A Dog's Journey

A Dog's Journey is a 2012 book written by W. Bruce Cameron and published by Forge Books. It is the sequel to Cameron's 2010 book A Dog's Purpose.^[1][2]

Plot

An unknown amount of time after A Dog's Purpose Hannah has allowed Gloria and her infant daughter Clarity June to stay with her at the farm after the separation of Gloria and Henry, Hannah's son. Gloria takes an immediate dislike to Buddy, Hannah's elderly dog who feels he has found his purpose.

Gloria falls asleep, which allows Clarity to wander off the docks, where Clarity falls in the lake. Buddy saves Clarity from drowning, and shakes to dry off, soaking Gloria. Gloria blames Buddy, claiming he pushed Clarity into the lake and taking credit for his heroic act.

Clarity wanders into a horse pen, scaring the horse; Buddy saves her, but Gloria once again blames the dog. Hannah suggests that she keep Clarity at the farm while Gloria pursues her singing career; Gloria is enraged and leaves with Clarity. Hannah notices Buddy has a limp, and takes him to the vet. A veterinarian diagnoses Buddy with cancer. Buddy is euthanized shortly after.

Then, Buddy wakes up again, but he has been reincarnated as a different dog. This time, he is Molly and finds his way to CJ. She is older, and finds him at a shelter and takes her, against the wishes of her mother Gloria. She tries to hide him and is found after her mom finds him in the basement. However, CJ is missing out on a lot of school, and a truant officer says they must appear in court. CJ says that if Gloria lets her keep Molly, she will behave. She starts going to school, but she is arrested after she was an accomplice to her boyfriend robbing and breaking into the school. Gloria blames the dog for CJ's troubles. Molly rescues CJ from the police, but was shot in the process. Instead of praising him for his heroic act, Gloria puts the dog to sleep.

Molly gets herself reincarnated as a police dog, now going as Kacey, under the care of police lieutenant Hank. CJ then blames her mother for neglecting her, and decides to run away. Now homeless and hungry, she resorts herself to prostitution. In a anti-narcotics operative, Hank and Kacey raid the establishment where CJ was working. But instead of attacking Kacey, Molly lunges at her and licks her, bewildering Hank. Hank and CJ decide to date, tagging Kacey behind with them. Gloria, now a drug dealer, returns to CJ's life, and tries to kill Hank. Just as she was about to shoot him, Kacey intervenes and attacks Gloria, killing her. CJ (who now goes as Clarity), Hank, and Kacey return to Hannah at the farm, where Kacey now lives the rest of her journey in the care of a loving family.

References