I was interested to read this book set in Glasgow academia, having had a daughter who went to the University of Glasgow. Unfortunately, I just felt that the book missed the mark somehow and left me dissatisfied by the end. None of the characters were likeable, and I found I lost interest in what happened to them. Disappointing.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review of the book.

Jim Brennan has done good. From a rough, harsh upbringing, he is now a respected Vice Principal at the University, and loves his work and his position. Married to Maggie, with Eliot, his adult son, and Sasha who is 11 years old, they are the epitome of a successful family. Or at least they would be if Eliot wasn’t such a spoilt, unbearably obnoxious young man. Lured to the dark side of drug dealing, he leaves a lot to be desired. Sadly, Eliot is happy to reap the rewards that dealing brings, but not so happy when the police catch up with him. The repercussions for his parents and sister keep rolling in!

I like Louise Welsh and always look forward to her books. Rilke is superb. Unfortunately this was off the mark for me, and in no way compared to previous works.

The main plot line was good, with Eliot getting his just desserts. But the rest just didn’t pull me in as I expected it would.

Semester One, one year later, a bit of a let down? Start of a series?

An easy read, but no grit.

2.5*

Thank you NetGalley.

I have really enjoyed all of Louise Welsh's novels so was excited to see a new one. This is a crime thriller though the police hardly feature. It is set in Glasgow, both the privileged world of academia and the deprived communities around. The plot is as much an investigation of moral issues as a crime thriller: moral issues faced by the main character Professor Jim Brennan both as vice principal of the university and as the father of a young man in prison on drugs charges.
Jim is well written: the son of a Glasgow hard man who has escaped his upbringing and made good, I was disappointed that his successful and supportive wife Maggie was less well developed. The setting, 21st century academia in Glasgow, is also well written, showing the power struggles and ethical dilemmas faced in contemporary university life. Contrasts are made (and similarities exposed) with the criminal underworld which Jim's father inhabited and which lurks too close to the surface of Jim's current life. Although the point was made, rightly, that Glasgow is a small, interconnected, city, I felt some of the apparently coincidental connections were a bit unrealistic.
A number of sub-plots were scattered through the book which were interesting in terms of raising questions about academic responsibility for students and about what might be the best support for deprived and disenfranchised youth but I was not convinced that these contributed greatly to the overall narrative. I found the ending was reached rather too neatly and quickly and, for this reader, not very satisfactorily. Maybe the cover up will be uncovered in a future book about Jim Brennan.
Overall this was a quick and enjoyable read but did not have the grippingness of Welsh's Plague trilogy nor the grittiness of the Rilke books.
Thanks to the publisher, Canongate, for a complimentary ARC of this title in return for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this interesting, tense tale about a senior university professor whose son is heavily involved in drugs and whose background is in the depths of Glaswegian crime. When his son is sent to prison, the professor is torn between the life he has built for himself and his family and his background that could hold the secret to his son’s future.

Jim Brennan, the protagonist, leads this gritty drama to a satisfying conclusion and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the opportunity to preview this excellent read. If you enjoy a well told crime drama, with humour, suspense and intrigue, this is for you.

I am a big Louise Welsh fan, and this one has lots of her best novelistic features: great writing, of course, a solidly believable setting, and a certain cynicism about human nature. Add a kind of grown-up dark academia vibe (if less than I expected from the blurb) and we're onto a winner.

That said, I didn't think this hit the mark quite as well as some of her other novels have. The Rilke books are grittier and funnier; the Plague Times trilogy darker and bolder. To the dogs ends up feeling a bit mild in comparison to both.

My thanks to Canongate and NetGalley for the ARC.

So this book was great, but also I was incredibly ambivalent about the ending. It felt really unsatisfactory to me, and I'm struggling to articulate why. I think maybe I was expecting a better resolution than just 'one year later, everything is resolved and ok'. That just didn't quite ring true to me - I wanted all the threads to come together better than they did, and especially the influence of his father, and how he could either wield or not wield that power. I think overall the ending was just too ambiguous for me.

Gritty thriller meets dark academia with threads of crime and horror. I'd never read any Louise Welsh before but I'm going to have to hunt her books out now. This was completely gripping from beginning to end.

Mixed feelings about To the Dogs. It's a fast, engaging read and the premise is intriguing but I don't think it lives up to the promise. The characters all feel generically middle class. I missed the sharp observation and wry humour of the Rilke novels. Much of the plot seems to involve Jim talking to interchangeable middle-aged men about who may help or harm him and his son, Eliot.

Eliot comes across as lazy and petulant and I struggled to believe he had the initiative or the energy to become involved in the kind of high-level crime he was embroiled in.

There are some interesting resonances between Jim's two worlds, corruption, nepotism, identity and imprisonment all feature, as does the mind-numbing routine of a senior corporate figure.

I thought there might be more about Jim's academic work as a criminologist, some irony as his theory and practice collide (something we can all identify with), some spark as Jim returns to his old world, or some twist in Eliot's story to make us all reassess him, but for me it never quite caught fire.
*
Copy from NetGalley

What a fabulous book! This is an author who really knows how to write. I was engrossed from the beginning. Everything about it was amazing – it was a unique story and so cleverly plotted. I can’t praise it enough. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this early copy. A definite 5 stars from me.

