Alex the Book Reviewer

    This is my first Jackson Brodie experience, book or tv. And, to be honest, I'm left a tiny bit confused. Ok, so I enjoyed it. As a stand alone novel, it was fine. So, am I right in thinking that Jackson Brodie is a detective who does detecting? Only, because, he doesn't in this book. At all. He's sort of involved by accident and coincidence. And that's it. He's like a sideline character in a series of events. I thought it would be darker too. Which is weird given it's about a sex trafficking gang. I can't 100% pinpoint this feeling, when I think back on it. It's not like they characters were all rolling in the aisles with joviality but somehow they just didn't feel dark or threatening either. Quick summary - Vince, Stephen, Andy and Tommy are friends. Stephen, Andy and Tommy traffic girls from around the world and sell them to sex gangs. They have ties to an old sex-gang of the rich and powerful, the ringleaders of which are now in jail but dying...

  The story follows the life of Barbara Parker who dreams of leaving 1960s Blackpool behind becoming Lucille Ball. Which, of course, she does. I mean, she becomes Sophie Straw but you know what I mean. She moves to London and very quickly gets a part in a new sitcom, one written especially for her no less. The sitcom becomes a huge success. I swear, I had to check dozen's of times whether the sitcom was real or not and whether Barbara Parker /Sophie Straw was a real person. It's written so convincingly and refers to so many real life people/ programmes/ events that I was absolutely discombobulated! I loved the whole 60ness of it. I do love the 60s in popular culture generally. It always seems like such a positive hopeful time.  And Sophie is such a great flawless character. You can't help but really like her and want her to succeed. I must read the most miserable books because I kept expecting the worst the whole way through! It'd be an excellent play, it sort of feels ...

  Genuinely one of the best thrillers I've ever read. Done so cleverly and no stupid behaviour from any of the characters which is actually quite unusual in thrillers. Elissa gets kidnapped and locked in a basement. A boy starts to visit her and seems like he wants to help her but not free her. And it's obvious she's not the first one in this situation. Gradually more and more about the boy is revealed and nothing at all is as it seems. Everything from beginning to end in the book is excellent. All reveals are done perfectly bit by bit. And even better, they all make sense! Nothing feels forced. Elissa is a great character. She's clever, a chess player and therefore great at strategising which helps her in dealing with Elijah. There are twists and turns I didn't see coming at all. I mean, I didn't even see that there were going to be twists and turns until they suddenly happened! The detective wasn't the main character, I mean it didn't feel like a detec...