The Deal: The new gangland crime thriller for 2023

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The story follows Sharon Conway and Lenny Scott who are childhood sweethearts. Everyone says they are too young to be married but nothing can keep them apart. Sharon doesn't question Lenny's business dealings and it isn't long before his reputation as a hard man destined for the top means they are living the good life with their sons. But one night Lenny is found murdered - beaten to death and Sharon never knows why. We are with Sharon, as twenty years later, she finds out the truth and seeks revenge. The characters are the same as all of Cole’s characters, except that this time, 2 of the characters are gay. I don’t know what relevance this had on the story and it really felt like Cole added this detail to try and reinvent her stories and appeal to a new audience. The fact that there are gay characters made no difference to the plot or storyline for me. There are trigger points that deal with chid abuse, sexual and physical, rape, violence towards women, drug taking and if you flinch at the C word be prepared to flinch a lot As her old mum used to say, where women were concerned, they never got mad if they were clever – they went one better and they got even’.

If you like Martina Cole and have been waiting for this book you will love it but take a breath every once in a while as it is hard going in places with the realism Martina Cole is a British crime writer and businesswoman who was born in Essex, England on March 30, 1959. As of 2015 she has released twenty two novels about crime, most of which examine London's gangster underworld. Get Even is no exeption. Like many, many others, I have always been a huge fan of Martina Cole and I used to jump onto her new books as soon as they were released. But again, like many others, I have been left disappointed with her more recent work and I have to say that Get Even was no exception to that.

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I have read many gangland books inc all of the authors previous but got to say this for me was probably the grittiest, hard hitting and genuinely brutal one yet Her early books were fantastic, gritty and thrilling. Always waiting for October for her new release. But Lenny is also keeping a secret that could destroy his family and his status and that secret must never come out. Lenny is married to Sharon who I have to say was one of the dullest characters I think I've ever read about. Martina used to create really strong female characters but what we have here is a woman who happily lives off Lenny seemingly oblivious to the kind of person that he is and then the revenge that the blurb would have us believe is dished out by her, is actually carried out by other people. It's really disappointing to read about such a weak character when strong female characters is something that Martina does (or did do) better than anybody else in the genre and the secondary characters who actually have a personality and some potential to add stuff to the story, aren't really fleshed out enough for them to be all that interesting.

As anyone who has ever read a Martina Cole book will know, there is always a lot of swearing and Get Even is no exception, but in Martina’s defence it is in keeping with her characters and the plot, but after a while it becomes very repetitive. The plot follows the usual formula family, loyalty, treachery and secrets, while I’m sure this formula works for Martina, and continues to help her sale books, I feel I am re-reading one of her older books. Whilst this may suit loyal fans, personally I would like to see Martina up her game and provide her readers with something new and fresh. This was still an ok read for me. If your a fan of Martina Cole as I always will be you will enjoy this. In Ms. Cole's imaginary world, all the men are incredibly handsome and the women beautiful. These are good guys - the "best" : good to their mothers, loyal to their wives, even if that does include a prostitute or two on the side - nothing to be worried about - and kind to puppies. That is, when they're not blasting off someone's kneecaps or taking a blowtorch to some enemy's private parts. 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. Now, twenty years later, Sharon is about to find out the truth. Such a crime cannot go unpunished. Revenge is long overdue. The time has come to... GET EVEN.

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At Holly Brookes Children's Home, the two girls unite in the face of horrific abuse and form an unbreakable bond of loyalty. Sharon is everything Lenny could ever want, after meeting at school they are inseparable and when Sharon finds out she is having a baby, they can bring their plans forward to be a real family. Just a sixth of the way through the book and bang. A twist, a surprise that hits you harder than a cosh over the head from an Essex wideboy. The plot zips along at a frenetic rate all with the typical Cole traits of torture and ultra-violence. That’s why we love her so. That’s not the last surprise either. This time it hits you like a bullet train where you are pinned to front and taken around the East London suburbs and Essex countryside. It’s time for revenge. Get Even.

i don’t know what she wanted to do by raising sensitive topics but she did it badly, no moral were done at the end and the way it’s written felt that a macho man did it. the author is a woman and she dares to handle such topics lightly? i’m sorry but this doesn’t sit right with. homophobia, conjugal violences, rape… and others that i’m going to talk about later. you can’t just put them in a story to make it interesting, this is not how it works. the point of view is messy, is it the character thinking? is it the author? there is a thin limit and she doesn’t know how to deal with it. i can tell you honestly that this is the worst thriller book i’ve ever read in my life, and i’m not that peaky. i know i didn’t like it before finishing it, but i really wanted to go through this until the end, so i could make this post and flame the book entirely. It’s unflinching in its portrayal of the characters we meet, and we meet some disgusting, evil, perverted ones who literally have below zero morals and then some okay, now let’s talk about the topics she tries to raise in her story. you can raise sensitive topics and make a moral about it at the end, make the reader understand that the author doesn’t agree with this hate and denounce it in this book. Martina Cole doesn’t feel like she needs to do that and why? these sensitive topics are lived by real people, these events are something that can happen to anyone. the way she wrote this book makes it look like 1. she’s homophobic and 2. she thinks women are there please men. obviously, this is just what i felt while reading the book, i don’t make any assumptions about her point of view on these topics.Sharon Conway spent most of her life within the world of organised crime with two men, both of whom had a huge secret that they couldn't share with anyone, especially anyone in their community; this book, told from multiple points of view is the story of her life and her only two relationships with prominent men in the UK crime world.

to resume this book, you read 90% of the book and the protagonist never “gets even” and she does NOTHING, like, nothing AT ALL. and then the last 10% she wakes up and does what she has to do but it’s so… you feel like everything you read before the end is just some things to fill the storyboard, and she does it badly. i’m so angry because this book is really everything i hate, i feel like it’s written by an cheap erotic/romance writer who wanted to try doing a crime/mystery book. i don’t have anything about erotic and romantic novels, i like some of them, they can be really good even if i’m not the biggest fan, but i think you know what i want to point out here hm hm *clears throat* , i hope you are all ready for this review, because it’s going to be burning hot and flammable. i’m not here to talk about a book i love, for once, i’m here to talk about a book i hated. yes, you heard me, i hate this book. it even crossed the limit of “doesn’t like” , at this point, i just hate it, and i’m going to explain why right now. get some popcorns, some tea or whatever, and let’s go because it’s going to be long. If you are looking for a read that doesn’t tax the brain, with a half decent plot line you may enjoy Get Even, but personally I think there are much better authors out there in this genre, Kimberley Chambers is one who springs to mind.

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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 Sharon Conway and Lenny Scott are childhood sweethearts. Everyone says they are too young, but nothing can keep them apart. Sharon doesn't question Lenny's business dealings and it isn't long before his reputation as a hard man destined for the top means they are living the good life with their sons.