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The Faithless
Number-one bestselling author Martina Cole (The Family, Hard Girls) delivers a hard-hitting novel that’s a guaranteed bestseller.
To the outside world, Cynthia Tailor is a woman to envy: she has a devoted husband, a lovely home and two gorgeous children. But Cynthia has always craved the best things in life, and is determined to see that she gets them. Cynthia will let nothing stand in her way, even if it means devastation and tragedy for those nearest to her …
British writer Martina Cole is known for her gritty, gangland thrillers. Two of her novels, Two Women and The Graft, have been adapted for the stage. A non-fiction TV series, Martina Cole’s Lady Killers, became a huge success in 2008.
To the outside world, Cynthia Tailor is a woman to envy: she has a devoted husband, a lovely home and two gorgeous children. But Cynthia has always craved the best things in life, and is determined to see that she gets them. Cynthia will let nothing stand in her way, even if it means devastation and tragedy for those nearest to her …
British writer Martina Cole is known for her gritty, gangland thrillers. Two of her novels, Two Women and The Graft, have been adapted for the stage. A non-fiction TV series, Martina Cole’s Lady Killers, became a huge success in 2008.
453 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
383 people are currently reading
1492 people want to read
About the author
Martina Cole
112 books1,728 followersMartina Cole was born and brought up in Essex. She is the bestselling author of fourteen novels set in London's gangland, and her most recent three paperbacks have gone straight to No. 1 in the Sunday Times on first publication. Total sales of Martina's novels stand at over eight million copies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
September 12, 2017
I am lucky that I now will start using Overdrive for my audio books. This will stop me from picking up utter tripe from my library via Audio CD.
This was a dismal, horrid and ridiculously bleak book. I guess its genre is that of crime? It was horrible! I don’t see the point of this one. Horrible characters, no redeeming qualities and a constant repetition of doom and gloom.
At the core is a horrible woman Cynthia, and we see her being bashed viciously at the beginning of the novel by her daughter, and the story is told backwards from there.
Characters’ names were very similar in relationships that was just not helpful – sisters and brothers in law, and this made the horrendousness just turn into confusion.
I don’t know a thing about this author, I wonder how successful or prolific she is? I will not read her again. Too depressing for me, but written well and an extremely talented narrator. 10 stars for the voice.
This was a dismal, horrid and ridiculously bleak book. I guess its genre is that of crime? It was horrible! I don’t see the point of this one. Horrible characters, no redeeming qualities and a constant repetition of doom and gloom.
At the core is a horrible woman Cynthia, and we see her being bashed viciously at the beginning of the novel by her daughter, and the story is told backwards from there.
Characters’ names were very similar in relationships that was just not helpful – sisters and brothers in law, and this made the horrendousness just turn into confusion.
I don’t know a thing about this author, I wonder how successful or prolific she is? I will not read her again. Too depressing for me, but written well and an extremely talented narrator. 10 stars for the voice.
March 31, 2022
This was good but a bit repetitive for my liking plus the most loveable character for me died - unforgivable! :)
Four stars.
Four stars.
August 28, 2024
I actually really love Martina Cole. I really enjoyed this book and I had never really read this kind of gang family crime book and I loved it. I love how the families are rough around the edges (I suppose that's the nice way of putting it). I felt like I really connected with some of the characters and the character development was well done.
This book gripped me from the start and I couldn’t put it down it’s almost believable which I think helped my interest level. There’s a little bit of everything in this book suspense, horror, romance (not my favourite), crime and of course plenty of violence.
I know that a lot of Martina Cole’s books take on a similar story told in different ways or different families so I haven’t read too many of these and I wouldn’t want to as I feel it would ruin her others. However it has been while since I have read Martina Cole and I think I am due for another one soon.
This book gripped me from the start and I couldn’t put it down it’s almost believable which I think helped my interest level. There’s a little bit of everything in this book suspense, horror, romance (not my favourite), crime and of course plenty of violence.
I know that a lot of Martina Cole’s books take on a similar story told in different ways or different families so I haven’t read too many of these and I wouldn’t want to as I feel it would ruin her others. However it has been while since I have read Martina Cole and I think I am due for another one soon.
