A review by jeffmauch
Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone

3.0

It seems this novel is more known for giving you the feeling of being immersed in the 1970s culture, particularly that surrounding the Vietnam War and drugs. The novel follows the life of a nobody beat reporter in Vietnam named Converse that decides to jump into a big drug deal to make a quick buck, only for his life to completely fall apart in the process. While the novel tries very hard to seem gritty and dirty, I feel that it mostly fails in that endeavor, but that doesn't make it any less engrossing. As you flip between Converse, his wife, and their crazy mutual friend with nothing to lose, you can't help but feel that you too are spiraling out of control. While the novel appears to realistically capture the time period and is certainly entertaining, it seems to miss out a bit when it comes to the plot. It's just a bit too much at times and while I think that was the author's intent, it just didn't completely work for me.