Betrayal by Martina Cole

Betrayal by Martina Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - on and off over 4 days

Pages - 480

Publisher - Headline

Blurb from Goodreads

It's all down to who you trust. Aiden O'Hara has been head of the family since he was kid, and he's going to keep it that way. Jade Dixon is the one who watches his back. Mother of his son. The one who makes him invincible. But Jade's been in the game a lot longer than Aiden. She knows no one's indestructible. And when you're at the top, that's when you've got to watch the hardest. Especially the ones closest to you ...


My Review

Aiden O'Hara has always looked out for his family, ever since he was a wee laddie. His mother has something of a reputation and many children to different fathers. Aiden is fiercely protective and soon makes himself a name with the local face. Drugs, prostitution and murder are all things Aiden finds himself caught up in but it pays the bills and keeps his family safe. However as Aiden's reputation grows his arrogance and unpredictability grows with it turning Aiden from protector to a possible danger to his family and business.

I took ages getting to this book as it has taken a fair amount of slating on many book clubs, for a while fans have commented on Cole's book just not being a shadow of her former works. I still enjoyed this one, it starts pretty much from the first chapter, each chapter is relatively short in length making perfect for dipping in and out of. It has elements of her previous books although I agree that with fierce competition from writers such as Chambers & Mitchell there does seem to be a spark missing. You have loyalty, violence, family, relationships, sex, swearing, murder, drugs, prostitution and warning, even child abuse within this one. Not for the easily offended and if you haven't read Cole before I would recommending starting with her earlier work.

If you like gritty estate gangster style books you will like this one, it has a bit of just about everything in it. I didn't like how interchangeable some of the characters became, they start off with strict principles but fast forward X amount of time later and they have a complete switch. Yes people change especially with circumstances but in a few instances I felt it was more about moving the story than fitting to the actual character. 3/5 for me this time, read Cole before and I would read her again. Whilst I think the later stories have something less than her original books I still think many Cole's fans will enjoy this offering.

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