'Girl Factory' by Jim Krusoe

Frozen-yogurt shop employee Jonathan is oversmart and underemployed, and very early on in the novel "Girl Factory" by Jim Krusoe (Tin House: 196 pp., $14.95 paper) we realize he's also not quite right. After he learns about a hyper-intelligent, military-bred dog at a local shelter, he determines that he will be the one to rescue the animal: "I went back inside to find a jacket, and it was really more as an afterthought than anything that I took along a crowbar, slipping it up my sleeve so as not to alarm anyone."

By Carolyn Kellogg

June 1, 2008