Tony Ward is back in Dublin. After five years in England, where he fled after murdering a rival gang member, he returns to find that his mentor is dead and his best friend has gone straight.
A vividly propulsive neo-noir ... A fast-paced crime thriller with a psychosexual twist ... Djamel White is poised as a powerful new voice in Irish literature ... Like its sharklike protagonist, the narrative rarely stops moving, and the strength of the novel lies in this episodic quality ... The plotting, however, seems a little imposed and overcomplicated ... Has ambitions beyond the harsh restrictions of the crime genre ... And though many frailties are revealed below the braggadocio, the true emotions and psychosexuality of this angry and battered male psyche remain unknowable.
Beautifully audacious ... All Them Dogs is filled with a street lyricism that mines masculinity in a manner reminiscent of Jim Carroll or Robert McLiam Wilson. There’s a poetry on the pages here that tenderises even the most hardened characters, as they alternately strut and cower at the mercy of criminal impulses. That’s part of this novel’s magic. And it is a magical piece of writing.
Electricity pulsates through All Them Dogs with an intensity and a sense of urgency that propels the reader forward to the very fitting ending ... Prepare yourself for an adrenaline-fuelled, intense rush, a novel that will not allow you to take a breath ... Gritty, impacting, emotive, and frighteningly authentic, All Them Dogs is a formidable and assured debut.
