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Highbridge
The dramatic novel from the writer and creator of Brookside , Hollyoaks and Grange Hill .
Three years ago, Janey Nolan was murdered in the centre of town. Today, no one knows who did it. Sick of waiting for the powers that be to rid the streets and school gates of dealers, druggies and parasites, Janey’s brothers want to avenge her death. While Sean decides to explore the routes and corridors of political power, Joey chooses more direct action in and among the alleys and pathways of the neighbourhood itself. But can the brothers find Janey’s killer without bringing more danger to their town? THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. THIS IS HIGHBRIDGE.
Three years ago, Janey Nolan was murdered in the centre of town. Today, no one knows who did it. Sick of waiting for the powers that be to rid the streets and school gates of dealers, druggies and parasites, Janey’s brothers want to avenge her death. While Sean decides to explore the routes and corridors of political power, Joey chooses more direct action in and among the alleys and pathways of the neighbourhood itself. But can the brothers find Janey’s killer without bringing more danger to their town? THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. THIS IS HIGHBRIDGE.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 5, 2018
Highbridge is the story of one murder and two brothers that are out for revenge. Janey took some money out from a cash machine as she was looking forward to an evening out with her sister in-law. Returning to her car she felt a shove and realised she was being mugged. She was run over. Janey never knew her killers. Three years on, nor did anyone else.
Phil Redmond was the writer for BBC Grange hill that was focussed on a school and what the kids did on their way to and from and between lessons. It was also about community. Phil also was a writer for Brookside where characters lived with a Scouse accent. In 1996 then Phil was a writer for Hollyoaks.
Highbridge is, once again, a typical Northern Town.
I loved watching Grange Hill and Brookside and I was rather Hoping that Highbridge had the same kind of flair to get hooked into Phil Redmond's novel. But for me personally I have to say that I thought this story was going to be good with reading the first two pages about Janey Nolan. But after the first two pages I found this book very hard to get in to.
Phil Redmond was the writer for BBC Grange hill that was focussed on a school and what the kids did on their way to and from and between lessons. It was also about community. Phil also was a writer for Brookside where characters lived with a Scouse accent. In 1996 then Phil was a writer for Hollyoaks.
Highbridge is, once again, a typical Northern Town.
I loved watching Grange Hill and Brookside and I was rather Hoping that Highbridge had the same kind of flair to get hooked into Phil Redmond's novel. But for me personally I have to say that I thought this story was going to be good with reading the first two pages about Janey Nolan. But after the first two pages I found this book very hard to get in to.
April 23, 2019
Listened to in audio format.
Highbridge is Phil Redmonds debut novel. I was excited to read this because I was big fan of Grange Hill, a ground-breaking drama about a London comprehensive. I also enjoyed watching Brookside about the resident's of Brookside Close.
The story started well, Janey Nolan visited a cash point before going on a night out. She was mugged whilst getting back in her car. the mugger then ran her over multiple times in his car and drove off. The person responsible was never found and police believed it was a drug related crime.
Janey had been married to Luke who worked in the Special Forces. His best friend was Janey`s brother Joey, she also had another brother called Sean.
Luke was still grieving for Janey and was set on punishing any other drug dealers in Highbridge. Bank rolled by Joey, Luke and his friend Matt also ex Special Forces started surveillance on a chip shop. The shop was actually a front for selling drugs. Sean had his own business, he also wanted revenge but preferred to do it by getting involved in local government.
The main problem was the story was structured like a script instead of a book. A couple of paragraphs may of about Joey and Natasha but then the scene would change to Luke and Matt watching the chip shop. It made the story confusing at first until I realised what was happening.
Phil Redmond always wrote about socialist issues. Highbridge was no different with his views on unemployment, drugs and immigration.
The story was just OK, but to honest if this had been a drama on TV I would of switched off. I only persevered because it had been written by Phil Redmond.
This book was not for me. However if Phil Redmond wrote another book that was not about unemployment and drugs I would try again.
Highbridge is Phil Redmonds debut novel. I was excited to read this because I was big fan of Grange Hill, a ground-breaking drama about a London comprehensive. I also enjoyed watching Brookside about the resident's of Brookside Close.
The story started well, Janey Nolan visited a cash point before going on a night out. She was mugged whilst getting back in her car. the mugger then ran her over multiple times in his car and drove off. The person responsible was never found and police believed it was a drug related crime.
Janey had been married to Luke who worked in the Special Forces. His best friend was Janey`s brother Joey, she also had another brother called Sean.
Luke was still grieving for Janey and was set on punishing any other drug dealers in Highbridge. Bank rolled by Joey, Luke and his friend Matt also ex Special Forces started surveillance on a chip shop. The shop was actually a front for selling drugs. Sean had his own business, he also wanted revenge but preferred to do it by getting involved in local government.
The main problem was the story was structured like a script instead of a book. A couple of paragraphs may of about Joey and Natasha but then the scene would change to Luke and Matt watching the chip shop. It made the story confusing at first until I realised what was happening.
