Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.

Denny Voss, 29, from Woodmont, Minnesota, is neurodiverse, and his IQ is only 72, having been deprived of oxygen at birth. Nevertheless, he is generally cheerful and lives with his elderly mother Nana-Jo and his beloved deaf and blind dog George, his Dad having died early. He has an 18 years older sister Lydia who lives in New York, and a cousin called Angus who wears slogan t-shirts, lives next door and works with him for the council to deal with roadkill.

One day, Denny is caught with several guns on his sled that he was trying to get to a police station. Unfortunately, one of the guns is a murder weapon and so he is arrested for the murder of a local businessman and would-be politician, who generally seems to have been an awful person, more so the more we learn about him. And yes, Denny would have had motive, means and opportunity, like some other people, and this wasn't his first arrest either - he once well-meaningly kidnapped a goose called Tom Hanks and illegally took it to Canada, plus there was the unfortunate incident where he accidentally assisted in a bank robbery. All these scrapes he tells his lawyer and therapist from prison in painfully drawn out sessions.

My main problem with the story is that as kind and lovable as Denny is, his behaviour is also extremely frustrating at times. There is a lot of rambling and going back and forth in the story, and like Lydia, I wanted to frequently say: "Denny, land the plane!" It took me double my usual time to read this book and when I realised that Denny had told his story over the course of several months, I felt that, yes, that's how long it took me too to get through.

Of course we can predict that as surely Denny isn't a murderer he will eventually be released - the story treads too lightly for any other outcome. But there are some twists and turns that I didn't see coming, when Denny discovers some painful truths about his past, and his story is entertaining and told in his own unique voice. However, the constant explaining of words and expressions grated after a while, as did his "he did swimming" way of talking.

But it is clear that Denny has people around him who accept and adore him and who get quite angry when he is mistreated (except maybe Lydia, she is too selfish for that). In my opinion there should be more awareness in general but especially with the police how to deal with someone who doesn't react as you expect and when stressed starts singing the "You've Got a Friend in Me" song from Toy Story!

So I salute this story, not just for being quirky, but also for raising awareness (also for Tourette's that another character suffers from). It didn't grab me as much as it could have, but I appreciate the topics and how they were handled in a touching and simultaneously (at the same time) funny way.