Tag Archives: crime

Playing With Fire By Kerry Wilkinson Book Review

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Playing With Fire Kerry Wilkinson book reviewPlaying With Fire is the fifth book in the DC Jessica Daniel novels. The novels could not come at a better time, with TV shows like The Killing and Top of the Lake having female crime-busters, the story is definitely on trend.

DS Jessica Daniel is engaged and at the top of her field. She is a great character with many layers. Seven years ago Martin Chadwick set fire to a Manchester pub, not knowing a teenager was sleeping inside. Chadwick’s release from prison is imminent, with journalists gearing up for a good old-fashioned media lynching.

With the victim’s father telling the papers he is out for revenge, DS Jessica Daniel is left to keep an eye on Chadwick and his fiery eighteen-year-old son.

If that’s not enough to keep her occupied, a private investigator is doing a fine job sticking his oar in, it looks like there’s a schoolgirl suicide ring in operation, her car is working a little too well, and the endless rain continues to pound her northern home.

Jessica’s personal and professional life is in the balance – giving her barely enough time to focus on the person in her midst seemingly intent on burning everything to the ground.

Playing with Fire is an enjoyable crime drama book. Worth a read and, if you like it, there are plenty more books in the series to keep you entertained. Have a read if you like crime, drama or thrillers.

Deadfall Film Review

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Deadfall film review*Spoiler Alert*

One of the best things about Deadfall is Eric Bana. His turn as Addison, a man on the run with his sister (Olivia Wilde) after a botched casino heist is outstanding: chilling and ruthless. He plays psychopath incredibly well. The wintry landscape and the pace of the film makes this a wonderfully entertaining thriller/western/noir.

However his stone-cold killer has a different side. Whilst on the run he sees a man abusing his wife and children, throwing them out into the snow, he helps the family but in the morning gets into a shoot out with the police. The small daughter, who thought he was there to save them, says ‘You’re no angel!’. “No, I’m not.’ he says and makes a run for it.

Addison is clearly loved by his sister Liza, but unlike him she actually has a conscious and morals. They separate as the police are looking for a man and a woman. Olivia Wilde is great as Liza but must have been freezing in her skimpy clothes. All of the characters are multi-layered and crash into each other before coming together in a tension filled finale.

Sissy Spacek is always brilliant, and here she is calm and collected as the woman who has unwelcome thanksgiving guests.

There is also an excellent snowmobile chase and the film starts with a well-shot car crash. An excellent crime drama. Go see.

The Shining Girls Book Review + 5 Copies To Giveaway

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shininggirlsThe Shining Girls is a book about a serial killer who kills girls who shine. One by one they die, but not Kirby. The heroine of the story is a courageous, feisty girl who survives a vicious attack and then hunts down the man who tried to kill her. Kirby is definitely one of the most ballsy fictional heroines for a long time. You could imagine her teaming up with Lisbeth Salander. She is brave and as witty as she is determined to bring the man who tried to kill her and killed her dog to justice. (don’t be thrown about the dog, it is a heartwarming and sad part of the story. You will fall in love with the dog)

Harper Curtis, a violent and arrogant killer, stumbles across a house that opens up into other times, allowing him to visit his victims as children, teenagers and women. He murders them in a horrendous way across the decades. He is a skilled killer without mercy. He thinks he is invincible and undetectable, but is he a match for Kirby?

Kirby teams up with Dan, an ex-homicide journalist who investigated her attempted murder. He is burnt out and jaded. Covering sport instead when Kirby becomes his intern for a college credit. They make an unlikely pair but they are a great team. Kirby’s mother Rachel is another brilliant character.

This well written, pacy book was hard to put down. Written by Lauren Beukes who won the coveted Arthur C. Clarke Award for her visionary novel Zoo City in 2011. The Shining Girls crosses over a few genres and manages to do them all flawlessly. Crime meets thriller meets science fiction.

Beukes is an incredibly talented writer. It seems obvious to say a writer is good at putting sentences together, but some are better than others. The book is obviously well researched with wonderful gems of information and character observation throughout.

The killings in the book are quite horrific so the book may not be for the faint-hearted. The fact that the book is fiction does not make Harper Curtis any less terrifying. The Shining Girls is a very original book. An exceptional example of thriller writing.

