Rating: 
Summary: POWERFUL AND ORIGINAL!
Review: "Diamond Dogs" refers to those elite who possess the talent and charisma to rise above the pack...and Alan Watt has captured perfectly the double-edged sword that such talent becomes, especially when you're 17-year-old Neil Garvin. His young life changes dramatically one fateful night as he drives home drunkenly from a friends party, and he strikes and kills a fellow student in his father's car. Not even his sheriff father can save him from the personal hell which he endures when he makes a series of bad choices. Although the story ends in triumphant redemption, this victory is bittersweet for both Neil and his tormented father. Both have abandonment issues that color their every decision, and by the final page, each deals with those in cataclysmic ways...resulting in one of the most powerfully triumphant stories to grace a page. Watt has captured Neil's tortured soul in an original voice, and aptly portrays the effects of two men's choices that go horribly wrong on a family that is already deteriorating beyond repair. Far from being depressing, "Diamond Dogs" is hopeful and poetic. A highly recommended read! Also recommended as companion books: "Good Times, Bad Times"--James Kirkwood "A Separate Peace"--John Knowles "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys"--Chris Fuhrman
Rating:
Summary: Great little nugget of a book
Review: A fine book buried behind a lousy cover and poor marketing, "Diamond Dogs" is a real treat that I might easily have over-looked had a friend not mentioned it to me. It is the engaging narrative of Neil, a high school football star from a troubled family who, after a night of drinking and recreational cruelty, accidentally kills a classmate. His father, the local police chief of their Nevada town (just outside of Las Vegas) disposes of the body without even talking to Neil, and thus begins three days of tension and mayhem. Some of the elements of "Diamond Dogs" are a bit over-cooked. I found the father's obsession with Neil Diamond more gimmicky than believable, which is too bad because the rest of the father/son relationship is drawn brilliantly. I found Neil's problems with his father, his yearning for his long-departed mother, and his relationships with his friends and girlfriends both believable and moving. Neil is not a particularly likable character, but what makes this novel so compelling is that Alan Watt had built him around an utterly irresistible narrative voice. I was hooked from the first page, and I just kept on reading. I don't know if it is true, but I have heard a rumor that Watt wrote this novel in six weeks. If that is the case, I tip my hate to him and bow in awe. Even if it is not the case, I am very impressed and I look forward to more good things from this talented young author.
Rating:
Summary: Great little nugget of a book
Review: A fine book buried behind a lousy cover and poor marketing, "Diamond Dogs" is a real treat that I might easily have over-looked had a friend not mentioned it to me. It is the engaging narrative of Neil, a high school football star from a troubled family who, after a night of drinking and recreational cruelty, accidentally kills a classmate. His father, the local police chief of their Nevada town (just outside of Las Vegas) disposes of the body without even talking to Neil, and thus begins three days of tension and mayhem. Some of the elements of "Diamond Dogs" are a bit over-cooked. I found the father's obsession with Neil Diamond more gimmicky than believable, which is too bad because the rest of the father/son relationship is drawn brilliantly. I found Neil's problems with his father, his yearning for his long-departed mother, and his relationships with his friends and girlfriends both believable and moving. Neil is not a particularly likable character, but what makes this novel so compelling is that Alan Watt had built him around an utterly irresistible narrative voice. I was hooked from the first page, and I just kept on reading. I don't know if it is true, but I have heard a rumor that Watt wrote this novel in six weeks. If that is the case, I tip my hate to him and bow in awe. Even if it is not the case, I am very impressed and I look forward to more good things from this talented young author.
Rating: 
Summary: Disgusted!
