Review of The Business, a hardback novel by Martina Cole
The Business is Martina Cole's latest offering in a long line of best selling novels set against a backdrop of London's criminal underworld. For those unfamiliar with Ms Cole's books, she writes of subjects unsavoury, seedy and at ... Read review
Imelda Dooley is scared. Really scared. She's played hard and fast and now she's been ... more
caught. She's pregnant and now she's on her own. Her father not a man to mess with will see that somebody pays for this. And it's not going to be her. So Imelda Doo...
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Advantages: Compelling reading Disadvantages: Some similarities to other novels by the author, strong language may offend some.
Review of The Business, a hardback novel by Martina Cole
The Business is Martina Cole's latest offering in a long line of best selling novels set against a backdrop of London's criminal underworld. For those unfamiliar with Ms Cole's books, she writes of subjects unsavoury, seedy and at times, uncomfortable. Nothing is taboo to Ms Cole and The Business covers violence, murder, prostitution, drug addiction, child abuse and neglect . ... ...reality, Ms Cole's books have the ability to shock, fascinate, touch and repulse me as the story unfolds!
**The Plot**
Covering period from 1978 to the present day, The Business follows the life of Jordana Dooley, the child of Imelda Dooley, a psychotic drug addict. Imelda has no compunction about using others to achieve her desires including setting up her own father and her daughter's father which results in their ... more
Review of The Business, a hardback novel by Martina Cole
The Business is Martina Cole's latest offering in a long line of best selling novels set against a backdrop of London's criminal underworld. For those unfamiliar with Ms Cole's books, she writes of subjects unsavoury, seedy and at times, uncomfortable. Nothing is taboo to Ms Cole and The Business covers violence, murder, prostitution, drug addiction, child abuse and neglect . Her writing style is gritty and she produces novels that are hauntingly readable. Readers are under no illusions about her characters and their lifestyles, a peep into a world very different from most people's reality, Ms Cole's books have the ability to shock, fascinate, touch and repulse me as the story unfolds!
**The Plot**
Covering period from 1978 to the present day, The Business follows the life of Jordana Dooley, the child of Imelda Dooley, a psychotic drug addict. Imelda has no compunction about using others to achieve her desires including setting up her own father and her daughter's father which results in their deaths. Later in the story, Imelda shoots her lover, the father of her second child, Kenny-Boy, in front of three year old Jordana and by dint of devious means, manages to blame the little girl for the murder. Nothing matters to Imelda apart from her own wants and needs and she uses her children, her mother and everyone she comes into contact with, mercilessly, to obtain them. I will not divulge more of the story in this review for fear of spoiling the book for other readers!
As with all Ms Cole's books, strong language is prevalent throughout, the characters are well drawn and believable, but at times a tad too violent for some readers tastes. The novel has many twists and turns, which would enthral a reader new to Martina Cole's work, but I have to say that having read all her books, I noticed echoes of previous novels popping up fairly regularly! The Business is not as gruesomely violent as some of the authors previous novels, but the underlying, unspoken violence is just as effective as graphically described brutality, in some ways more so, as the reader's own imagination is fired as events unfold. The main characters are:-
Imelda Dooley, a drug addict, prostitute and mother of two children.
Jordana Dooley, Imelda's daughter.
Kenneth Dooley, Imelda's son, known as Kenny-Boy
Mary Dooley, Imelda's mother, a devout Irish Catholic woman who tries to provide some semblance of normality for her grandchildren.
**The Author**
Martina Cole was born in 1958, she was brought up in Essex. Her first novel, DANGEROUS LADY, was an instant best-seller and became a highly successful TV drama series. Since then Martina Cole has written fourteen more best selling novels set in the criminal underworld of London. Ms Cole is no stranger to hardship and has taken many knocks in life herself. Her parents both died when she was young and by 18 years of age she was living alone in a Tilbury council flat with her baby son. She began writing as a way of escaping her own problems. She has in her own words 'always been a grafter' and has built a comfortable life on the strength of her books. She has divorced twice and has a son, a daughter and a grandchild. Martina Cole teaches creative writing to inmates at Wandsworth and Belmarsh prisons and a patron of Chelmsford Women's Aid, which she says is her way of putting something back into society. For further information about the author and her books, visit Headline and Martina's own website www.headline.co.uk www.martinacole.co.uk
**Other novels by Martina Cole**
Dangerous Lady (1992) The Ladykiller (1993) Goodnight Lady (1994) The Jump (1995) The Runaway (1997) Two Women (1999) Broken (2000) Faceless (2001) Maura's Game (2002) The Know (2003) The Graft (2004) The Take (2005) Close (2006) Faces (2007) The Business (2008)
**The book details**
Published in 2008 by Headline Press. Jacket price £18.99. Available from www.amazon.co.uk for £4 (used). 506 pages ISBN 975-0-7553-2865-9
Advantages: Another book from Cole Disadvantages: not a real page turner
Martina Cole - The Business…..
