‘County Lines Road’ by Jane Gilley is the second book I have read by this author. I was really looking forward to this particular book as it is about events that are happening more and more in today’s society.
Next door neighbours Karen and Terri live in a block of flats on a council estate close to Reading. They are best friends and always help each other when needed. Both women have 14 years olds, Tomas is Karens’ son and Jodie is Terri’s daughter. They both do as much as possible for their children and attempt to stop the influence of the estate and the other children who live there are rubbing off on their two. Tomas is prone to skipping school which Karen does worry about. One day Jodie, Tomas and Tomas’s best mate jump in a car with the Spinner twins for a joyride. It is a joyride that ends in total disaster, drugs, guns and death. They are taken by two men, to a house where they are held against their will, beaten and trapped. They aren’t alone either. They see about 12 other children….this is a county lines operation. Children who are kept captive and forced to sell or carry drugs. An operation that is prevalent in our society today. Tomas and Jodie are left trying to find a way to escape. Will they ever get home or are they destined to be missing children forever?
This story resonates with me so much. I was brought up on the most deprived estates of my town and I live in one of the most deprived towns in the country. The fear of Karen and Terri’s is very real to me. I had the same fear with my elder children also. I realise that parents can’t have eyes everywhere and in today’s pressured world they very definitely don’t. The fact that when their children haven’t been home for 48 hours and it isn’t panic stations just totally confused me. I forgot this is the new generation and 2 days away is just a bit odd?! Tells me how times have changed.
The fact that we saw it from Tomas and Jodie’s eyes gave the story a more positive spin. These are children who haven’t had enough knocks yet to have become jaded and streetwise. They have a positivity that translated throughout the story to stop it from becoming a read that has no light side to it. These two really are decent when you take away the disappointment and lack of opportunities that have affected them. A little encouragement and interest, real interest and, like many other deprived children, it would be a different story.
Their mothers are really naive in their outlooks and that bothered me. They accept the way of the street, I suppose I could say, but don’t scratch any deeper, maybe it is fear of what they may find. I don’t know but something was missing.
A book that shines a light on events that could be happening anywhere around the U.K at any time and it happens more than you could imagine.
Thank you to Heather Fitt and Jane Gilley for asking me on this blog tour and giving me a copy of the book to bring you my thoughts today.
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