Review: A friend of our family's has a daughter in middle school. She happened across this book one day in her school's library in order to read it for Accelerated Reader. When I saw just the first few pages I was so disgusted it almost made me sick. For this book to be in a library where children can read it is totally irresponsible, neglectful, and downright innaprpriate! I gave this book only one star because it would'nt let me give. We REALLY need some sort of a rating system for literature just as we do movies or video games. That way I could teach my child that they could only get books that were appropriate to their age and maturity. It saddens me that this is what we are putting in our children's hands. As if the world isn't scary enough now, we have to make reading a sex ed lesson. Reading is supposed to be an adventure that can relax and teach young readers to enjoy reading. I'm not sure I want my child to learn ANYTHING from this book! Therefore if your reading this trying to decide whether to buy this book for your child i implore you PLEASE PLEASE reconsider or at least get it and read it yourself first.Then if you still think it's ok, then buy it. Thank you
Rating: 
Summary: The Missing High School Student
Review: A Review by Kali Neil Garvin is a star athlete and the star quarterback of his high school football team. After coming home from one night of partying, Neil accidentally hits a kid along the side of the road. Neil panics and brings the body home with him. In the morning, the body was mysteriously gone! Neil tries to keep his murdering a secret from people, but just can't. Neil ends up telling his best friend Fred. After that, everything seems to go down hill for Neil. The FBI agents start getting a lead that Neil did it. Throughout the whole book, Neil keeps thinking that this is just a dream and that everything will go back to the way it was, but it doesn't. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat. I liked how everything was solved in the mystery. Nothing was left out for you to think of how it ended. At the end of the book, it even talked about what happened to the person that was convicted of the murder and how their life was changed because of it. The characters in the book were realistic teenage kids. They went through the same sort of problems that every kid at our age would go through. They were pressured by some kids to drink and party and by other kids to be successful in life. The vocabulary and language of the book was not very difficult. I liked that because it makes the story easy to follow. The teenagers talked like normal people. They didn't talk like they were some proper English kid in 1902 or like some kid who was never taught how to talk. An example is, 'Don't you see what you're doing? You're throwing away your life because you're angry with your father.' I would recommend this book to a person who likes a suspenseful mystery book. Diamond Dogs is an easy book to read so you can't get lost in the reading. I really enjoyed it!
Rating:
Summary: A powerful piece of fiction
Review: Alan Watt does a marvelous job creating suspense in his debut novel. He tackles serious subjects such as guilt and anger. His father/son relationship was haunting. I will be looking for his movie that he wrote and directed to come out....
Rating:
Summary: taut psychological struggle between father, son and truth
Review: Alan Watt's "Daimond Dogs" packs an enormous punch. Set in the physical and emotional wasteland outside Las Vegas, the novel chronicles the unspooling impact of a vehicular homicide on the lives of the protagonist, Neil Garvin, and his controlling father. Watt's pacing is impressive, and the novel gathers strength as it progresses. By the time I has reached the final day of the three days elapsed since the homicide, I felt completely immersed in the inner dynamics of Neil's emotions and the tense outcome of the criminal investigation following the victim's disappearance. Because the author invests so much of the novel with moral universals (What are our responsibilities when innocent blood is shed? What limits are there to friendship and family ties?), transendent familial values (loyalty, love, and loss), and overwhelming emotion (fear, anger and betrayal), "Diamond Dogs" will remain with the reader long after completion. Star quarterback Neil Garvin appears to have it all. The son of handsome but aloof sheriff Chester Garvin, Neil lives an emotionally crippled life. Plagued with questions about his mother's abrupt departure from his life when he was but a child, Neil at once envies friends whith coherent families but never allows himself to share his most intimate feelings with anyone. Despite his academic talent, Neil elects to play the fool in class, drink heartily with his pampered football cohorts and seethe with quiet anger over his father's fascination with Neil Diamond. The Las Vegas setting skews his view of women, and with the absence of any stable woman in his life, he is left with his father's predatory attitude as his model of relationships. Watt's characterizations are superb. Neil's father possesses wrath and anger which the author uses to advance the narrative and ultimately explain the development of Neil's character. Neil's best friend, Reed, comes to symbolize fealty and innocence; his evolution as sacrificial lamb explores the limits of friendship. Even minor characters, such as the school principal/football coach (whose respectable venality contrasts nicely with the jarring and blatant corruption of Las Vegas), are drawn with precision and present themselves as utterly believable. "Diamond Dogs" is Alan Watt's first novel. With this impressive debut under his belt, Mr. Watt must know there is an audience eagerly awaiting his next work.
