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Dog Soldiers: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,278 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In Saigon during the waning days 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 horribly wrong for him. His courier disappears—probably with his wife—and a corrupt Fed wants Converse to find them and the drugs. Or else.
Dog Soldiers is a frightening, powerful, intense novel that perfectly captures the underground mood of America in the 1970s, when amateur drug dealers and hippies encountered profiteering cops and professional killers. Stone details an American drama of greed and violence in a world where life is cheap and the price of survival dangerously high.
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"My favourite period of American fiction/film...early 1970's...The Last Detail, Save the Tiger, Five Easy Pieces. America had lost it's swagger and did some internal searching. This is right in that area, very good with a bit of paranoia thrown in."
— Graham (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Narrator Tom Stechschulte offers a firm reading that relates the novel’s events in a realistic and entertaining manner. He portrays Converse as a terse, hard-nosed character who still manages to be likable. Stechschulte’s delivery is remarkably solid throughout. His characters’ voices adjust accordingly as they journey through the plot. A gripping performance, to say the least.”
— AudioFile -
“Harrowing…white-knuckled suspense…A here-and-now journey to hell.”
— Time -
“A dark decendant of Conrad and Hemingway’s adventure stories…Goes hell-for-leather across the landscape.”
— New York Times -
“Compulsively readable…As forcefully as any novel one can think of, this novel conveys the cynicism, the terror, and the appetite for new experiences that have marked recent years.”
— New Yorker -
“Dog Soldiers is a novel so good, so interesting and serious and funny and frightening, so absorbing, so impressive, so masterful…It is splendid, terrific action suspense.”
— Esquire -
“Powerful, literally chilling.”
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch -
“Stone’s Dog Soldiers became a seminal text for disaffected youth across the country but especially those returning home from war only to find themselves out of step, ostracized, or just wondering what the hell had happened—a generation of young men, drafted and armed, who came to recognize just how little anyone in power cared about the value or quality of their lives.”
— CrimeReads -
“The language is stripped and strong…[with] unerring dialogue and characterization.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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Winner of the 1975 National Book Award for Fiction
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One of Time Magazine's Best 100 English-Language Novels from 1923–2005
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A Crime Reads Pick of Novels Exploring the Vietnam War Aftermath
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A BookRiot Pick of Most Celebrated and Best Vietnam War Books
Dog Soldiers Listener Reviews
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" Ok, this pretty much scared the shit out of me with its accurately drawn portrait of the desperate and the damned. "
— Frederic, 2/12/2014 -
" A violent story about a couple of soldiers from the Vietnam War and their ill-fated attempt at smuggling 3 keys of heroin back to the States. Things don't go well, and their efforts end tragically. "
— Ricky, 2/7/2014 -
" Clearly written and, for the most part, quickly paced. The first half was much more compelling than the second half of the book. "
— Gwynne, 1/29/2014 -
" No particular aspect of this book grabbed me, not that any particular aspect was bad. When I found myself debating if I should get further in Dog Soldiers or catch up on the news, I decided I might as well put this down and get something I wanted to read. "
— Bill, 1/19/2014 -
" Raymond Chandler meets Hunter S. Thompson. In a good way. "
— Drew, 1/17/2014 -
" When it comes to dope, moral ambiguity and dramatic tension, Robert Stone is a gimlet eyed guide to the downside of American hubris. Always worth the ride, and often at the head of the pack. "
— Will, 1/15/2014 -
" I'm sorry Kevin, but I didn't like Dog Soldiers. I finished it today on a flight from Washington back to Boston. I was thinking as I flew, what is it about this book that just didn't work with me. I thought that maybe it was the fact that I couldn't relate to the characters or that I didn't like them or didn't understand how they think. But, I know there are many books with unlikable character or characters that I don't understand. Somehow I manage to love these books. I don't know. I don't think that I care for books about running heroin. Or books where characters are referred to by their last names. There was something very much of it's time about the book, a grimy hard edge that just seemed weird. I guess being alive a living 40 years after the dystopian period that is described in the book takes the bite out of it. The world may look like it's going to hell, but we're still around. "
— Ben, 1/15/2014 -
" Incredible, brilliant, intense Vietnam era novel--nobody paints a scene like Robert Stone, stunning dialogue. National Book Award winner. "
— Janet, 11/11/2013 -
" This book won the NBAward in the early 70's and one can see why: it's got Vietnam, a brick of heroin, and Bonnie and Clyde action from some hopelessly narcissistic drugged up folks. Oh those wacky Baby Boomers. "
— Dev, 10/27/2013 -
" Set in Vietnam, which I guess makes it historical. Extremely well done. I enjoyed it a lot. "
— Charles, 10/10/2013 -
" My favorite story about a couple of people doing what they shouldn't be doing. And stuff. Dude! "
— JFKW, 10/27/2012 -
" I recall there was only about one paragraph actually worth reading in the whole novel "
— BAKU, 12/20/2011 -
" Good book. Heavy, smoky world of early seventies american narco-trafficking. "
— Greg, 7/16/2011 -
" Lean prose, fast-paced...I LOVED this book... "
— Shannon, 12/19/2010 -
" Too nihilistic for my taste, all drugs and violence, but it's very well written. One character is described as "a snout faced meat locker." Everyone and everything is completely f**ked. It is compelling but I was glad when it was over. "
— Don, 5/1/2010 -
" "Piquant,'' as one of the characters puts it. The Vietnam/junkie/'60s burnout experience has never been done better, and not for lack of trying. Words fail. Read it. "
— Paul, 5/7/2009 -
" I enjoyed the first half, but then it just got boring. It saddens me that Stone seems to have become so bitterly disillusioned with the sixties that he went on to write not only this but also the horrendous, stilted and cynical "Prime Green". "
— Ashley, 8/14/2008 -
" Starts off with a bang, trails off to a whimper quickly. "
— Bob, 8/1/2008 -
" I'm trying to read all Robert Stone's books, but this one was a little too over the top for me. (I did read it to the end though) "
— Diane, 4/8/2008
About Robert Stone
Robert Stone (1937–2015) received most of the accolades and awards possible for a contemporary novelist, and he has been called the best writer of the post-Vietnam era. His many novels, which have enjoyed commercial success as well as critical acclaim, include the National Book Award winner Dog Soldiers, Damascus Gate, Bay of Souls, and A Hall of Mirrors. He was also the author of the short story collection Bear and His Daughter, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
About Tom Stechschulte
Tom Stechschulte (1948–2021) was an acclaimed narrator and winner of the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He had been a college athlete and business major when a friend dared him to audition for a play. He got the part and traded the locker room for the dressing room, eventually taking him to New York City and to recording audiobooks.