(3.5 stars, rounded up to 4)

In September 1999, Lindsay Kramer, known as "Dogboy," has a fateful encounter at the University of Melbourne, setting the stage for his turbulent journey. In 2015, boutique owner Katherine Kelly Fisher, aka "Catfish," meticulously plans to confront her husband, Lindsay, whom she suspects of infidelity. As Lindsay goes missing, detectives in Sydney and Melbourne uncover a web of deceit and danger, leading to a gripping exploration of greed, trust, power, and justice in Luke Gracias's intricately woven tale. With a documentary-like narrative style, Gracias crafts an authentic and compelling story, drawing readers into a shadowy world of counterfeit designer goods and escalating suspense.

Gracias's skillful storytelling immerses readers in a fast-paced narrative filled with twists and turns, culminating in a thrilling rollercoaster ride of tension and intrigue. Despite the absence of Lindsay, his presence looms large, while Katherine's manipulative persona adds an extra layer of complexity. "Dogboy vs Catfish" delivers an entertaining and engrossing read, offering a fresh spin on the classic mystery genre and leaving readers eagerly anticipating each thrilling revelation.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of <i>Dogboy v Catfish</i> in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

<h4 style="margin-top: 84px;">The Gist</h4>

<i>Dogboy v Catfish</i> by Luke Gracias is an exhilarating and fast-paced thriller that pits man against beast in a battle for survival. Set in the unforgiving wilderness of the Australian outback, Gracias weaves a tale of suspense and terror that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

<h4>The Details</h4>

At the heart of the novel is the unlikely protagonist a troubled young man haunted by his past and seeking redemption in the vast expanse of the outback. When he encounters a savage pack of feral dogs led by the ruthless Catfish, he must summon all of his courage and resourcefulness to survive.

Gracias's writing is taut and visceral. It immerses readers in the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the outback. The tension is palpable from the very first page.

What sets <i>Dogboy v Catfish</i> apart is its exploration of primal instincts and the thin line between man and beast. As the protagonist battles for survival, he is forced to confront his own inner demons and come to terms with the darkness that lurks within him. It is a gripping character study that adds depth and complexity to an already thrilling narrative.

The supporting cast of characters is equally compelling, from the enigmatic Catfish to the fiercely independent Mia, whose own motivations and desires add layers of intrigue to the story. Each character feels fully realized and contributes to the overall tension and excitement of the novel.

<h4>The Verdict</h4>

Overall, <i>Dogboy v Catfish</i> is a pulse-pounding thriller that will leave readers breathless and begging for more. With its gripping storyline, vivid characters, and relentless pace, Luke Gracias has crafted a masterpiece of suspense that is sure to be remembered long after the final page is turned.

This sounded like a good holiday book with lots twists and turns, but unfortunately and very unusually for me, I didn’t get to the end to find out many of them. I got quite bogged down in the details which felt unnecessarily complex and I found the dialogue really clunky and unnatural. I admire greatly people who self publish and I'm sorry not to be able to give a better review.
Thank you to netgalley and Luke Garcias for an advance copy of this book

The story once you start it it’s hard to put down. As the story unfolds new things come to light creating a plot that will keep you guessing until the end. The author Luke Gracias did an amazing job of bringing the characters to life. Some you will like some you might not. If you enjoy mysteries, this book I highly recommend

3.5 stars

Dogboy v Catfish by Luke Gracias is a psychological thriller about a missing husband.

First, let me thank NetGalley, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Lindsay "Dogboy" Kramer is a successful businessman and dog whisperer.

Katherine "Catfish" Fisher, mother to Emma, meets him when renting a storefront to hold her fashionable boutique, selling high end clothing and accessories.  They marry, living in Melbourne Australia, but two years later, Kathy is seeing a lawyer to dissolve her marriage, stating he is cheating on her.  She wants to file precisely 18 months after the marriage, thereby ensuring her daughter will receive a healthy child support payment until she is 18. Her lawyer, Freya Keogh feels like something is off.  She knew Lindsay from university, and feels that Katherine may be a gold-digger.

When Lindsay goes missing from his hotel room in Sydney, the police start investigating.

Katherine quickly realizes that she should stop the separation proceedings, as that would make her look guilty of something.

Freya meets up with Lindsay's friend Michael, who is also a lawyer, and they start comparing notes.

The police investigation expands, and soon they are looking into a counterfeit operation, drugs  and money laundering, all involving designer goods.  Catfish is starting to look like a suspect.  But is Dogboy alive or dead?


