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Liberty Chapman #1
Taking Liberties
Liberty Chapman had a difficult childhood. The oldest of four kids, she tried to protect them from their violent father until one day he murdered their mother and got sent down.
What was left of the family rattled through the care system, bouncing from foster placement to care home. Liberty would have probably ended up on drugs, or dead, or worse if it hadn't been for a ballsy solicitor who told her to get her act together.So that's what she did. She kept her nose clean, got an education.
And look at her now. New name, new accent, new town. The past is far behind her and she's concentrating on her own legal career. She has a Porsche, a house in Hampstead... and then one morning her boss asks her to do a favour. He wants her to go to Leeds, to get an important client's son off an assault charge.
But Leeds is in Liberty's past. And once she hits town, the past slaps her in the face... and pulls her back into what she worked so hard to leave behind.
What was left of the family rattled through the care system, bouncing from foster placement to care home. Liberty would have probably ended up on drugs, or dead, or worse if it hadn't been for a ballsy solicitor who told her to get her act together.So that's what she did. She kept her nose clean, got an education.
And look at her now. New name, new accent, new town. The past is far behind her and she's concentrating on her own legal career. She has a Porsche, a house in Hampstead... and then one morning her boss asks her to do a favour. He wants her to go to Leeds, to get an important client's son off an assault charge.
But Leeds is in Liberty's past. And once she hits town, the past slaps her in the face... and pulls her back into what she worked so hard to leave behind.
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Paperback
Published August 24, 2017
44 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 30, 2025
*3.5 stars*
This is the story of Porsche-driving Liberty Chapman, an up and coming solicitor in a law firm. The company is about to make a lot of money through a lucrative merger. Liberty wants in on the deal and is ready for the challenge. Unfortunately, there is a problem which her superior, Ronald Tate, wants her take care of. The son of a millionaire website owner involved in the merger has been arrested for assault in Leeds, Yorkshire, which is the city that Liberty left behind, doing her utmost to forget a nightmarish childhood.
If Liberty Chapman had stayed in Leeds, she would probably have ended up on drugs, dead or worse. Thanks to a meeting with a sympathetic solicitor who put her on the right path, she got an education and a new life. Visiting the past might only lead her to a place she does not want to go.
Liberty encounters people like kind hearted solicitor Raj Singh, a local man who knows the system, hardworking police officers Sol Connolly and Amira Hassani, various thugs, strippers, drug addicts and prostitutes as well as her estranged siblings, Jay, Frank and Crystal. Her job is not going to be anywhere near as simple as she first thought.
The story barrels along at a steady pace, interweaving 1986 and Liberty’s childhood with the present day and we begin to see where Lib’s strength comes from. Little by little I begin to empathise with Liberty and her family. It’s quite an exciting read full of interesting characters with real lives, some shocking moments and a whole lot of street language. It all has a certain air of authenticity because Black is obviously drawing on her background as a lawyer and her work with children going through the care system before turning to writing. And write well she does. A good thriller which is worth a read.
This is the story of Porsche-driving Liberty Chapman, an up and coming solicitor in a law firm. The company is about to make a lot of money through a lucrative merger. Liberty wants in on the deal and is ready for the challenge. Unfortunately, there is a problem which her superior, Ronald Tate, wants her take care of. The son of a millionaire website owner involved in the merger has been arrested for assault in Leeds, Yorkshire, which is the city that Liberty left behind, doing her utmost to forget a nightmarish childhood.
If Liberty Chapman had stayed in Leeds, she would probably have ended up on drugs, dead or worse. Thanks to a meeting with a sympathetic solicitor who put her on the right path, she got an education and a new life. Visiting the past might only lead her to a place she does not want to go.
Liberty encounters people like kind hearted solicitor Raj Singh, a local man who knows the system, hardworking police officers Sol Connolly and Amira Hassani, various thugs, strippers, drug addicts and prostitutes as well as her estranged siblings, Jay, Frank and Crystal. Her job is not going to be anywhere near as simple as she first thought.
The story barrels along at a steady pace, interweaving 1986 and Liberty’s childhood with the present day and we begin to see where Lib’s strength comes from. Little by little I begin to empathise with Liberty and her family. It’s quite an exciting read full of interesting characters with real lives, some shocking moments and a whole lot of street language. It all has a certain air of authenticity because Black is obviously drawing on her background as a lawyer and her work with children going through the care system before turning to writing. And write well she does. A good thriller which is worth a read.
October 23, 2017
Took me a long time to get through this book, I do like Helen Blacks books but don't think it was one of her better ones
February 13, 2021
Oops - another crime series to get into. I can't remember why I picked this one up - must have read a recommendation elsewhere. Anyway, an entertaining read, full of druggies and club owners, and surprisingly, a solicitor who has shrugged off her past, the story of which is unravelled in counterpoint to the main plot, and found herself sent back to where it all began, to extract an acquaintance of her principle from an assault/rape charge in Leeds. Unsuspecting, she lands in the middle of the bosom of her equally disadvantaged siblings, and under the suspicious gaze of a determined muslim constable and a cynical DI, with whom she ends up having all manner of adventures as she tries to rescue her dropkick of a brother. Porsches and luxury contrast with sleeze and the drudge of living a tough life. Nothing is simple, no one is innocent, and everything is bent. A tidy read.
