Only Human: 21st Century Cop by Gemma Hines

Genre: Biography/Non-fiction

Description

Following a hard start in life – trapped in the middle of a six-year custody battle between her parents –and a rebellious phase, Gemma Hines turned her life around to become a personal trainer, moving on to become a Special Constable at the age of 18.

After a taste of life in the force, she applied to the regular police and GMP. After months of application processes and interviews, she was accepted. The next ten years of her police career are documented within this gripping read, which offers genuine insights into what it’s really like to be a female police officer.

Only Human covers Gemma’s time in the force up until leaving in 2016, touching on some of the most horrifying and proud moments of her career.
She also talks about becoming fully trained in martial arts – within 18 months she went from being a complete novice to holding 65kg British Title belts in full contact Kick-boxing for the CMAA, full contact Kick-boxing for Golden Belt and a 65kg Semi Professional British Title belt in K1 for Golden Belt. She hopes to compete in a professional fight in 2017 for a world title, which will be aired on live TV.

Is It A Series?

No

Is It Easy To Read?

No, some parts are difficult but only due to the graphic content.

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Karen’s Magic Review

A friend of one of my family members approached me some time ago and said that she had written a book about her job and wanted advice on how to get it published. Publishing is a mine field now with so many different choices. I put her into a couple of Facebook groups where she could ask advice. Which she did.

Eventually, she went with a self-publishing company and I was looking forward to reading this, and I wasn’t disappointed. Having family members in the police force, I know how much of a difficult job it is. How officer’s literally put their life on the line and how they can have much-needed rest days cancelled because they’re aren’t enough police officers on duty and that’s only the half of it. So it was going to be interesting to see what she had to say.

The author takes us on a journey of her life and career. Juggling a family whilst working a shift pattern is hard, but when your personal life is going to pot, it makes it even more difficult.

She tells the inside story of what it is like to stand in front of a mob of snarling people hell bent on doing her personal injury. At the height of the Manchester riots when everything is serious, she finds humour and it made me laugh at when they were eventually ordered into riot gear, all the men and women of her group returned to the police van and get changed in a small space. Arms, legs, and bums were everywhere. It then didn’t help that a baying mob chose that moment to try and over turn it!

There are some very powerful stories within these pages including the deaths of two police officers who walked into a trap. The effect it had on her, her colleagues, and the country was devastating. There are some passages that will bring a lump to your throat and some that will turn your stomach and others that will have you laughing out loud.

This lady is a fighter and she against all odds, she came out on top.

 

I felt the editing was not as good as it should be. There were repeated words or sentences too near to each other and they should have picked up and re-worded. I also wanted to know more about Gemma as she referred to her upbringing. I felt there were bits missing that she didn’t elaborate on. It’s only as I write this and having read the description again, I can see whats missing. It doesn’t tell the reader about the six-year custody battle and how she was trapped in the middle. What exactly was the rebellious phase? There was a lot the story didn’t say, but what it did say was excellent.

I believe as a result of the book, she has had several interviews and the local paper ran a story on it. That will boost sales. The downside is she has already received a lot of bad reviews from people who think she’s cashing in on the death of police officers. I don’t believe that. She had a story to tell and one that needed telling. The people of Manchester lined the streets for the funerals. Officers from all over the country volunteered to come and police Manchester so its cops could attend. That’s moving and powerful stuff and it is her story to tell.

The other thing I didn’t like is that the book went onto pre-order and the publishing company messed it up. It was the right book, wrong description, and reviews for a totally different story. They didn’t do anything about it, despite being asked, until the date of release. That’s unfair and frustrating for the author. It will have put people off ordering from Amazon.

I really hope that a major publishing company picks up this story and runs a proper edit. They need to work with Gemma to build it into an even better read because I believe it has potential to become a best seller.

Amazon UK

Amazon US