A dark and brooding book set in post war Brighton with believable and well developed characters. Ida Arnold is an unlikely hero, but she is dogged in her pursuit of the villainous Pinkie for whom she wishes her punishment and in her longing and need to save Rose, whom she sees as an innocent and vulnerable child. .

One of the main themes that run through the book is religion, heaven and hell, good and evil, good and evil. The three main characters are Roman Catholic and for each one this means something different. Rose, in my opinion, has a strong sense of faith and what is right, but she has a lot of feelings for Pinkie and therefore allows herself to be diverted from those beliefs. She knows that he is bad, but she believes that she can save him.

Pinkie has strong beliefs about redemption after death. He believes, for part of the book, in the need to repent before dying to save him from hell, but then he realizes that he is already there. The descriptions of the Brighton inhabited and visited by the characters draw you in until you feel that you are there, you know the places, the smells, the sounds and you know the characters.

You can feel the panic in Pinkie as she tries to cover up what she’s done, putting aside her religion, hate, and fear of intimacy to marry Rose and go even further by consuming her for protection. At every step you feel that things are getting out of control. Ida believes in what is right, good and bad. Once her race for justice and retribution is started, there’s no stopping her because she knows what’s right!

The story is dark and exciting, and as you reach the dramatic climax, you can’t help but feel utter despair for Rose, who has only a tiny ray of hope left for her salvation that we as readers know will soon be shattered for a moment. of pure evil on the part of Pinkie from beyond the grave.