This is as amazing a story of survival as there is. Captured at the beginning of WWII in the Pacific, Judy (the dog) and the men captured along side her endured years of brutal imprisonment, force labor, malnutrition, disease, and more.

One can understand why some Pacific POWs doubt the veracity of Judy's story - that a dog, viewed as food by many in the area (including her captors), could have survived where so many men did not.

To say that this story is heart-wrenching for man and dog, puts it mildly.

What drags it down from a five rating is the writing. The author is a sports journalist and at times it reads like a sports column - excessive use of adjectives and adverbs distract from the story. At times it spills over into painful redundancy, for example, "The Grasshopper was in imminent danger of exploding at any minute."

So, 5 for the story but a low 3 for the writing.

That said, I would still recommend this to anyone with an interest in the war in the Pacific as well as dogs in general. Mediocre writing notwithstanding, it is a story worth experiencing. ( )

The only way I was able to read about the horrific treatment of the POWs in Indonesia in WWII was because Judy was featured in this story. She was a highly intelligent, resourceful, and loyal dog, but then so were so many of the men--many of whom did not survive. I've read so many books about Nazi atrocities, but very little about Japanese atrocities committed during that time period. A distant relative of mine died in an internment camp in Java during that same time period. I cannot understand why a movie has not been made of this book. I kept seeing it as a movie in my mind. ( )

No Better Friend by Robert Weintraub is a well-documented story of English pointer named Judy and her life as a war dog and the service men she took care of, especially, Frank Williams. A purebred born in Shanghai and adopted as a mascot of a Royal Navy Gunboat.

Before war had started, Judy had already amazed her shipmates by moving her sleeping box with blanket near the current group of people that she wanted to sleep near. She pushed, pulled and even pulled it down a ladder. She was friends with the whole crew with the exception of the Chinese cooks who probably thought she would make a good meal.

To me there were two books, the one about Judy and Frank Williams and the other one about World War II in the Pacific Asian Theatre. The stories of this amazing dog kept me reading and amazed me with stranger than fiction adventures that Judy had. The tales of the Pacific Asian theatre were where I got bogged down with details. I would have preferred that the author focused alone on Judy and Frank experiences only. The most memorable part have to do with the individuals. I will not remember all the details of what happened but I have vivid memories of when Judy went overboard for the first time, of the long trek through the unforgiving jungle, what it was like being held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese.

Judy was an amazing heroine. When the men were hungry, she searched for food like snakes and frogs, when life in the prison camp was so horrible that many wanted to die rather face another day, Judy knew how to encourage endurance. When the men were thirsty, Judy dug for water. When crocodiles added to the many hazards of the jungle trek, Judy learned how to scare them away. In short, Judy kept the men going. There are places where you had to laugh and other times when you joined Frank in despair.

I would highly recommend this book for the incredible story of Judy, the only dog Prisoner of War in the WWII and the amazing bond between Judy and Frank. Do let the mass of other details about that theatre deter you from reading this book.

I received a finished copy of No Better Friend from the publisher by a win from FirstReads. My thoughts and feelings in this review are totally my own. ( )

Dog lovers rejoice -- here is an impeccably researched and wonderfully written account of an amazing dog who endured the worst of World War II POW camps in the Pacific along with her devoted soldier. Many of the atrocities endured by both man and dog bring to mind the accounts in Unbroken. What makes this book stand apart is the amazing bond between the pointer Judy and the soldier she befriends, Frank Williams. From escaping torpedoed prison ships, to evading poisonous snakes and equally venomous prison guards, and enduring brutal living conditions, it is obvious that the special bond between Judy and Frank gave them the extra edge that allowed them both to survive the conflict. The author takes some tangents to explore and explain various people and events that are related to the main narrative of Judy and Frank Williams, but these are interesting and add to the overall understanding of what was going on in this part of the world during the war. For any history buff who is also sensitive to the unspoken bond that exists between people and dogs, this book is deeply satisfying. ( )