Maura means war. (Maura's Game - Martina Cole)

Member Name: Ayesha-`

Product:	Maura's Game - Martina Cole
Date:	30/05/09 (84 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thrilling, memorable and intelligent

Disadvantages: Violent, full of swearing and may hurt or offend some

This is a sequel, and I must admit I have not actually read the first book, so when I started to read this one, I had no idea what had already happened. You pick up on what happened in the first book very quickly, but I think this will mean that the book (and probably this review) will be a spoiler for the that. I would much have preferred to read these in sequence, so if you've not read the first book and might want to, I'd strongly advise you to read that first.

Story

Maura Ryan, in her mid-forties, is thrown back into the world of gangstarism and violence, after hoping she had left it all behind for good, when her partner is killed by a car bomb, meant for her. Then the killings of the wives of other big crime names occur, and appear to be attempts to frame her family as the perpretrators. Even Ryan women are targeted. The victims were not directly involved in criminal activites of gangs, and for Maura, and many others, this is seriously crossing the line. Only not everyone believes in the Ryans' innocence. War is on to clear the Ryan name and take revenge for the attacks on them, before the family name and reputation are destroyed, along with their businesses and even more lives.

For a while, I thought this was going to be nothing but a book about violence, sex and men going on the rampage to get attention and big reputations. I thought it would be full of ignorant rubbish to be honest, and was briefly confused by why a woman would write something like this, when it even is filled with sexist images and starts out portraying the non-violent women as foolish and feeble. After hesitation, I continued to read, and slowly started to realise what Martina Cole was actually doing. She writes from the viewpoint of her many characters and each time there is a new event, I saw something different. Had I not continued reading, I would not have realised that she actually gives a really visual and emotionally powerful account of the ripple effect of every small action from the start. Nothing is really forgotten, and you start to realise this when the story develops more twists. It became increasingly interesting, and even with the rather sadistic behaviour described to the point of being cringeworthy, it was not just about all the big boys with their guns. It has just as much about families and friendships, trust and principles. Cole's book is actually very intelligently written, and quite inspiring.

Characters

One of the biggest strengths I felt this book had was the way in which she developed the characters, with personalities like roller coasters that take sudden and often unexpected turns. There are loads of characters in this book, and a lot of interaction crammed in. Not all of the characters are as colourful, and one or two I had to remind myself about, but the ones that are more developed really make the book worth reading. Some key characters are:

Maura, the heroine of the book and centre of all interactions. She is described very well in the book and seems quite unpredictable, although we don't see much action from her in comparison with others. I imagine much of her activity would have been in the previous book. It is hard to work out what she will do next at times, but this just adds to the suspense and excitement in the book. The other females in this book are often showed as very badly treated and foolish, always forgiving their cruel partners at the expense of more decent souls. The women, often not as weak as they appear, generally give an eye-opener, however, on the true impact of violence, aside from its immediate effects. This, I found fascinating.

Brother of Maura, Garry, is someone I hated when he was first introduced, because he seemed like nothing but a spoilt woman-hater and violence lover, but where there's room for improvement, there is always that possibility. Just how much he changes in this book is left to your own judgement at the end. Maura is hoping Garry can be the next top dog, but first she needs to be sure he has what it takes.

Another key terror to look out for is Benny Ryan, Maura's nephew. Along with his Indian sidekick, Abul, he goes around putting the fear of God into random people, and boy does he know how to with his signature eye-glueing technique! Again, he loves his violence, and it seems, just for the sake of violence, rather than for some real cause. He sounds heartless, but will he sober up before he burns every bridge?

Structure, language and writing style

The book is separated into books 1 and 2, then broken down into chapters and nicely sectioned out. It was a very easy read, and in spite of myself, for the first time in a long time, I found it hard to put down. When I did it was usually easy to get find a good point in the book and story to stop reading. There are lots of cliffhangers at ends of sections and chapters, which also made this easier.

I didn't get tired reading it or lose my place much at all, and that for me is a first. If you don't read often, and you don't get offended easily, this is a brilliant book to get you going. Although you may need to set aside fair chunks of time to finish it. In spite of the large number of characters to learn about and different things going on, the straightforward language made it easy to follow what was happening and why.

One thing I was really not happy about in this book was the excessive level of swearing. To be fair, people these days do swear a lot, but not so often the "f" or "c" words, which are used much too heavily in this book. If you are offended by swearwords - as was my poor mum - you will probably chuck the book after a few pages, if that. Personally, I can just about tolerate it, but it does get irritating and quickly loses any effect it is meant to have when used this much.

Also, when I say violence is descriptive, I mean it. I half expected detailed sex scenes, but there were none. The violence served its purpose but it has to be pointed out that if you are not prepared to hear about torture and some pretty horrific murders, this is not a book for you. Thankfully, violence is not the only thing that Cole describes so well, and you can picture a lot of these characters so well that they could have been new characters on Eastenders! In terms of appearance, she is slightly more vague, but in terms of personalities and atmospheres, you can imagine and feel them almost precisely.

Conclusion

This book simply cannot be recommended to everyone, because of its highly offensive and often descriptively violent content. However, if you can see past that, and are interested in crime fiction this is a particularly good read, and probably unforgettable. I'm not sure I would read it twice, but I rarely would read a book twice anyway, given how slow I am, unless I didn't fully understand it the first time, and this one I understood perfectly. When I started reading, I got through the first chapters and actually nearly put it away because I didn't like the mysogeny and coldness displayed. Then I picked it up again, because I wanted to know what would happen next, and I didn't regret that at all. So, if you can, do persevere with this one. The book is not perfect, but it is worth it.

Summary: The Ryan family are out for revenge, and the game is on.