The Take

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.

Author Biography

Martina Cole is the acknowledged queen of crime drama with over twenty novels to her name, of which over a dozen have been No.1 bestsellers.

Several of Martina’s novels have been adapted for the screen, including The Take and The Runaway which were shown on Sky 1 to remarkable reviews. In addition, Two Women and The Graft have been adapted for the stage; both were highly acclaimed when performed at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, which also staged Dangerous Lady in 2012, celebrating twenty years since Martina’s debut novel was published.

Martina Cole is a phenomenon. She continues to smash sales records with each of her books, which have sold thirteen million copies. In 2011 Martina surpassed the 50 million sales mark since records began and was the first British female novelist for adult audiences to achieve this – and she has spent more weeks in the No. 1 slot on the original fiction bestseller list than any other adult novelist. Her hard-hitting, uncompromising and haunting writing is in a genre all its own – no one writes like Martina.