To The Dogs by Louise Welsh

To The Dogs by Louise Welsh
UK Publication: January 2024
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Canongate (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Sins of the father…

Synopsis from Goodreads: Jim Brennan is flying high. Against all odds, he is a big man at the university, tipped for the head job and an office at the top of the ivory tower. He has a beautiful, accomplished wife and two healthy children. Jim drives an Audi, and his dog is a pedigree bichon frisé. Not bad for the son of a hardman who grew up in a room and kitchen. But for every person who’s watched his progress and wanted to hitch a lift, there’s someone else desperate to drag him back down. When his son Elliot is arrested on drugs charges, Jim is approached by men he thought he had left safely in his past. Their demands threaten his family, students and reputation. As the pressure mounts, Jim discovers he is more like his father than he thought. The question is, how far will Professor Jim Brennan go to save the life he built?

My Thoughts: This is a very involved thriller, it starts off with a drug charge and from there events spiral further and further dragging Jim back to his childhood where his father was a well known Scottish gangster.

In an effort to make sure his son’s childhood is nothing like his own does Jim doom his son to follow in the footsteps of Grandfather?

While the central theme is family and how far you would go to protect you child it also covers various social themes such as bribery and corruption; university politics; social responsibility; giving back to the community and the morality of taking money from regimes whose policies you don’t agree with.

Who would like this? If you like an intelligent gangster story with the violence off screen give this one a go.

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