Close - Audio

by: Martina Cole; read by Nicola Duffett

Published by: Hachette Audio

Reviewed by Michelle Kerns

From Pat Brodie Junior’s earliest memories, he’d been taught that, “in this world—their world anyway—it was all about the survival of the fittest.” His mother, Lily, felt agreed: “People thought that violence solved nothing, and they were right. But she also knew that sometimes rough justice was all that people like her had left.” Close has plenty of rough justice in this raw and compelling glance at the ugly underbelly of Britain’s organized crime.

The father Patrick Brodie, is as ruthless and cold-blooded a crime leader as he is tender and loving towards his family–the many children and the mother, Lily, whose love, tenacity and courage binds them together. We follow the Brodies from Patrick’s early beginnings in the criminal underworld, to his marriage to Lily, to his rise to the top of the crime totem pole, then to his precipitous and tragic fall. Left alone with five children, Lily makes her own precarious way in the criminal world until her oldest sons, Pat Junior and Lance, are old enough to take over the “family business” and force the underworld to again respect the Brodie name. The children’s quest climaxes in a conclusion that is both satisfying and emotionally devastating.

Narrator Nicola Duffett does a stellar job in the abridged audio version. Her husky, intense vocals give energy and believability to every accent from working-class prostitute to Jamaican to upper-class snob. With her convincing job with the various characters, it is difficult to imagine them speaking differently than how she performs them.

However, since Cole writes about the criminal underworld as realistically as possible, don’t take this audio book along on a family drive: profanities are sprinkled liberally throughout, and many characters inventively using curse words as nouns, adjectives, and verbs, sometimes all in the same sentence. Some brutal murder/torture scenes may seem to be unduly violent, and the dialogue includes a number of sexual references crass enough to make most adults cringe.

Although you may find the Brodie’s way of life distasteful, it is impossible not to like—even to admire—their courage and resiliency against the worst possible odds.

Armchair Interviews says: Close is a raw, powerful work that gives a compelling look at the criminal world.

Author website: http://www.MartinaCole.co.uk