Susan Knight has a good life. So she turns a blind eye to the gambling winnings her husband, Donny, puts through the books at her salon. After all, he needs some way to unwind. At work, he is headteacher at Second Chance, an alternative provision school for kids who have nowhere else to go. Being the headteacher gives Donny respect, money and charm. But respect can be lost, money can be stolen and charm can only go so far.

Betrayal, family loyalties, secrets: not all gangsters live in the East End. Two families run this part of Manchester: the Johnsons and the Bennetts. With the head of the Johnson family banged up, the Bennetts have made their move. But power comes at a price. Now Charlie Johnson is out of prison and he wants his empire back. But the Bennetts have had a taste of the money and the control. Charlie’s sons want to strike now and destroy their rivals, but Charlie wants to wait. He has a personal score to settle.

Katie committed a terrible crime, but now she’s done her time and is determined never to go back behind bars. But starting again isn’t easy, especially after what she ​did and what was done to her. A stay in a probation hostel helps Katie make new friends on the outside, and slowly she finds her feet, but the world is full of temptations and memories, drawing Katie back to her past. Before she can truly start to live again, Katie must finally confront her demons and face the nightmare she’s been turning away from. But she needs to be careful.

When rebellious teenager Misty Sullivan falls pregnant to a local wannabe gangster, she soon becomes a prisoner in her own home. Despite the betrayal of her best friend, she eventually recovers her self-belief and plots revenge on her abusive boyfriend with spectacular consequences. This gripping tale sees the impressive debut of Karen Woods in the first of a series of novels based on characters living on a Manchester council estate. Themes of social deprivation, self-empowerment, lust, greed and envy come to the fore in this authentic tale of modern life.

When Alexis ‘Lexi’ James falls out with her best mate Nicole over ‘bad boy’ Ryan King, it’s just the beginning of a chain of events that go from bad to worse to deadly. Returning home one night to her high-rise flat, she is faced by a terrifying scene that changes her life forever and matters are made worse when she is put into care in another town. Years later, Lexi has left school and is back in Manchester. A chance meeting with Nicole and her so-called ‘other half’ Ryan ends in disaster, and she vows never to see them again.

Following the death of her husband, Desiree is left with two clubs. However, while her family are desperate to get ownership signed over to them, Desiree has other plans that involve Harper Kane. It's only been a year since Harper had to endure horrific torture at the hands of the Russian traffickers, but it didn't break her; it only made her tougher. And now the one person she believed she could trust has shockingly become the enemy. When Harper meets Desiree Deacon, she discovers that there is so much more to her family than just nightclubs.

Daddy’s girl Samantha Reynold hadn’t bargained on unexpectedly needing to step into her father’s shoes and take over the family casino business. Pampered and spoiled, Sam knows nothing about the rules of this glamorous but deadly new world. She has a lot to learn and even more to prove. But she won’t let her family down, especially when it looks like they could lose everything to their biggest rivals - the Stoker family.

Head of the family crime business, and with a new guy in her life, things have never been better for Scarlet Drew. Working with her aunt, Lily, on their biggest ever job - revenge on the woman who set fire to their factory, with Lily’s daughter trapped inside - Scarlet is suddenly dragged into the local police station to answer questions about the death of a local gangster. The face she sees across the interview table shocks her to her core. It’s her new boyfriend, John.

From the dark underbelly of London to the scorching Spanish riviera, Ruby Murphy has built a crime syndicate to be feared. When her husband is murdered in cold blood, she is devastated. But with a firm to run and a business partner to please, there's no time for tears. In Ruby's world, family is everything. So when her beloved daughter gets into trouble, Ruby vows to protect her, whatever the cost. But who can be trusted, and who is out for blood? Enemies are everywhere. But if you come for the queen, you'd better not miss.

London, 1961. In the dying days of the Macmillan government, George Preston is in control of crime in West London, and Rina Walker is his favoured contract killer. When Rina is hired by Soho vice king Tony Farina to investigate the disappearance of girls from his clubs, she discovers that they are being supplied to a member of the English aristocracy for the gratification of his macabre sexual tastes.

Ten years ago, Jo Martin was released from prison after serving 12 years of a life sentence. She is now out on license - and she isn’t Jo anymore. Given a new identity by the courts, and with a different appearance, a ready-made history and even a change of age, Jo can pretend to be anyone....

Cathy Townsend has it all: a loving husband, two handsome sons and a lifestyle that many people envy. But one violent and bloody night, Cathy's whole world comes crashing down around her. Heartbroken and reeling from the events that took place, Cathy is determined to seek revenge on the people responsible for stealing her perfect life away from her. She knows she’ll need help but doesn’t know who to trust. Because in this new dark and dangerous world, Cathy discovers that friends are enemies and blood isn’t always thicker than water.

When 19-year-old Tommy Carter throws away a promising career as a professional boxer to work for local villain Davey Abbott, everyone thinks he’s made a huge mistake - collecting debts and working in strip clubs is no life for a young lad. A brutal fighter, Tommy quickly earns a reputation for himself and becomes Davey’s trusted right-hand man. But when Davey is murdered Tommy is shocked to learn that Davey has left his business empire to him - Tommy’s the boss now. No one believes Tommy will succeed. But there is only one rule Tommy lives by...always back the underdog.

In the early years of the last century, a desperate young girl changes her name and flees the confines of her brutal, dominating gangland family in London. Now calling herself 'Diamond Dupree', she goes to Paris to become an artist's model, but the world there is different to what she had supposed it would be, and she soon falls on hard times. When she manages to escape at the end of the First World War, she leaves behind her a mystery - and a dead man. 

Handsome, wealthy and successful, lawyer Nick Diamond is a man who commands and expects respect from everyone he meets. People think he is a man to be trusted. They are wrong. Because away from his glittering life in upper-class Chelsea, Nick is keeping a dark and dangerous secret. One that takes him to the slum estates of Glasgow and a very different world. Nick will do anything to keep his secret under wraps, because if it’s ever revealed it would be his downfall.