The Feud

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Queenie and Vivian are sisters. Queenie rules the Butler Empire ... well at least she thinks she does. Her four children love her and she loves them. Vinny, Roy, Michael, Brenda - some of them likeable enough characters but mostly not so much, especially Vinny and Brenda, the heifer. Albie Butler, the dad, really didn't have much say in the family.

Unfortunately I can only think of one description for this book...tedious. The characters, plot, writing style and dialogue...all tedious. It felt like I was reading the screenplay to a very boring soap written for daytime telly. The best book I will read this year. I first discovered Kimberley Chambers last year when I read The Feud, the first in a trilogy. I then read the following two books over the course of a week finishing the last book at 6 in the morning as I couldn't go to sleep until I had reached the end. I have read her other books and I really enjoyed them however the trilogy was just fantastic. The Schemer was the next book Kimberley wrote after completing the trilogy and after the move to a new publisher and whilst that book was fantastic I thought the trilogy was still her best work. Then last week I was introduced to the Butlers, and that all changed. I could easily have read this book in one sitting however I have dragged it out over the last week and I have to say I think that made me enjoy it more because it's like when you watch a TV show which ends on a cliffhanger, if you watch all the episodes at once there's none of the excitement of waiting for the next one. Damn, I need a drink. This book pulled me every which way and then really chewed me up at the last. I'm really quite surprised at how sad I feel over the ending. Eddie is a fantastic character and he is everything you would expect and underworld gangster to be. He is fearless, ruthless and fiercely loyal. When he meets and marries the young Jessica, her family aren't that keen but are aware they have no say in the matter. This is a British thriller/drama/tragedy with several love stories. Had I known beforehand how it ended, I would have never start reading it. I’m glad I did though. It’s not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure.Vinny and Roy Butler are the apple of their mum’s eye. Queenie knows they can play dirty, but when it comes to family they look after business and make her proud. Nothing and no one can bring them down. This fourth novel from Kimberly Chambers introduces readers to the criminal world of two mob families; the Mitchells and the O’Haras. These two families compete against each other for turf and businesses. Caught between the greed and pride of two dangerous families are two children whose lives will never be the same. The Traitor Chambers As I was muddling through the first chapter of The Trap, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but seeing as I was having a lot of “firsts” with this one I kept an open mind and it surely paid off. Both families are a part of the seedy underbelly of the East End and Stratford. Jessica Smith and Eddie Mitchell become engaged, against the wishes of Jessica’s father. The two are swept away into a world of crime, murder, and deception. The Feud On the other side are the O'Haras. The Mitchells' biggest rivals are a travelling family who live in nearby Stratford. They compete with the Mitchells for pub protection and the two families hate each other.

One bloody night sets Vinny on the path of desperate vengeance, but will the Butlers emerge stronger than ever, or is the East End code of honour as good as dead?Then you have Roy, Brenda and Michael. I wish I could say there was one good apple in the group but they were all a bit crazy. Though cousin Lenny was kind of sweet. And I can’t forget Albie. He was the dad. He wasn’t much of a man though. The poor bastard. Not much went right for this guy. And the family grows. Yes, there are marriages and little Butler’s running around. I enjoyed this immensely. It is a good ol’ Chambers family saga with a bit of organized crime and ultra-violence thrown into the mix. On one side are the Mitchells, a notorious underworld mob from East London's Canning Town. They have an iron in every fire and will resort to intimidation and violence to get what they want. When Stanley Smith's lovely young daughter, Jessica, announces that she is to marry Eddie, the son of mob boss Harry Mitchell, Stanley is horrified, but too afraid to stand in their way. Chambers was an extremely smart and gifted student in primary and secondary school. Her best subject was English. For reasons unknown, Chambers grades began to plummet. When she was eleven, she states that “things began to deteriorate.” After a few years, her academic life became so stark that she decided to leave her secondary school. Then the unthinkable happens, Vinny’s beautiful daughter Molly disappears. The Butler brothers depart on a frantic search for the little girl. They don’t know if their enemies have taken her, or if the kidnapping is revenge for what Vinny has done.