Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #563330 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 376 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lock's novelisation, Blood Ties: The Life and Loves of Grant Mitchell is an attempt to explain 10 years of Grants quirky behaviour. It has the avid fan in mind but will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for any reader. Beginning with the blossoming friendship between Grant and Sharon way back in the eighties, it continues right up the rocky marriage with Tiffany in the Summer of 1998.

Apparently we can blame Grant being sent to the Falkland Islands and killing a boy not much older than himself for his violence and volcanic temperament. But is Grant really a hard shell filled with a marsh-mallow interior; a scared, insecure, babbling wreck who just needs some tender loving care or is his motivation more sinister? To many viewers, Grant has a serious complex about opening up and trusting women; this fault often manifests itself into a fist, alcohol abuse or the urge to seek out other women.

Should we love Grant or hate him? The answer is for the reader to decide. Television journalist Kate Hunt uses her experience to great effect. We have the evidence of Grant's actions both from the screen and the reinforcement of the book. However through this text, Lock takes the reader one step further and attempts to explain why Grant did what he did and still does what he does. This is a book no frequenter of "The Square" should be without.--Jon Smith

Synopsis
A novel which chronicles facts about the character Grant Mitchell that are already known to viewers of the television soap opera, "EastEnders". It also explores his background, including Falklands War service, in an attempt to explain the source of his aggression and vulnerability.

Customer Reviews

this book is fab!
When i was given the book i thought it was going to be awful, but it was great. i really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good read.

Brilliant re-creation of ten years of Grant Mitchell
This book is a must-read for any fan of EastEnders. Author Kate Lock has true empathy, not only for Grant Mitchell but for all the other characters, and covers an amazing amount of ground. The only thing that was hard to get used to is that, because of the amount of time spanned, the non-Grant story lines are often summarized in a few paragraphs (e.g., events like Eddie Royle's murder and Michelle Fowler's decision to leave Walford). But this allows Lock to explore Grant, Phil, Sharon, Peggy, Kathy, and Tiffany in detail. The book also helped explain a few things that took place before I started watching the series.

Now that Ross Kemp (Grant) has left the show, I hope Lock writes a sequel that ties things up -- I'd be the first to buy a copy!

Inside looking out
Well I'm in the very last chapters of this book and I'm afraid I can't put it down. It really does bring back some memories of the last ten years. This is the first eastenders book that I've read and I'm glad that I picked this one as I think the charater of Grant Mitchell is brilliant. This is a must for any fan of the show, it realy does show Grant in a true light good, bad, happy or sad a real touching novel.