My Opinions:
Well, I enjoyed this book much more than I had anticipated.  It moved much faster than the first two books I have read by this author.  However, he still writes really detailed scenario's, and if you aren't aware of how Import and Export Customs work, or the world of counterfeiting, you are about to find out more than you really need (or want) to know. It got a little heavy.

On a publishing note, I hated the font (which I couldn't seem to change), and then realized I hated the font in his previous two books as well.  Sorry, that's not relevant to the story.

The book covered many topics everything from suicide to murder, love to criminal activity.  But it also involved greed and revenge.

The characters were well thought out, and had some depth.  I loved Dogfish and hated Catfish (who was very shallow, very greedy, and just too self-centered), just as the author wanted.  I did not think Catfish got all she deserved, and did not feel her change near the end was believable.  I liked the determination of the police.

Overall, it was okay.   The plot was good, but I didn't feel there were any surprises or twists....so it lacked something.  Oh, and I loved the cover (and the eventual explanation).

I so tried to get into this story but it just didn't hold my attention. I'm sure it's a delightful novel but just not for me.

I was so caught up in the story, I missed two meals! It was worth every missed calorie. The story was enthralling, had characters you love to hate, and more action than a cat fight.

I unfortunately did not get to this one in time to give it a full review by the publish date, however I gave it 4 stars.

4 stars
Oh, this had me very interested! Where is he...will she figure out to get the funds she needs, and will there be an answer of where is the missing person...alive and hiding or dead.

Didn't love this mystery/thriller/in-depth look at the world of counterfeit designer goods. A woman marries a very wealthy man with the apparent purpose of staying with him just long enough to get alimony and child support. However, he disappears and life and the story get complicated.

In my opinion, the book suffered from trying to be too many things at once. I would have preferred it stick to the missing person with the gold digger wife detective story. There was too much of the book spent on the details of counterfeiting designer goods and how that is accomplished. The level of detail really slowed the pace to a crawl and wasn't necessary to tell the story.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book. The blurb intrigued me but I did not enjoy the writing style enough to finish the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book.

Lindsay "Dogboy" Kramer has disappeared. His wife, Katherine "Catfish" Fisher, is sure that he has committed suicide and isn't sorry about it - she had already made plans to divorce him after 18 months of marriage, just long enough to get 60% of his assets. And Lindsay has been a successful and wealthy man. Suspicious of her motives, the Aussie police start investigating and keep hitting dead ends, until a murderous encounter while in Bangkok investigating the death of her first husband brings up even more issues than just a failing marriage.

Doyboy v Catfish by Luke Gracias is a fun cat and mouse mystery. It moves along quickly. He's got a tell it as it is writing style that will appeal to many. ,

This was an interesting, clever thriller full of suspense! The characters were written perfectly and I devoured this one… it is definitely a page turner!

I was really excited to read this based on the description, it sounded like a really great plot. I liked the storyline and the book has so much potential, but it didn't work for me. The writing style was not for me and made it very difficult to stay engaged. I felt like the dialogue and some grammar was off which was confusing. It also seemed like there was lingo used that might be specific to Australia which I didn't understand. I found the characters were not likeable and weren't very well developed. it seemed like the story jumped around from character to character and I often had to go back and see if I missed something. To me, there were also a lot of really far fetched parts and I just had a really hard time connecting with the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a chance to read and review this book.

What a ride!

I was intrigued by the description of this novel and picked it up with high expectations - it didn’t disappoint, presenting a wild story which any summary could not fully touch upon. We first meet Lindsay (Dogboy) as a young adult with a strange relationship with dogs. Many hers later, Lindsay mysteriously disappears, leaving behind his wife, Katherine (Catfish).. The disappearance is suspicious - Katherine had plans to divorce her husband, after 18 months, to take half his assets. Police is called to investigate the disappearance and from there, the story takes some twists and turns best not to divulge.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for this ARC.

"Dogboy v Catfish" is set in Australia...meaning settings I am familiar with, giving the story a very realistic feel for me. Actually when you read the author's notes at the end of the book, you learn just how based on reality this work is.

Initially we wonder what happened to Dogboy (Lindsay) who seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth while visiting Sydney. We meet again his long-term friends Michael and Freya, who want to believe he is ok and are in for the long haul unravelling what has happened between him and his ex beauty queen wife.