Frost Magazine has five copies of The Shining Girls to giveaway. To win just follow @Frostmag on Twitter and Tweet, ‘I want to win #TheShiningGirls with @Frostmag’. Alternatively like us on Facebook or sign up for our newsletter. Good luck.

 

The girl who wouldn’t die, hunting a killer who shouldn’t exist…

Lauren Beukes’ ‘The Shining Girls’ is out on Thursday 25 April. You can buy it here.

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New Film From The Makers of Prose & Con

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Filmmakers Catherine Balavage and Steve McAleavy.

The filmmakers behind Prose & Cons, a black comedy about poetry, alcoholism and plagiarism, have started an ambitious new project: The Descending of Fate.

The script is written by Catherine Balavage who also co-wrote Prose & Cons. It will be produced, directed and edited by Catherine and filmmaking partner Steve McAleavy.

The film is about a 10-year-old boy who kills his best friend. Was it an accident? Can people be rehabilitated? Can forgiveness every be given, to yourself and others? And is it right that someone should be blamed for the worst thing they have done for the rest of their life?

A dark drama about criminal responsibility and healing. Will life ever be the same again?

[disclaimer: Catherine Balavage writes for this magazine]

Misfits Actress Sentenced to Community Service After Racially Abusing Taxi driver.

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Misfits Actress Sentenced to Community Service After Racially Abusing Taxi driver.

Lauren Socha, the BAFTA-winning Misfits actress, who plays a young offender has been sentenced to community service in an life-imitating-art twist. Socha, 21, drunkenly racially assaulted an Asian taxi driver.

Miss Socha is second from the right.

Socha plays Kelly Bailey in the hit show. She admitted to hitting Sarkander Iqbal in the face and screaming racial abuse at him in October 2011. She received a four-month suspended jail sentence and has to do 80 hours unpaid work.

Mr Iqbal said that Socha called him a ‘Paki’ and yelled ‘You don’t know who I am’. Mr Iqbal managed to record part of the attack on his mobile phone. In the recording you can hear Socha saying she will get Mr Iqbal’s family ‘lifted’ out of the UK and then launched into a trade of abuse.

Socha has previously said that anyone who calls someone a ‘Chav’ is a racist.

Mr Iqbal said she called him “every name under the sun’ during the attack.

It was terrible. She called me a Paki, a dirty b******, told me to **** off back to my own country and asked what I was doing here because I was Asian.’

Socha was also ordered to pay Mr Iqbal compensation.

BRITISH STARS HELPING TO SOLVE THE UKs GROWING GANG CULTURE

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Jaime Winstone, BAFTA winner Adam Deacon, Shortee Blitz, Bashy (AKA Ashley Thomas) and Clement Marfo Join Ex Gang Leaders, Dawn Butler and the Metropolitan Police in the ‘Fight Against Gang Crime’

Recent studies document over 250 active criminal gangs, with 176 gang rapes (involving 3 or more attackers) reported over the past 2 years*. Six months after the ‘London Riots’ – in which ten per cent of the youths charged were girls – the national government have announced that they will invest £1.2m of funding to help girls involved with gangs, who may be have been violently or sexually abused by male members.

However, former girl gang leader and youth charity owner, Jenifer Blake and SKET film consultant, Tracy Miller believe that “film and education is the key to tackling gang violence”. Tracey and Jenifer will be hosting a school ‘film screening’ tour alongside high profile guests, including actress BAFTA winner Adam Deacon, Bashy (AKA Ashley Thomas), Jaime Winstone, KISS FM DJ Shortee Blitz and music artist Clement Marfo to educate young people about the risks of being involved in a gang. There will be a screening of clips from the film SKET, starring Ashley Walters (about girl gang culture), followed by a Q&A and debate session at Westminster Kingsway College, on Thursday 8th March. Dawn Butler, representatives from The Metropolitan Police and The Home Office will also take part in the event.

Sket – Tackling Gang Crime Event

Jenifer Blake’s reign of terror lasted from the age of 13 to 37 and included robberies at knifepoint and drug dealing. Jennifer, who once hated the police and abused them on a regular basis, now has a Metropolitan badge and works closely with them as a liaison between gangs on our London Streets, and helped to keep the community safe during the Hackney Riots.

Now in her thirties, Tracey Miller’s biological father was a convicted pedophile and her mother was a manic-depressive who took knives out on anyone that upset her. To deal with all the hurt andpain in her home life, Tracey soon became a gang leader to protect herself.Tracey was shot in the Brixton riots and stabbed a man several time for disrespecting her.

