Cuckoos on the Mersey follows the child protection teams in social services and the PVPU (protecting vulnerable people unit- Merseyside Police) on Merseyside. They are in a constant battle to protect the most vulnerable in society. Leo is a sixteen-year-old in the grip of a violent OCG, struggling to kick his addiction to ketamine. When his neighbour Angela is visited by social services, the social workers can’t get an answer. They persuade her children to open the door for them and Angela is found unconscious on her settee. A police investigation is launched and an evil criminal network is uncovered. A race against time begins as witnesses are silenced or vanish completely.

Cuckooing is exploitation carried out by criminal gangs who take over the homes of vulnerable people to use as a base for their activities. Addicts, the elderly, the disabled and the young are targeted and threatened with violence to force them to comply.

Cuckoos on the Mersey

by Conrad Jones

My review

Cuckoos on the Mersey is a great start to a new series! It isn’t the easiest of reads given the subject matter, but it is certainly a compelling one.

There is so much going on throughout this book it was hard to keep up. It’s very emotional at times and frankly quite frightening at others.

Leo has had a rough start in life, and he hasn’t made the best decisions for himself so far, but I couldn’t help but like him. He is obviously besotted with his girlfriend, but I could fully understand her mother’s interference in their relationship. He’s hardly the reliable type. You can’t help who you fall in love with though and I did really feel for him as the story progressed.

I take my hat off to anyone working with social services or the police to help protect vulnerable people like Leo. It must be so difficult, disheartening at times, and presumably thankless at lot of the time. Thank God we have people who do though.

This is such a brilliant read with so many fascinating characters. I look forward to book two!

**Many thanks to Conrad Jones for my review copy**