This morning I was sitting down to eat breakfast when it suddenly hit me that the month was passing by exceedingly fast and I’d most likely missed the deadline for one of my Litfuse book reviews. After some searching of my emails, I realized that was indeed the case. Thankfully I was only a day late; sadly, I hadn’t even begun reading the book yet. It’s a good thing I schedule reading time into my world as an author, because I was able to move around plans and curl up with a nice mug of coffee and race through the book.
Service Tails
By Ace Collins
Find it on:
Third-Person Narration
Non-Fiction Contemporary
200 Pages
{The cover won’t load for some reason, but I’ll try again later.}
About the Book (Backcover Blurb):
Heart-tugging true stories of the courage, faith, and loyalty of remarkable service dogs.
Not all heroic dogs wildly toss themselves into lifesaving situations. Some save lives simply by their incredible commitment to duty and service. Some lead the way to independence for people whose disabilities were supposed to limit their lives.
Not all heroic dogs wildly toss themselves into lifesaving situations. Some save lives simply by their incredible commitment to duty and service. Some lead the way to independence for people whose disabilities were supposed to limit their lives.
In Service Tails: More Stories of Man’s Best Hero, prolific author Ace Collins introduces us to leaders whose entire lives are wrapped in the banner of service. Their stories are remarkable snapshots of the value of vision and teamwork, as well as devotion to duty and unconditional love and acceptance—stretching the way we see both canine and human potential. Their training was intense, their loyalty unquestioned and each step of the way they constantly adapt to better serve those they lead. These unforgettable dogs are more than heroes; they are models from which we can learn how to love and serve unconditionally.
Why I Choose this Book:
Although I’m not an animal-lover to the degree that lots of people are, I do enjoy dog stories from time to time. Plus, I’ve been intrigued by service dogs for quite a while. And, well, there’s a Golden Retriever on the front cover, and Golden Retrievers are such beautiful creatures.
What I Thought About this Book:
I’m simply amazed at how smart dogs are (and at how patient humans are to train them so well). Service Tails is a collection of 12 true stories about dogs and how they served their masters who had disabilities.
If this book wasn’t true, it wouldn’t have held my interest, but since it was true, it was pretty intriguing. I probably won’t re-read it, but overall I don’t have any negatives about the book, other than the fact that it felt a bit redundant at times. The fact that most of the stories take place (or at least end) as recently as 2012 makes it pretty cool, because I know I can look up the various people they mentioned who have been in the news.
Told in a simple style, but with easy to picture details, Service Tails is a book that should appeal to dog people everywhere. It’s also eye-opening as it talks about struggles people with different disabilities go through. (Blindness, deafness, being paralyzed, etc…)
Overall, it was quite enjoyable to learn about the different dogs and all the amazing things they’ve done to help their masters over the years. It’s also really encouraging and inspiring to hear about the people themselves – all they went through and overcame, and how they didn’t let their problems stop them from living life.
Conclusion:
Although I wouldn’t consider this to be a christian book, it was clean and and free from violence, so it’s a good read for the whole family.
Rating:
I’m giving Service Tails 4 stars out of 5, and 7 stars out of 10.
About the Author
Ace Collins defines himself as a storyteller. He has authored more than sixty books that have sold more than 2.5 million copies. His catalog includes novels, biographies, children’s works as well as books on history, culture and faith. He has also been the featured speaker at the National Archives Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted a network television special and does college basketball play-by-play. Ace lives in Arkansas.
*I received this book free from Litfuse in exchange for an honest review*
Noveltea 
It sounds like a wonderful book. I like short stories, so I may have to check it out! 🙂
Thanks for the honest review.
LikeLike
I'm glad you're interested in it. =) Hopefully you enjoy it if you do read it!
LikeLike
Ooh, this is intriguing! I honestly avoid dog stories (mostly fiction ones I suppose) because the dog basically always dies and my small fragile soul cannot handle that. *distant weeping in the background* Ahem. But I also think it's marvellous how much dogs can do and how helpful they and it is rather inspiring, tbh. I'm glad this was a solidly good read for you! (Also glad I'm not the only one who forgets to read/review books hehe. The life of a bookworm, right?! SO BUSY.)
LikeLike
Yeah… It's only been recently that I've been reviewing books with set-in-stone deadlines, and I already missed one? Not cool. Most of the books I work with are more like “Post it within this time period if possible” and that's much easier to work with.
Several of the dogs died in this book, but mostly it was of old age. I can only think of one that had a sad death, and that was cause it saved it's master from being killed, so yeah… Sad, but very heroic.
LikeLike