Stonedogs is structurally unusual; some text takes the form of a play with stage directions, and there are sudden shifts from narrator's voice to outside observer.
"[1] Stonedogs received critical acclaim, winning the Deutz Medal for Fiction in 2002[2] in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards.
"[1] There are strong left-wing political themes expressed; Marriner has cited leftists such as Noam Chomsky,[3] Robert Fisk and Leon Trotsky as influences.
[4] The story revolves around the protagonist, Gator, an unemployed young adult with anti-capitalist and neo-Nietzschean philosophies, and his friends in Rotorua.
They drive their Holden to Northland and after unplanned events take place attempt to sell their haul to a gang of Auckland skinheads, later running into trouble with a corrupt police officer.