Showing results by author "Martina Cole" in All Categories

Dara Tailor has had to grow up fast. With a mother addicted to cocaine, Dara must look after her seven younger siblings, until social services split them up for ever. Grace Perry has led a sheltered life. Until her widowed mother is attacked and left for dead and Grace is taken into care. At Holly Brookes Children's Home, the two girls unite in the face of horrific abuse and form an unbreakable bond of loyalty. But when their loyalty is tested can they rely on each other to do the right thing? Friendship - it's all about trust.

Danger and violence have always been part of Sue Dalston's East End upbringing. Unloved by her mother, abused by her father, and brutalised throughout her entire marriage, she smashed her husband's skull in a final act of desperation. All that keeps her sane knows that she's done it to protect her four children. At last, they are safe from harm. When she is celled up with murderess Matilda Enderby, their fates become inextricably linked. And no one - least of all Sue - could have predicted the consequences...

Maura, the Ryan clan's youngest and only daughter, is the last person anyone expects to take on gangland London. But with her eldest brother Michael by her side she fast becomes the queen of organised crime. Smart, tough and beautiful, no one is a match for her. But with power comes a price, and Maura is forced to put her heart on the line. She might be a dangerous lady but everyone has a weakness....

The gripping story of life on the inside and the outside of one of Britain's toughest prisons. Donna Brunos worships her husband and is devastated when he is jailed for armed robbery. Georgio swears he's been set up and persuades Donna to help him escape. Implementing 'the jump' takes Donna into a twilight world she never believed existed - a world of brutal sex and casual violence.

Hard live. Hard Lessons. It's murder on the streets. When a prostitute's body is found lifeless, mutilated and brutally raped, DCI Annie Carr has never seen anything like it and never wants to again. Kate Burrows, retired DCI now consultant, has plenty of experience when it comes to murder - after all she caught the Grantley Ripper and broke the biggest pedophile ring in the South East. She is determined to help put the killer behind bars.

Diana Davis has been head of the family business since the death of her husband, an infamous bank robber. She's a woman in a man's world, but no one messes with her. Her only son, Angus, is a natural born villain, but he needs to earn Diana's trust before she'll allow him into the business. Once he's proved he has the brains to run their clubs in Marbella, he is given what he's always wanted. It's the beginning of a reign of terror that knows no bounds. 

In the sixties, Briony Cavanagh ran a string of the most notorious brothels in London. Only Briony knew what went on behind those doors, and she never opened her mouth - unless she stood to benefit. Only Briony knew the painful road she'd travelled to get there. From an impoverished childhood that ended with shocking betrayal, she was determined to be mistress of her own fate. But along with success came risk and danger. And the Goodnight Lady had her own secret place that was always shadowed by loss.

The twenty-second novel from Sunday Times number-one best seller Martina Cole, author of Dangerous Lady, The Take, The Good Life, and many more.... Playing grown-ups, the future is theirs for the taking. Sharon Conway and Lenny Scott are childhood sweethearts.

Being in the know can be deadly. Joanie Brewer's children mean the world to her. She'd do anything to make sure they're fed and clothed - even if it means going on the game - and she lives in constant fear that one of them will be taken from her. Eighteen-year-old Jon Jon is knee-deep in crime, and Jeanette, only fourteen, knows more than is good for her. But it's Kira who really scares her, for in a world where no one is to be trusted, her eleven-year-old angel is the most vulnerable to danger. Then Kira disappears and Joanie's darkest fears are realised. She thinks she knows what's happened to her little girl, and her obsession to uncover the truth threatens to destroy them all.

The new novel from Sunday Times No.1 best-seller, Martina Cole, sees the return of her iconic heroine DCI Kate Burrows. If you liked The Ladykiller you'll love Damaged. The 'undisputed queen of crime writing' ( Guardian) and the biggest selling female crime writer in the UK, Martina's unique, powerful storytelling includes Dangerous Lady, The Take, Betrayal and many more.

