-old Labradoodle, home with him, he was afraid Sabrina’d be angry and he was right. Wasn’t it chaotic enough that they had to move every time Liam finished fixing the houses they lived in and then sold them? Wasn’t there enough pressure at Sabrina’s job? And now a puppy? She told Liam she needed space to think. She went to stay with her sister in a nearby Denver suburb.

This wasn’t right, and Riggs knew it but he was powerless to fix Liam’s sadness. Luna missed her Sabrina terribly; even Archie knew something was wrong.

And then things got worse.

One day, Liam left the house and he didn’t come back. Luna finally figured out how to reach water and food, and they all felt like bad dogs but there was no human around to let them. Days later, Liam’s brother came and took the dogs for a car ride to a noisy place with lots of animals in many cages. Riggs was watchful. Luna became depressed. Archie, well, he was clueless. How would Liam and Sabrina ever find them all?

Okay, here’s fair warning: bring glue when you read “My Three Dogs.”

Bring lots of it because, by around page 80, your heart is going to break into a thousand tiny pieces. And it’ll shatter just a little bit more for the next 150 pages or so. You’ll need that glue to hold yourself together somehow, since author W. Bruce Cameron won’t let you go until you’re nearing the end of the tale.

Sorry-not-sorry. The heartbreak only makes you love each of the characters more as you get to know Riggs, who drives this novel and makes the story make sense. He’s your typical Aussie: responsible, logical, loyal, watchful, and his love of his pack will charm the socks clean off you. Even the bad characters are good here, and you’ll wish there was more; in fact, this book is one you really won’t be ready to finish.

Obviously, “My Three Dogs” is a treat for animal lovers, dog people in particular. You’ll want to sit and stay until you run out of pages, or introduce it to your book club and you can read it together.

“My Three Dogs” by W. Bruce Cameron
c.2024, Forge
$27.99
288 pages