Catch and Release

I really enjoyed the dialogue and setting in this. This is the first book from Murray I've read and they definitely have a way of making ridiculous situations feel realistic and non-verbal, completely unrealistic characters have a whole personality to the point where you really care about what is happening in the plot. I was very happily surprised.

The ending was a little unsatisfactory though, like Murray was unsure where to go from a certain point. There were also a couple things that left me with questions: The little note of Jerry's little brother Patrick obviously making eyes at Joe was completely unexplored so could have been left out. Jerry being Very Gay but also happily married to the woman of his dreams seemed a little odd for small-town Scotland. There was also very little character development for “Dave”, mostly due to him not being able to communicate with humans for literally years along the timeline of the book. And where is all this money Joe and his family has coming from? Do traders in London make enough to retire in their 40s and live on savings alone for the rest of their lives (even after buying a trawler and seaside house with private beach)??

Overall a quick, fun read that's unique to anything I've read before and that steers clear of using magic to solve all the plotholes (besides the weird breathing thing that's never explained).