I thought i was the only who was going CRAZY reading this book, so repetive I was actually getting angry at reading it. The only reason I am reading till the end is to find out the BIG secret, but how big is going to be. Also Its taken me nearly a week now, I normally read a book in two days, but this is just so hard, as mentioned like a chore. Very poor

Three quarters of the way through this novel and thought as I have been struggling to finish it I would check to see other readers thoughts.

I too am an avid Martina Cole fan, but have found this to be very repetitive and has no real plot or substance to it. Paragraph after paragraph describing the characters in such depth, it really does become a bit of a chore to read. It has certainly worked it sending me off to sleep at night.

Sorry Ms Cole but it really just doesnt 'cut' it on this occasion!!

I am hugely relieved to find that I am not the only one who is massively disappointed with The Business by Martina Cole. What on earth has happened to her writing? The worst aspect of the writing is the endless repetition; page after page after page, offering the same description, paraphrased in different mind-numbing ways. It even seems as if at times Martina writes a page, then completely forgets what she has written and then repeats it! I felt committed to finishing the book but I am afraid I am crawling towards the end, still waiting for the writing to improve. It shows a lazy attempt by an established writer to churn out a money-spinner, without thought for the loyal reader. I will not be reading any more Cole unfortunately, which is a shame as I have really enjoyed her books in the past. Cynically I cannot help wondering whether she is now just producing a formulaeic tome, but maybe her apathy will backfire. What a boring read!

Martina Cole has written some of the best fiction I have read, but, unfortunately, "The Business" is an absolute horrible read.
In fairness; the plot could have gone on to be something great, but all she does is ramble on about her characters, what they do, and did, in the past, there is a very small amount of dialogue in the book. Before I made the purchase of this book, I honestly wished somebody had warned me how bad this really is. I'm a hardcore Martina Cole fan, but I felt greatly let down by this book.
It could of been great, pity it was not.
Martina, get whatever made your fiction so great back, and use it!

I am a huge fan of Martina cole & have read all her books except Faces, but the Business is shockingly BAD, I felt the need to bang my head against a brick wall following mind numbing repetative character descriptions. The worst of it was the story line had huge potential to be good, but it felt like Martina thought up an outline for it & that is all she used the rest of the book was padded out with REPETATIVE CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS. She introduced big characters who then just dissapeared with no mention again. The very worst of it is it ended up making no sense - once i finished the book (which was an achievement in itself) i had to read & re-read the prologue so many times to see if I were mis-reading something as it made no sense. Cannot believe this was even published. Did none of her publishers take the time to read her book. I think Martina was a Master at what she done - now though I think maybe she should have hung her hat whilst she was at the top.

The Business by Martina Cole was boring, boring boring. No storyline to speak of. Just repetitive. Almost 500 pages about Imeldas' wicked character. A total waste of money spent. Thought Faces was bad, but maybe was just a one off but this is written in the same vein.

The business by Martina Cole has no plot, extremely repetative and i struggled to finish it, but did in case anything happened to get your teeth in to, however, nothing unpredictable did. Got The Take last year for Christmas and again was extremely disappointed, so repetative. Used to love Martina Cole's books. Up until the last 2, her books were fantastic. I think Martina Cole should stop writing books if she cant come up with books like she used to. It is quite an insult to her avid book readers and she is spoiling her reputation.

I'm so glad I realised that I'm not the only person to have wasted hours of my life on The Business by Martina Cole. I once liked Martina Cole and read a couple of her excellent early books, The Jump in particular, and thoroughly enjoyed them. What on earth has happened to her;
This is without a doubt the most boring, repetitive and actionless 500 pages I've ever have the misfortune of reading.

Cole's first books were great but The Business has no real plot. Nothing to get your teeth into :-(. If you like repetition then you are going to love this book. The only point in its favour is that it is very easy to put down.

Complete and utter boring rubbish, how she is allowed to get away with producing a book like this is beyond me. Just read the first paragraph, which doesn't make sense at all and thats it right through the book.