I’ve read a few of this author’s books. I didn’t think this one was up there with The Cutting Room. I was left with the thought that the ending was open enough for a sequel.
The story centres around Professor Jim Brennan , he has a successful life until his son is caught with drugs. Will Jim support his son or let him stew? Others with a role in Jim’s past come out of the woodwork to try to influence his course of action. Who will succeed?
A pleasant enough book but not a page turner. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a prepublication ebook in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading about all the locations and architecture of Glasgow and its University.
I thought that the plot was well developed and I felt for professor Jim Brennan as he gets into deeper and deeper water as he tries to sort out the mess his son Eliot has got himself into through dealing in drugs. Plenty of university politics and international diplomacy to get him stressed out also.
However the professor has a hard nosed confrontational personality that reminded me of a typical detective in a novel from a generation back and did not seem realistic for a university professor in current times in which the book is set. His rise from a poor and violent family background is the reason for his personality but I found it a bit annoying.
As well as influencing his personality , characters from Jim’s past also seem to be influencing current events. The action moves along at a fast pace and keeps the reader engrossed.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

A dark and gritty story. I wasn’t sure about reading this one, I was surprised that the story did grip me, I really wanted to read on and see what would happen. It didn’t grip me as much as some other books but I am glad that I read it. Would I recommend it? Yes I would.

This is quite an unusual novel. It's billed as darkly comic and gritty. I can agree with the latter but not the former. As a father, I got quite hooked in to the moral dilemmas facing Jim Brennan. It was easy to put yourself in his position and I guess that's down to the quality of the writing. Jim Brennan is a man torn, the legacy of his dead father lives on in the hard men of Glasgow and try as much as he can, he seems unable to distance himself from it. With a wife and young daughter to protect and an older son who has clearly gone off the rails, Jim Brennan does his best to keep his family and himself safe, even if that means breaking the law.
My only criticism of the book was the rather poor ending, was there a deadline to meet? So much went in to the main body of the book, I just felt a bit cheated at the end.

I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this book, it gave thriller vibes from the blurb but really although it did have some elements of a thriller- mysterious phone calls, threats of violence- I wouldn't say that it fits completely into that genre.
The storyline follows Jim, a man who has worked hard to distance himself from his difficult childhood, with a mother who left and a father in and out of prison for various violent crimes. He is now a University Professor, with a wife and two children- he is next in line to take charge of the University and he seems to be going from strength to strength.
But then it all seems to unravel, his son gets into trouble with the law and is threatened by the kind of people that Jim spent his life trying to distance himself from. Jim tries to look out for his son but after a slew of coincidences and a missing Chinese student, it seems like his life is descending into chaos.
Very much enjoyed this- it certainly kept me gripped. It played out very 'real-life' drama- there were no unbelievable twists or turns but it was incredibly dark and gritty throughout.

How far will you go to protect your loved ones ?
In the case of Jim Brennan, it is pretty far.
Having dragged himself up by his bootlaces from a childhood and youth with a criminal and violent father, Brennan has created a decent life for himself as a university lecturer, but when his son is arrested for drugs dealing, Brennan finds him faced with the dilemma of being dragged back into the life he thought he had left behind. A really decent read, the first I've read by Louise Welch, it certainly won't be the last of hers I will read.
No hesitation in recommending to others that like this genre. Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

A easy to read story but no where near as dramatic and gritty as I was expecting from the reviews.
Lots of topics are introduced and skated over and don’t contribute to the plot. I think it is show the many directions Jim Brennan is being pulled but because they don’t go anywhere they add nothing to the plot. I totally missed any of the comedy. The ending is hardly a surprise either. Overall not quite the novel I was expecting.

*4.5 stars*

University professor Jim Brennan’s life is looking pretty good already, and now he’s being tipped for the top job. Jim’s father had been a drunken hard man who mocked Jim’s attempt to do well at school, and wasn’t afraid to use his fists on both Jim and Jim’s mother. Despite his violent upbringing, Jim has made it, however, there are certain individuals from his father’s past who have been watching Jim’s success, and when his son Eliot is arrested on drugs charges and sent to prison, they appear like ghosts from the past to bring about a nightmare scenario for Jim and his family. However, it appears that Jim is more his father’s son than he thought was, because no one threatens his family and gets away with it - but just how far will he go?

Very dark and gritty storyline as it walks the crime ridden back streets and alleyways of Glasgow. A unique, interesting and gripping plot with a protagonist that you become really invested in. I would love to see what happens to Jim and his family in the future. Highly recommended.

Jim Brennan has confounded all expectations by being nothing like his father. Jim's a big cheese at the university, tipped for the top job.

The trouble is that his son Elliot has reverted to type. And when Elliot breaks his bail conditions and gets into really big trouble, Jim is sucked back into the murky world of characters he thought he'd left behind

Academia meets the Glasgow underworld in this slowburn crime story, told in Louise Welsh's trademark accessible-literary and grittily humorous style. . It will do well.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

I absolutely loved this book! Set in Glasgow, it's a gritty story of Jim who has worked all his life to get out of the shadow and far away from the reputation of his hard man criminal father. He's worked his way to the top position at the university but his wayward son Eliot has more in common with his grandad and is up to his neck in criminal charges. During the course of the book Jim has to enter the underworld he's avoided all his life in order to help his son.
I could feel the pull in Jim's moral compass as he's put in positions where he has to almost become the person he least wants to be on order to help Eliot. His wife Maggie brings a softer edge to the story but she's equally fierce in her love for Eliot but also clear where the lines are drawn. Excellent conclusion also. I highly recommend.
Thanks to Louise Welsh, Canongate and Netgalley for the ARC.