Martina Cole’s The Take zeros in on London East End gangland life. No surprise there then. This one features the rise and fall of the Jackson family who get up to all the usual tricks: drugs, prostitution, armed robbery and murder. This book is about divisions within the family. We all have them, though thankfully not quite like this.
It is as if Martina has stumbled on a literary seam, either by accident or design, that runs and runs. Sold five million books so they say. She must be laughing all the way to the bank. Chicklit it aint!
In The Take we are introduced to seemingly dozens of characters all with particularly common names, and some of whom only make fleeting appearances. More infuriatingly some of them are similarly named, Maggie, Maddie for example, which if nothing else keeps the reader thinking. Then we are treated to each one’s thoughts about each other, and this does become tedious.
It goes without saying that every page is peppered with “F” and “C” words because Ms Cole tells it as it is, so says the blurb. Are blurb writers under any obligation to read the blessed book first? And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more sordid or violent, it does. Brutal murders are a regular occurrence, even in public, without ever any sign of the Police or authority figures of any kind putting in an appearance, and when they belatedly do, it is solely to collect their fat brown envelope. Their due, to turn a blind eye.
You might think I did not enjoy this book, but you would be wrong. I am not a particularly quick reader and it took me ages to complete the 505 pages, but never once was I tempted to bin the book, or miss a page. Why? Because Ms Cole is a talented writer capable of writing a decent yarn. It’s just that long after I set it down I couldn’t help thinking; I can’t help thinking; that Martina Cole is capable of so much better than this, and I hope she goes on to produce it.
Martina Cole tells it like it really it is! Gawd, I f****** well hope not!
The Take by Martina Cole
Published by Headline Book Publishing
ISBN: 0747269718
The Take - Book Review
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