Looking for Lucky — Shirley Kennedy

JILLIAN DAHL of Denver has a life that's as good as it gets. She's beautiful, has a successful career, a luxurious lifestyle and a rich fiancé. But her world starts to crumble when her younger sister, Karlin, a world-class skier, is diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a fast, deadly kind of bone cancer. On the day Karlin learns she must lose her leg, Lucky, her beloved black Labrador retriever, runs away in a blizzard from Jillian's back yard. Jillian's frantic search to find him takes her to California where she meets charismatic animal activist, Travis Kerrigan. Fate takes Lucky ever closer to the Linderman Research Laboratories where “trash dogs” will be used in a horrible experiment. Can Travis help? Will Jillian find him in time? Looking for Lucky is aimed at animal lovers everywhere. In part, it's about a group of animal activists, but there's much more to the book. It's the stories of two alcoholics with different endings, one good, one shockingly sad. Of a recently widowed woman who thinks her life is over. Of a teenage valley girl who made a bad decision. Of wine tasting in Sonoma County -- skiing at Winter Park, Colorado -- the giant Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada Mountains -- beautiful San Francisco -- a casino in Lake Tahoe. The journey of a lost dog affects many lives, including Jillian's, whose life is changed forever in her desperate search to find him.