The Graft - Softcover

Cole, Martina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755374134 ISBN 13: 9780755374137

Publisher: Headline, 2010

Synopsis

Success comes at a deadly price...

THE GRAFT by the 'undisputed queen of crime writing' (Guardian) and Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Martina Cole is an unflinching novel that exposes a world that many would rather ignore...

When Nick Leary hears the sound of an intruder's footsteps downstairs one night, something inside him snaps. The thought of losing his beautiful wife and sons, their luxurious home and possessions, everything he's grafted for, pushes him to attack.

But this single act sets in motion something way beyond Nick's control.
He is picked the wrong fight this time, and now it's too late to go back...

For more novels that will take you deep into the dark and dangerous criminal underworld, check out Martina Cole's THE BUSINESS, THE LIFE and REVENGE

About this title

Review:

Is The Graft up to Martina Cole’s usual standard? The unarguable success of her sizable tally of crime novels must be a source of envy to other practitioners. Almost from the beginning, she has gleaned praise for her gritty and pungent fiction. Even the very ordinary TV adaptations of such books as Dangerous Lady stripped no lustre from her reputation, when novels as good as The Know flowed from her pen. Her prose style is always pared down and vivid--which is, thankfully, still very much the case with The Graft.

Nick Leary is having trouble sleeping, what with sultry heat and business and family problems weighing on his mind. His wife is sleeping beside him, when he hears a noise downstairs--and soon he has to decide how much violence he will use to defend his home and family. The decision he makes is to change his life forever. Nick and his wife are taken to the very extremes of human behaviour--and he is obliged to decide how high a price he will pay to keep what he values most.

As ever, Cole exerts an effortless grip throughout her unsettling narrative. We’re used to her exuberantly characterised heroines, but the beleaguered Nick shows that’s she’s just as on-the-nail with her male characters. The edgy plotting has the kind of no-nonsense handling that is Cole's métier. Perhaps a touch more psychological strip-mining of her protagonists would have deepened her achievement, but what the hell--all the right buttons are pressed here.--Barry Forshaw

Review:

'Cole is brilliant at portraying the good among the bad, and vice versa, so until the very end we never quite know who to trust. This is the very stuff that makes her so compelling' (Daily Mirror)

No one writes about East End women and their vagaries like Martina Cole (Maxim Jakubowski, Murder One)

'A powerful novel that pulls no punches... Cole has an ear for the vernacular of the East End, as well as an ability to portray the viciousness of life at the edge' the Guide ( Guide )

'Right from the start [Cole] has enjoyed unqualified approval for her distinctive and powerfully written fiction' (The Times)

Intensely readable (Guardian)

'Martina Cole explores the shady criminal underworld, a setting she is fast making her own' ( Sunday Express )

'Utterly compelling' ( Mirror )

'The story will grip you from the first pages' ( Best )

'Gritty novel from an author who knows intimately the world she writes about' ( Express )

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0755374134
• ISBN 13: 9780755374137
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512