TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER The Bookworm Sez Advertisement

Dog lovers are a special breed of people.

We spoil our canines, and give them designer collars, gourmet foods and boutique-bought toys.

We carry our pups in quilted bags or give them their own spot in the car.

They're primped, meticulously groomed and dressed in tiny clothes.

Why not? we reason. Our dogs are practically like little people.

In the new novel "Sharp Teeth," by Toby Barlow, you're not far from the truth. But these critters aren't your grandma's lapdogs. These dogs are people who can change at will, and their bites are much, much worse than their barks.

On his first day as dogcatcher, Anthony learned that the work was nasty and the co-workers nastier. It really wasn't the job he wanted, but when times are tight a man will take anything. The only thing that makes it all bearable is the woman Anthony met while on the job.

She walked into the pound looking for a job for her "brother" and whispered an invitation for Anthony to meet her at a bar. He took her home that night and she stayed, but even though Anthony loves her very much, he doesn't know everything about her.

Once, she was the woman who held her pack together. Chosen by the leader, Lark, she kept the others in line, part den-mother, part littermate.

Months before, Lark found her on the streets, alone, bruised, the victim of abuse, and he showed her the way to turn. That was long before the pack fell apart, some taken in by different groups, some killed by dogcatchers.

But now, as much as she wants a life with Anthony, she can't ignore the war that's simmering quietly in downtown Los Angeles. Another, more vicious pack is vowing revenge. They're destroying drug dens, killing old enemies, and turning street people, the downtrodden, the troubled into lycanthropes like them.

Dog pounds are overflowing with curs that aren't quite canine. Newly-adopted dogs all over the valley are sitting in backyards, in living rooms, in bedrooms, just waiting for a signal.

And in the office of Det. Peabody, a voice whispers into the phone. "Watch the dogs," the thin voice says. "Find the girl and watch the dogs."

It's not the skin-crawling malice in the story that makes this book so great. It's not the wait-til-you-get-to-the-ending ending that makes it readable. You'll look at your beloved pet in a different way, but that's not what makes "Sharp Teeth" compelling. What makes this book fascinating is that it's so lyrical. Written in free-verse form like a poem, the lines are almost romantically horrific, like beautiful words loaded with malice. It's as if you almost expect to hear it read aloud at a Poetry Slam for Subversives.

Fans of Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk and Christopher Moore take note: If your favorite writers aren't publishing books fast enough, give this debut novel a try. Author Toby Barlow is someone you'll want to hear from again because "Sharp Teeth" is the howl of a new dawg in the literary 'pound.'

"Sharp Teeth" by Toby Barlow, HarperCollins, $22.95, 320 pages.