The actual reveal is comical beyond belief and it simply felt as though Martina had run out of any ideas on how to actually finish the book. Up to this point I rather liked Aiden. But as the years pass and he becomes a man, gradually he also becomes a monster. His need to control everyone he knows, most of all his family, becomes obsessive. A very wealthy criminal, Eric Palmer, whose fortune has been carved out from prostitution and drug dealing, takes Aiden under his wing and teaches him everything he knows. Martina Cole - Sky Arts: The Book Show". Archived from the original on 17 May 2011 . Retrieved 21 October 2011.

This is all such a shame from such a well respected author and I have read Martina Cole books previously and enjoyed them. His lover, Jade, has been in the game for longer than Aiden. Mother to his son, calmer of his temper and rage and a force in her own right, Jade knows the truth. She knows that no one is indestructible. Especially in their line of work.The dialogue is excruciatingly unrealistic. The author doesn't use contractions, so the sentences sound completely false. This is the same as Lynda La Plante. I suspect that Martina may have used Prime Suspect as her template for writing and thought that that was how to write dialogue. Again, where was the editor? The final title on this list, Loyalty, has a tentative publication date of June 20, 2024. However, this book was originally scheduled for publication in 2020 before it was pushed out to the following year, then pushed out again.

BETRAYAL is the second book of Martina’s I have read (I read THE TAKE early last year) and I cannot wait to devour more of her titles. There’s something about the raw, grittiness of the worlds she creates that pulls you in and pops you right in the middle of it.

About Martina

The Jump was made into a four-part mini-series in 1998. It stars Adrian Dunbar, Jonathan Cake, Susan Vidler, and John Light.