I should warn those of a nervous disposition there is a very upsetting scene involving a child, but those use to the authors work know she keeps her books ‘real’ and that includes subjects that are often difficult to read about.Kimberly Chambers is one of those rare authors who has a gift for creating colourful characters, that are larger than life, you feel you know them inside out, and despite their flaws a small part of you can’t help but fall in love with everyone of the Bonds, even the ‘not rights’. it’s a testament to the authors writing that she can make you laugh and cry at their antics, love and hate them, all in the space of a few minutes! Vinny and Michael have always protected each other and provided for the family. Together they were formidable but business always stopped at the front door. Now someone has changed the rules – women and children are fair game and one of the Butlers is going to end up six feet under. Little Vinny is battling not to follow in his father’s footsteps. Sweet Sammi-Lou has just vowed ‘til death do us part, but it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out about the murder he committed.

If you are looking for a bit of evil in your reading world then this series is a must. I guarantee that Vinny Butler is one character you won’t soon forget. I did cringe at one part but I totally understand why, as we need to be reminded how dangerous these men are. As for the series of both the Mitchells and the Butlers it's been one of the best series I have read.

Publication Order of Mitchells & O'Haras Books

There was a whole cast of characters in the story, and a lot of them weren't the good kind. Considering all that was going on, it was kind of funny that the one who made me cringe the most was a mom & housewife, sort of. *I'm looking at you, Joyce* 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. This review is going to be difficult to write as I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so here it goes.

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. And as I said with the last bookThe Wronged, I didn't believe Kimberley could match it, By god how this woman likes to prove you wrong. she's freakin smashed it with this book. And this book just show's why Kimberley Chambers is the favourite author of many, many people. She is certainly one of my all time favourite authors.Over the years we see Jessica and Eddie have twins of their own Frankie and Joey. We see them not only as young children but later on as teenagers too. The main characters of the story are Jessica and Eddie and we see what it is really like for a woman being married to a man so high up in the underworld. We also see and learn a lot about Jessica's parents Joyce and Stanley, her brother Raymond as well as he twins Frankie and Joey. The Butlers are crazy, I mean crazy and as I've said previously they really have no redeeming qualities but I love the way the author tells their story. This must be made into a tv series one day.

Vinny oh Vinny ....... is over the moon to be working alongside Eddie. Vinny is now aged 56 and life is looking good and certainly on the up, new club and at last he has met the one woman who might just be someone he wants to settle down with. Kimberly offers us up a good old fashioned geezer then reminds us “men are like dogs, if they ain’t trained they’ll shit all over the carpet” He never felt Irish and having never really lived there, he classed himself as an Englishman. Irishmen reminded him of his drunken father.

Kimberley Chambers Series

This book has a catchy storyline, relatable characters who despite some being bad, you kinda root for, and the story overall has a great flow making it difficult to put 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 The story is stretched over a few years and we see large segments of peoples lives lived and the outcome of each bad decision made. In the first third of the book I (as usual) had my favourites and the ones that I loathed. What surprised me is that I didn't realise just how much that opinion would change by the end of the book.

Billie Jo is the adored only child of wealthy villain, Terry, and Michelle, the drunken wife he hates. Knowing how much Billie Jo dreads her parents’ fights, Terry imagines that she’ll understand when he tells her he is going to leave Michelle to marry his pregnant secretary. Do not expect any florid writing on the landscape of Essex and the east London suburbs. There is no time for that. This is strictly business. Bang, bosh, boom! It was then that she received a phone-call from her friend Hazel, who asked if she wanted to take a hair dressing course. It was then that Chambers decided to try her hand at writing a novel. A few days later, she began writing her premiere novel Billie Jo. When she told her family about her new aspirations, they believed that it was a fad and that she would grow tired of this new venture as well. 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.Brilliantly crafted, terrifying and authentic, Kimberley Chambers’ The Family Man is a dark and disturbing gangland thriller from the queen of the genre. The story is set in the 70's & 80's mostly in London's East End and the book's atmosphere is phenomenal, completely taking me that time and place. The plot and pacing are fantastic and the characters are vividly drawn, both good and bad. Eddie Mitchell was particularly well done for me. As bad as he was, there was also a lot good about him that made it really hard to hate him, most notably his love for his family and his wife, Jessica. It truly did break my heart for Eddie at the end. The one thing that was never in doubt was how much he loved Jessica and to find out that he killed her instead of Jed, oh my God. I cried.