This is an exceedingly carefully constructed story and very well written. The author demonstrates unusual understanding of youths,criminals and the other characters in the book. The pace of writing is intense with an unusual lack of unnecessary description. All the words matter. The crossing of story lines is well done too. Needless to say,the reader wants to know how it ends! That too is done with great sensitivity. Criticism? Well,I never understand why all detectives need to have dysfunctional personal lives. This is no exception.

The death of a young lad witnessed by another leads to gang war having not read the previous books i still enjoyed the book.Strong charactors pull the plot together.I will be reading more from this author as i loved this book well worth 5*

Really enjoyed this book, whilst it tells a gripping story it is the strong female lead struggling with expectations of society as a single mother and a full time job; this story about family, loyalty and belief will stay with many a reader.
Set in the urban milieu of London, nevertheless, the smell of those streets come off the page - the notion of office politics occurring at all levels of the Met Police.
Strong novel that resonates with the current socio-political climate.

The book starts with the murder of Spencer, and his best friend Ryan tries to piece together why they were betrayed and what to do next. The story shows all sides of the then outward spiriling events, from the police and criminals points of view. For me it took a while to get to grips with all the characters, but once they slotted into place and the story picked up I couldn't put it down.

I really felt sorry for Ryan, all the way through, especially when he really didn't know who to trust any more. Well written and very descriptive I could see the streets being written about. A definite recommendation to anyone who likes crime drama stories.

Gallowstree Lane by Kate London a four-star read that will take you down a dark path. This is my first read by this author and I hope it wont be the last, this book just seems to be so relevant at the moment as our capital is suffering a similar fate young men being stabbed gang violence in many boroughs and the author just adds a engaging twist to the story, keeping just the right side of being realistic and powerful. I haven’t read the first two novels in the series, but I do plan on adding them to my TBR pile to plough through. I enjoyed getting an insight into the police as well, they had a reality to them and the procedural aspects were very well done and fully explained so you didn’t feel lost in them. Overall a very well-done story that had enough twists and turns to keep you hooked and thrilled to the end.

3.5 stars

I came into this,not having read book one or Two,and it didn't make a huge difference... though I'll now be adding them to my list of books to read.
The characters were well formed,and their relationships established enough that they could be referenced in a few lines,not have past stories hammered home.
There were several storylines running alongside each other,that built to a frantic conclusion.
Throughout you knew it want going to end well for someone,when the book starts with the stabbing of a teenager.
It was fast paced,plenty of detail... I sped through it on a single train journey.

Oh what a scrambled tale we weave and, for me, in many respects, just like real life. Protagonists and antagonists all mixed up with agendas of their own. Do they let go of the smaller fry to catch the bigger ones, do they cut a deal to let a bigger and more guilty fish off the hook to net Mr Big? Lots of questions and crises of conscience and you are just going to have to read this book to find out how much evil does or does not get away with. It is worth your time.

The draft of the review that I plan to post on amazon.co.UK once the book is released:

A steadily engaging and eventually absorbing police procedural.

The book begins with the stabbing of a teenager. Plot threads are spun off, building to a major undercover police operation, mistakes and all.

Intelligently and sensitively written, the author's background as a murder squad detective lends credibility and authenticity.

I confess that I found character development to be rather weak, but then I hadn't read the preceding two books in the series.

Initially slow to engage with, the book steadily grew on me, and I would recommend it.

3 1/2 stars rounded to 4.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I thoroughly enjoyed this book but wish I had read the 2 before (which I shall do). This book is appropriate for the time we live in with knife crime and drug dealing everywhere. A real good read

This story is bang up to date when you consider all the stabbing that are occurring on our streets at the moment. Gang culture at its worse. Please don't let me die was the youths final words but he did die and there was little the off-duty paramedic could do to save him. A great police procedural crime thriller. it is the third in a series but the first I have read and it worked well as a stand-alone.

Really strong characters and a complicated, authentic feeling plot make this a gripping read. Ryan is a great character, so vulnerable yet dangerous, I was rooting for him whilst knowing he wasn’t Going to escape this life. Very strong on police procedures. I didn’t find it an easy read by any means but it is good.

I haven't read any of Kate London's previous work but this book was very easy to follow. It starts with a stabbing and death of a boy named Spencer, his friend Ryan witnessing the whole event. Ryan also seems to be the key to the pandoras box that a undercover operation ran by a police officer called Kieron. The book shows the tight knitted community of the police and also how these young impressionable boys are used to win turf wars. Overall I enjoyed the book and the ending came as a shock to me. I'm not sure if my reading earlier books with have made my opinion of main characters change but the character build up and story itself, although fiction felt very real to me. I do think I will be picking up the earlier novels in the future.

I hadn't read the previous two books in this series, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of this book at all.

This is a compelling read that gripped me from the start (I actually felt annoyed that I couldn't read it in one go!). As the mother of a teenage son, I found Spencer's murder very upsetting, and his friend Ryan's backstory was equally sad. It's easy to see how young people can be drawn into the gang culture without even making a positive decision to do so - and credit to Kate London for her handling of this subject.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints, which adds depth to the writing as we hear things from very different voices. The characters are well written - so clearly that I could imagine this being adapted for television - and the interplay between them is totally believable.

I'll be seeking out more by this author, and look forward to the next in this series.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

Fast moving read bout inner London gang warfare involving murder and drugs.
A undercover operation is in full swing looking to capture a major gun haul but the officers on the operation have individual problems which could affect the successful outcome.

