Art and the Drug Addict's Dog

Art and the Drug Addict's Dog, Paris Portingale's first published novel, was nominated for a Global eBook Award in 2012.

Art Handel is a contract killer who works for Mr Dean, a Star Chamber-type character who is cleaning up the streets. Art has a stun gun. And depression.

Art also has a dog, Fletcher, courtesy of Rainbow Davis, the local drug addict. And a friend, Alex Elinksy, who sees dead people. He has another friend, Minnie Fielding, who is being stalked by an acid-wielding maniac in a case of mistaken identity. Minnie loves Art, but Art doesn’t know it yet. Neither does Minnie. But she soon will.
When the subject of Art’s latest contract, Viktor Mizzi, refuses to die, things get complicated …
Written in a style somewhat reminiscent of John Irving (Setting Free the Bears and The World According to Garp), Paris Portingale's first published novel, Art and the Drug Addict's Dog, is a surprisingly warm book about finding love in unusual places, while taking you on a journey through a world few of us (thankfully!) get to experience.

Join Art in a world where the expected and the unexpected often collide with the absolutely and totally unexpected and with little regard for each other. While it's sometimes nice to see how the other half live, this book gives you an insight into how the other half of that other half live.

‘It would be so wrong to mention Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller and Paris Portingale in the same sentence. But, there, I’ve done it. Both dark and enlightening. Horrific and hilarious. Funny stuff emerges from the damndest places.’

Tony Squires – journalist and media personality

‘Pitch black but funny as hell. Like a clown with a razor blade. Startling, original, and darkly gleeful—think Stephen King on laughing gas. Paris Portingale is a genuinely powerful new talent and this is a book you won’t easily forget.’

Ian Swift – artist and writer

"The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they are when you kill them."

Art Handel