ARC - The Trap by Kimberley Chambers

The Trap by Kimberley Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 3 days

Blurb From Goodreads

The heir to Martina Cole’s crown with a story of murder, the underworld, violence and treachery.

The Butlers are the kings of the East End

Vinny and Roy Butler are the apple of their mum’s eye. Queenie knows they can play dirty, but when it comes to family they look after business and make her proud. Nothing and no one can bring them down.

Brotherly love

But Vinny seems to have crossed the wrong person and his cards are marked. And with the brothers joined at the hip, Roy may just be in the firing line too…

Deadly rivals

One bloody night sets Vinny on the path of desperate vengeance, but will the Butlers emerge stronger than ever, or is the East End code of honour as good as dead?


My Review

A pair of villains that would give the Krays a run for their money. Chambers introduces Vinny and Roy Butler, tall, dark, handsome and notorious in their own right. The boys are getting everything they want and nothing or no one will stand in their way. Family means everything to the Butlers, their mum knows and to some extent encourages the boys lifestyle. Everyone knows what goes around comes around and one night when all should be filled with joy, the past catches up with the boys. Will the family stick together and come out triumphs or will retribution destroy them all?

Ah I loved this book! There is more to the family than Roy and Vinny but for a large portion of the book they are the main characters although Michael, the other brother, starts to come through strong. It is a story about strong family values amongst violence, murder, prostitution, sex, scandal and villainy. The story is split across an eleven year period and starts off in the mid 1960s. I love when a book is set in a time period and is researched well, from what they wore and drove to the music that was popular and played.

There is a mix of relationships, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, nephews, marriages and budding romances. There is a lot of coarse language, some graphic scenes and the usual skulduggery you would expect to find in an East End gangster style book. Had work and studies not got in the way I could have easily devoured this in one sitting. My only moan is how it ended, I was left hanging thinking what the hell, this is how it is going to end? However I have since been informed the other book is in progress as I type and they say a good author should always leave the reader wanting more, which it certainly has in this case. 5/5 for me for this one and I cannot wait for this next installment to be completed and available. This book will be out on Valentines day, 2013 from any good retailer for £6.99, paperback. Thanks so much to HarperCollins for sending me an ARC, I will be making a wee stop to Waterstones to get some more of Chambers work as this is only the second book I have read.

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