Catfish (Katherine) seems unbothered Lindsay has not returned home...until she wants access to his money. Then, she is opening up herself and her way of making a living, to investigation. Catfish is a clever and complicated woman and it is her business dealings that lead us on a complex and fast paced international scam spree, which evolves and twists and turns, just as the police investigation does.I had never heard the term "Masstige" before, but the seedy world of mass produced fake prestige products is fascinating. Counterfeit designer goods, money laundering, and drug smuggling intertwined.....feeding and supporting each other.

Luke Gracias took me on a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns. Sometimes I freely admit I was a little confused, just as the police investigating were but I love being kept guessing and was engrossed right until the end.

Although I generally read historical fiction genre, I loved "Dogboy v Catfish" for the mystery element and was gunning for Lindsay being alive, to get one over his manipulating wife!

Thanks to NetGalley and Luke Garcias for my copy to review. I will be exploring Luke's back-catalogue!

In 2013 Katherine Catfish Kelly marries Lindsey Dogbot Kramer and they have a whirlwind romance traveling the world together along with Katherine’s 5 year old daughter from her previous marriage, Emma.

In 2015 Catfish visits the law firm of Freya Keogh - Catfish wants a divorce and she wants to take Dogboy to the cleaners. She sites his infidelity as the reason noting he frequently stays at work and business trips later than planned. Red flags start waving for Freya when Catfish says her daughter wil say anything they need to get a bigger settlement and then produces documents regarding their assets that Freya says should take months to complete.

Almost 2 months later Dogboy is reported missing from the Excelsior Hotel in Sydney. When the detectives realize the story is starting to mirror Catfish’s first marriage in which her husband was found dead during a trip to Thailand, the investigation into this case leads the detectives down a dark and dangerous path through the world of counterfeiting, money launder and drugs. What happened to Dogboy and how is Catfish involved?

Catfish is adamant she did nothing to Dogboy, with him missing she can’t take him to the cleaners for half their assets and she has to wait 90 days to file for administrator of his bank accounts in order to access his money.

This book was so unique which is so rare to find in fiction now. The story was masterfully woven and tension-filled. It kept me entertained and made me want to keep reading ‘just one more chapter’ so I could reveal the mystery.

My only drawback was the dialogue was a little stiff and I didn’t find individual characters had their own voice.

Overall an extremely entertaining read and I look forward to see what Luke Gracias has in store for us in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Luke Gracias for a copy of this ebook - our now and available on KU.

“Every storm runs out of rain”

I can’t remember the last time I managed to devour a book in a single day, but I am so pleased that’s how things worked out with ‘Dogboy v Catfish’. Not only because I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough in my eagerness to make sure that everyone got their just deserts, both good and bad; but because I became so engrossed in the detail around counterfeit goods and money laundering, that I needed to keep that momentum and concentration going, in what was quite a complicated operation, both to explain and to understand. Having come across counterfeit clothing and accessories as part of my work in charity retail, this storyline took me back to the many hours I spent researching and recognising the signs of fraud in designer goods, on the basis that ‘if something looks too good to be true, it probably is!’ You could probably do with being something of a ‘detail person’ to really appreciate all the nuances of what would ordinarily have been quite a straightforward and uncomplicated storyline…

…

It’s 1999 and in Melbourne Australia, a group of University students and friends are coming to the end of their studies, although as yet they don’t realise that their paths are destined to cross again in the years and decades ahead. Michael and Samantha will marry, with Michael becoming a successful corporate lawyer. Freya and Lindsay are sure to remain the best of friends, although Lindsay had hoped for more back in those heady days of being single. However Lindsay’s unassuming shyness and Freya coming out as lesbian and a lawyer who works exclusively for wealthy female clients, meant that a more than platonic relationship between them, was never going to be.

Lindsay had earned himself the nickname ‘Dogboy’ because of his affinity with said animal. He seemed to be able to tune into the animals’ wavelength and they in turn, would do his bidding at the click of a finger, or the lightest of touches. Lindsay had become a self-made man and even when he had needed to borrow seed capital, he never abused his investors and stood by his principles of honesty and fairness. However, none of those traits could ever seem to help him overcome his inherent shyness, which left him alone and lonely, despite his wealth and physical assets. When widow Katherine Fisher, self proclaimed online influencer and wannabee socialite, and her young daughter Emma enter his life and seem to genuinely shower him with love and affection, he cannot believe his luck and is instantly intoxicated and smitten by the pair of beautiful ladies.

