Part of Inspector Lynley, book 14
First published 2006
Joel Campbell faces an impossible choice in North Kensington. The fifteen-year-old cares for his younger brothers after their grandmother dumps them with their reluctant aunt. His sister Ness chases trouble in high heels, leaving Joel to protect eight-year-old Toby, who clearly struggles with problems no one will name. When a local gang begins targeting Joel and threatening Toby, Joel sees only one way out. He makes a deal that will destroy everything he's trying to save. His desperate decision sets him on a collision course with Inspector Thomas Lynley's world. George traces the brutal logic that transforms a protective older brother into a killer. She shows how poverty, abandonment, and violence can corner a child until murder seems like the only escape. This is the story of how Joel Campbell came to pull the trigger that shattered two families forever.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: North Kensington
560 pages · Hardcover · Harper
Content warnings: child-abuse, domestic-violence, violence