Rating: 
Summary: Harrowing, top flight novel stay with you...
Review: This book was so gripping, I read it (blush) in a single sitting at a bookstore. Never bought it. The ending could have been a bit more plausible, but I woke up the next two mornings having dreamt about it. Whew!
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better, could have been worse.
Review: This is a gritty novel. This book is almost without parallel and unlike any other crime fiction that I have had the pleasure to read. Don't think about it, buy it and read it. This is the best author writing hard-core fiction alive. This is Chandler's protégée if you had to name one; only he is taking the side of the criminal here. This novel is hard, its like getting into a bar fight and being smacked around a few times.
I am not too much up on giving away the plots in my reviews, especially if I enjoyed the book. Let me just say that this novel is hard to start. I think that is because it is so unusual. Kind of reminded me of Motherless Brooklyn in that way. The characters do not allow for very much in the way of empathy with the reader. But the writing does suck you in after a few pages and then you are hooked on a hard ride. Quentin Tarantino has said that Block is one of his many inspirations, and that is why I pick this novel up a few years ago. In fact I think Block was Mr. White or some color in his 'Reservoir Dog's' flick. So if you saw that film that is a good indicator as to what you will be confronted with here.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This is a gritty novel. Unlike any other crime fiction that I have had the pleasure to read. Don't think about it, buy it and read it. This is the best author writing hard core fiction alive. Chandlers protigy with a bad guys bent.
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling
Review: With Dog Eat Dog Edward Bunker shows us his talent for writing down-and-dirty, there are no keeping the punches in this shocking novel about three friends and ex-cons that come up with a plot to rip off other criminals. The book does side slightly with the criminals, but it does not glorify them as misunderstood good guys, it shows them as mean and evil at times, but also let us see that they are human, and that not all the bad that is inside them is of their own doing. Bunker might not master the language as well as seaseoned crime-fiction writers, but this adds to the authenticity of the book too, making it seem more "there", while it leads us towards the ending. The book is a character study too, and we see some truly terrible characters here, even a few without any "good" sides. It is a brutal and shocking book, and not for every one.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better, could have been worse.
Review: You have to give Edward Bunker credit for pulling himself out of the dark hole of crime that became the basis for his work; however, he's an above-average writer at best. Sometimes the book just kind of dribbles along with settings and dialog that make you ask the age-old question, "Who gives a s**t?" The characters wax philosophical on race relations and social disfunction; but the observations are contrived and uncharacteristic at best, considering the cretin dimwits who are uttering the some of the lines. What, are these guys idiot savants with sociology degrees? Mine-as-well be a bracketed sentence that states, "Insert author's opinion here."He also slips into that habit of many older male writers like Elmore Leonard, where females are attracted to the male characters under the most unplausible circumstances. Buy a red sportscar, do a comb-over, update the 70s ski lodge swinger lingo . . . and spare us the fantasy tripe. That said, the women in this book are cardboard cutouts placed for three purposes: they have sex, get murdered and nag at their mates. What makes Bunker's work compelling is its true-to-life feel: the jargon, techniques and insight into the criminal mind. But that doesn't mean we should hand out Pulitzers to every ex-con who learns how to type; we should respect the work for what it is: a semi-decent, depressing yarn that smacks of realism in some places, but needs some serious tightening in others.
Rating:
Summary: The best crime-fiction money can buy
Review: _Dog Eat Dog_ tracks three ex-felons who known each other since 'gladiator school' (reform school). Determined to finally land a serious score and - since they're under threat of California's 'three strikes' law anyhow - they decide upon a risky, violent course of action: to rip off drug dealers. After all, who will the dealers complain to? Given the divergent set of personalities, this miniature crime family spins crazily out of control. And just when you're certain you know what will happen next, rest assured: you do not. After reading this work, I read Bunker's autobiographical _Education of a Felon_ and discovered that many of the characters, schemes and plot twists are rooted in real people and true events. Anyone interested in Bunker should read _Education_ and Bunker's _No Beast So Fierce_ is also excellent (out of print in the U.S., but I believe available via amazon.co.uk). Violent, realistic, shocking and often darkly hilarious, this is probably the single greatest work of crime-fiction ever written.
Rating:
Summary: The best crime-fiction money can buy
Review: _Dog Eat Dog_ tracks three ex-felons who known each other since 'gladiator school' (reform school). Determined to finally land a serious score and - since they're under threat of California's 'three strikes' law anyhow - they decide upon a risky, violent course of action: to rip off drug dealers. After all, who will the dealers complain to? Given the divergent set of personalities, this miniature crime family spins crazily out of control. And just when you're certain you know what will happen next, rest assured: you do not. After reading this work, I read Bunker's autobiographical _Education of a Felon_ and discovered that many of the characters, schemes and plot twists are rooted in real people and true events. Anyone interested in Bunker should read _Education_ and Bunker's _No Beast So Fierce_ is also excellent (out of print in the U.S., but I believe available via amazon.co.uk). Violent, realistic, shocking and often darkly hilarious, this is probably the single greatest work of crime-fiction ever written.
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