Review of All Them Dogs by Djamel White

He was forced to flee to England for five years but now, Tony is back in town. It’s just a pity no one is pleased to see him. The Dublin gangland has changed and so has Tony’s family. His Mum and brother don’t want him back in the house, convinced he’ll only bring trouble to their door and so his old friend Kenny, has reluctantly taken Tony in despite his better judgement. Tony says he won’t be any trouble anymore but before long, he’s roped into working with notorious crime boss, Angus Lavelle and a new brooding and dangerously handsome associate. Together, they must carry out Lavelle’s bidding but retribution from Tony’s past looms large...

White’s debut is a gritty portrait of masculinity and suburban Irish gang culture that achieves what few writers can - it makes the reader angry. As a main character, Tony Ward is wholly unlikable. He’s stubborn, ignorant, intent on danger and blind to any intervention. You will spend the whole book waiting for his redeeming qualities to be revealed but (spoiler alert), they never come. Because White won’t give you the satisfaction that easily and that is the brilliance of his story. Tony is that neighbour, that family member or friend who you never seem to be able to figure out. Impossible to reason with, seemlingly devoid of empathy even for his own mother - I have met men like Tony and I can tell you that White writes with troubling authenticity. Sometimes there is no clear reason why someone does bad things. They just do. Sometimes books don’t have happy endings. Turns out that I quite like that too.

Published on 26.03.2026 by John Murrays

Reviewed by Abi

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