The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown. Prentisstown is a colony of religious settlers from planet Earth. Something has happened to all of the women; there are none. Something on this planet has also affected the men and boys; they can all hear what each other is thinking... including animals. The effect of this is chaotic and it is called Noise.

"The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say." Todd's dog, Manchee, was a gift for his twelfth birthday. Todd would much rather have gotten something useful, like a knife.

Todd is one month away from his thirteenth birthday, and his manhood ceremony, when he discovers a new person in the marsh outside of town. This event soon leads to a run for his life and Todd learns that much of what he thought he knew was lies.

I read this in one sitting -- it's the kind of book that doesn't let you go. Be prepared for a cliff-hanger ending. Book 2 of Chaos Walking, The Ask and the Answer, is to be published in Canada later this year.