Phil Redmond always wrote about socialist issues. Highbridge was no different with his views on unemployment, drugs and immigration.
The story was just OK, but to honest if this had been a drama on TV I would of switched off. I only persevered because it had been written by Phil Redmond.
This book was not for me. However if Phil Redmond wrote another book that was not about unemployment and drugs I would try again.
January 1, 2017
I have read a fair few books that have been written by people coming from the world of television; writers, producers, even actors and there are a couple of things that have stood out for me in the majority of these books. They are all visual in nature and they can also seem a little episodic. By these things I mean that it is almost like they have written a novel that would easily be transferred to the small screen. This isn't really the point of a novel really. Books and TV programmes are two completely different media. To treat them the same would be doing both an injustice. If you write a book with a transfer to screen in the back of your mind I believe that you are missing out on a lot of stuff that only works in print and that means that, in my opinion, the book can never be as good as it could be. Now, that's not true of all the books I have read by such aforementioned authors but it is, to me anyway, true in this case. I'll cite a couple of obvious examples and then finish my rant. The chapters are long, way long, Kind of the same length that an episode of a mini-series would be and contain the right amount of the story for one too. There are also scenes within the chapters, switching often between different groups of characters, again like an episode.
Ok so, rant over. Ignoring all the above, which was easy once I got used to the writing/delivery style the story was good. I was interested, happy to invest my time reading it and quite enjoyed it. Set in a Northern town, we follow two brothers and the ex-husband of a lady who was killed in what appeared to be drug or other crime related incident. They have all gone their separate ways and the incident has obviously changed them differently and the are all handling it in their own ways, along with their families in some cases. It's a lot more than just about revenge or vigilantism. It's about seeing what is wrong with society and putting it right. Mostly outside the law. It gave quite a bit of food for thought as the community depicted in the book is typical of a lot of communities and shares the same problems that people like me could come up against.
Characters were well drawn. Not surprising given the author's pedigree but I did find them to be a little stereotypical. They were also on occasion too physically described. Again probably a throwback from screenplay days. The emotions they were going through did come across as real, as did the interactions between them. I especially liked the minor players - someone's been people watching in small villages methinks!
The ending, well, in true TV series tradition enough was settled to satisfy but some was left ambiguous... series two anyone ?
All in all, a solid read which, at the end of the day ticked quite a few boxes. Would I read series two if it came out? Not sure. Depends on my backlog and what else I have to read. Not saying no, just not saying yes at the moment.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
Ok so, rant over. Ignoring all the above, which was easy once I got used to the writing/delivery style the story was good. I was interested, happy to invest my time reading it and quite enjoyed it. Set in a Northern town, we follow two brothers and the ex-husband of a lady who was killed in what appeared to be drug or other crime related incident. They have all gone their separate ways and the incident has obviously changed them differently and the are all handling it in their own ways, along with their families in some cases. It's a lot more than just about revenge or vigilantism. It's about seeing what is wrong with society and putting it right. Mostly outside the law. It gave quite a bit of food for thought as the community depicted in the book is typical of a lot of communities and shares the same problems that people like me could come up against.
Characters were well drawn. Not surprising given the author's pedigree but I did find them to be a little stereotypical. They were also on occasion too physically described. Again probably a throwback from screenplay days. The emotions they were going through did come across as real, as did the interactions between them. I especially liked the minor players - someone's been people watching in small villages methinks!
The ending, well, in true TV series tradition enough was settled to satisfy but some was left ambiguous... series two anyone ?
All in all, a solid read which, at the end of the day ticked quite a few boxes. Would I read series two if it came out? Not sure. Depends on my backlog and what else I have to read. Not saying no, just not saying yes at the moment.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
December 31, 2016
Three years ago Jane was killed by an unknown junkie, run over by her own car, and the effect on her family was devastating. Husband Luke is out for revenge on the drug dealers of Highbridge, ex-Army and accompanied by his friend Matt, the two are armed and dangerous and have the local drugs kingpin in their sights. Janey's two brothers, Joey and Sean, are also involved in different ways. Sean, a prosperous business owner works tirelessly for charity and wants to run for local Council to help clean up Highbridge. Joey, an electrician, has been working away in London to afford the lifestyle for his family but he has a secret, he has been colluding with Luke and now he has concerns regarding his daughter. Meanwhile local gangster Bobby McBain can't really not know what is happening in his town?
Phil Redmond has an excellent pedigree when it comes to hitting the (slightly left-wing) political zeitgeist, as a child of the 1980s I grew up with Grange Hill and Brookside. In Highbridge he has created a fictional town that sits somewhere between Manchester and Liverpool but is more industrial town rather than posh-Cheshire, a town that is beset by the modern day problems of drugs, immigration and local politics. However I found this book very hard to engage with and I can't explain why. In the end it was an exciting climax which leaves the way open for sequels yet wrapped up the main thrust well but I felt very manipulated - the drug dealers were Eastern Europeans, the child abusers mainly Muslim - it almost felt that the 'right' boxes were being ticked but it ended up being a cliche. My particular bugbear was that every item of clothing or possession was named in detail, not just the brand but the actual model, slightly irritating to put it mildly.