Rating: 
Summary: whoop whoop whoop
Review: Diamond Dog by Alan Watt was an attention-grabbing book. The book is about a young boy named Neil Garvin who kills another young boy named Ian Curtis. Neil panics after killing Ian and throws him into the trunk of his father's car who is the town's sheriff. The book takes a real spin from there. FBI agents are called in to investigate the disappearance of Ian Curtis, father son turmoil stirs, and a son is wondering about the disappearance of his mother from years back.
Neil is forced to confront his dad about the disappearance of his mother and Ian's body. When he confronts his dad, all of his feelings change and Neil sees the world in a different way.
I thought that this book was alright. It could have been better. The author would do flash backs when flash backs were not needed and confused me if it was from the past or present. The book was also a little graphic. If this book was a movie it would get the rating of "R" for sexual content and use of language. If you want a book to read for your leisure time I would suggest it but I would not suggest it as a family reading.
Rating:
Summary: whoop whoop whoop
Review: Diamond Dog by Alan Watt was an attention-grabbing book. The book is about a young boy named Neil Garvin who kills another young boy named Ian Curtis. Neil panics after killing Ian and throws him into the trunk of his father's car who is the town's sheriff. The book takes a real spin from there. FBI agents are called in to investigate the disappearance of Ian Curtis, father son turmoil stirs, and a son is wondering about the disappearance of his mother from years back.
Neil is forced to confront his dad about the disappearance of his mother and Ian's body. When he confronts his dad, all of his feelings change and Neil sees the world in a different way.
I thought that this book was alright. It could have been better. The author would do flash backs when flash backs were not needed and confused me if it was from the past or present. The book was also a little graphic. If this book was a movie it would get the rating of "R" for sexual content and use of language. If you want a book to read for your leisure time I would suggest it but I would not suggest it as a family reading.
Rating:
Summary: novel review
Review: Diamond Dogs is a bestseller novel by Alan Watt.
This novel is about a star quarterback, Neil Garvin, who everyone envies, even though Neil can be a real jerk and abusive towards his peers. Here is an example from the novel. "I was holding Blondie's face in the dirt and making him say, 'I want my mommy'.(page 12) He had to say it twenty times before I let him go." But, as you read on you will find out that Neil can actually be a very nice person.
Neil's father, the sheriff is abusive toward his own girlfriend Kimmy, as well as his own son Niel. No one is aware of this because when Neil's father is out in public he treats Neil and Kimmy with respect. Neil's mother, on the other hand had left when Neil was a child."I was three when she walked out on us. Just threw everything into a bag and split, and all that was left was a photogragh". (page 15)Neil only heard from her once after that.
When Neil is felling angry and depressed over his father and mother, he gets drunk. This is where the trouble begins.
On Sunday night Neil and his jock friends had a party. Neil started to drink one right after another. He got so drunk that things started to get out of control. He was picking on kids and yelling at his friends. Neil thought that everything was fine and that he was O.K. to drive home. On his way home Neil had hit something. He thought that it was a dog. Later we find out that it was a kid at the party. "I turned the car around shone the high-beams to see what I'd hit. It took me a couple of minutes. I had the brights on, scanning the side of the road, and then I saw him, way off, lying right next to a cactus, perfectly still, like he'd been there forever. I saw his black hair and I knew immediately who it was. And I knew he was dead".(page19-20) Neil was scared. He didn't know what he should do with the body. He didn't know if he should tell his dad or his best friend Reed. So Neil put the body in the trunk and drove home.
Neil's father, the sheriff was called out to the missing boy's house. With the lost boy in their trunk, Neil and his father drove out to the boys house. Neil's father had no idea that the boy was in the trunk, until he had to go into the trunk and grab his suitcase for the paperwork.
After Neil and his father got back home from looking for the boy, they went to bed, tired and drunk. When Neil woke up on Monday morning he realized that the body was gone. What had happened? To find out you will have to read the novel.
I think that this book is really excting and thrilling. I would also say that it teaches you many lessons. I would give this a rating of 3 out of 5 stars.
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