The purpose of the event is to educate young people about the risks of being involved in a gang and the consequences. The film SKET will be used as a discussion point to raise awareness of the risks and consequences of being involved in a gang and as an interactive tool to generate debate around this.

Schedule of Events, Thurday 8th March:

9.30 am – Guests to arrive and be seated

10.00 am – Clips to be shown

10.30 am – Q&A begins

11 – 11.30 am – Media Photocall

* Women’s Resource Centre 2010

Kate Adjike launches scheme to help young London gang members out of crime

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Kidulthood actress, model and singer Kate Adjike launches UK’s first scheme to help young London gang members out of crime through performing arts.

Gang members from across the Capital are being offered the “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to escape a life of crime…and appear on the Big Screen.

From today, troubled teens will be offered free lessons in singing and performance arts as part of a new charitable initiative.

They will receive 10 hour-long sessions with trained professionals where they can hone their dancing, singing and acting skills.

The most promising students will be promoted to the UK’s TV and film industry, and to theatre producers in the West End.

No qualifications are needed, but students must show a “willingness to learn and a passion for acting”.

The pioneering scheme – the first of its kind in the world – launches at Battersea-based performance arts centre, The Kate Academy, next month.

Its owner Kate Ajike hopes to help youngsters escape a life of “violence, crime and despair” by introducing them to the “beautiful arts”.

Speaking yesterday Ajike, the star of 2006 British film Kidulthood, said: “This scheme is about helping some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

“I am not for a moment condoning their behaviour, but I do understand how incredibly desperate many of these young people are.

“The vast majority do not have a way out of a life of crime, despite a genuine desire to do something with their lives.”

Ajike, a philanthropist who launched Kate Academy in 2007, added: “It is my hope that we can help a small proportion of these people – the diamonds in the rough, so to speak – and catapult them into a good, honest life in the arts.”

The scheme is open to all youngsters in London aged between 16 and 25 – including those responsible for the August riots – but only five places will be available each year.

Ajike said she hopes to help up to 500 gang members in the next few years, adding: “This is a last-chance saloon – the once-in-a-lifetime chance for gang members to escape a life of violence, drugs and street crime.”

To apply to The Kate Academy visit www.kateacademy.org.uk/apply, email hello@kateacademy.org.uk, or call 0203 4896574/ 07983 734668.

Staying Safe this Christmas and New Year – Top Tips!

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Staying Safe this Christmas and New Year – Top Tips

As a key Youth Leader when it comes to gangs and breaking the cycle of criminal behaviour one of the key things I get asked by people of all ages is ‘How do I avoid becoming a victim?’

It is really tough question isn’t it? I mean, if the headlines are to be believed you are almost twice as likely to become a victim as you were this time last year. Although we are living in tough times Christmas means that people are out and about doing Christmassy things; enjoying themselves, getting merry and having a host of parties and clubs to go to. In the midst of this hustle and bustle some are ever more desperate to steal, rob or take advantage.

I for one know someone who had their card cloned only a few weeks ago and the upheaval it can cause is immense. So these words of advice I am about to offer come not a moment too soon.

