I’m thrilled to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for the incredible and thought provoking Never Be Broken by Sarah Hilary. Thank you to Anne Cater for the invitation and to Headline Books for my copy of this brilliant book.
About the book:
Children are dying on London’s streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the heart, outside a corner shop. Others recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London’s lost.
Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She’s thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of town. And she’s white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.
DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela’s case and Frankie’s too. But he’s facing his own turmoil, and it’s becoming an obsession. DI Marnie Rome is worried, and she needs Noah on side. Because more children are disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it’s too late.
NEVER BE BROKEN is a stunning, intelligent and gripping novel which explores how the act of witness alters us, and reveals what lies beneath the veneer of a glittering city.
About the author:
Sarah Hilary’s debut novel, SOMEONE ELSE’S SKIN, won Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and was a World Book Night selection. The Observer’s Book of the Month (“superbly disturbing”) and a Richard & Judy Book Club bestseller, it has been published worldwide. NO OTHER DARKNESS, the second in the series was shortlisted for a Barry Award in the US. Her DI Marnie Rome series continues with TASTES LIKE FEAR (2016) QUIETER THAN KILLING (2017) COME AND FIND ME (2018) and NEVER BE BROKEN (2019).
Follow Sarah on Twitter at @Sarah_Hilary
My Review:
I’ve loved Sarah Hilary’s Marnie Rome series ever since Someone Else’s Skin was a Richard & Judy book club pick several years ago, and it has gone from strength to strength ever since. Never Be Broken, the latest instalment in the series, has surpassed them all with its up to date and relevant storyline that tackles London’s knife crime epidemic with a brutal honesty that is rarely seen in fiction. As we all know, this is a widespread issue and it seems that not a day goes by without news of another stabbing or shooting involving a young teenage boy or girl.
Sarah Hilary isn’t scared to tackle this issue head on in a gripping novel that paints a very real and honest picture of Britain today, especially the racism and bigotry that has become even more prevalent since the Brexit vote of 2016.
This time the focus turns to DS Noah Jake, who is still grieving after the events of the previous book. He is determined to get to the bottom of why children are dying on the streets of London, but is his own emotional turmoil going to get in the way of the job in hand? Marnie is worried that it is and tries to steer Noah in the right direction. But is it going to be too little too late, or are they going to finally be able to put a stop to the senseless murders at last?
Never Be Broken was a difficult read at times, the pain and loss palpable from not only Noah, but the parents of these lost children, whose pain is so devastatingly unimaginable. It’s a fast paced and gripping read with an evocative sense of place, but it’s in the characterisation that Sarah Hilary truly shines. She made me feel every emotion right along with her characters, bringing them so vividly to life that they felt real.
This book broke me with its unflinching honesty. And then somehow managed to put me back together again, leaving me with a feeling of hope instead of despair. Maybe, just maybe, humanity will prevail and hope is not lost after all.
A stunning and thought provoking book that I would highly recommend.
Never Be Broken (DI Marnie Rome Book 6) is available to buy now: Amazon UK
Check out what these other fantastic bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 
Huge thanks for supporting the Blog Tour Cal x
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