July 4, 2022
I have read quite a few of Helen Black books, and they are always gritty, and great to get your teeth into, this one is no exception.
Liberty Chapman is doing ok, she’s a new woman, with a new name, climbing the legal ladder, a fancy house in Hampstead, yeah life is good,until one morning her boss asks her to go to Leeds to get a clients son off an assault charge, that’s when it starts to go tits up!
Liberty grew up in Leeds…and her childhood if you can call it that, was rough, moving around from different foster homes, dragged through the care system, it’s a life she wanted she escape from, and now she’s back…
Yes it’s a page turner.
Liberty Chapman is doing ok, she’s a new woman, with a new name, climbing the legal ladder, a fancy house in Hampstead, yeah life is good,until one morning her boss asks her to go to Leeds to get a clients son off an assault charge, that’s when it starts to go tits up!
Liberty grew up in Leeds…and her childhood if you can call it that, was rough, moving around from different foster homes, dragged through the care system, it’s a life she wanted she escape from, and now she’s back…
Yes it’s a page turner.
September 30, 2017
I enjoyed this book, Liberty like many people started life in a poor family background. Worked hard and created a wonderful life for herself in London. When she went back to her hometown Leeds on business, the past raises it's ugly head. The characters are well developed and there are many surprises. Read and Enjoy.
July 2, 2019
I didn't dislike this book, but I wasn't blown away with it either. I thought the plot was slightly lacking, and I found my concentration slipping at times, but Liberty's back story kept me intrigued enough to keep turning the pages.
December 16, 2018
A good read about a woman made good but then having to face her past. We'll written and looming forward to reading book 2 about Liberty Chapman.
February 23, 2019
A different style to her other books. I can't wait to get the second book. I loved it 😀
October 6, 2019
Brilliant. right onto book 2 for me now.
March 6, 2020
Great book
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have read a few but this author but this one was very good. I can't wait till read the second instalment
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have read a few but this author but this one was very good. I can't wait till read the second instalment
October 26, 2020
Really enjoyed this book! A brilliant ending! Setting up perfectly for the next book which I'll be reading at some point! I've read several of Helen's books and highly recommend both series!
March 27, 2025
Liberty Chapman has a successful, high-flying career, a Porsche, and a House in Hampstead. Her success as a lawyer has bought her many things, but she cannot escape her past. Even her name isn’t her own.
Her boss asks her to travel to Leeds, the son of an important client is in trouble, but Leeds is a part of the life that Liberty has told no one about. The time in care, looking after her mother, her violent father, and three younger siblings, a life heading nowhere fast. She doesn’t want to be reminded of her past, it is not where her future lies, but it is where her present is headed.
The story is well told, set both in 1984, in Liberties childhood, and the present, she relates tales of two different lives, lived by the same person.
The book is both a thriller and a family saga. Liberty meets up with her estranged family and re-connects with them in their dysfunctional present, beset as they are by petty crime, and drug and alcohol addictions.
The crime story that follows the family is both visceral and well-described. Liberty, and Raj Singh, another solicitor, find themselves in the orbit of Brixton Dave and his gang of enforcers.
This is not a story for fans of light fiction, although there are elements of humour and pathos as Liberty reconnects with her family and sees that the place she escaped from still has a strange pull for her.
The book moves at a cracking pace, with three-dimensional, believable characters and a plot that moves logically to a shocking but fitting denouement. Helen Black has spent time as a Lawyer, so the fact that it stands together as a legal story also adds to the book's character. This is not the author’s first book, and the strong sense of story-telling, and believably human central characters, full of pathos, resilience and regret means that this is a story that gives the reader plenty to think about.
Her boss asks her to travel to Leeds, the son of an important client is in trouble, but Leeds is a part of the life that Liberty has told no one about. The time in care, looking after her mother, her violent father, and three younger siblings, a life heading nowhere fast. She doesn’t want to be reminded of her past, it is not where her future lies, but it is where her present is headed.
The story is well told, set both in 1984, in Liberties childhood, and the present, she relates tales of two different lives, lived by the same person.
The book is both a thriller and a family saga. Liberty meets up with her estranged family and re-connects with them in their dysfunctional present, beset as they are by petty crime, and drug and alcohol addictions.
The crime story that follows the family is both visceral and well-described. Liberty, and Raj Singh, another solicitor, find themselves in the orbit of Brixton Dave and his gang of enforcers.
This is not a story for fans of light fiction, although there are elements of humour and pathos as Liberty reconnects with her family and sees that the place she escaped from still has a strange pull for her.
The book moves at a cracking pace, with three-dimensional, believable characters and a plot that moves logically to a shocking but fitting denouement. Helen Black has spent time as a Lawyer, so the fact that it stands together as a legal story also adds to the book's character. This is not the author’s first book, and the strong sense of story-telling, and believably human central characters, full of pathos, resilience and regret means that this is a story that gives the reader plenty to think about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews