`Rob Palk has a fine eye for a punch-line and a poignant turn of phrase, often within the same sentence. This is a bitterly funny book about the strange places life can take you - including badger habitats.'-Mark Watson, Comedian; `Hilarious, poignant and stuffed full of brilliant secondary characters. I couldn't put it down.'-The Daily Mail; `A beautiful piece of work, witty and profound, and mottled with sadness.-Anthony McGowan; `A darkly comic novel that is as beautiful as it is profound'-Great Central; `Slick and polished... Palk's elegant writing style is repeatedly punctured by a superb sense of comic timing and incisive observational humour.'-Jonny Sweet, The Wee Review; `I loved this book. Funny, touching, and brilliantly written. Animal Lovers manages to combine humour, pathos, animal rights and the perfectly captured head-mess that is heartbreak in one engaging, hard to put down book. I raced through it in an afternoon, revelling in how Palk manages to make even the most ridiculous situations so plausible, grounded and human. Or in some cases, badger.'-Tiernan Douieb; `Animal Lovers is a brilliantly funny story about love, illness and badgers. The characters are recognisable but well-rounded and I found myself captivated by this promising young novelist's skilful manipulation of the story.'-James Bloodworth