ABSOLUTE THE HAT GEORGIE LOGAN Callie Lewis, AKA Calista Constantinou, once a young thief and hustler, she became a ruthless businesswoman; pulling her firm up from the gutter of the criminal world and into the equally dirty domain of legitimate business. Now self-exiled on a small Greek Island, Callie lives a relatively simple and happy life, yet is haunted by her grief, loneliness and guilt that caused her to flee London forever. Eddie Melane, formerly South London’s most notorious thief, funny, handsome and a local hero. Settling down with the wrong woman and going straight were only the start of his problems. Then with a tragic event leaving him badly scarred, lonely and a broken man, Eddie now counts the days until he can escape his miserable life. Renos Markides fled Cyprus as a boy when the Turkish invaded and arrived in London with nothing. A complex character, brutal and revered; he is North London’s biggest villain. Known to be fair, Renos commands absolute loyalty from his men and operates on the principle of an ‘Eye for an Eye’. Three People fighting their own personal demons and trapped in lives they never wanted are brought together by fate and murder. Whilst on their quest for vengeance they will confront the past that fate has dealt them, as well as dark secrets and the heartache of long forgotten love. Together they will redefine the very meaning of revenge, in THE HAT. THE HAT is the first installment in a Trilogy, followed by THE LIE and completed by the final THE LIST. (Both also available on Amazon)
I just need to say first that this book is a massive read with just over 700 pages. The story to begin with seemed quite complex with so many characters to remember but the further that I went into the book the more I could place who was who and why there needed to be so many of them. Then bang, all the characters slotted into the right places in my mind and I just couldn’t stop reading. What an epic story, I mean talk about an eye for an eye, it was literally a hand for a hand a life for a life and vengeance for even more vengeance. This isn’t a story about gang rivalry this is a story of tragedy in epic proportions. It is feelings and love and never being able to move on because sometimes the loss of someone you love and the circumstances that they die are just too much. Vengeance is not sweet here, vengeance is a downward spiral of how to make the people who caused the hurt even more pain and each time it increases finally to the point of frenzy. Of course it doesn’t happen that quick. This story is set over forty years. I got to know the families that were involved, the good and the bad, the selfish and the broken. The story of The Hat and the importance of it. The Hat, although an innate object, held centre stage for this story. It spoke volumes for something that couldn’t speak. It changed all their lives and ended so many. When I finished the book I was like, darn that was clever. Just love it when a plan comes together! Now there are two more books which follow on, big ones too so I will read them soon. Georgie Logan is a wicked lady for gangster stories, she has wowed me and I can’t wait to see where it is all going to go next.
Well its only taken me 6 months to read this book....talk about the Never Ending story!!! Yes guys its a long one and consists of 699 pages and split into 5 parts. Way to long for my liking, so do be warned.
The story starts off in 1972 then we fast forward to 1974. Then again to Summer 1977, Summer 1982, Spring 1983, Winter 1983 and Winter 1984 giving a background for the characters. I was like what on earth going on!! Personally I don't think any of that was needed. But after a slow start the story starts to take shape where we follow
Callie Lewis, AKA Calista Constantinou, once a young thief and hustler, she became a ruthless businesswoman although she is haunted by her grief, loneliness and guilt that caused her to flee London forever. Hottie Eddie Melane South London’s most notorious thief,Then with a tragic event leaving him badly scarred, lonely and a broken man, Eddie now counts the days until he can escape his miserable life. Renos Markides North London’s biggest villain. All three fighting their own personal demons and trapped in lives they never wanted are brought together by fate and murder.
With the story being set between a quite Greek village and the dangerous streets of London and set over 40 years.
The blurb totally sold it to me with it sounding like grit-lit/Gangland my favourite genre. But what it doesn't tell you is the amount of Erotica this book is filled with. Now bearing in mind I started out reviewing Erotica so I have read loads of it. And for me I really feel like the to genre mixed together just doesn't cut it. I actually think this should be called 50 Shades of The Hat!!
