Through the varied voices of Pat, a mother with a difference, her son, Gethin, and Jez, a young woman with a troubled past, we take journeys both intertwined and separate as they try to come to terms with their own lives.

This is a turbulent ride where love, gender, complex relationships, drugs, and alcohol all play parts in events that thoroughly engage the reader. As someone with little experience of the world of drugs, casual or otherwise, I found some terminology a little confusing initially, but context soon illuminated that aspect of the ride.

Motorbikes play a large role in the story, with one in particular becoming almost a personality as it transports its driver on an attempted escape from problems and gives a series of rides to another. The descriptive prose is vivid and alive with references most readers will recognise from their own lives.

Though none of the starring characters lead lives like mine, I quickly grew to know and love them, to care profoundly about the various threats, pleasures, and experiences that coloured their various lives.

I was engaged throughout the read, which occurred under a hot Mediterranean sun so at odds with the Britain that supplies the moody and varying settings.
A book well written, full of emotional twists and turns, and giving deep insights into the lives of people I might otherwise never have known.

[Any review is a personal opinion. No reviewer can represent the view of anyone else. The best we can manage is an honest reaction to any given book.]