Deathwatch

by Robb White

Ebook, 2011

Status

Available

Call number

Fic Childrens WhiteR

Collection

Publication

Random House Children's Books

Description

Needing money for school, a college boy accepts a job as guide on a desert hunting trip and nearly loses his life.

User reviews

LibraryThing member zachyg
The simplistic style that White used made this read fun and simple. Although the end of the book was not a very good one, I would rate this book 4/5. I would recommend this book to almost anyone.
LibraryThing member Sigualicious
This is one of the best thrillers I've read....and it's meant for pre-teens.
LibraryThing member alstonh3
I thought this book was a good book. it's about a man that leaves a boy in the desert without clothes.
LibraryThing member JimmyS8
I think that Deathwatch was a very good book. It makes your want to keep reading untle its done. Its action packed and has a great story to tell. You will want to read to the end.
LibraryThing member PaulV5
DeathWatch is about a kid named Ben. And he is trying to get money for another year of college by being a huting guide for a man named Medec.Little does he know that he could lose his life.Ben trys to survive in the Desert in modern times without any food or water.
LibraryThing member jonahw5
Deathwatch is an extremely good book. It is a little bit slow in the beggining but it speeds up quite rapidly. And if you enjoy survival stories with a murder trying to hunt you down while you have no clothes, food, or water in the desert you will love this book.
LibraryThing member patrickh1
I thought Deathwatch was excited to read. Deathwatch takes place during current time, in the dry western desert. Madec and Ben are the main characters. Madec is evil, a liar, mean, and heartless. Ben on the other hand is brave, honest, and determined. Madec paid Ben to take him hunting for big
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horn. Madec accidentally commits a crime. Ben wants to confess to the police, but Madec does not what to go to jail. Madec makes Ben strip only to his boxers and leaves him in the desert. The only thing is that Madec makes it almost impossible for Ben to survive. Ben is my favorite character because he tries to be optimistic. He is also very determined. I would absolutely recommend this book to another person. The person I would recommend this book to is anyone in seventh grade that likes adventure books.
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LibraryThing member AlexV5
This college student Ben takes this man Madec to go hunting for big horn sheep and the man accidentally shoots a old man...
Its a very quick read
LibraryThing member chosler
22-year-old Ben is hired by a sadistic and cold-blooded but brilliant businessman as a guide to hunt long-horns in the desert. When the man accidentally shots a homeless man and tries to talk Ben into keeping quiet, Ben refuses, and is forced by the man to try to survive in the harsh desert
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conditions without food, water, or clothes. Some graphic violence and extreme tension. Ages 14+.
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LibraryThing member lnommay
I had a very difficult time putting this book down! All I kept thinking was what a great read-aloud it would be for a middle school science teacher. The characters are believable and the suspense is enough to keep kids hanging on almost every word.
LibraryThing member JoNe0597
This book was really good. I didn't wan't to put it down
LibraryThing member TexasTam
I read this book in the 7th grade and was intrigued by hunt and descriptions of the desert, and pure survivor instincts.
LibraryThing member MonicaMusik
Even though it's been years since I've read this book I always keep coming back to it whenever I'm asked for a good read. It's suspenseful and horribly exciting and I love that it actually teaches good morals. Ben had a choice between doing what he knew was right and saving his own skin. It was
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literally a life or death decision and it was great to see that he made the right decision. Of course if he hadn't there would be no book to read.
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LibraryThing member Snukes
I hated the way this book ended when I finished reading it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the perfect ending. Surviving in nature an escaping bad guys was always a fantasy of my childhood, so this was a great read once I got over the ending.
LibraryThing member RBeffa
When I was young I read and really enjoyed several of Robb White's books. "The Survivor" was a special favorite that I read when I was about 14, but I also enjoyed stories such as "Up Periscope." I happened upon "Deathwatch" a couple months ago and excitedly picked it up at the used shop, even
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though the subject matter on the back cover didn't sound like something I would like very much.

