Aiden O'Hara is the oldest, loves his mum but knows she attracts the wrong sort of guys so he has to watch over his family. Most of her novels feature a female protagonist or antihero, and some take place within the Irish community in and around London. [4] 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 am in agreement with some other reviewers on here. How anyone can read this book and give it 5 stars is beyond me. I like a good thriller/crime story and this is none of the above.

In December 2011, readers using madaboutbooks.co.uk voted their favourite Martina Cole book. The Take won by 780 votes and was put at the top of the list of Martina Cole novels. Goodnight Lady came second, followed in third by Maura's Game. Short, snappy chapters keep the pace of the story moving so not to get bored. This wasn’t an issue for me - I prefer shorter chapters. I find that I retain more of the story that way and don’t get bogged down with unnecessary content. Loyalty is everything and even more so when it's family, anything else will be the ultimate betrayal stars. This is the first Martina Cole book I’ve read through a recommendation so not my usual style. 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.

Martina Cole: Always look on the dark side of life". The Telegraph. 11 October 2008 . Retrieved 5 November 2015. Dangerous Lady was then adapted for the stage with a play production in 2012. Its performance took place at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London as a tribute to mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of the novel. a b c Ross, Deborah (3 November 2011). "Martina Cole: 'I know I don't write literature' ". The Independent . Retrieved 5 November 2015.

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. Joseph/Bella and Christina – I am not going to say too much about these except I found Joseph to be a bit weak in his inability to be a man and make a choice. Bella is one crazy b*tch! Loved how that storyline panned out! 😱 and poor Christine – right place, wrong time in life….that is all I am going to say about that! a b Shepherd, Robert. "The Broadcast interview: Martina Cole, crime author". www.broadcastnow.co.uk. Media Business Insight . Retrieved 5 November 2015. Ultimately you believe the story is about that fierce loyalty of family but sometimes pride and jealously can be the strongest emotion. Reeva O'Hara has to fight for everything.....she had her first child at 14 and by the time she hits her early twenties she has already produce a further 4 children.The Jump was made into a four-part mini-series in 1998. It stars Adrian Dunbar, Jonathan Cake, Susan Vidler, and John Light. a b c d "Did you feel taken in by The Take?". The Guardian. 18 June 2009 . Retrieved 25 September 2018. 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.