[1] The central character, Billie, is a 46-year-old woman who runs a new age shop in Bradford, England.

However, she keeps a dark secret, that when younger and part of a biker gang, she murdered Terry, an unpleasant drug addict and the father of her godson Natty, and covered it up with the aid of her lover Mickey.

[2][3] Most reviewers noted the strong central character and the abundance of depravity, violence and criminality, while differing on its literary merits.

[4] Linda Herrick in the New Zealand Herald found it overwritten, with so much crammed in, and a tendency for over-the-top melodramatic passages.

[3] Entertainment Weekly scored it B+, noting the extensive catalog of depravity and suggesting it was ripe for turning into a movie.