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Martina Cole
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Pages: 512 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0747269718
Pub: Headline Book Publishing
Pub date: 2005-10-06
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 108987
Reader Reviews:
Aaaarrrgggghhhhhhh! (0/0 people found this helpful)
What a let down this one is! quite unreadable and repetitive, about whose characters one could not give a jot. Having skipped paras and pages I gave up on page 113, went to find some wet paint to watch!
A Well Paced Exciting Read (3/3 people found this helpful)
I've not read a Martina Cole book for over a year and I loved this one, probably more because of the length of time since reading the last one. It seems that most reviewers giving only one or two stars are fairly avid Cole readers and are finding her books fairly similar in types of character, language and storyline. If you've never read a Cole book you will probably love it, if you are already a Cole fan then you will love it only if you try to forget all her other books. The storyline is fast paced and the characters are gritty, raw foul mouthed and foul living. It's an easy read that gives an appalling insight to the lives of drunks, drug takers and aggressive criminals who are just trying to `earn their crust'
Raw and Passionate (0/0 people found this helpful)
My first read, by Martina Cole. It's different, raw, a refreshing change and a stunning, yet easy read. Cole draws from her experience in my opinion and in doing so creates highly believable characters and families living on the edge. She cleverly draws the reader in to thinking at times these anti heroes are being put on to a pedestal or even glorified. They're not, these characters are real and Cole helps to illustrate in her writing how these people are created. They are victims of circumstance and only the clever ones will survive. A poignant moment in the book is when two of these parents coerce out of a small child his first word. The word is 'tunt' he can't pronounce it properley but the parents think it's great and within a few days he'll get it right. My own life experience in Newcastle witnessed exactly the same spectacle but with a different swear word, the F word and this time the little boy pronounced it correctly.
Cole mixes the prosse with the narative a little to often for my liking but again she is a natural storyteller and whether she does this by accident or on purpose it works! The last book I read where the author threw away the rule book on writing a novel was Angels's Ashes by Frank McCourt and Martina Cole achieves much the same effect. (In my opinion anyway.) An intelectual might say the book is badly written at times, and that may be the case. But Cole is not writing for the intelectual she is writing for Mr and Mrs Average and she is writing for Mr & Mrs wrapped in cotton wool who perhaps are not aware that these people are out there. The storyline of the book is pacey, and at times disturbing. The last two hundred pages were awesome and I just had to finish them in one sitting. Well worth it.
Boring (0/3 people found this helpful)
I have read all of Martina Coles books and this one was just the same as all the rest and to be honest i'm getting bored of reading about the same thing from her. The amount of swearing was over the top even for her. I have lived most of my life around the areas that the book is set in and I never met anybody like the people in this book. Men who are violent, sleeping around, everybodys scared of them, killing and maiming and even the police are scared of them! Far too ott and not really much of a storyline. Probably won't be reading one of her books again.
What a good read.. (0/0 people found this helpful)
I love Martina's books and this one did not let me down..
It begins with the release of Frankie from prison and right away you can tell what kind of character he is..incorrigible...with no regard for his wife or anyone..egocentric..you dislike him right away.
His longsuffering,'lush' wife Jackie awaits his return eargerly..Why is she so crazy about this guy?...He is hardly a good husband!
Frankie wants to get back to 'work' but soon learns that his golden crown has tarnished a bit since he has been away and that there is fresh, young talent ready to step into his shoes..that person is his favorite nephew...
There are some great characters in this book; Maggie..the lovely, intelligent and honourable..trying to break the mould in which she was made..
A good read indeed...If you like Martina cole books then you will not be disappointed..
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Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> By Period -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Crime, Thrillers & Mystery -> Thrillers -> General AAS
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Hardcover
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)