June 19, 2012
For the last three books that Martina Cole has written, I finish it and then promise myself I won't waste money buying it full price. I feel terrible saying that but it's the truth. I have always been a huge Martina Cole fan and loved the older books such as `Ladykillers'. Sadly it seems that many authors who have huge success seem to go rapidly downhill. I fear that Martina Cole is now firmly on that list. So after finishing her last book entitled The Family I swore that was it. Yet here I am a year later having broken that promise and paying full price for it. For some reason, due to Martina's sheer talent, I always feel that maybe this is the year she will come back with a bang. 3 years on and I am still not feeling the slightest rumble, let alone bang.
Overall this book was far from terrible, but it is still lacking something which I can't quite put my finger on. The story itself sounded fabulous from the synopsis and I was looking forward to reading this. As I started reading I had high hopes as you are drawn into the world of the loathsome Cynthia Tailor. Martina certainly still has the knack of producing some vile characters and Cynthia is one of them. Cynthia is a character that is constantly wanting more and its pretty clear from the outset that this woman will stop at nothing to get her own way.
I was very excited reading the first few chapters as the story took no time at all to pick up momentum. I was swept along with Cynthia's sister Celeste who has bagged the ultimate prize in her partner Johnny. A local face and a man set for better things. Cynthia's children Gabby and James Junior play a very large part in the beginning of the story as do her parents Mary and Jack.
It becomes clear before long that the story is set over quite a long time period and as w hole the story itself was great, as were the characters. Halfway through and I was still loving the writing but felt that the major difference between this and her older book sis the sheer volume of narrative. I am certainly no book expert, I just know what I like. I don't recall Martina Cole's earlier books ever being this descriptive. If you were to weigh up the descriptive narrative and the characters actually speaking I think people would be shocked. It felt like there was an awful lot of repetition and I really didn't need to be told hundreds of times how much Cynthia wanted everything!!!
I genuinely feel so torn about this book. I actually liked the story and the characters and her writing is still as strong as ever. However, I really disliked the amount of description everything had, and I had that sinking feeling that I was just reading a re-hashed story I had read a million times before. I am still really unsure whether Martina Cole has changed her writing, or whether the competition out there has just got better. These days with the likes of new writers such as Kimberley Chambers and Dreda Say-Mitchell coming along, maybe people expect more. I know it sounds a little sad, but I can't help wishing that Martina would make a monumental comeback with a book that blows everybody away.
Overall I can't say that I disliked this book, but it just isn't as good as some others. No doubt I will still (stupidly) continue paying full price for Martina's new books praying that it's the best ever! I imagine that this book will get really mixed reviews and would suggest to see her better work you should try her earlier stuff.
Overall this book was far from terrible, but it is still lacking something which I can't quite put my finger on. The story itself sounded fabulous from the synopsis and I was looking forward to reading this. As I started reading I had high hopes as you are drawn into the world of the loathsome Cynthia Tailor. Martina certainly still has the knack of producing some vile characters and Cynthia is one of them. Cynthia is a character that is constantly wanting more and its pretty clear from the outset that this woman will stop at nothing to get her own way.
I was very excited reading the first few chapters as the story took no time at all to pick up momentum. I was swept along with Cynthia's sister Celeste who has bagged the ultimate prize in her partner Johnny. A local face and a man set for better things. Cynthia's children Gabby and James Junior play a very large part in the beginning of the story as do her parents Mary and Jack.
It becomes clear before long that the story is set over quite a long time period and as w hole the story itself was great, as were the characters. Halfway through and I was still loving the writing but felt that the major difference between this and her older book sis the sheer volume of narrative. I am certainly no book expert, I just know what I like. I don't recall Martina Cole's earlier books ever being this descriptive. If you were to weigh up the descriptive narrative and the characters actually speaking I think people would be shocked. It felt like there was an awful lot of repetition and I really didn't need to be told hundreds of times how much Cynthia wanted everything!!!
I genuinely feel so torn about this book. I actually liked the story and the characters and her writing is still as strong as ever. However, I really disliked the amount of description everything had, and I had that sinking feeling that I was just reading a re-hashed story I had read a million times before. I am still really unsure whether Martina Cole has changed her writing, or whether the competition out there has just got better. These days with the likes of new writers such as Kimberley Chambers and Dreda Say-Mitchell coming along, maybe people expect more. I know it sounds a little sad, but I can't help wishing that Martina would make a monumental comeback with a book that blows everybody away.
Overall I can't say that I disliked this book, but it just isn't as good as some others. No doubt I will still (stupidly) continue paying full price for Martina's new books praying that it's the best ever! I imagine that this book will get really mixed reviews and would suggest to see her better work you should try her earlier stuff.
January 5, 2013
After reading this latest novel by Martina Cole I really feel that she is just rehashing previous stories. There is so much repetition in her books these days that I rapidly lose patience with the story. I also repeatedly am feeling that I have read all of this before in previous Cole books.
The same old story of one strong beautiful sister not getting the life she feels she deserves. The younger weaker sister who always has a nervous disorder after witnessing some form of violence. The neglected child who is a violent psychopath. The 13year old girl who falls in love and knows they are going to be together forever. The same violence, poverty and never ending bleakness. Mothers who dislike their children from birth and constantly think about wiping them out.Martina repeats continually chapter after chapter to the point where the books could be cut in half.I used to love this author and eagerly awaited her novels but unfortunately now I just feel disappointment. There are so many other authors out there with stronger storylines and much better writing these days.
The same old story of one strong beautiful sister not getting the life she feels she deserves. The younger weaker sister who always has a nervous disorder after witnessing some form of violence. The neglected child who is a violent psychopath. The 13year old girl who falls in love and knows they are going to be together forever. The same violence, poverty and never ending bleakness. Mothers who dislike their children from birth and constantly think about wiping them out.Martina repeats continually chapter after chapter to the point where the books could be cut in half.I used to love this author and eagerly awaited her novels but unfortunately now I just feel disappointment. There are so many other authors out there with stronger storylines and much better writing these days.
October 21, 2019
Brilliant
Cole's writing style is epic. She grabs you and drags you willingly into her world.
It's like you have a part in it.
You actually begin to care about everything. You even find yourself adding your own opinions.
Crazy?....Right???
Enjoy
Cole's writing style is epic. She grabs you and drags you willingly into her world.
It's like you have a part in it.
You actually begin to care about everything. You even find yourself adding your own opinions.
Crazy?....Right???
Enjoy
July 17, 2012
Martina Cole does it again. I was lent this book by a friend who passes all Martina Coles boks to me I can't believe she has ever written a bad book, this certainly wasn't one.
It starts with Cynthia Tailor and her unsettled life. She is never happy unless she is steeped in tragedy,She turned down Johnny and married Jimmy but her sister Celeste marries Johnny and there is no one more unhappy than Cynthia.She does not want her 2 children, can't be bothered with them and is happy to let her mother look after them.She throws herself at her sisters husband and that is when hers and her families world erupts. Her son James junior is a lunatic and her daughter Gabby just an inconvenience untill that is she decides she wants to be part of their lives again. Gabby is taken in by her and the outcome is that her family life is also shattered. A very good read and maybe a showing of just one selfish person can ruin the life of so many others.
A great read.
It starts with Cynthia Tailor and her unsettled life. She is never happy unless she is steeped in tragedy,She turned down Johnny and married Jimmy but her sister Celeste marries Johnny and there is no one more unhappy than Cynthia.She does not want her 2 children, can't be bothered with them and is happy to let her mother look after them.She throws herself at her sisters husband and that is when hers and her families world erupts. Her son James junior is a lunatic and her daughter Gabby just an inconvenience untill that is she decides she wants to be part of their lives again. Gabby is taken in by her and the outcome is that her family life is also shattered. A very good read and maybe a showing of just one selfish person can ruin the life of so many others.
A great read.
February 24, 2012
I've read most of Martina Cole's books and usually they are paced well, interesting in content (though I think she may have overdone East-End gansters now) and have a good twist. But, this book was very poor. I also very much dislike books that tell you the ending in the first 2 pages - what's the point of me reading the rest of it. Faithless felt very lazy. Repitition throughout made it boring in places.
February 7, 2025
I'll start with the bad stuff:
1. Cynthia is the most despicable character to have ever graced the page: a fact that is both obvious and explicitly mentioned after every 3 sentences. While I'm always in favor of morally gray, even dark, characters; making a protagonist as hateful as this one made me not want to read her POV.
2. As vile as Cynthia is, everyone else is just fucking dumb. So many times, I gripped the novel till my knuckles turned white and I wanted to scream at the characters to use their brains.
3. The book is extremely repetitive: it's like a constant cycle of the same epiphanies that each character gets.
The good stuff:
1. The store was definitely interesting: this might be the first novel in the "gangster" genre that I've ever read, and Martina Cole definitely knows how to write in that territory.
2. I like how Cole made sure that she writes neither a fairy tale nor a titillating story which becomes a tragedy. Both the plot and the ending seemed relatively real (than what I expected, atleast).
Did I enjoy the process of reading this novel? Not really, I was waiting for it to end.
Will I read more Martina Cole's work? Yeah, probably, after a short break, though.
1. Cynthia is the most despicable character to have ever graced the page: a fact that is both obvious and explicitly mentioned after every 3 sentences. While I'm always in favor of morally gray, even dark, characters; making a protagonist as hateful as this one made me not want to read her POV.
2. As vile as Cynthia is, everyone else is just fucking dumb. So many times, I gripped the novel till my knuckles turned white and I wanted to scream at the characters to use their brains.
3. The book is extremely repetitive: it's like a constant cycle of the same epiphanies that each character gets.
The good stuff:
1. The store was definitely interesting: this might be the first novel in the "gangster" genre that I've ever read, and Martina Cole definitely knows how to write in that territory.
2. I like how Cole made sure that she writes neither a fairy tale nor a titillating story which becomes a tragedy. Both the plot and the ending seemed relatively real (than what I expected, atleast).
Did I enjoy the process of reading this novel? Not really, I was waiting for it to end.
Will I read more Martina Cole's work? Yeah, probably, after a short break, though.
August 4, 2019
Reading this was like trying to wade through quicksand, minus the part where you get sucked in.
Literally every page of this book was like "Cynthia is a horrible women, no one would blame her husband if he were to beat her up, Cynthia spat in my food and called me a whore, did I mention how awful Cynthia is?"
Like, we get it! We don't need 4 pages of straight up rants from the characters for the message to be conveyed.
I mean, honestly, the more it was drilled into me how much I should hate Cynthia, the more I wanted to root for her.
Literally every page of this book was like "Cynthia is a horrible women, no one would blame her husband if he were to beat her up, Cynthia spat in my food and called me a whore, did I mention how awful Cynthia is?"
Like, we get it! We don't need 4 pages of straight up rants from the characters for the message to be conveyed.
I mean, honestly, the more it was drilled into me how much I should hate Cynthia, the more I wanted to root for her.
Currently reading
February 28, 2012the story line is fine but i find that she is very repetitive
January 11, 2014
Loved this book. Surprised at some comments, I thought the book packed a real punch.
March 10, 2022
3.75⭐
The Faithless by Martina Cole begins with a girl (Gabriella) murdering her mother, Cynthia, & the rest of the book starts from the time when Gabriella was a little girl.
🍂The first 100 pages are just the introduction of the characters & the family system. You get to know the people & their personalities but there's quite a lot of repetition & it just keeps going on & on & on & I thought of putting it back on my shelf multiple times but then I knew if I had put it back, I wouldn't have picked anything by this author for a long time so I kept reading & after a 100 pages, it took an unexpected turn. It became something like the peaky blinders 👀 (I've watched a season or two), the language, the characters, the politics, everything reminded me of the peaky blinders. It was some sort of mafia system & the characters in charge changed with time except Cynthia, of course.
🍂The book is something like a drama set in a not-so-straight world, with the protagonist as a psychopath. It is divided into three parts starting from the year 1984 to the year 2008 & has 3 generations. It's about an unlucky, almost cursed family that just cannot enjoy a happy day without it ending into something disastrous. Their lives themselves are the definition of rotten luck. They're a dysfunctional family. Gabriella is Cynthia's daughter, a really sweet girl, & you just keep wondering how & why on earth would she kill her own mother.
🍂Getting into the book might be a lil hard but once you get into it, it consumes you! I was fully INVESTED in it! It was just unputdownable!! It's more than 500 pages & I finished it within 24 hours. That's how engaging it was. The writing is simple & it is fast paced. The chapters are really short. The characters are believable & I just got lost in it.
✨ Story: Cynthia is a woman who just gets what she wants. She thinks she's always right. She doesn't care for anyone but herself. She's a greedy woman who can go to any extent to satisfy her wants. Simply, she's a psychopath & she destroys each & every person in her life until her daughter murders her.
🍂What I really liked about it was how Cynthia's mental state was shown. She thought what she was doing was absolutely perfectly right & she had explanations for her behavior (in her head) which made one think whether everything she did was her fault. I mean she couldn't help it👀. I also loved how her behavior shaped her children & their life.
🍂The problem I had with it was repetition. The author kept saying the same things again & again & again 🥲.
🍂The book might feel a lil too depressing to some people. It has constant doom & gloom & nothing happy really happens. There's violence, there's death, so make sure you check the trigger warnings.
The Faithless by Martina Cole begins with a girl (Gabriella) murdering her mother, Cynthia, & the rest of the book starts from the time when Gabriella was a little girl.
🍂The first 100 pages are just the introduction of the characters & the family system. You get to know the people & their personalities but there's quite a lot of repetition & it just keeps going on & on & on & I thought of putting it back on my shelf multiple times but then I knew if I had put it back, I wouldn't have picked anything by this author for a long time so I kept reading & after a 100 pages, it took an unexpected turn. It became something like the peaky blinders 👀 (I've watched a season or two), the language, the characters, the politics, everything reminded me of the peaky blinders. It was some sort of mafia system & the characters in charge changed with time except Cynthia, of course.
🍂The book is something like a drama set in a not-so-straight world, with the protagonist as a psychopath. It is divided into three parts starting from the year 1984 to the year 2008 & has 3 generations. It's about an unlucky, almost cursed family that just cannot enjoy a happy day without it ending into something disastrous. Their lives themselves are the definition of rotten luck. They're a dysfunctional family. Gabriella is Cynthia's daughter, a really sweet girl, & you just keep wondering how & why on earth would she kill her own mother.
🍂Getting into the book might be a lil hard but once you get into it, it consumes you! I was fully INVESTED in it! It was just unputdownable!! It's more than 500 pages & I finished it within 24 hours. That's how engaging it was. The writing is simple & it is fast paced. The chapters are really short. The characters are believable & I just got lost in it.
✨ Story: Cynthia is a woman who just gets what she wants. She thinks she's always right. She doesn't care for anyone but herself. She's a greedy woman who can go to any extent to satisfy her wants. Simply, she's a psychopath & she destroys each & every person in her life until her daughter murders her.
🍂What I really liked about it was how Cynthia's mental state was shown. She thought what she was doing was absolutely perfectly right & she had explanations for her behavior (in her head) which made one think whether everything she did was her fault. I mean she couldn't help it👀. I also loved how her behavior shaped her children & their life.
🍂The problem I had with it was repetition. The author kept saying the same things again & again & again 🥲.
🍂The book might feel a lil too depressing to some people. It has constant doom & gloom & nothing happy really happens. There's violence, there's death, so make sure you check the trigger warnings.
December 23, 2022
I read this book many years ago and I loved it.
The main character is the perfect blend of evil and entertaining that I couldn't stop reading. Cynthia is probably one of the most memorable characters I've read in a book. The characters around her life were interesting too. Her parents Mary and Jack, her sister celest and her husband and her own husband James taking central stage for the first half of the book in her younger years. Later it moved to her daughter Gabby and her boyfriend Vincent.
The main character is the perfect blend of evil and entertaining that I couldn't stop reading. Cynthia is probably one of the most memorable characters I've read in a book. The characters around her life were interesting too. Her parents Mary and Jack, her sister celest and her husband and her own husband James taking central stage for the first half of the book in her younger years. Later it moved to her daughter Gabby and her boyfriend Vincent.
January 20, 2025
This was good, lots of strong female characters, one of whom was just such a cow to her own family...but she did get what was coming to her at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2021
Look, I love me a poolside crime thriller. I've read more than my fair share of books that wouldn't be literary gems but were still in their own right gripping and entertaining.
This book is not it.
The characters are all super one-dimensional, one is cold and evil, another is young and stupid, but all of them have amazing blue eyes and are apparently all legs and tits. The most annoying thing is just how repetitive the book is, not just in terms of characters, which it is, over and over the same- SHE WAS COLD AND DISTANT BUT SEXY, but literally in terms of phrases. The sentences repeat themselves "like they were GOING OUT OF FASHION", if you made it 400 pages in like I did then you'd know. I couldn't finish it past that point, it was just absurd, repetitive, and had absolutely no intrigue going for it.
Not worth picking up!
This book is not it.
The characters are all super one-dimensional, one is cold and evil, another is young and stupid, but all of them have amazing blue eyes and are apparently all legs and tits. The most annoying thing is just how repetitive the book is, not just in terms of characters, which it is, over and over the same- SHE WAS COLD AND DISTANT BUT SEXY, but literally in terms of phrases. The sentences repeat themselves "like they were GOING OUT OF FASHION", if you made it 400 pages in like I did then you'd know. I couldn't finish it past that point, it was just absurd, repetitive, and had absolutely no intrigue going for it.
Not worth picking up!
May 18, 2013
Martina Cole has earned respect and money from Her novels mainly about dysfunctional families and The Faithless is yet another one of those stories that becomes predictable and could of been cut by 200 pages.
The Take, Close and The Family are all here.If You've never read a Martina Cole novel before then pick this one up You won't be disappointed.
I would really like to see Martina Cole write another serial killer Book... The Ladykiller anyone????,
The Take, Close and The Family are all here.If You've never read a Martina Cole novel before then pick this one up You won't be disappointed.
I would really like to see Martina Cole write another serial killer Book... The Ladykiller anyone????,
February 24, 2018
I didn't enjoy this as much as 'The Jump'. The characters were well developed, the plot engaging, the dialogue flowed smoothly and in keeping with the criminal element. The down side was too many chapters and character POV. If characters are going to have a POV it needs to be moving the story along. In many instances 'The Faithless' did not do this, and by Chapter 126, it mured the story to a boggy standstill.
January 14, 2020
OMG what a boring book, got to chapter 11 and couldn’t take anymore and stopped!!
Each chapter was literally repeating stuff from the previous. This was my first Martina Cole book and can’t say I was over pleased or planning to rush out and buy another.
Disappointed
Each chapter was literally repeating stuff from the previous. This was my first Martina Cole book and can’t say I was over pleased or planning to rush out and buy another.
Disappointed
July 10, 2013
Very trashy and not that much fun.
March 9, 2018
Really enjoyed 2nd time of reading this book
October 5, 2016
I'd say it was terrible, terrible but I don't want to be a hypocrite and be as repetitive as this awful book. I pity the poor soul who buys my copy from the charity shop.
October 18, 2018
Awful! Not even worth a review
October 31, 2018
I agree with everything, absolutely everything Suzanne wrote about this book a year ago. Horrible characters and dismal. I wish I had read her review before rather than after I had read the book.
December 2, 2018
Please don't bother with this book
..I read nearly 100 pages and it's just not worth it . Very repetitive.
..I read nearly 100 pages and it's just not worth it . Very repetitive.
October 4, 2023
My first Martina Cole, and probably my last. It was not bad, the plot surprising in places, characterization is good, the whole book easy to read. What put me off is the language used to tell the story and Ms. Cole's style. It is a personal thing but I hate 'had had' I feel it's lazy, and there are so many of them, although I realize it is the language of the characters. I also dislike revelation sentences that tells you a future event. Such as a character doing something and then the line 'and that was the last time they would ever do that.' That being said, Cole ruins the end of the book in the prologue but then expertly makes you keep reading in order to discover how the situation arose.
I may not read another Martina Cole mainly because of the style of writing rather than the book being poorly written or having a bad plot. It is the ridiculously short chapters, repetitive thoughts of characters, the plot is pushed forward almost entirely through this manner of character's thoughts rather than dialogue, and the overuse of 'had hads'.
I am glad I read it, but doubt I will try another.
Cynthia is a great, evil villain, and such a bitch.
I may not read another Martina Cole mainly because of the style of writing rather than the book being poorly written or having a bad plot. It is the ridiculously short chapters, repetitive thoughts of characters, the plot is pushed forward almost entirely through this manner of character's thoughts rather than dialogue, and the overuse of 'had hads'.
I am glad I read it, but doubt I will try another.
Cynthia is a great, evil villain, and such a bitch.
November 18, 2019
Martina Cole you've done it again!
Don't normally find time to actually sit and read much. However this little beauty popped up in recommendation s and I thought well I've read a few Martina Cole books so I'll give it a go! I've been reading on my kindle so at times I've listened via speaking option whilst cooking ect. I have really enjoyed this book. It's like most of the writers books,about London and families involved in crime,little bit rough round the edges and the odd f bomb but hay gangsters are not going to politely ask you to move out of the way while they polish a sawn off shot gun!!
One evil sister and a family who love hard. The grandma and grandad have just been given a bad seed in one daughter, who honestly towards the end I actually,in a mad way felt sorry for her.
Will find another Martina Cole to read as id forgotten just how good she is.
Don't normally find time to actually sit and read much. However this little beauty popped up in recommendation s and I thought well I've read a few Martina Cole books so I'll give it a go! I've been reading on my kindle so at times I've listened via speaking option whilst cooking ect. I have really enjoyed this book. It's like most of the writers books,about London and families involved in crime,little bit rough round the edges and the odd f bomb but hay gangsters are not going to politely ask you to move out of the way while they polish a sawn off shot gun!!
One evil sister and a family who love hard. The grandma and grandad have just been given a bad seed in one daughter, who honestly towards the end I actually,in a mad way felt sorry for her.
Will find another Martina Cole to read as id forgotten just how good she is.
August 2, 2020
I did enjoy this book at times It was so distressing. There were too many lows and a hand full of good parts. I felt that I was on a journey and when you thought that things could not get any worse they did. I know some people were complaining about the repetitive nature of her writing but once you get past that there is a good story underneath it.
We are told a story of a woman called Cynthia Tailor ( Who will not win mother of the year award) and how she was the most selfish wicked human being you will ever come across and how her behaviour affected all her family members. It just shows how despicable human being can behave to get what she wants damn the consequences.
There was lies,deceit,betrayal and murder of the heinous kind all the makings of a good crime storyline.
We are told a story of a woman called Cynthia Tailor ( Who will not win mother of the year award) and how she was the most selfish wicked human being you will ever come across and how her behaviour affected all her family members. It just shows how despicable human being can behave to get what she wants damn the consequences.
There was lies,deceit,betrayal and murder of the heinous kind all the makings of a good crime storyline.
February 27, 2022
Great book and great to see Martina back on a roll. As always, it’s great characters versus toxic characters and Martina know how to create characters so different from each other. I would have gone for five stars but two things irked me. The first being the opening chapters, I felt as though the character development was overkill with the first 50 pages. It wasn’t until other characters were introduced before I started to enjoy the book. I felt the story lacked an opening punch. The second niggle I had was knowing the ending of the story because of the first two pages. It’s one thing to foresee something coming, but when you realise it’s not going to happen until the end, you knew that a certain character was going to push and push and all along you know their fate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2022
A real page-turner of a book.
Cynthia Tailor (nee Callahan) is a really nasty piece of work. She loves nobody other than herself, and does whatever she has to do to get her own way. She'll lie her way out of any situation in order to avoid taking any blame herself. She stops at nothing--even murder--and manages to come up smelling of roses.
The only two people she loves are her two grandchildren. Cynthia won't accept that her actions ruin the lives of all her family. Her two children are brought up by her parents, and her husband James is too weak willed to stand up for himself or his offspring.
Eventually, Cynthia gets what's coming to her. She's one very lonely and unhappy woman, but won't accept it's all her own fault.
Cynthia Tailor (nee Callahan) is a really nasty piece of work. She loves nobody other than herself, and does whatever she has to do to get her own way. She'll lie her way out of any situation in order to avoid taking any blame herself. She stops at nothing--even murder--and manages to come up smelling of roses.
The only two people she loves are her two grandchildren. Cynthia won't accept that her actions ruin the lives of all her family. Her two children are brought up by her parents, and her husband James is too weak willed to stand up for himself or his offspring.
Eventually, Cynthia gets what's coming to her. She's one very lonely and unhappy woman, but won't accept it's all her own fault.
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