Dog Stars

The bestselling book that was adapted for film

Forty-year-old Hig doesn't have much left in the world—just an old Cessna, memories, and his dog. As one of the few survivors of a devastating flu epidemic, he and his neighbour, Bangley, a gun fanatic, try to fend off raids from thieves and thugs at a dilapidated airfield. Hig regularly surveys the surroundings from his plane, until one day he catches a fragment of a strange transmission on the radio. Since then, he has been haunted by a question: is there any hope of finding other ordinary people nearby? Neighbours he could talk to, who wouldn't want to rob or kill him? But leaving the safe perimeter and venturing into the unknown wilderness is a damned dangerous undertaking, and Hig hesitates—until the day he seemingly has nothing left to lose…
In the novel The Dog Stars, which echoes the works of London, Melville, and Hemingway and has been compared to McCarthy's The Road, an adventurous plot blends with timeless reflections on the meaning of friendship, belonging, and humanity.
The book was the basis for the film Looking up to the Stars from the summer of 2026, directed by the experienced director Ridley Scott.