Close - Martina Cole

Close
Martina Cole
Grand Central

Crime Fiction

When Patrick Brodie meets young factory worker Lily Diamond in 1960s London, he knows he’s met someone special. Never mind that she’s fifteen and he’s near thirty. They’re married a year later and Lil begins raising their family. Meanwhile, Patrick is working to further his career by whatever means necessary. Eventually, he manages to eliminate the previous underworld bosses and installs himself in their place. Of course, this makes him a new target. After he’s murdered in front of his family, it’s Lil who keeps the family together, who runs the home and the family. When Patrick, Jr. is old enough, he follows in his father’s footsteps, continuing the cycle of crime, retribution, and family.

If you like English crime thrillers at the movies, you’ll enjoy this novel. It follows the Brodie family and their many associates from the 60s through the 90s. There’s a lot of graphic violence and language, as would be expected. A peculiarity of this sort of story is that there’s really no one to like. Each character has his or her own selfish motives, commits crimes, cheats, steals, murders, or hits children. And that’s just the way life is for them. They don’t live in our PC times, and they do what they feel they must to survive and keep control of whatever it is they have. I wouldn’t want to live this kind of life, but it makes for very interesting reading.

Rating: 7 ½
July 2008
ISBN# 978-0-446-17996-6 (hardcover)