The Know by Martina Cole

The Know by Martina Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Pages - 629

Publisher - Headline

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Joanie Brewer' s children meant the world to her. She'd do anything to protect them, even resorting to prostitution and petty crime in order to feed and clothe them. So when her beautiful teenage daughter is raped and murdered, only one thing will stop Joanie's pain - seeing her daughter's killer brought to justice. Joanie knows who he is and she'll do whatever it takes to nail him...7


My Review

This one has some hard hitting themes, from the opening prologue you learn a child has died and been the victim of a predator. There are quite a few references to deviants so just a heads up not for the faint hearted. Joanie is working in the world's oldest profession, a lady of the night. Her oldest son is starting to make a name for himself and coming into his own with all things within the criminal world. Her eldest daughter has absolute middle child syndrome and is acting out trying to find her place and who she is. The youngest Kira is the antithesis of them all, sweet, innocent, loved and adored by them all well maybe not Jeanette so much (middle child) but even she can't keep up being mad at the wean.

The story has many dark themes, sa, murder, rape, violence, drug dependency, absolute deviants so you can imagine how seedy things get. The language can be pretty offensive and some of it not used nowadays but reflective of the characters and their time/place. Racism and white supremacy rears its ugly head in this one too so something to really grate on and hate many characters for.

When you think things couldn't get any worse, Cole keeps you on your toes and keeps shocking and bringing it. If you have read her books before you know what to expect. Short chapters and if you want a break from your own reality and sinking into shady characters and all manners of skulduggery, this is as good a place to start as any. It is a standalone too, 4/5 from us but proceed with caution, it is pretty shocking.

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