  1. Taxi Cabs – this is number one on my list as I am still in awe of how many people don’t know this despite the horror stories and despite the ad campaigns.  If you are going to be drinking pre-arrange how you will be getting back home. Black cabs can be hailed off the street but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should anyone get into an unlicensed taxi/and or minicab off the street. It is illegal for minicabs to tout for business. Minicabs must be pre-booked. Listen if you get into an unlicensed cab then essentially it is just a stranger’s car and there is no telling what will happen so please – don’t do it!
  1. Drinking – do your best to drink less alcohol and drink more water during your night out. A top tip is to have one drink of water for every two glasses of alcohol. Do your best to stick to the same drink, try and not mix your drinks and always make sure you have your drink with you. Yes girls – take it with you if you are going for a pee. If you leave your drinks unattended then DO NOT drink it. This is one of the ways drug rape can happen. A long time ago I was a First Aider in clubs – spiking as it is called (when someone puts drugs in your drink) was a big issue for us back then – my friends who are still in that field have said on good authority that it is still a big issue now.
  1. Drugs – Lets get it straight – taking drugs is illegal. However if you do then do not buy drugs from someone you have just met. Most of the time drug dealers at clubs / bars are selling to the masses and are not selling you what you think you may be buying. They can easily combine it with chemicals that will be very harmful to you and your body, and you could have a very bad reaction to it. I suppose the final point I want to make is that if you do decide to take do the stupidest thing and take drugs then you should never be left on your own until everyone has recovered. There are reactions and delayed reactions and both could potentially be fatal.
  1. Being sensible – This is one of those tips that sound easy on the ear but can be difficult to put into practice. Firstly be sensible in your approach. If you are talking to a stranger for the first time then do not give him personal details about yourself like where you live. Do not make yourself vulnerable. Secondly never leave your valuables such as your purse or phone with them while you run to the loo or leave your bag or valuables on the table or at some distance from you. Your phone should be locked with a pin that only you know and you also should be sensible with your social network – that is, it and your personal details should be set to private. A new trend is for guys to butter up women with soft words etc but there are lots of instances where once the woman has gone they are gone except they have gone with cash, plastic and I-phone tablets.
  1. Confidence is crucial – Being confident and assertive can assist you from staying out of danger. This is reflected in your body language and demeanor. Keep your head up and use eye contact. Becoming drunk and very loud can sometimes draw the wrong people towards you. Essentially most predators know that the less aware and less able a person is, the more easy they are to take advantage of and the more likely they are not to defend themselves properly.
  1. Fight or flight – If a fight breaks out / and or other trouble then remove yourself very quickly from the venue and call the police for help. This is crucially a tip mainly for the guys out there but as it seems to be a paradox akin to finding the ‘god atom’ it is there for everyone. Here’s the problem – good friends, both male and female want to protect the ‘ones they love’ from ‘bad’ people. The problem is that ‘bad’ people can be everyone especially once a fair bit of alcohol has been drunk. You’ll be surprised at the amount of arguments and fisticuffs that can flare up over mere ‘looks’ ‘knocks’ on the dance floor and people being rude. Ask either party to just walk away and you’d have more luck trying to explain the euro crisis. Yet you have your mobile phone in your pocket so rather than choosing to join in on the rugby tackle why not just use it and get help. Trust me; you’ll thank me in the morning.
  1. Cold and hard can only be cash – Try not to carry large sums of money, credit cards and other valuables with you. I am going to say it again but DO NOT leave your bag unattended. Just bring what you need for the night. A top tip is to put some money safely on you away from the money you will be spending on your night out. So if unfortunately if you are a victim of crime and your money / cards are stolen you have some money to get home with.
  1. Keep your eye on the prize – When paying for anything by credit / debit card make sure the machine is brought to you and you see what is being done. If anyone ever takes your card away / and or behind a bar they may be cloning your card. A big tip is to keep all of the receipts from the night, perhaps in your purse and then the following day check back with the money that has been deducted. If you need to you can query with the bank if any amounts seem unjustified.
  1. Mobile phones – Do not talk on your mobile phone when you get off London Transport and think this is going to save you from being attacked, it just makes you more vulnerable as you cannot see and / or hear what’s going on around you. What’s more people can see what mobile phone you have and that could make you a target too.
  1. Keep in touch – Number ten is my greatest gem. Be with at least one person you trust and make contact with them when you get home, so they know you are in safe. If you out and meet members of the opposite sex and are having a good time, why not stay together until you are in a cab (a licensed one obviously) where you can cab share until you part company.
  1. Be aware – please be aware of the people around you. Not being aware has consequences. This is especially true at cash-points but even places like at the bar or till can be crucial for someone looking to glance at your pin or hear the code word for your tab. I have seen many offenders hear ‘Table 12’ shouted across a noisy bar and then casually saunter over and order drinks for themselves and their mates moments later claiming to be from the same table. Equally a friend of mine had her phone stolen when someone came round with a collection box for a ‘charity’ and took her phone from the table whilst she took out some money from her purse. Be aware
  1. Never blame yourself – my final tip is the same as last year. Just remember even Justin Bieber has been a victim of a crime at one point – probably. Some people just do bad things – it’s as simple as that. The main thing is that they are counting on your silence so they can do it again. So talk to someone you can trust and report it. Most importantly though never blame yourself.

So ends my tips on staying safe over Christmas and New Year – I am not aiming to make anyone nervous or afraid as there are bundles of fun to be had lets just keep it safe and sensible. If you have any questions, comments or even tips of your own please post them. Here’s to an exciting and prosperous New Year!