Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
It is a very dark book and, as well as dealing with gangland crime, there is a lot involving abuse in a children's home, living with cancer, etc, so it can be a difficult read at times and may cause triggers at times. Everyone will probably take different things from the book but it had me crying at the end. Martina Cole was the author that really got me into UK gangland fiction so it is always nice when she releases a new book. The Jump was made into a four-part mini-series in 1998. It stars Adrian Dunbar, Jonathan Cake, Susan Vidler, and John Light. Finally, Martina Cole has also published a digital compendium about her life, passions, and her journey to becoming an author. This was an exclusive ebook containing the first chapters from her books and non-fiction components. However, it is unfortunately no longer available.
No one would dare challenge him. Then the unthinkable happens. Perhaps Michael Flynn is not so untouchable after all, and he must learn that… It is a big read and, to be honest, I found it a little difficult to keep up with the characters and to get to know them but I persevered and the second half of the book made the characters more believable and realistic, and really brought each strand of the story together. Dara Tailor has had to grow up fast. With a mother addicted to cocaine, Dara must look after her seven younger siblings, until social services split them up for ever. But that’s not the only Martina Cole book that has a stage adaptation. First was Two Women in 2010, then the production of The Graft in 2011. Both also had runs at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. In 2011, Cole also surpassed the 50 million pounds mark in sales of her books. She was the first British female novelist writing for an adult audience to hit this milestone since the records began.
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
Not sure what anyone else has been reading, but there was no suspense, no drama, and anyone should be able to work out who the perpetrator is by about half way through the book. This release is a real heavyweight. I was worried that I would notice the changes in writing from Martina and Jacqui but for me it was seamless. This brings me on to my final point. The misogyny. This book is rife with it. Women in this book are only written as respectable on the condition that they do not wear makeup, are not sexually active beyond a rigid set of perimeters, and definitely do not have a facebook account. The vast majority of young women in this book are slated as disgusting wrongdoers who have made a huge mistake that will tarnish their name for the rest of their lives if, god forbid, they have consensual sexual involvement with a boy of the same age. The protagonist is disgusted with these girls' application of makeup as if these two are even correlated? It makes no sense what is inferred from these and related aspects in the girls lives, the views (along with the language) were archaic and did not fit; useless in the present day and the present book. And yet as the author is so so good at doing it shows friendship and how it can get people through any situation and it shows sacrifice and love
I feel annoyed that I wasted my time and money on this apology for crime fiction. Oh the temptation of the station bookshop with a long train journey ahead. I loved Cole's earlier books, particularly Burrows and the whole taboo of a copper hooking up with a criminal. Now Burrows is out of the police business and Pat is mostly retired things are going well when Pat has a chap claiming to be his son. Pat is shrewd and suspicious of course but the idea of a family brings it's own happiness and problems.
Similar Books By Other Authors
Martina Cole’s debut is a great place to begin reading her books. It documents the exploits of a seventeen-year-old girl, Maura Ryan, taking on the men of the criminal underworld alongside her brother Michael, leaving a trail of notoriety behind them. Cole returned to the characters from her first novel a decade later with another installment following the brutal and ruthless character of Maura Ryan. This book was extremely poor in many respects. The writing was very repetitive, and not in an effectual way. I didn't know how many times someone could 'sigh ruefully' in one short piece of dialogue. I finished the book because I really thought it must lead to something, the intensity and specificity of hatred that the killer had for young girls due to their sexuality was really strong, I thought this must be explained in the end by some facts about the killers life, past or psychopathology. But we never even get that, spoiler alert, in the end we do not get the typical mad speech of the villain who has finally been caught explaining himself, instead in a cop-out the killer has killed himself before questioning. This leaves me to believe that the misogyny expressed by the killer is in fact the opinions of the author. Which leads me to the bigger problem with this book, which goes beyond the writing and story construction. When the bodies of missing schoolgirls start turning up, former DCI Kate Burrows is dragged out of retirement. At Holly Brookes Children’s Home, the two girls unite in the face of horrific abuse and form an unbreakable bond of loyalty. Mari Evans, managing director of Headline, said: "Our thoughts and love are with Martina, it’s important she takes this time to rest and recover her strength. Her loyal readers wouldn’t ask for anything else."
Great Deal 
New Comment