To The Dogs by Louise Welsh

4 Stars from me

I love a good gritty crime thriller, and Louise Welsh delivers that in spades!

Once his son ends up in custody for drug charges, Jim Brennan, an esteemed Professor from Glasgow University has some stark choices to make not least of which – can he save his son without losing himself.

Somewhat inevitably, Jim soon finds that the murky past he tried to shrug off and leave behind is snapping at his heels and he has a difficult time attempting to balance all of the aspects of his life as they threaten to crash into each other.

As if the issues with his son weren’t enough there are also some big politically driven issues at the University and poor Jim seems to be getting it from all sides as the story unfolds.

The author has created and dark and dangerous world within these pages and I really enjoyed this thriller.

Blurb: A darkly comic, gritty novel from the award-winning writer of The Cutting Room, exploring organised crime, institutional corruption and moral compromise in Glasgow

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?