What a wonderfully entertaining read Nicole O’Connor gives us in Tie the Dingo Down, Mate! If you’ve already guessed from the title that this story has something to do with an Australian, you’d be right. But that Aussie wild dog known as the Dingo is not one of the many animals that give this unique story its flavour, or that will keep readers turning the pages as if this were a thriller… which, by the way, it isn’t. But that said, at times, the protagonist, a vet named Gus, finds himself in some pretty frightening situations when he opens a veterinary practice in South Africa. You see, in South Africa vets like Gus have to deal with kitties and/or puppies bitten by cobras, cows who nearly die from chewing on poisonous Oleander leaves, or umbrellas complete with their spokes, or beautiful horses whose ears are infested with maggots after tick bites. And how does even a strong man like Gus push a prolapsed uterus back inside a huge cow who keeps pushing it back out with every one of his shoves into her innards, while her newly born calf waits to be fed?

Nor is it only the animals that face danger behind every bush. Not long after arriving in South Africa, Gus suddenly realizes his raging appetite isn’t because the chocolate cake he’s enjoying is the best he’s ever tasted: he’s eating for two! And no, he's not pregnant. At another time, he manages to get his scalp nearly torn off by a vicious dog as he tries to put it down. And then there’s the crazy human animal, Peter Van der Skiet, who decides Gus has stolen his girlfriend and needs a good walloping. Gus’s experiences in South Africa are told with delightful humour by Nicole O’Connor. Readers will find themselves smiling chapter after chapter. Every little vignette is enlightening. Dialogue moves the stories along quickly and there’s just enough love, romance and bedroom antics to spice things up even more. I truly enjoyed Tie the Dingo Down, Mate! and recommend it when you really feel the need to read something unique. A very well deserved 5 stars!

Tie the Dingo Down, Mate! Veterinary Stories by Nicole O’Connor takes the reader into the world of junior veterinarian Gus, who after an acrimonious and sudden split with his fiancee finds himself reevaluating his life and career plans. Almost on a whim it seems, he journeys off to pastures new, swapping his comfortable life in Sydney for the unpredictable and somewhat dangerous wildness of South Africa. Soon the reader is transported to the world of deadly snakes, mosquitoes that carry all sorts of awful diseases, and farm animals that seem to have a varied array of mysterious conditions. Gus is soon joined by Miranda, and together they seek to explore and heal, and they come across not only animals but some very colourful characters.

Although billed as a series of short stories, which it is, the book also follows Gus on his adventures in the strange world that is South Africa. The author, Nicole O’Connor, clearly has an excellent and first-hand knowledge of the area and ailments that afflict the animals of this wild and dangerous country, and she has woven a credible and amusing yet at times informative story about a young vet and his assistant. Such was the credibility of the writing that at first this reader thought it was a biography, which must be a credit to the author for the authenticity of her writing. At times laugh out loud, at others toe-curling, the adventures of the somewhat green and naive young vet will appeal and remain in the memories of readers.