Sonny Brewer dedicates his heartwarming and heart-rending
novel, which is based on real events, to his beloved dogs, Rex and
Cormac. The cover art, a full-color photograph of Cormac, is in
itself a testimony to the nature of his relationship with his pet.
CORMAC took more than three years to be written, so gut-wrenching
it was for Brewer to accomplish. He introduces us to his dog in
this manner: “Now I think about the world’s handsomest
and sweetest Golden Retriever, as smart as any four-year-old child,
who answers to the name, Cormac…” He goes on to
describe Cormac’s home in an aging farmhouse on the outskirts
of Fairhope, Alabama.


But Brewer’s agony begins upon receiving a phone call from
his house-sitter while on an extended business trip. The voice
rings in his ear: “Man, your dog is missing. I can’t
find Cormac anywhere.”


Stunned by the unwelcome news, Brewer is emotionally unglued. What
on earth has happened back in the sleepy town of 12,000 in Alabama?
He adores his wife and two children, but Cormac has found a comfort
space in his heart that deepens with each passing day. Anguish now
fills that void with the realization that the dog may be dead,
stolen, a runaway stray and lost to him forever.


Cormac’s entry into the Brewer household had been a story in
itself. Having promised his wife and children a puppy, they embark
on a trip to see a litter of Golden Retriever puppies. The
dog’s sire was known as “Rock” and the
grandfather was “Bear.” A reddish-brown pup had
shadowed Brewer from the moment he stepped from his vehicle. As he
related, “The adoption seemed fated…a ball of fur the
color of Ann-Margaret’s hair…between red and
auburn.” The family agrees on the name “King,”
but Brewer holds out for his favored author, Cormac McCarthy.
Cormac becomes king of the household.


The founder of Over the Transom Bookstore in Fairhope, Brewer
spends time and money investing in rare manuscripts and first
editions. The bookstore is successful, but additional funds from
the sale of his debut novel will feed his family. It is
well-stocked and well-known, yet sales are occasionally thin.
Cormac is purchased as a family pet but becomes his master’s
best friend in a short time. The majority of his day is spent in
quiet repose at the bookstore. Thunderstorms change quiet repose to
anxious roaming. Cormac, usually docile, can turn into a terrified
wanderer. The family yard has boundaries, but a young dog becomes
exuberant and crosses the line. Brewer hires a company to install
an electric fence, buried underground. When a line is crossed, the
wire will send an impulse to shock the unwitting animal. On the
fateful day that Cormac disappears, the shock waves do not
work.


CORMAC is a story written by a deeply artistic soul. Brewer’s
personal anguish over the loss of his dog runs throughout his
written pages. The reader feels his pain, panic and depression when
his real trial begins: the business of recovering Cormac, if
possible. He is a man with a mission. We cheer him with each step
he takes to find his lost canine friend. CORMAC is a short book
that is lengthy in warmth, a written testimony to the strength of a
bond between man and his pet.