Our Vinnie: The True Story of Yorkshire's Notorious Criminal Family

Tales of the Notorious Hudson Family, Book 1

By: Julie Shaw

Narrated by: Jim Millea

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

The infamous Canterbury Estate in Bradford, a hotbed of crime, drink and drugs, was a law unto itself in the '70s.

So when one of their own was wronged in any way, the community always had its own way of dealing with it.

The first title in a series of gritty family sagas, Our Vinnie accounts the dramatic true story of a brother's determination to avenge his younger sister's rape. Josie was just 11 when her Vinnie, then 14, was taken away to a detention centre. Distraught by his absence and left alone with indifferent parents, when she escapes from one of their rows she naively enters the house of a neighbour, Melvin, who - horrifically - leads her upstairs and overpowers her.

Convinced by her friend Carol, Josie tells her sister Lyndsey about the rape but, with Vinnie out of the picture, Lyndsey uses the information for her own ends. When Vinnie returns, hardened by years inside the system, his outrage on discovering the truth is severe. And with new abuses continually coming to light, a cataclysmic series of violent events begins to spiral out of control…

Dramatic and shocking, Our Vinnie is an unbelievable page-turner, documenting a community forsaken by society, and one brother's unrelenting determination to take justice into his own hands.

©2014 Julie Shaw (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Really didn't work for me

Would you try another book written by Julie Shaw or narrated by Jim Millnea?

I have to say that I wouldn't.

I found the story centred around one element and didn't diversify fully into other aspects of their lives. It was rather repetitive and unfortunately lacked depth.

I found the narrator at times appeared to be reading the story, rather than bringing the story to life.

Has Our Vinnie: The True Story of Yorkshire's Notorious Criminal Family put you off other books in this genre?

I love books of this genre, however found the book didn't offer the normal twists and turns which left it a little predictable. Shame.

How could the performance have been better?

The characters needed to have other elements of their lives included in the book.

What character would you cut from Our Vinnie: The True Story of Yorkshire's Notorious Criminal Family?

I think more characters could have been added or at least to have done detailed characters to "put you off the scent" so to speak.

Any additional comments?

It's a pity, I just didn't get on with this audio book I had noticed this book in a bookshop and hunted it out on audible due to the title and the cover, which is really disappointing.

Brilliant

loved it. Read them all. So true to life. would recommend you read them a in order.

Very disappointing.

This is definitely not “the true story of Yorkshire’s notorious criminal family”, its a snippet of that at best. Not sure how these people qualify as a “notorious crime family” from listening to this book they seem like petty thieves. Also the guy who reads it seems very disinterested.

misleading title

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

ever watched a 3 hour film that should have been 30 mins long? this book took 5 hours to get to the point, and as for the title?

What was most disappointing about Julie Shaw’s story?

the lack of substance and the banter is not as i remember from the same era, it wasn't as described on the tin

Which character – as performed by Jim Millnea – was your favourite?

felt like i was listening to someone that just wasn't getting to the point, that id already predicted

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Our Vinnie: The True Story of Yorkshire's Notorious Criminal Family?

narrator was fine

Any additional comments?

felt like i was listening to someone that just wasn't getting to the point, that id already predicted

vinnie

Great read, sad when it ended. Looking forward to next book in series. Reminds me of martina Cole novel.