This book was sitting on my shelves for a while before I got around to reading it. I bought it by mistake one day - thinking the title said The CRAFT, not Graft lol. Someone else described it as a brutal story and I have to agree but it is a SLIMY brutal story too. The back streets of the London crime scene (described often in their terminology which I had problems understanding at times). Rent boys, drugs, beatings, murder - it has it all. Not the most comfortable read but I did see it through to the end - found myself fascinated to see what was coming next. So the whole concept was "OK" but it jolted me out of my usual sci-fi/fantasy world and it was an interesting read, hence 3 stars instead of 2 :) ( )

Die britische Bestseller-Königin Martina Cole erzählt eine erschütternde Geschichte von Schuld und Sühne: Ein erfolgreicher Geschäftsmann erschlägt einen jungen Einbrecher. Zu seinem Entsetzen stellt er fest, dass dieser ihm einst sehr nahe stand. ( )

Martina Cole is a big name in the crime thriller genre had she misfires here, with an unnecessarily lengthy story about a burglar murdered in a rich man's house. There is great potential from such a strong start, however it is quickly bogged down with the introduction of a myriad of characters, every one of them unlikeable. Each character has there own vice and the Cole ensures the reader gets to share their misery; The Graft is pretty bleak. The downside is there are far too few opportunities for hope and eventually it becomes a grind, a persistent narrative of drugs, sex and perversion. Without the glitz, or possibly a better writer, it becomes dull. There is a good enough story in there, with some interesting twists, however the total void of decent folk make this a bit of a downer. ( )