Lindsay thus makes the biggest mistake of his life ever, by marrying Katherine for love, whilst not realising until it is much too late, that she in turn, has only married him for his wealth and status. Katherine’s first husband Darren, had died whilst on a short business trip to Thailand, under some very suspicious circumstances, although officially a victim of suicide. She had earned the nickname ‘Catfish’ after fronting a very successful advertising campaign for a wine of the same name, then going on to do exactly what her name suggests when I Googled it: “a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes”, including opening a decidedly shady designer boutique of the same name, financed and bankrolled by Dogboy and located inside one of the many prestigious shopping malls he owns.

When Dogboy discovers just how well and truly he has been humiliated, stitched up and duped by his trophy wife, who knows Australian divorce law inside out, he acts quickly to limit the damage, both to himself and his loyal investors and shareholders, to whom he feels he owes a debt of gratitude for believing in him. Then, Dogboy, who is on a business trip to Sydney, simply disappears and Catfish shows her true colours, unleashing her wrath at both Freya and Michael, when they explain to her in words of one syllable, that she is virtually penniless for at least the next seven years, or until proof of Dogboy’s death is found. The police begin to spot the similarities between Darren and Dogboy’s disappearances and suspect that foul play may be involved. When Freya and Michael, together with Inspector Sabina Green and Detective Karl Finlay of the Melbourne police, begin digging into Catfish’s past, it seems that her plans might have spectacularly backfired on her. However, this cunning and duplicitous person, has more than one iron in the fire and the ensuing investigation will literally take your breath away with its sheer audacity!

I knew who I was rooting for in this domestic drama come crime thriller, where it was almost impossible to decide where one genre started and the other stopped!…

…

Whilst the book opened in 1999, most of the action took place in 2015 Australia (Sydney and Melbourne), with brief visits to Portugal and Thailand, and a short hop forwards into 2022, just to round things off. Thankfully there was very little toing and froing between timelines and the few switches there were, were seamless and easily navigated. The chapters were also of a reasonable length, fast-paced and well-signposted, so no confusion over exactly where I was at any given time in my suspenseful journey.

The storyline was unique and unusual, well structured, tense, very detailed and quite complex. I must admit that I really enjoyed having to think quite hard about a storyline, with the mix and dovetailing of fact with fiction an excellent addition to the narrative and dialogue. The way the authorities interacted with one another, was also a great cameo within the wider plot. Finding two lawyers who were so willing to co-operate in the search and justice for their friend, each bringing a separate and relevant set of skills to the case, then incorporating their findings with that of both the local Melbourne police and the wider teams of specialist authorities. It is rare to find such sharing of information and resources in a crime novel, but with such a lot at stake and given the complexity and many layers of fraud and deceit, it really worked very well. I was also thrown off the track a few times, by the “is he, isn’t he?” and “will he, won’t he?” scenarios, which kept me guessing right to the end.

Author Luke Gracias had authentically drawn and defined a great mix of complex characters I loved, those I definitely hated and even some I loved to hate! There were even a compelling few I might have been persuaded to invest in and relate to, as through Luke’s descriptive narrative and dialogue, they were able to convince me of their true moral compass, genuine depth and code of ethics. Similarly, Luke made it easy for me to spot the emotionally starved, manipulative, greedy, money-grabbing and duplicitous femme fatale and her hangers-on. I tried to be generous and ponder on the notion that they may have been so heavily influenced by the extreme reach and pervasiveness of modern social media that they deserved the benefit of the doubt. However, I came to the conclusion that if online influence hadn’t been available to them, they would have soon found an alternative method of wreaking their havoc and destroying lives.

I awarded this book 4* for location, as whilst there wasn’t a huge amount of cosmetic detail about the five main sites of action and I couldn’t ‘plot walk’ any of them for myself, author Luke Gracias wove enough descriptive narrative and dialogue into the storyline, to satisfy this confirmed ‘armchair traveller’, on my whistle-stop tour of three continents.

I certainly do hope that Luke does decide to try and get this one optioned for film, as the storyline is powerful and compelling.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

I really enjoyed this and I didn’t expect to.

Set in Australia the book is about Katherine (Catfish) who is married to Lindsay (Dogboy) and just about to divorce him after 18months of marriage (for every penny he has) when her husband goes missing.

Cue the police investigation which uncovers fake goods, drugs and money laundering amongst other things.

This was a suspenseful thriller that really had me wondering whether he was dead or alive, I hated Catfish and was hoping she got her karma, It’s a good thriller with a fair few twists and had me hooked, though the best bit for me was the ending when it is revealed just why Dogboy ever married Catfish in the first place.