A really good read that I enjoyed . The characters within the story are a little thin ,but hey lets get the excitement and pace up front.

Looking forward to seeing more from Kate London.

Gallowstree Lane’ is an excellent read. The narrative is fast-paced, believable (sadly) and absolutely of its time. Beginning and ending her story with a death, Kate London gives us a vivid picture of what it must be like to live in a gang dominated area and how complicated its policing is. Very few of her characters are entirely good or bad: we learn that Ryan, a ruthless youth who steals a paramedic’s phone having just watched the latter trying to save his best friend’s life, is really just a frightened, vulnerable boy. We appreciate why the junkies risk their lives night after night to turn tricks and we learn just how dangerous and morally dubious the life of an undercover policeman is.
The author, a one-time serving member of The Met, certainly makes the procedural elements feel authentic. However, she has clearly thought carefully about what they add to a fast-paced story as we are never bogged down in turgid paperwork details – unlike some of her characters, it seems! The central detectives, super-efficient Sarah Collins and the younger single mother DC Lizzie Griffiths are far from perfect but immensely likeable. They both show a degree of ironic self-awareness that is attractive as they try to juggle their domestic and professional lives, rarely successfully. Less admirable is the way in which their colleague DI Kieran Shaw manipulates, bends the truth and rides roughshod over sensibilities. Nevertheless, he gets results and that has to be worth something in this febrile world of dog-eat-dog where, on the street, no insult is ever ignored.
Kate London’s novel shows us just how insidious a gang’s power is. Whilst it presents itself to the needy child as a secure, dependable unit, it destroys family relationships, eats away at self-belief and creates fear in the hearts of its members. In this novel, the ‘hoodlums’ on the street are really just young people looking for a purpose in life, let down by their families, their education and poor housing and exploited by vicious criminals like the appalling Shakiel Oliver. Nevertheless, what they are cajoled into doing is a terrifying reality.
This is an excellent exploration of gang crime and of the trials of policing in such a difficult arena. Having enjoyed this novel so much, I’m off to catch up on the Collins and Griffiths back catalogue!
My thanks to NetGalley and Corvus, Atlantic Books for an e-copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This book provides an interesting insight into the world of modern-day policing. Whilst I felt that more could perhaps have been made to some of it's sub-plots, such as those involving Tia and Lexington, the characters were well-developed and interesting. The book certainly gained from its author's first-hand experiences in the Met, and it is evident that this is the novel's main appeal. I'd be interested to see further novels about Lizzie - she's both ambitious yet vulnerable, and altogether human - I think that reader's will really identify with her.

Very disappointing it started off really good then went downhill it was too tedious and too much explanation about everything I was screaming to the book get on with it wouldn’t recommend

This novel has authenticity written all over it. That isn’t so surprising given the author was an officer with the Metropolitan Police but I have read other novels by retired officers that don’t have the same gritty realism. What was really intriguing was the depiction of how different police investigations and priorities can trip all over each other.

The action is set against the background of drug dealing, knife and gun crime. A teenager is knifed to death whilst a two year undercover operation into gun running is just about to reach its conclusion. DI Kieran Shaw is adamant that the undercover operation must not be disrupted whilst DI Sarah Collins is anxious to catch the killer of a fifteen year old boy. It is soon apparent that the two situations are going to collide. A witness to the murder appears to be a low level member of the gang attempting to buy guns.

The narrative speeds along, it’s well written, and I was really drawn into the world of the main characters. These are not only Shaw and Sullivan but also DC Lizzie Griffiths, Shaw’s ex-lover and mother of his son. Her daily struggle to keep up with the demands of the job and being a mother are a good side story.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.
This is a somewhat contemporary story in respect of London gang culture centred around Ryan who witnesses his friend Sencer's stabbing and subsequent death. Three strands of story are interwoven: Spencer's death, Ryan's previous assault on another boy in the Mall, and a long-running investigation aimed at closing down a gun and drug trafficking route that is about to conclude, with help along the way of an undercover detective.
This was a decent-enough story in itself,; three different investigations gradually coming together in a dramatic conclusion and in the middle of it all a young lad who didn't know anything different to the life he found himself in.
However, I found the reading slow, there were far too many and lengthy passages of irrelevant reminiscences and environmental descriptions from the detectives to the extent they detracted from the storylines. Had I not felt obliged to give an honest review, I would not have continued reading. Not for me an enjoyable style of writing, but of course that is only my opinion. Sorry

Gripping detective thriller opens and ends with DI Sarah Collins attending the funeral of a colleague. In between is a chain of events which somehow swerve to avoid the happy outcome which might have been possible if politics didn’t prevent detectives from different teams working together and ruthless gangsters didn’t use and abuse the vulnerable in their pursuit of wealth and power at any cost. Ryan’s dad was murdered when Ryan was young and his death was “avenged” by his friend Shakiel who continues to keep an eye on Ryan as he grooms him to become one of his foot soldiers as he gets older. Now 15 Ryan and his friend Spence have gone to sell drugs to a prostitute but it’s a trap and Spence is murdered leaving Ryan distraught and vulnerable as 2 different detectives working 2 different but connected cases need to use him to get evidence on Shakiel without jeopardising a 2 year covert surveillance operation led by a 3rd detective. Entertaining, fast-paced thriller paints an accurate picture of life on the streets of many of our cities for disaffected young men.