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The Take
by Martina Cole Headline. Pages 505. £ 6.00.

Freddie Jackson thinks he owns the underworld when he gets out of prison. He’s done his time, made the right connections, and now he’s ready to use them. His wife Jackie just wants her husband home, but she’s forgotten the rows, the violence, and the girls Freddie can’t leave alone. Bitter, resentful, and increasingly unstable, Jackie watches her life crumble while her little sister Maggie’s star rises. In love with Freddie’s cousin Jimmy, Maggie is determined not to end up like her sister.

Families should stick together, but behind closed doors, jealousy and betrayal can fester until everyone’s life is infected. And for the Jacksons, loyalty cannot win out. Because in their world you can trust no one. In their world everyone is on the take. Highly acclaimed for her hard-hitting, uncompromising and haunting writing, as well as her phenomenal number one bestselling success, Martina Cole is the only author who dares to tell it like it is.

Tenacious
by Julian Stockwin, Hodder and Stoughton Pages 346. £ 6.90.

GUNS guts honour ambition and death. Thomas Paine Kydd is in Halifax enjoying the recognition and favour of his fellow officers when Tenacious is summoned to join Horatio Nelson’s taskforce on an urgent reconnaissance mission.

Intelligence suggests the French Revolution is about to set the Mediterranean ablaze, but Bonaparte’s fleet is nowhere to be found. Nelson and his ‘Band of Brothers’ begin a desperate search for him. Kydd’s newfound ambition fuels his desire to be at the forefront of the hunt. But with power comes responsibility, with responsibility, accountability. Friendships are tested, lives are lost, and the war is a long way from being won. Kydd will face his greatest challenge ever amidst bloodstained seas. And defeat will mean humiliation - or death.

Brand New Friend
by Mike Gayle Hodder and Stoughton Pages 344. £ 6.90.

WHEN Rob’s girlfriend asks him to leave London and live with her in Manchester, it means leaving behind his best mate in the entire world. Believing that love conquers all and confident that he’ll meet new mates, Rob takes the plunge.

Six months in, and yet to find even a regular drinking buddy, Rob realises that making friends in your thirties can be the hardest thing to do. With drastic action needed, his girlfriend places an ad in the classifieds. Three excruciatingly embarrassing ‘bloke dates’ later, he’s on the verge of despair... until his luck changes.

There’s just one problem. Apart from knowing less than nothing about music trivia, football and the vital statistics of supermodels, Rob’s brand new friend has a huge flaw. She’s a girl.

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