BUT.........The whole grit-lit scenes are brilliant I'd was so engrossed and having an OMG moment to find it just jumping into a massive sex scene..... where I found myself saying REALLY. The Hat needs chopping up and putting back together if I am totally honest. And a new cover has it doesn't resemble anything to do with the title or scream out at me saying buy me. There is also to many characters to keep up with.
I can see a cracking gangland author in the making, who would give authors like Martina Cole and Kimberly chambers etc a run for there money. But for me this is a 3.5 stars
Thank you to the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review
I received this as an arc from the book club (tbc) in exchange for an honest review. Callie Lewis, AKA Calista Constantinou, once a young thief and whistler, she became a ruthless businesswoman; pulling her firm up from the gutter of the criminal world and into the equally dirty domain of legitimate business. Now self - exiled on a small Greek Island, Callie lives a relatively simple and happy life, yet is haunted by her grief, loneliness and guilt that caused her to flee London forever. Wow. Absolutely fantastic read. CNPID. I loved the story and the characters. Although it was a long book. It took me 5 days to read it as I couldn't put it down. This is a must read and I would highly recommend this book.
What a super book. I absolutely loved it. Will definitely read more from this author. Her writing style is very similar to Martina Cole, in fact I would say better than Martina.
Many thanks to the author and the book club on Facebook for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.
fabulous book very long but told all the stories of the characters like you already know them it had me gripped from start to finish and was a mind blowing ending looking forward to reading more by the author it was brilliant
I was given an arc copy of this book for an honest review . It took me a while to get into this book but when I did I really got into it . A contender for Martina Cole . 5 stars from me
I was given an ARC through The Book Club in return for an honest review.
Lynda La Plant and Martina Cole watch out, Georgie Logan may take your crowns!
Wow and wow again! What a fantastic ride. This book was excellent. The villains were truly diabolical, and I so wanted them to get what was coming to them! I cried with the tragedies and read with disbelief at what one human being can do to another in the name of greed or jealousy. This book had lots of twists and turns and the plot was truly amazing. Characters were well rounded and I felt so much sympathy for the those that died and those affected by the deaths. I was on their side all the way through. I absolutely hated the "Fentons" and couldn't wait to find out their fate.
There are a lot of characters in this book and at first I wondered why but then as the story progressed the author cleverly wove their stories into the plot and created an "Epic" of a gangland family saga and how their total belief in their own abilities and hype were their downfall. I also enjoyed the interweaving of the back stories for some of the characters, giving me a more rounded picture of the person and how the current situation was arrived at.
This may be a big book and take a few days to read but every page was worth it. This is a book that you can't put down (though sleep, work and activities of daily living intervened), a compelling page turner and a book that wrings various emotions from you so that by the time you have finished you feel drained but emotionally satisfied. The imagination and style of writing of the author is fantastic, its almost like you are there yourself.
5 stars from me and one that I wholeheartedly recommend. Definitely an author to watch and I am now waiting impatiently for the next book!
If you are a fan of Martina Cole you will absolutely love Miss Logan's epic tale of love, passion and power set between the dangerous streets of South London and the peaceful idyll of a Greek village. The gripping plot is well structured and the jump between the various locations is handled with care so that the reader doesn't become confused. The characters are an absolute delight - there's never a dull moment with the Fenton family and the various love stories add enough spice without turning the thriller into a sloppy romance. A great read. Looking forward to more from this very talented author!
at the start I struggled with the numerous characters and the jumping around in the story however once you get past the first couple of chapters you will be so glad you did. its a story of love, murder, revenge all set in London and based around a well known crime family.
the element of the story that stuck with me was the tragic circumstances that give the book its title.
this book is a must read but there is a lot of it to get through so set aside a lot of time.
I really enjoyed this and will certainly be looking for more books from Georgie Logan.
