All Them Dogs by Djamel White

 

Tony Ward has come home.  He went to England after killing the man who killed his best friend and has been there several years.  Now he is back in Dublin, wondering what's left for him.  He has a few friends but gangs change fast and many of the guys he knew have either moved on or died.  His mother and brother are still there, but he and his brother are enemies from way back.  He doesn't have work but his buddy Kenny says he can get him in with someone.

He lands right in the middle of a gang war.  His first assignment is to accompany Flute Walsh as an enforcer.  He went to school with Flute but back then no one talked to or messed with Flute.  He is a huge man, mostly silent.  He and Tony get along and soon are enmeshed in a relationship.

But there are no friends in gangs.  Every day is given only if you did well the day before.  Soon Tony is drawn into the fight between the two big men of Dublin and both want him to kill the other.  Who can he trust?  What will he do?

This is a debut novel from Djamel White who is a Irish author and has been longlisted for the Booker Prize of 2026.  The novel is fast paced and the frantic life of Tony who doesn't know what he'll be doing from one day to the next or who he can trust will bring the reader into his life.  There is lots of gang slang and the reader will need to be ready for that but it is all pretty understandable from the context.  Tony is a tortured man and it is unclear what his life will be going forward.  I devoured this novel and I'm looking forward to more from this talented author.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.