Review - The Make by Jessie Keane

The Make by Jessie Keane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Publisher - Harper

blurb from Goodreads

Murder, loyalty and vengeance collide in Jessie Keane's gritty fourth novel.


Life is good for Gracie Doyle – running her Manchester casino keeps her busy. Until the police turn up at her door one day and her world is turned upside down. She is given news that her two estranged brothers have been viciously attacked. George is in hospital on a ventilator and worringly, Harry is missing.


Gracie has no option but to leave the good life and dip her toe into the murky waters of her East End past. She leaves for London in an attempt to avenge her brothers and in doing so uncovers some unsavoury secrets about the lifestyle they've been leading. Their little games have got them into big trouble with the wrong people…


She must keep her wits about her and try to find Harry, or it could prove fatal…



My Review

Gracie Doyle is our main character and where the story starts off. She runs her own Casino in Manchester and life is good. The police inform her that her estranged brother is on a ventilator and may not survive after a vicious attack whilst her other brother is missing. Gracie receives her own threats and heads to London to see what her brothers have been up to and dragged her into. Soon she realizes that this is serious and begins to do some digging before she becomes the next target.

I have to be honest, I have enjoyed Jessie Keane's last two books I read but this one was quite a struggle. It starts off fairly quickly with enough to grab your attention but I just felt it was slow going in a lot of places. It starts present day in December with Gracie, then skips into the recent past to cover Harry and George, her brothers, and what happens with them to lead up to recent events.

When things kick off it does hold your attention but really that is all, I struggled between giving this a 3 or 2 star rating. I finally went with a 3 star as it is a decent read but I feel it does pale in comparison to her other work I have read and enjoyed. I will read her other work as I do enjoy her writing style but if your just about to try this author I would start with another book, 3/5 for me this time.

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