**The Book**
Martina Cole's latest novel entitled "The Business" is yet another book filled with the gritty, hard hitting seediness that is the London underworld. We go back in time to the late 70's and meet the Dooley family. Gerald Dooley SNR, head of the house, Mary Dooley the mother of three children, two sons and a daughter, Imelda. Imelda is the main charter throughout the book as we follow her life, which is ... ...this causes major friction within the family. Her father, Gerald SNR, cannot believe that his young and angelic daughter is already giving herself away to all and sundry and cannot hide his rage from anyone. Imelda soon comes up with a story that will get her out of trouble but put a lot of other people in far worse danger than she herself was in. Telling her father that the very boy she was sleeping with had indeed raped her seemed like a fool proof ...
newby2 10.12.2008
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Advantages: Another Book From Cole Disadvantages: Not a great page turner
MartinaCole - The Business?..
**The Book**
MartinaCole's latest novel entitled "The Business" is yet another book filled with the gritty, hard hitting seediness that is the London underworld. We go back in time to the late 70's and meet the Dooley family. Gerald Dooley SNR, head of the house, Mary Dooley the mother of three children, two sons and a daughter, Imelda. Imelda is the main charter throughout the book as we follow her life, which is bad from start to finish.
Imelda is trouble with a capital "T" and this is something that her family are soon to realise. Her sexually loose behaviour soon gets her with "a belly full of arms and legs" as MartinaCole so eloquently puts it, and this causes major friction within the family. Her father, Gerald SNR, cannot believe that his young and angelic daughter is already giving ...
Advantages: Great read Disadvantages: Hard to put down
This is the third book i have read of MartinaCole and again all i can say is brilliant, Dangerous Lady is good as Two Woman and The Lady Killer and now I want to read every single book of her. Dangerous Lady gives you a good insight and shocking view into the lives of Londons underworld. Very realistic, believable and not over the top.
MartinaCole has a good way to get you hooked and makes the read not just enjoyable but also makes you see and know the charactors and how they feel.
Dangerous Lady is about a young girl who has a strong love for her family, but also controlled by them which makes her rebel a little. The story is about how she struggles to cope with being female in a mainly male dominated world, she loses the man she loves and has to deal with her brothers and the family business.
A compelling and interesting read ...
Advantages: AN EXITING BOOK WITH A REALLY EXCELLENT TWIST Disadvantages: IF YOUR NOT USED TO THIS TYPE OF BOOK IT IS VIOLENT AND HAS BAD LANGUAGE
I PERSONALLY AT ONE TIME ALWAYS READ JACKIE COLLINS BOOKS, I ENJOYED THE DECRIPTIONS OF CHARACTORS AND THE MODERN LANGUAGE CONTENT AS I FELT IT WAS UP TO DATE. WHEN I'D READ ALL HER BOOKS I PICKED UP THIS ONE AND IT WAS MY FIRST BOOK I HAD CHOSEN TO READ BY HER.
WHEN I READ THE GRAFT, I WAS HOOKED, WHAT MADE IT EVEN MORE ENJOYABLE FOR ME IS THAT IT WAS SET IN ESSEX AND SURROUNDING AREAS, PLACES THAT I HAVE BEEN TO SO I COULD RELATE TO THE PLACES.
THE MAIN CHARACTOR IN THE BOOK IS CALLED NICK LEARY, A HARD GANGSTER TYPE AND THE BOOK IS WRITTEN AROUND HIS LIFE AND BUSINESS DEALINGS. YOU FIND WHEN READING THIS MARTINACOLE HAS WRITTEN IT IN A WAY THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND VERY QUICKLY ABOUT HOW YOU THINK AND FEEL ABOUT DIFFERENT CHARACTORS........THIS BOOK DOES CONTAIN ADULT CONTENT AND I IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY BAD LANGUAGE THEN ITS NOT ...
