EXIT FIVE FROM CHARING CROSS by Valerie Keogh
Rich, successful Jake Mitchell is in love with Jane, the wife of his best friend, Adam. Unable to fall in love with anyone else, he settles for a beautiful trophy wife and marries Adam’s sister, Ann. Life becomes more complicated when he and Ann have two children – children Adam and Jane long for, but…
Rich, successful Jake Mitchell is in love with Jane, the wife of his best friend, Adam. Unable to fall in love with anyone else, he settles for a beautiful trophy wife and marries Adam’s sister, Ann. Life becomes more complicated when he and Ann have two children – children Adam and Jane long for, but can’t have.
As Jake and Ann’s marriage disintegrates, so does the world around them and Jake is haunted by choices he has made..
Jake meets another woman, Joyce, and thinks, maybe he can start again. But what about his children? He can’t leave them with Ann, he can’t take them with him.
Finally, he makes a decision that will change all their lives forever.
” A twisty turn-y tale of love & money”
Five Star Review on Amazon By Karen Burns
I confess to having been completely taken in by this entirely unexpected tale of a self-made young man who finds material, but not personal, success. Valerie Keogh walks a real tightrope in setting out to create a protagonist who is both sympathetic and infuriating. Sometimes you find yourself wanting to shake him by the neck and shout, Get a clue! Other times you ache for his loneliness and truly want what he wants. You even root for him to get it, in spite of the methods he chooses to employ. Unfortunately, I can’t add much more than that without revealing some serious spoilers. Let’s just say that the ending comes as a major surprise. Keogh also does an excellent job depicting the go-go days of banking excess, managing to make her hero’s fantastic career in finance entirely believable, if a bit deplorable. I enjoyed this window into a world I know little about. If you like stories that combine domestic intrigue and thwarted love with descriptions of extravagant (if not vulgar) consumption you will relish Exit Five From Charing Cross!
About the Author
Valerie Keogh is a qualified nurse with a BA in English and an MA in American Literature. She continues to work as a nurse and writes when she can, some days pages, some days just a few words.
The initial idea for Nicola Connolly came at work one day while she was throwing away unused medication. She wondered what someone could do with it, and came up with the idea for the novel, Deadly Sleep.
Nicola, one of her colleagues, encouraged her, and as a reward, she stole her name!
Connolly, is from John Connolly, one of her favourite authors.
The idea for That One May Smile, came from the churchyard near her home – a photograph of which was used for the cover shot.
The skull, on the cover on the Nicola Connolly novels, came from an antique shop in Falmouth which was why she decided to make that the location for The Devil has Power.