The Last of the Dog Team

Dog Team #1

by William W. Johnstone

The last member of a secret government unit called the Dog Team, a clandestine squad of elite soldiers, Terry Kovak finds himself alone, forced to draw on all his special skills as he wages a one-man war against betrayal and injustice. Reprint.

Genres: Ebooks, Action, Thriller, War

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1980

About the author

William W. Johnstone is the #1 bestselling Western writer in America and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of hundreds of books, with over 50 million copies sold. Born in southern Missouri, he was raised with strong moral and family values by his minister father, and tutored by his schoolteacher mother. He left school at fifteen to work in a carnival and then as a deputy sheriff before serving in the army. He went on to become known as "the Greatest Western writer of the 21st Century." Visit him online at WilliamJohnstone.net.

Reviews

[Craig]

I believe that The Last of the Dog Team was Johnstone's first novel, though I may have missed something. It was published by Zebra in June of 1980, a couple of months before The Devil's Kiss. It was a stand-alone story, though three further books in the series appeared as collaborations beginning in 2005, the year after his death. It has an amazing amount of detailed sex and violence compared to the more recent westerns that have proved to be so popular. It's about a young man who's an expert killer recruited for a team of government assassins. It tells his story from beginning to end, with lots of unlikely adventures and accomplishments, lots of sex and violence. It's very similar in theme and tone to The Sanction, which appeared the following year, also from Zebra, before his horror novels became so popular, several years before he did any westerns or the Ashes books. It's an okay Men's Adventure title of the time.

[Colten Sammons]

This book is about a boy who lived in a small town with a poor family. His name is Terry; he is a very good hunter and would always go out and hunt small game to take back to his family for food. One day he was out hunting and a random man showed up and started causing problems. The outcome resulted in Terry shooting the man. As the man died Terry ran back home. What Terry didn’t know was that one of the most highly respected generals saw this and saw potential in Terry. The general soon got in contact with Terry resulting in Terry joining the army. Soon, Terry started rising in the ranks and was put in a secret unit called the “Dog Team.” It is full of the highest trained soldiers and was thought to be an invincible unit. Terry was in this unit for pretty much the rest of his life and is the last of the Dog Team to survive.

Two things I like about this book are the action and the intensity. One thing I didn’t like about the book is the type of person Terry ended up becoming. This book to me is geared towards more of the young adult crowd such as high school juniors and seniors as well as younger college students.

[Elyse]

Gary Stu anyone? That's what I suspect Terry Kovak is. When you read over and over and over (no exaggerations) about how mysterious and how amazing and how skillful a character is, you can't help but suspect that the author was just boosting his own self-esteem by writing himself as the perfect character. And, as bad of an offense that is, it's made even worse by the fact that Johnstone doesn't do repetition well. Instead of varying the language in the book, almost every single female character Kovak encounters says and thinks the exact same thing about him. Not to mention he gets laid every time he turns around... I don't even get that much tail!

I've never read any of William W. Johnstone's other stories, and you probably won't find me doing so any time soon, but this particular story read like bad fanfiction. However, like most bad fanfiction, there was a grain of entertainment. Although I rolled my eyes every time I read another reason why Kovak was so different and special and blahblahblah, I still didn't put the book down. Strange... scratch that, replace with "SCARY."

[Chad]

Really good and fast read. Rather crude at times, but a fun read nonetheless. Reading books like this make me realize what a bubble I was raised in.

[Rob Smith, Jr.]

Of the few dozen Johnstone Clan books I've read, this is the oddest and entirely different from any of the other books. This is Johnstone's version of Steinbeck. Not written as well as Steinbeck and with far too many crass parts, but the same feeling.

Before I tear this book apart, i want to note that the writing is very good, in the sense of writing characters ans settings. It's the construction of and the elements of the plot that is the disaster.

This is a life story. Following a character from his teen years to death. The author has made every effort to make the story full of pathos and emotion, but to little avail. Mostly due to how the main character is developed. It's an extremely clunky setup, mostly involving a teenager's sexual adventures with a whole series of women. The sex, in a weird view of the human animal, is somehow to convince the reader that the main character is mature enough to become a killing machine. Besides hunting rabbits, there is no other sign the teen is anything more than a normal kid.

The other inane way the author tries to convince the reader that the main character is ready to be of an elite squad of military killers, is having all of the characters SAY he is unusual. No real basis for this claim. Except for seeing coldness in his eyes. Yet, the kid is never written to exhibit such cold behavior in the beginning. I could go on, but there's more silliness to cover.

Extremely off putting about the story is that the title and gearing of the story would have a reader believe there would be all sorts of massive killing and battles and the like. Far from it. The main character's sexual escapades fill the bulk of the action.

The way the sexual interactions are written are also off putting. All of the women in the book are to be fresh meat for the main character. They all fall for him and sex soon follows. Not a couple lines of sexual intercourse. Pages of details better suited for a pornographic magazine. There must be a good ten pages of sex just withing the first 35 pages of the book.

There are lots of other silly bits, too. But let me wrap this by writing how ridiculous the last few pages are involving the appearance of a hand full of the woman who fell under the main character's sexual spell at a memorial service. It points out how excessive the use of women and sex are portrayed. To the point that I realized there were so many women, I didn't remember all of the names.

This is a solid departure for a Johnstone book. The amount of curse words and explicit sex scenes are nothing I've encountered with Johnstone and wonder was he already employing ghost writers at the very early time of this book?

There is so much else to cover that is wrong with this book from loose ends to poor storytelling. But I think I've covered enough here.

Bottom line: i don't recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.

[Stephen]

I'm really not sure what to think of this book. At first it reads like a sex filled pot boiled monthly formula fiction novel about an American Bad Boy destined for special operations action, at first. What you find when you get toward the last third of the book is that the protagonist has been shaped by his life events, and then warped by the military. He is a highly trained soldier in a world that can't accept who or what he is. The book is like the original First Blood in that we are dealing with PTSD and the effects of what happens to a warrior when he is set adrift by the government that has taken advantage of his gifts and warped him into a weapon.

[Matt Jorgensen]

I was trying to remember books I didn't finish for Goodread's new Did Not Finish tab. Unfortunately, I also remembered some books I did finish. Not only this thing but its terrible sequel. I read this book when I was a teen.

Spoilers below.

I remember nothing except he stabbed a guy, kicked a kid in the balls, porked his sister in-law, porked his other sister in-law (she porked a priest), porked his teacher, shot some dudes, died in Rhodesia or something. It should have been pure comedy. Maybe it was.

[DJMikeG]

I could not finish this book. An incredibly boring novel by William W Johnstone? Virtually unheard of, but this is one. Plodding, boring and dull with only the faintest hints of the wild n crazy Johnstone we know and love.

[Jordana]

Amazing book, I was hooked from the start.

[Aldo Rosel]

Fast read with plenty of action. It's a more manly style drama with highs and lows of human nature.