Well, it turned out I was right about the subject matter. I really did not enjoy a story about a relentlessly evil man changing his hunting target from bighorn sheep to the young college kid who was his guide in the desert. The story was pretty well written and I read this because I wanted to see how it played out. I would never read this again though. The ending was a little unexpected.
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LibraryThing member lucybrown
I wasn't expecting much from Deathwatch. First of all it is teen fiction which, forgive me, is so often just so much schlock. Second, well, it is teen fiction. I was pleased to find it to be a well-crafted work of survival and suspense. The craftsmanship along with the riveting plot make it an
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excellent choice for teachers of middle schoolers, even older students in the right context. My biggest problem with the book is that I have serious spatial issues when reading. There were sections in which Ben was plotting his next move that were heavy in spatial descriptions which had me reading with my tongue stuck out and a smidge of drool forming. My usual look of pained concentration. Rather inelegant. If I wasn't going to teach the book, I would have said "Yeah, yeah, yeah" and skipped these bits." There was nothing wrong with them, just not compatible with my rightbraininess. In other words, "It's not you, baby. It's me." Obviously, I will have similarly challenged students, so I will need to think of ways to mitigate the problems these sections will cause them. Otherwise, it is a well-written, ripping yarn of cat and mouse desert survival as Ben, a young college student tries to outwit Madec, the wealthy man who has hired him to take him hunting for big horn sheep in the Mojave Desert. Their partnership had been uncomfortable from the start, but when Madec accidentally shots an old prospector things get ugly. Ben refuses to be party to Madec's cover up scheme. Madec's solution? Ben becomes his quarry. I know my twelve year old girls are going to relish the bit where Ben drinks from a murky, guano-mired puddle and chows down on raw quail, their blood dripping from his mouth. That alone is worth the price of admission to me. Too bad there aren't more snakes. They so loved the snakes in True Grit!
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LibraryThing member lucybrown
I wasn't expecting much from Deathwatch. First of all it is teen fiction which, forgive me, is so often just so much schlock. Second, well, it is teen fiction. I was pleased to find it to be a well-crafted work of survival and suspense. The craftsmanship along with the riveting plot make it an
Show More
excellent choice for teachers of middle schoolers, even older students in the right context. My biggest problem with the book is that I have serious spatial issues when reading. There were sections in which Ben was plotting his next move that were heavy in spatial descriptions which had me reading with my tongue stuck out and a smidge of drool forming. My usual look of pained concentration. Rather inelegant. If I wasn't going to teach the book, I would have said "Yeah, yeah, yeah" and skipped these bits." There was nothing wrong with them, just not compatible with my rightbraininess. In other words, "It's not you, baby. It's me." Obviously, I will have similarly challenged students, so I will need to think of ways to mitigate the problems these sections will cause them. Otherwise, it is a well-written, ripping yarn of cat and mouse desert survival as Ben, a young college student tries to outwit Madec, the wealthy man who has hired him to take him hunting for big horn sheep in the Mojave Desert. Their partnership had been uncomfortable from the start, but when Madec accidentally shots an old prospector things get ugly. Ben refuses to be party to Madec's cover up scheme. Madec's solution? Ben becomes his quarry. I know my twelve year old girls are going to relish the bit where Ben drinks from a murky, guano-mired puddle and chows down on raw quail, their blood dripping from his mouth. That alone is worth the price of admission to me. Too bad there aren't more snakes. They so loved the snakes in True Grit!
Show Less
LibraryThing member lucybrown
I wasn't expecting much from Deathwatch. First of all it is teen fiction which, forgive me, is so often just so much schlock. Second, well, it is teen fiction. I was pleased to find it to be a well-crafted work of survival and suspense. The craftsmanship along with the riveting plot make it an
Show More
excellent choice for teachers of middle schoolers, even older students in the right context. My biggest problem with the book is that I have serious spatial issues when reading. There were sections in which Ben was plotting his next move that were heavy in spatial descriptions which had me reading with my tongue stuck out and a smidge of drool forming. My usual look of pained concentration. Rather inelegant. If I wasn't going to teach the book, I would have said "Yeah, yeah, yeah" and skipped these bits." There was nothing wrong with them, just not compatible with my rightbraininess. In other words, "It's not you, baby. It's me." Obviously, I will have similarly challenged students, so I will need to think of ways to mitigate the problems these sections will cause them. Otherwise, it is a well-written, ripping yarn of cat and mouse desert survival as Ben, a young college student tries to outwit Madec, the wealthy man who has hired him to take him hunting for big horn sheep in the Mojave Desert. Their partnership had been uncomfortable from the start, but when Madec accidentally shots an old prospector things get ugly. Ben refuses to be party to Madec's cover up scheme. Madec's solution? Ben becomes his quarry. I know my twelve year old girls are going to relish the bit where Ben drinks from a murky, guano-mired puddle and chows down on raw quail, their blood dripping from his mouth. That alone is worth the price of admission to me. Too bad there aren't more snakes. They so loved the snakes in True Grit!
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LibraryThing member RalphLagana
I greatly enjoyed this book. It hit the spot, metaphorically. I wanted to read a book that was relatively simple, quick, and entertaining. Yes, a beach read, which is where I finished this one.

The story is nice and straightforward. Two men enter the desert and an "accident" occurs, leaving them to
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battle one another. Ben, our lead character, is hunted by the cunning Madec. Ben grew up in the desert regions and knows it well. Madec knows how to hunt and has survived the cutthroat world of big business. Who does what to whom? Well, you need to read that for yourself.

The book was written in 1974 but holds up perfectly.
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LibraryThing member ECHSLibrary
This is one of my all-time favorites. A student acts as a game hunting guide to raise money for school. His client shoots an old prospector. When the guide wants to report the crime to the authorities, the client decides it would be more sporting to hunt the guide. Great suspense. What an evil
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villain!
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Originally published in 1972 and now considered a classic of it’s genre, the YA novel, Deathwatch is first and foremost a survival story. When a wealthy man hires, Ben, a local college student as his hunting guide, he expect his young guide to look the other way when he doesn’t follow the
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rules, but when he mistakenly shoots a person instead of the Rocky Mountain Sheep he swore he saw, he really shows his true colors as he refuses to allow Ben to report the death. He strips Ben of his clothes, weapons, food and water and keeping a watch from a distance waits for the extreme conditions to take Ben’s life as well.

The story is short and fairly simple as Ben uses his knowledge of the desert to outsmart the villain and survive. Although a little far-fetched I thought this story was very well done and I can certainly see that young people would be glued to the pages. I enjoyed the descriptions of the desert and the survival techniques that Ben used. This book is often compared to Hatchet by Gary Paulsen but the additional aspect of man-against-man as well as man-against-nature gives Deathwatch an exciting edge.
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Awards

Edgar Award (Nominee — Juvenile — 1973)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee — 1973-1974)
NCSLMA Battle of the Books (Middle School — 2019)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 1972)

Original publication date

1972

ISBN

9780307791443

DDC/MDS

Fic Childrens WhiteR

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Rating

(80 ratings; 3.5)
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