The Dog Stars

Written by Peter Heller, The Dog Stars (2012) is a post-apocalyptic novel set nine years after a flu epidemic and a subsequent blood disease have devastated the human population. In the dog-eat-dog world that remains, the narrator, Hig, and his partner, Bruce Bangley, patrol and protect their eight-mile perimeter around an abandoned airport in Erie, Colorado: one of the few places where fuel and survival supplies are still plentiful. After Hig and Bangley fight off violent intruders, Hig eventually seeks out new sources of supplies and discovers other like-minded survivors, and as the novel progresses, he and his companions must contend with The Haunting Effect of Dreams and Memories and The Transformative Beauty of Nature even as they work toward Finding New Purpose After Societal Collapse.

A critically acclaimed adventure writer and avid outdoorsman, Peter Heller has written four literary fiction novels, as well as a variety of nonfiction works based on his own experiences in remote locations. For example, his 2005 account, Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River, chronicles his memories of being part of the first whitewater kayaking team to conquer the gorge that inspired the myth of Shangri-La. As Heller’s debut novel, The Dog Stars has been honored as an Apple iBooks Novel of the Year and has been recognized as the Best Book of the Year by both Atlantic Monthly and the San Francisco Examiner. To date, it has been published in 26 different languages and adapted into a film directed by Ridley Scott.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature descriptions of illness, death, animal death, graphic violence, cursing, physical abuse, and racism. 

Plot Summary

Beset by a post-apocalyptic world in which almost all humans have been killed by a flu epidemic and the subsequent spread of a deadly blood disease, Hig has only his dog, Jasper, and an edgy, survivalist compatriot named Bruce Bangley to help him survive in a landscape largely bereft of supplies. It has been nine years since the epidemic, and although Hig heard radio messages from an air traffic control tower in Grand Junction three years ago, he has opted not to investigate because the city lies beyond the range at which he would have enough fuel to return to his current home, an abandoned airport in Erie, Colorado. Now, Hig flies a Cessna airplane in his usual patrol around the perimeter of the airport. Hig lost his wife, Melissa, to the flu years ago, and now Jasper is Hig’s only remaining connection to the world that has been lost. 

Book 1 of the novel explores Hig and Bangley’s experiences at the abandoned airport as they protect their chosen space from intruders at all costs, sometimes even being forced to kill anyone who comes too close. One day, for example, as Hig returns from a fishing and hunting trip, nine marauders stalk him with deadly intent, and his life is saved only by Bangley’s brutal decision to execute the intruders on sight. In addition to patrolling the perimeter, Hig patrols the broader landscape around Erie in his Cessna, which he calls the Beast, finding great beauty and freedom in the very act of flying. He also uses these forays to bring vital supplies to a nearby group of Mennonite families whose blood infection keeps them quarantined and prevents intruders from bothering them.

After the death of Jasper, Hig finally decides to investigate the radio messages that he heard coming from Grand Junction three years ago, so he flies toward the city, accepting the risk that he may run out of fuel entirely and fail to return to his sanctuary in Erie. Upon crossing the point of no return, Hig knows that he has no choice but to find more fuel. From the air, he spots a box canyon with a man and woman living in a stone house. The man shoots at Hig’s plane, wounding him with broken glass and forcing him to come in for a landing. After a tense standoff, the old man, Pops, a former Navy SEAL, ambushes Hig and imprisons him for a brusque interrogation, but Pops’s daughter, Cima, urges him to free Hig. Eventually, the three decide to trust one another, and Cima, an epidemiologist, gives Hig more context about the flu epidemic. They devise a plan to investigate the radio signal in Grand Junction together and find enough fuel to return to Erie. After spending several weeks in the box canyon with Pops and developing the beginning of a romantic relationship with Cima, Hig takes the other two to Grand Junction. Pops is sorry to abandon the ranch that his family has lived on for generations, but the creek in the canyon will dry up in summer, making it impossible to live there any longer.

In Book 3, Hig is delighted to hear a reply from the air traffic control tower in Grand Junction and comes in for a landing, but his glee turns to dismay when he realizes that the people there have set a trip-wire trap across the runway to crash-land planes, murder the pilots, and steal their supplies. They narrowly avoid the trap and then land. Shots are fired from the tower, and Pops shoots back, mortally wounding the shooter, an old man whom he proceeds to interrogate in his search for more fuel. Pops kills the man’s wife as she lunges, then kills the old man once he knows where to find fuel. Hig is appalled but understands the necessity of this brutality. 

When Hig, Pops, and Cima refuel and return to Erie, Hig is dismayed to find the airport hangar half destroyed and Bangley missing. They soon find Bangley gravely wounded and covered in dried blood; it is evident that he managed to fight off multiple attackers. Hig is grateful that Bangley is still alive and finally realizes just how important his friend is to him. Cima uses her medical skills to nurse Bangley back to health, and the four build a new life together in Erie. Hig and Cima continue to develop an intimate, loving relationship, and the novel ends on a hopeful but ambiguous note as these small remnants of humanity look toward the future.