Every dog—and every human—deserves a second chance.

It's September 1997 and Cookie, an inmate in a minimum-security prison, is serving the last six months of his sentence when he signs up for a last-chance rehabilitation program for abandoned dogs.

He's assigned Nigel—whom he renames Good Boy—an anxious soul with a talent for gnawing his way through walls. Cookie has his work cut out preparing him for the upcoming behavioural assessment that will decide his fate: pass, and Good Boy will be up for adoption and the chance of finding a loving home for the first time in his life; fail, and he will be put down. When Cookie realises that Good Boy is almost certain to flunk the test, he decides to escape in a bid to save him.

On the run, Cookie must evade detection until he can find someone to care for Good Boy. As their feet pick out new paths and their friendship deepens, the old bonds that shaped Cookie draw him back, revealing truths that leave him questioning his past and future.

Good Boy movingly explores the bonds between dogs and their humans, and how hope might move us beyond punishment and towards redemption.

'Good Boy is a deeply moving, tender portrayal of the powerful bond between one man and his dog. It's a story that's stayed with me long after the final pages. I loved it.'—MARK BRANDI, author of Wimmera and Eden