Ghost of A Dog is told in the first person, out of chronological order, and instead in a manner the narrator feels he can emotionally handle. Each chapter almost serves as a story itself as he recounts episodes of his life.

It is the dark psychological journey of Vinny Pelletier, who believes he is possessed by the titular spirit, which compels him to kill one person he loves to save the others he loves, or will love, from endless pain.

This delusion (or possible reality) is a result of Vinny's emotional immaturity and inability to handle the traumas to which he was subjected in his past, and he fails to get help when he needs it. The novel is a puzzle that solves itself as it inches toward the shocking roots of this delusion and its tragic consequences.