Even if you like easy-reading novels. Even if you enjoy "summer reads." Even if you are a die-hard Cole fan. Do not read this book. Or forever bathe in your own wasted time of badly written words and a weak storyline. finally, i’d just like to point out that the author (a white woman) used a racial slur for no visible reason, where it could be easily omitted.

As a massive fan of Martina Cole books and having read/loved the previous Kate Burrow books 1 to 3, I couldn't read to lose myself into this fourth story featuring DI Kate Burrows. I couldn't understand the characters or the motivation behind their actions at all and I was simply bored through major part of the book.

No Mercy

BETRAYAL is the second book of Martina’s I have read (I read THE TAKE early last year) and I cannot wait to devour more of her titles. There’s something about the raw, grittiness of the worlds she creates that pulls you in and pops you right in the middle of it. Not sure what anyone else has been reading, but there was no suspense, no drama, and anyone should be able to work out who the perpetrator is by about half way through the book.

Betrayal is purely and simply the everyday story of criminal folk, from 1981 until 2016. They are a large East End family, headed by Reeva, a fiery Irishwoman, who has five sons and one daughter, all by different fathers, and all of mixed blood. This brings me on to my final point. The misogyny. This book is rife with it. Women in this book are only written as respectable on the condition that they do not wear makeup, are not sexually active beyond a rigid set of perimeters, and definitely do not have a facebook account. The vast majority of young women in this book are slated as disgusting wrongdoers who have made a huge mistake that will tarnish their name for the rest of their lives if, god forbid, they have consensual sexual involvement with a boy of the same age. The protagonist is disgusted with these girls' application of makeup as if these two are even correlated? It makes no sense what is inferred from these and related aspects in the girls lives, the views (along with the language) were archaic and did not fit; useless in the present day and the present book.

Damaged

I have read all Martina’s books listed above and now that I am retired I am going to read them all again – love love love them !! I am going to admit this: I am in two minds over Betrayal. I enjoyed the story and kept listening to the audiobook, but at the same time, I can't help but think that I had read this story before... I opened this book expecting to be pleasantly surprised by this "family" - like perhaps all my preconceptions of what the book would be about would be debunked. But all my predictions were correct, and even then I was disappointed by the writing.

It was worth the wait & I didn't see the twists & turns coming & getting to the end made me emotional for some reason. Joseph/Bella and Christina – I am not going to say too much about these except I found Joseph to be a bit weak in his inability to be a man and make a choice. Bella is one crazy b*tch! Loved how that storyline panned out! 😱 and poor Christine – right place, wrong time in life….that is all I am going to say about that! Example - every time Pat Kelly meets up with Danny “boy” we’re told how much Danny looks up to Pat an how he’s old school, around 10 times maybe more. The same with Margaret, yes ok we get it she’s a computer whizz kid but why does it have to be talked about 20 times ?!?I hated everything about this book. The characters, several generations of an Essex crime family, are all deeply unpleasant and carry out one atrocity after another. They're superficially glossy and care more about flashy cars and designer kitchens than about anything else. They're gangsters who are considered all right as, whatever else they do, they love their old Mum. There isn't any investigation ( The crime is solved by someone spilling the beans ) . Just side stories that are repetitive. The glorification of a gangster. A predictive plot. Too much drinking and lots of swearing. Wow! The killer is one messed up mofo! Nothing will sway the killer’s view that what they do is for all the right reasons- everyone else’s fault – the victim’s are “asking for it” SCARY!!

If you like Martina Cole and have been waiting for this book you will love it but take a breath every once in a while as it is hard going in places with the realism Whoa! Have I read a different novel that this one users rated 3 stars with? This book is horrible! I managed to read 25% of this book and decided that it's not getting better. All Reeva's children work for “the firm” - it is impossible, under Aiden's rule, for any of them to work honestly. The one exception is the youngest, Agnes. She is a good girl, beautiful and bright. She is devoted to her Catholic faith, and attends Mass twice daily. When Aiden finally marries and has a son, she devotes herself to looking after him, and seems not to want a life of her own.It’s similar to her earlier novels like faces , and the take. It’s a great plot, with strong characters and lots of blood, violence and gang warfare to keep you interested throughout. Ultimately you believe the story is about that fierce loyalty of family but sometimes pride and jealously can be the strongest emotion. Excels at school but instead of academics, Aiden is taken under the wing of his mother's boyfriend Tony and is introduced to Eric Palmer a legend in East and South London and a reputation not to mess with. I love it when the bad guys get their comeuppance; taste even sweeter when the victims hold the cards. Reeva O'Hara has to fight for everything.....she had her first child at 14 and by the time she hits her early twenties she has already produce a further 4 children.