George Markham has a nasty little hobby, one that erupts into an orgy of viscous sexual depravity. Patrick Kelly is a hard man. His one soft spot is his daughter, and when she falls victim to the Grantley Ripper, Kelly wants revenge. The DI in charge of the case is Kate Burrows. She feels for Kelly but her growing involvement with a known villain is putting her career at risk...

DI Kate Burrows thought she'd never face a killer like the Grantley Ripper again. But she was wrong. One by one, children are being abandoned. Thankfully, they're rescued from harm. Then one victim is not so lucky, and Kate knows she's in a race against time to save lives. Kate's finding the case tough and she needs the support of her lover, Patrick Kelly, more than ever. But Patrick's got his own problems. A dead body's turned up in his Soho club and, although he insists he's been set-up, Kate begins to doubt him.

The Business is a tale of drugs, prostitution, and a young girl's fight for survival - against all the odds. Imelda Dooley is scared. She's played hard and fast and now she's been caught. She's pregnant and now she's on her own. Her father, not a man to mess with, will see that somebody pays for this. And it's not going to be her. So Imelda Dooley tells a lie. A lie that literally causes murders. When Mary Dooley's husband is killed in the night's events, she knows she must graft to keep the family afloat. And graft she does.

The best things in life are never free. Cain Moran wanted Jenny Riley more than he had ever wanted anyone or anything before in his life. But loving Jenny Riley was the easy part; it was telling his wife he wanted a divorce that was going to be the killer.... Jenny is not just any girl. She cares nothing for Cain's hard-man reputation - she just wants to be with him. But Cain is not a free man. And he's about to find out that when his wife Caroline said 'til death us do part, she meant it.

Just before Danny Cadogan's 14th birthday, his father leaves. Having drunkenly run up a gambling debt he cannot pay, Big Dan Cadogan takes the easy way out, leaving behind his wife and children to face the wrath of the men sent to collect the debt. Determined to protect his mother, brother, and sister, something changes in Danny and overnight, he turns into a young man set on making his way in a violent and dangerous world. He becomes a Face. Not just a Face, but the most feared Face in the Smoke.

Michael Flynn is untouchable in a world of power, money and violence. He fights for what he wants and he takes it, whatever the cost. He learns the rules of the life from the best, and when his mentor, legendary Face Patrick Costello, is taken out, no one questions that Michael Flynn is his natural successor. For Michael, loyalty - and crime - pay. Michael Flynn rises to heights beyond anything the criminal underworld has seen. He owns everyone, and he rules his empire with an even but fierce hand. No one would dare challenge him. 

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And your family should be closest of all. Patrick Brodie knows exactly how far he's prepared to go to get what he wants. And he wants it all. Now. Before long, Patrick has become a legend in his own lifetime. Violently. Lily Diamond is different from the kind of woman Patrick is normally attracted to. But together they are determined that their children will have everything they didn't. Until the unthinkable happens, and Lily is left on her own to look after their family in a dangerous world.

When Cathy Connor and Eamonn Docherty are thrown together as children in the East End their fate is sealed. Cathy's miserable life as a prostitute's child changes forever when she's forced into care. The ordeal that follows leaves her with no choice but to run away to Soho, and she learns to survive in the violent heart of London's underworld. Meanwhile, Eamonn, who fled to New York, has gained a reputation as a ruthless villain.

The Bailey brothers are gangsters determined to make their mark in the world. Peter and Daniel are chalk and cheese in many ways - Peter's calm exterior belies his ruthless nature, while Daniel's penchant for spectacular violence is legendary - but together they are unstoppable. From the late 70s they rule London's East End, and when their sons join the business, it seems that no one can touch the powerful Baileys. Although it's never easy at the top; there is always someone waiting to take you down....

Gabby looked at the woman she had hated nearly all her life. Then she sat down on the ladder-backed chair, put her face into her bloodied hands and cried. To the outside world, Cynthia Tailor is a woman to envy; she has a devoted husband, a lovely home and two gorgeous children. But Cynthia is deeply unhappy with her lot; she has always craved the best things in life, and is determined to see that she gets them.