Silenced by Jennie Ensor
Summary:
A teenage girl is murdered on her way home from school, stabbed through the heart. Her North London community is shocked, but no-one has the courage to help the police, not even her mother. DI Callum Waverley, in his first job as senior investigating officer, tries to break through the code of silence that shrouds the case.
This is a world where the notorious Skull Crew rules through fear. Everyone knows you keep your mouth shut or you’ll be silenced – permanently.
This is Luke’s world. Reeling from the loss of his mother to cancer, his step-father distant at best, violent at worst, he slides into the Skull Crew’s grip.
This is Jez’s world too. Her alcoholic mother neither knows nor cares that her 16-year-old daughter is being exploited by V, all-powerful leader of the gang.
Luke and Jez form a bond. Can Callum win their trust, or will his own demons sabotage his investigation? And can anyone stop the Skull Crew ensuring all witnesses are silenced?
Silenced is the compelling and gritty new thriller by British author Jennie Ensor. A gripping story of love, fear and betrayal, it’s Romeo and Juliet for our troubled times.
My Review:
Was it really July 2016 that I reviewed Blind Side by Jennie Ensor? Time as they say does fly but Jennie Ensor is back with her new novel Silenced (Hobeck Books) that was released earlier this week and what a powerful and gripping story that Jennie has written.
There is an undercurrent of modern-day Britain within the pages of Silenced as the story begins with the murder of a teenage girl stabbed to death on her way home from school. At the heart of this story is the rule of gangs on the street.
This is a powerful novel that will get your pulses racing as the police now set about trying to find out what really happened and catch the killers before another tragic senseless young person is murdered on the streets.
It is down to DI Callum Waverley to find any witnesses to the murder. This is his first role as investigating officer but there is a back story to DI Waverley who has a few issues at home of his own. There is also a narrative of two young teenagers in the story that really bring the story home about gangs on the streets. We meet Jez and Luke who because of their lives at home get pulled into the gang culture. Once in and it is not that easy to get out of. The Skull Crew are not that forgiving.
The way that Jennie Ensor has crafted her novel is stark and real. You could almost smell the fear of gang culture pouring out of every page. Be prepared for a few twists and turns along the way. The characters are so real and what this story does show is how easy it is for youngers to become embroiled in this shocking lifestyle that is terrifying the streets we live on.
You want to reach out to Jez and Luke and pull them away. Two bright young people whose own lives have become derailed because of events at home then get pulled into the gang culture.
Silenced pulls a few punches along the way and I found I had to walk away from the book a few times, but this is one story worth the read.
528 Pages.
My thanks to Hobeck Books for the review copy of Silenced by Jennie Ensor Published on 7th December 2021 and is now available to order through Hobeck Books:https://www.hobeck.net/product-page/silenced-by-jennie-ensor or through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org
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