Phil Redmond has an excellent pedigree when it comes to hitting the (slightly left-wing) political zeitgeist, as a child of the 1980s I grew up with Grange Hill and Brookside. In Highbridge he has created a fictional town that sits somewhere between Manchester and Liverpool but is more industrial town rather than posh-Cheshire, a town that is beset by the modern day problems of drugs, immigration and local politics. However I found this book very hard to engage with and I can't explain why. In the end it was an exciting climax which leaves the way open for sequels yet wrapped up the main thrust well but I felt very manipulated - the drug dealers were Eastern Europeans, the child abusers mainly Muslim - it almost felt that the 'right' boxes were being ticked but it ended up being a cliche. My particular bugbear was that every item of clothing or possession was named in detail, not just the brand but the actual model, slightly irritating to put it mildly.
December 21, 2015
I was excited to read this book as Phil Redmond is a successful writer for TV and creator of compelling and long running gritty serial dramas such as Grange Hill and Brookside. This thriller has all of the boldness, confidence and grit of his television dramas but lacks some of the warmth. The visualisation of the fictional Northern town "Highbridge" is also lacking, which made the book difficult to get into. I'm glad I persevered because I finished the book wanting to spend more time with Joey, Sean and their families and friends, especially Hilary and the enigmatic Glynnis. There is more than enough material for a sequel as Sean gets into local politics and Luke "disappears" in true special forces fashion. I do wonder, however, whether a TV mini series (Breaking Bad v Scandi Noir) would have been a better vehicle for this drama than a paperback.
Read for Lovereading.com in exchange for an honest review.
Read for Lovereading.com in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2016
Sad to have to say so, as I have enjoyed Phil Redmond's TV shows, while the premise had real potential, it never really got going and even what was supposed to be the climax of the book was just a bit boring.
Parts of it read like a party political broadcast, which added a lot of history, but stopped any pace that was building in its tracks. A lot of threads were begun, but not followed up - I was just very disappointed by the time I had finished it.
Parts of it read like a party political broadcast, which added a lot of history, but stopped any pace that was building in its tracks. A lot of threads were begun, but not followed up - I was just very disappointed by the time I had finished it.
February 1, 2016
Good storyline. Gripping in places. Dragged on a bit and got a little predictive. But . good in general
Very different from PhilRedmond. Initially gripping. Good story but a little drawn out. I enjoyed it and would reccomend it
Very different from PhilRedmond. Initially gripping. Good story but a little drawn out. I enjoyed it and would reccomend it
June 29, 2017
Like many other reviewers, I gave up on this because I found it so confusing. It started well, but far too many seemingly minor character were introduced right at the beginning, and they didn't really appear to be moving the story forwards - especially the two teen girls.
December 19, 2015
Can't say much as it isn't published until January, Started off good, then took ages and ages to get into. :(
March 6, 2020
4 stars. Redmond's debut novel is an interesting read. The front cover blurb is a quote from the Guardian " A high octane journey through many touchstones of broken Britain." Redmond tells us the stories of brothers Joey and Sean and their brother in law Luke, in the aftermath of the murder of their sister Janey by a druggie. The police were never able to find the man who brutally killed Janey and her death has left Joey and Luke trying to rein in their thirst for revenge and Sean has his focus on other ways of changing his immediate world. But when Joey's daughter is threatened by a druggie with a knife, he and Luke start planning how to rid their town of drug dealers and keep the kids safe. A good read.
October 22, 2018
A gritty, gripping-read well worth taking the time to read! :)
May 21, 2016
I was really looking forward to reading this book as is written by Grange Hill and Brookside creator.
It seemed to have all the right things for a good read. “One murder, Two brothers, both out for Revenge.” Sounded good.
I was disappointed. Not sure if its because this is a proof copy that i've read but it lost me at times.
Reading about one of the family for instance Natasha & Joey and all of a sudden without warning the next paragraph was about someone else completely, for instance Luke and Matt. I found I was continually backtracking to see if id missed something as it didn’t make sense.
The idea was good but the actual writing of it left a lot to be desired. All in all a disappointing novel.
It seemed to have all the right things for a good read. “One murder, Two brothers, both out for Revenge.” Sounded good.
I was disappointed. Not sure if its because this is a proof copy that i've read but it lost me at times.
Reading about one of the family for instance Natasha & Joey and all of a sudden without warning the next paragraph was about someone else completely, for instance Luke and Matt. I found I was continually backtracking to see if id missed something as it didn’t make sense.
The idea was good but the actual writing of it left a lot to be desired. All in all a disappointing novel.
Read
February 4, 2016Gave up around 100 pages. Not great.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews