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When Julie Quinley wakes up after a night out with friends to find herself accused of murder, it proves to be only the beginning of her worst nightmare. Released by the police due to lack of evidence, Julie nevertheless faces the taunts and hostility of colleagues, as more and more people – including members of her own family – seem convinced she is a cold-hearted killer. Just when it seems as if all hope has gone, and Julie's mental state reaches rock bottom, her friend Vinny announces a breakthrough; something he has witnessed that could prove Julie's innocence once and for all. But the police remain unconvinced, and Julie and her friends find themselves having to take bigger and bigger risks to collect the evidence they need to nail the culprit. Will they be in time to save an innocent woman from being convicted of a crime says she didn't commit? Or will a ruthless killer get away with murder?
Book 1 in this gritty Manchester crime trilogy. When your enemies get close, family loyalty is all you can trust. Brother and sister Peter and Adele Robinson never stood a chance. Dragged up by an alcoholic, violent father, and a weak, beaten mother, their childhood in Manchester only prepared them for a life of crime and struggle. But Adele is determined to break the mould. She studies hard at school and, inspired by her beloved grandmother Joyce, she finally makes a successful life for herself on her own. Peter is not so lucky. Getting more and more immersed in the murky world of crime and gangs, his close bonds with Adele gradually loosen until they look set to break altogether. But old habits die hard, and one devastating night, Adele is forced to confront her violent past. Dragged back into her worst nightmares, there's only one person she can turn to when her life is on the line – her brother Peter. After all, blood is thicker than water...
She's got her street family but who can she trust? TWO SISTERS ALONE Sophie and Kelsey have always had each other. When their mum is diagnosed with cancer and their dad fails to step up, they're forced to move into the care system. But Sophie knows they'll be okay as long as she's there to protect her sister. ONE FINAL CHANCE But when Kelsey is found a foster family and Sophie can't join her, Sophie's left in an unsafe situation in the home, forced to do things against her will. Finding her own foster family feels like a relief, but it's short lived when her trust in her new foster parents is betrayed. NO GOING BACK With nowhere to turn, Sophie finds herself homeless. But when she finds her ...
Adele Robinson is in prison, convicted for the murder of her abusive father. Her brother Peter is building his criminal empire on the outside, but when he gets involved in a bloody turf war it's only Adele who can help. Book 2 in the gritty trilogy which started with Born Bad.
Five years after the traumatic events witnessed by Rita and Yansis in Manchester, the couple finally agree to return with their young son, Daniel, to attend her brother John's wedding to the beautiful Paula. But memories are long on the Riverhill Estate, and when Daniel goes missing, Rita realises she has many enemies with a motive for taking her child. Once more she faces a race against the clock to unmask the perpetrators, but this time she has help in the shape of her Special Task Force brother, John. John has his own – very personal – reasons for being so deeply affected by Daniel's disappearance; a scene he witnessed in the war in Iraq means he is prepared to risk everything he holds dear, including his reputation, to track down his sister's son.
When Adele's brother, Peter, gets banged up for GBH she reluctantly agrees to run his nightclub, The Golden Bell. Strong opposition from Peter's thuggish number two, Glynn, who isn't best pleased about answering to a woman, isn't the only challenge she faces. The Manchester club scene of the 1990s is a dangerous place, at the mercy of illicit protection rackets and rampaging gangs, and, despite Adele's efforts to keep everything legal, the club is beginning to feel like a poisoned chalice. Meanwhile, Glynn is playing his own ruthless game, and when a savage gang attack has devastating consequences Adele is ready to walk away. But Peter has always stood by her and she owes him big time. Besides, where else would an ex-con find work? And someone has to protect her brother's empire from his enemies. Right now, Adele knows she is the only one that Peter can trust, but the stakes may soon get too high...
Can she save him from himself? Growing up in one of Manchester's roughest council estates, teenager Mark (Macca) McNeil's life seems already written for him until together with mates Todd, Spinxy, Shay and Leroy they decide to commit to a life of crime and form a gang to make a name for themselves. This is the ticket out he has been waiting for but then, there is Joanne. They come from the same estate but she is a good girl, heading places. She loves his lavish gifts and the life he is promising her but she doesn't want to see what Macca is capable of. And if she does, what will Macca choose, love or money? The gang once saved him but now will it destroy everything else?
It's 1991, and Rita is looking forward to her return to Manchester after a few years in Greece with her husband Yansis. But once back she finds a cuckoo in the family nest – a dope-smoking 'businessman' called Leroy. Worse, he is her sister Jenny's boyfriend, and father of her unborn child. Rita and Yansis retreat to stay with friends Julie and Vinny, now living in a comfortable suburb of the city. But Rita is anxious to find out just what hold Leroy has over her family, and she'll stop at nothing to find out. The more she learns about Leroy, the more she realises her family are playing a very risky game. Rita's quest is pitting her against some of the most ruthless men in a very dangerous city, but ultimately she knows it is up to her to expose the truth, whatever the consequences might be.
With a mother unfit for purpose and a brother who despises her, working girl Amber can rely on no one but herself - until the meanest pimp in Manchester, Kevin Pike, offers her his protection.
'Wow!!... captivated from the beginning, couldn't put the book down... kept me on the edge of my seat through the twists and turns, ups and downs... incredible.' Netgalley Reviewer, ***** Growing up in one of Manchester's roughest council estates Mark (Macca) McNeil's life seems already written for him until joining forces with rough boy Todd Brown to form a gang offers him a way out. He is finally changing his life but then, there is Joanne... She is more than a fling and although they come from the same estate she is heading places. She loves his lavish gifts and the life he is promising her, but she doesn't want to see what Macca is capable of. And when the gang leads him down an irrevers...