I picked up The Catch because my parents asked if I’d drive them down to Southampton for a cruise they were going on and I knew I’d need an audiobook to listen to on the way back. The day before I saw The Catch was in my audible library and on my physical bookshelf, PLUS I’d heard some excellent things about T.M. Logan, so I thought this would be a perfect long journey companion – and it very much was!
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The Catch is a thriller by T.M. Logan about a man whose daughter gets a new boyfriend and he’s not particularly keen on him. This doesn’t sound like an overly compelling plot for a book and, at first, I struggled to see where this was going, however, it quickly ramped up the action and the intrigue and ended up spiralling down a very addictive hole.
The Catch plot – 4.5/5
The Catch is about Ed and his daughter’s boyfriend Ryan. Ed, at first, thinks Ryan is great for his daughter. – he seems intelligent, athletic, doing well financially, driven and gives his time to charity. However, he starts to seem a bit too perfect and after a couple of odd glances and some funny moments caught out of the corner of Ed’s eye, he starts to get a funny feeling about Ryan.
What ensues is Ed’s slow relationship-destroying downward spiral into finding out what it is about Ryan that just doesn’t sit right with him. It’s a fairly average idea for a plot but T.M. Logan does a great job of consistently throwing you little moments that keep you hooked. One thing I noted after I’d finished the book was how it kept me guessing. Every time Ed thought he’d rumbled Ryan, Ryan had a plausible excuse or reason, so you begin to wonder where there’s something else going on.
It’s a plot that, for a 3.5-hour journey back from Southampton, made my ride go incredibly quick. It was a plot that had its twists and turns and, as I’ve said before, kept you guessing and trying to work out where it was going to no avail. It’s a rare thing that Logan has clearly put an idea in your head throughout as to what the ending is going to be but consistently gives you reasons to doubt yourself.
The Catch characters – 3.5/5
This is a tricky one. Thrillers tend to be very character-focused but often lack in giving them any real additional personality as the book is all about the plot and ensuring the characters go through the right motions to move the plot on at a good pace.
It’s interesting to see Ed’s downward spiral in The Catch into a place you’re never really sure he’ll come back from and it is interesting to see the little moments that make you second-guess Ryan also.
However, none of the characters are particularly charismatic. I didn’t think Ed was funny or loveable or kind or anything – he simply had one mission and that’s all he ever spoke about or did. Despite Ryan being the focus of the book, he was constantly incredibly kind and generous when around Ed and the family and never showed any signs against this – it was more the things Ed finds out behind the scenes that make you question his character.
All-in-all, this isn’t a character-focused book, it’s a book all about the pacey and twisty plot.
The Catch by T.M. Logan overall score – 4/5
I was gripped by The Catch. The audiobook I listened to was very well delivered and when I got home, I carried on reading the physical and Kindle book as soon and often as I could to find out the real truth. It’s a great thriller that if intrigue and mystery are your sort of thing, will be right up your street.