From start to finish this book had me hooked. I tried to do a lot of detective work but I failed miserably. Georgie writes with passion and conviction. The characters come alive throughout the book. If you want some sex, drugs, love, greed, lies and violence in your life then this is the book for you. The interconnecting lives makes the story flow and you grow to love the characters. The discriptions of the locations were very creative especially the island of Cyprus. I look forward to reading the further two books and I am sure I won't be disappointed.
Wow, what can I say? This is an intense read. It is full of action, betrayal, blood, sweat, and tears. It is not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure.
Brilliant storyline and brilliant writing. This is book one of three so you are in for a super treat and now that I have finished reading it I will go buy the second one in the series.
If you’re in to crime families / mafia type stories, then this book is perfect for you. There is intrigue right to the end, if you can handle all of the blood and gore of course!
A slow start that gave the impression was a romance and mystery story then suddenly it's not what you expect. So many twists and turns and even though a crime story, was relieved it didn't rely on blood and gore but my imagination. Didn't see the ending coming and can't wait to read the next book. Can't make up my mind if written by a male or female. Overall a good story for a self pub.
What a story, if you're looking for something to sink your teeth into then look no further. A real page turner, this author provided so much character detail that I became completely absorbed in their lives and couldn't wait to find out the next twist in their fate.
A fantastic read, and one to watch! I can't wait to see more from this author.
This book is such an addictive read...Didn't want it to end, I felt pure hatred for all the nasty/bad characters and true affection for the good people. This is what I call a proper book with 100s and 100s of pages and I can't wait to read The Lie now to see what transpires..Absolutely brilliant well done Georgia Logan
This is one of the best books I've read in a while a brilliant story lots of surprises and great characters would recommend this book to all Martin a Cole fans as the story is brilliant I wish this writer much success and hope to read more of the same fantastic
I am so delighted i was recommended this book. It has you totally gripped from page one. From tiny petty crime to big jobs that have you wanting to know the outcome this book has it all. You feel part of the characters its that well written. Highly recommend book.
This is the first book I have read by this author and certainly won't be the last. This book had lots of twists and turns and the story was brilliant. You won't be disappointed with this book.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a gangster type book, recently I’ve been reading mostly romance, so it was surprising how quickly I got into this terrific book! And my goodness what an amazing book it was! Absolutely filled with interesting characters, with so many twists and turns along the way. I loved how it was split between London, filled with violence and threats and the peaceful Greek Island. So much to take in, the characters were built up so strongly. It was a long read, but it completely sucked me into that dangerous world of gangsters and violence. It took me a while to read, but it was worth every minute! It was like three books in one and I am so pleased that I have read this. I will definitely be reading the other two books in the series as this has rekindled my love for this genre once more! Not since reading The Godfather have I ever felt myself becoming completely immersed into a book or story so deeply! An absolute awesome book!
Wow where do I start with this book ok so when I first started it I struggled and was thinking about leaving it as I was finding it very confusing it starts off and everything is happening and your reading all these characters names,I even went back to amazon to check there wasn’t a book that I had missed but no this is the first book and just when your starting to get used to it it flies back to the beginning and you then learn the full story and get to know the characters I wish it had started from the beginning and then carried on that was my only fault with this book everything else I loved the storyline and characters and couldn’t wait to get back to it so for anyone looking at this book I definitely recommend it just don’t be put off at first.
Could not finish “ The Hat” by Georgie Lewis. The language was disgusting. The relationships revolting. The characters uni-dimensional. And the yarn just keeps going on and on. More and more names, more and more trickles, getting more confusing than ever. I doubt if one would ever come a toss a more dysfunctional, repulsive lot in real life.
I don’t know how I’ve never come across this series before as this first instalment was brilliant. Heart wrenching whilst keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout this is a must read for gangland fans. That I found it slightly confusing with all the Greek character names at times would be the only reason I haven’t given it 5*.