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The Life
by
Martina Cole
The most authentic novel of gangster family life ever written, from the No. 1 bestselling author.
The Bailey brothers are gangsters determined to make their mark in the world. Peter and Daniel are chalk and cheese in many ways - Peter's calm exterior belies his ruthless nature, while Daniel's penchant for spectacular violence is legendary - but together they are unstoppable...more
The Bailey brothers are gangsters determined to make their mark in the world. Peter and Daniel are chalk and cheese in many ways - Peter's calm exterior belies his ruthless nature, while Daniel's penchant for spectacular violence is legendary - but together they are unstoppable...more
Hardcover, 512 pages
Published
September 13th 2012
by Headline
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Well I'm sorry to all my fellow Martina cole lovers out there but I have to agree with some of the previous reviews here. How bloody disappointing! When I first came across ms Cole's books when I was about 17 I thought they were fantastic. Thrillers that took you into a grimy underworld of gangsters, criminals and took you places no other author has dared before exploring subjects abhorrent yet intriguing I used to find I couldn't read for a few days after finishing one of her books as they dist...more
Not sure how I ended up with this book, I'd never heard of the author and it doesn't fit my usual book genres. Nevertheless, it was a good read. In brief, this book follows the life of a family of criminals over the course of 30 years or so. A few memorable things:
* The language is very 'English'; that means the vocabulary is a bit foreign but the cool thing on my iPad was being able to instantly see the definition. Now I know what ponce, lairy, and nous all mean! Yes, it's slang, but it's real...more
* The language is very 'English'; that means the vocabulary is a bit foreign but the cool thing on my iPad was being able to instantly see the definition. Now I know what ponce, lairy, and nous all mean! Yes, it's slang, but it's real...more
1 like · like · see review
Martina Cole, a legend in her own right. However, the question of whether she still 2has what it takes" is something that's bandied around a lot recently. As much as I am loathed to admit it, I can see why the negative comments come around. The problem with us readers is that we are a finikity bunch, who expects authors to continually churn out a 5 star read every year without fail. When you actually stop to think about it Martina Cole has been writing since 1992 which is an astonishing 20 years...more
4 likes · like · see review
Time Taken To Read - 3.5 days
Blurb From Goodreads
The Bailey brothers are gangsters determined to make their mark in the world. Peter and Daniel are chalk and cheese in many ways - Peter's calm exterior belies his ruthless nature, while Daniel's penchant for spectacular violence is legendary - but together they are unstoppable. From the late seventies they rule London's East End and, when their sons join the business, it seems that no one can touch the powerful Baileys. Although it's never easy...more
Blurb From Goodreads
The Bailey brothers are gangsters determined to make their mark in the world. Peter and Daniel are chalk and cheese in many ways - Peter's calm exterior belies his ruthless nature, while Daniel's penchant for spectacular violence is legendary - but together they are unstoppable. From the late seventies they rule London's East End and, when their sons join the business, it seems that no one can touch the powerful Baileys. Although it's never easy...more
Unsure what to think of this book. If it was a Mandasue Heller novel it'd probably be five star going by some of her work, but for Martina (despite recent years), you expect a lot more. When I read The Faithless I noticed three things, the short chapters, the lack of dialogue and the fact that Martina starts at least one sentence per page with 'That' e.g. 'That he knew his days were numbered', 'That she could be taken for a mug was shocking' etc. It's almost as annoying as authors using 'he/she...more
May 21, 2013
Sonja Yates
added it
After reading Two Women this book is dull, I will finish it though...
This book wasn't a bad read but def not as good as her earlier stuff but better than The Business. The book started off well and typical Martina she goes into detail with her characters which I love but as the story developed the characters went off the boil and I didn't like the way that they were portrayed and there were others introduced and then not developed which I found annoying. For me the ending was disappointing and seemed rushed. Glad I didn't spend 10 quid when it was released.
I've read every Martina Cole book and was really looking forward to reading it. My only criticism is that I felt it was padded out in places unnecessarily. The characters had depth and I really cared what happened to them. The plot is excellent and this book is well worth a read.
I am loving the family dynamics in this book. Like most martina cole books, it centres very much on the family and loyalty. It was meant to be my hospital book for when i gave birth to my son but i was too ill to read (had a traumatic time) so i am enjoying it now x
I enjoyed this book but I did find it very repetitive. We were shown the characters thoughts a little too much to the extent that it slowed some of the action and dialogue and repeated itself. Some of the points were rather laboured and the epilogue could have been half the length. Not as good as her early work.
I have to disagree with some of the previous comments because I thought this book was fabulous. I have read every single Martina Cole book and this is in my top 5.
Well done Martina for yet another fantastic book!
Well done Martina for yet another fantastic book!
A story about The Life in the east end gangland. Two brothers and the families and how they live and deal with their children who go into the firm. Martina back to her cracking best. Good holiday read.
Im a big fan of Martina Cole books, and I really enjoyed it, however it's not as good as her early books. Still a good read though, and I do recommend it!
I do love Martina Cole books, but...... Are they becoming a bit "samey" now? 2 brothers end up going at each other because 1 is far more unstable than the other..... 2 wives, one who knows she is in "The Life" the other who is oblivious, and only faces reality when it goes all "Pete Tong".
Don't get me wrong, it was an enjoyable book... It just was a little too predictable to get anything more than 3 stars!
Don't get me wrong, it was an enjoyable book... It just was a little too predictable to get anything more than 3 stars!
This martina cole book wasn't really like the others but it was ok can't believe how it turned out with the family and this book makes you think that you can't trust your own family it was a good book but it really didn't get me going like the other books at all
Very long .I found she was repeating sentences just in different ways to pad out the book .Think I have given up with Ms Cole now ,All her story lines are repetitive with just different names IMO
It's a one sitting kind of book....well when your stuck in the sticks for so long you need something to 'kill' time.
A good read, but abit too much like her other book's, felt like i had read this one before
These books r not what they used to be. I started it on Christmas Day and with Martinas older books I would have finished them in a day r two while this one took 2.5 months! Not as gripping and by the end I was still confused as to who was in who's family
Just completed gripping read till the very end . This comes highly recommended !!
Jun 17, 2013
Joanne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
purchased-in-june-2013
I'm pleasantly surprised with 'The Life'.
A refreshingly good read fast flow & interesting.
I'm a fan & just can't help awarding Martina 5 stars - deservingly I might add!
A refreshingly good read fast flow & interesting.
I'm a fan & just can't help awarding Martina 5 stars - deservingly I might add!
The best from martina. If you like the close you will love this
Excellent as per usual!!
Not a bad read.
Loved it
Didn't enjoy it until two thirds into it.
Big disappointment
Big disappointment
Good read. Read in a couple of days, ok storyline.
kool
Same old, same pld
Loved this book. Story about the biggest crime Family in London. Page turner. Highly recommended for crime lovers.
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Martina Cole was born and brought up in Essex. She is the bestselling author of fourteen novels set in London's gangland, and her most recent three paperbacks have gone straight to No. 1 in the Sunday Times on first publication. Total sales of Martina's novels stand at over eight million copies.
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Feb 21, 2013 06:07pm