Born Evil by Kimberley Chambers

Born Evil by Kimberley Chambers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken to Read - 1 day

Publisher - Preface

Blurb from Goodreads

June Dawson has come a long way from the rough East End background where she met, got pregnant by and eventually married charming, reckless Johnny Fuller. Now she lives in leafy Rainham, in a nice little cul-de-sac, with her ultra-respectable second husband and a lovely social life.

Then her world collapses when daughter Debbie announces that she is pregnant by her low-life, drug addict boyfriend, Billy McDaid. June feels as though she is being physically sucked back into the world of villains and thugs she thought she had escaped for ever.

But worse is to come. Much, much worse. The baby - doted on by his violent, feckless dad - grows into the child from hell: mean, sadistic and out of control. Suddenly the family is not just in crisis. It is in meltdown.


My review

You know when you pick up a Kimberley Chambers, Mandasue Heller or Martina Cole book you know what your going to get. Crime, swearing, relationship dramas, violence and usually sex of some description and your never let down. Debbie is our main character, it starts off with her telling her mum about her unplanned pregnancy with a rather undesirable character bringing shame on the respectable household. Debbie won't listen to reason and runs off with Billy, she knows life will be perfect. The story follows her shocking reality and the harsh truth of her step fathers words about her man and now she has made her bed, she must lie in it.

I started this last night before bed and was only going to read a few chapters, 100+ pages in and after 1am I was still reading. The characters are rough, aggressive and swear like troupers, you don't have to think too hard about the plot as your sucked into their grimy world and all the drama.

Some of the story is quite shocking, these characters are for the most part undesirable and Charlie, Debbie's child, has echoes of Kevin from Lionel Shriver's book. He makes for a very unlikeable character, somewhat like his father however he has darker and viler depths. I hated most of these characters but not in the way you want to stop reading, more you would like to throttle them. I did have a soft spot for Mickey, although he is a criminal, into illegal activities, swears like a fish wife he has a heart of gold and a strong sense of family loyalty. The book ended a wee bit premature for me, I wanted it to keep going and they say an author who keeps the reader wanting more is doing their job. I just hope miss Chambers is going to do a sequel to this book sometime, 4 out of 5 for me this time.

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