Product Description

Looking back, Nick Leary couldn’t say exactly what kept him awake that night. It might’ve been the oppressive heat, or the distant rumble of thunder. He’d had a lot on his mind; perhaps he’d been thinking about the ‘respectable’ Essex business that he ran, or about his two young sons sleeping in the room next door. Or was it simply the sound of his beautiful wife’s steady breathing beside him…Whatever it was, he was awake when he heard someone’s footsteps downstairs, and Nick’s instinct was to fight. It had always been that way, to protect the things he treasured most: his family, his privacy, his reputation. He’d grafted for these things all his life and no one was going to jeopardise them now. Unless, of course, Nick’s instinct is wrong, and what happens this time is the start of something even he cannot stop…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14724 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 688 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Is The Graft up to Martina Cole’s usual standard? The unarguable success of her sizable tally of crime novels must be a source of envy to other practitioners. Almost from the beginning, she has gleaned praise for her gritty and pungent fiction. Even the very ordinary TV adaptations of such books as Dangerous Lady stripped no lustre from her reputation, when novels as good as The Know flowed from her pen. Her prose style is always pared down and vivid--which is, thankfully, still very much the case with The Graft.

Nick Leary is having trouble sleeping, what with sultry heat and business and family problems weighing on his mind. His wife is sleeping beside him, when he hears a noise downstairs--and soon he has to decide how much violence he will use to defend his home and family. The decision he makes is to change his life forever. Nick and his wife are taken to the very extremes of human behaviour--and he is obliged to decide how high a price he will pay to keep what he values most.

As ever, Cole exerts an effortless grip throughout her unsettling narrative. We’re used to her exuberantly characterised heroines, but the beleaguered Nick shows that’s she’s just as on-the-nail with her male characters. The edgy plotting has the kind of no-nonsense handling that is Cole's métier. Perhaps a touch more psychological strip-mining of her protagonists would have deepened her achievement, but what the hell--all the right buttons are pressed here.--Barry Forshaw

Synopsis
Looking back, Nick Leary couldn't say exactly what kept him awake that night. It might've been the oppressive heat, or the distant rumble of thunder. He'd had a lot on his mind; perhaps he'd been thinking about the 'respectable' Essex business that he ran, or about his two young sons sleeping in the room next door. Or was it simply the sound of his beautiful wife's steady breathing beside him! Whatever it was, he was awake when he heard someone's footsteps downstairs, and Nick's instinct was to fight. It had always been that way, to protect the things he treasured most: his family, his privacy, his reputation. He'd grafted for these things all his life and no one was going to jeopardise them now. Unless, of course, Nick's instinct is wrong, and what happens this time is the start of something even he cannot stop!

About the Author
Martina Cole was born and brought up in Essex. She is the bestselling author of ten novels set in London's gangland, and, as well as her latest hardback, her most recent two paperbacks have gone straight to No. 1 in the Sunday Times on first publication.

Customer Reviews

BORING!!!!!
I think Martina has got lazy as certain phrases and thoughts of characters popped up a thousand times. Boring, badly written, repetative and glad to get to the end.

blah blah blah rubbish
I've enjoyed reading some of Martina Cole's other books, even if they are very similar and repetitive. However this book is absolute rubbish. I gave up after reading nearly 200 pages and waiting for something to happen. Its boring, repetitive and with no storyline whatsoever. This really is the worst book she has written. After wasting my time with this effort I'm not sure that I'll even bother reading any more of hers. The other reviewers were right ... don't bother. Even giving this one star is too generous.

It was disappointing ... "and she knew it"
Martina tells a great story and this is as gripping as the others. However, I got to the point of feeling I wanted to SCREAM if I read "and he knew it", "and she knew it" or, to vary it a bit, "and they both knew that" one more time. For god's sake get the editor to fix this on the next one, PLEASE!! Lynne Truss would also have a field day with the punctuation in some of the speech. Another annoying thing was the "blah blah blah, even as he/she blah blah blah" usage. Call me anal, but this stuff stood out a mile and spoiled what was otherwise a brilliant, thought provoking tale.