Dog Soldiers (Picador Books)

by Robert Stone

In Saigon during the last stages of the Vietnam war, a small-time journalist named John Converse thinks he'll find action - and profit - by getting involved in a big-time drug deal. But back in the States, things go badly wrong for him.

• ISBN10: 0395860253
• ISBN13: 9780395860250
• Publish Date: 11 August 2023 (first published 2 June 1975)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 28 November 2011
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin (Trade)
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

I started reading this because I heard that this was a cross between Raymond Chandler and Hunter S Thompson. While I haven’t read anything of Thompson (I will soon) I am a huge fan of Chandler; this is more neo-noir than hard-boiled but that’s ok. Dog Soldiers follows the story of a war journalist, a marine and the journalist’s wife as the plan a smuggling deal. Converse (journalist) plans to ship heroin from Vietnam on a marine vessel with the help of Hicks (marine). When Hicks gets to America he meets up with Converse’s wife Marge but they are been followed. Hicks and Marge go on the run trying to save the heroin, unsure whether he has been double crossed by Converse or the Supplier.

While Marge is dealing with a growing painkiller addiction she is also coming to the realization that, her life wasn’t a life she thought it was but she was just a junkie. Hicks is still dealing with issues of Vietnam and becoming paranoid and a growing attraction to Nietzsche. As for the heroin, it is become more and more apparent that things have changed in America; no one cares about heroin anymore, it’s all about LCD in the 1960’s.

While this book deals with the many different aspects; from the war and its effect on America to drug and even the corruptibility and mistrust of authority. Dog Soldiers can be a little difficult to read but in the end it is well worth the effort.