Danny Cadogan has suffered. There is no other way to
describe the pitiful position that the 14-year-old Danny is
put in when his father hides out from gambling debts. This
cowardice on his father's part places Danny in the position
of protecting his family from the hoodlums who come to
collect the debt. And protect his family is exactly what
Danny does. This single act takes Danny down a long path of
corruption and criminal acts that lead to the creation of a
psychopathic bully who creates his own reality to serve his
needs.
Danny starts off small, working for an elderly junk man.
The junk yard is a front for more nefarious crimes and when
the time is right, Danny's boss introduces him to this
path, which leads Danny, in a few short years, to be a
Face. Danny brings in his best friend, Michael, to be his
money man. Michael is an intelligent young man who has a
head for figures. Together, these two young men move
quickly up the ranks of faces. Their "I want it now"
attitude hurls them forward to the top of their game.
Danny marries Michael's sister, Mary, but is incapable of
love. He only knows how to degrade and beat those around
him. His warped mind starts to create his own reality where
everyone is out to get him or needs to be put in their
places on a constant basis. In the end, Danny has alienated
all those who crazily love him, and his decisions are so
disastrous, the only course of action is to take him out.
Martina Cole is a master at skillfully creating the
characters in FACES. Following the lives of Danny, Michael
and the other characters as they grow up and showing their
pain and suffering in a world that is not fair does not
justify their behaviors, however, lends an understanding of
just how environmental factors blended with personalities
can take someone in many directions. FACES contains over
650 pages. Personally, I felt there was a bit much
repetition in explaining past events that were already laid
out in the story, so I wanted to rush through those
paragraphs. I already knew the events that led to Danny's
warped mindset, and I already knew the upbringing of all
the characters in the story, so reading about it over and
over throughout the story got a little old for me.
Otherwise, I think FACES is a worthwhile read.
From international bestselling author Martina Cole comes a
gritty, gripping, and utterly unforgettable new novel set in
the heart of London's criminal gangland.
Just
before Danny Cadogan's fourteenth birthday, his father
leaves. Having drunkenly run up a gambling debt he cannot
pay, Big Dan Cadogan takes the wrath of the men sent to
collect the debt. Determined to protect his mother, brother
and sister, something changes in Danny and, overnight, he
turns into a young man set on making his way in a violent
and dangerous world.
And so, with his childhood
friend, Michael Miles, providing the brains behind the
operation, Danny Cadogan becomes a Face. Not just a Face,
but the most feared Face in the Smoke. Out for all he can
get. At any cost.
But Danny's ruthlessness on the
streets of London doesn't stop at his front door. He rules
his wife, Mary, and children with an iron will -- and his
fists. But if Mary breaks her silence, it could shake
Danny's criminal empire; right to the very core. And for a
Face at the top of his game, there's only one way to go.
Down. Because, after all, debts can be paid even
without money.
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