Only Human

Only Human is a riveting autobiographical story of what it is like to be a 21st century cop.

Gemma Hines shares what it is really like to be a member of a modern, high tech police force in Britain.

Gemma's start in life was not the easiest, she was stuck in the middle of an ugly custody battle between her warring parents for six very long years.

This brought about a period of purposeless and rebellion, but she was able to turn her life round. She became a personal trainer and at age 18, she chose to serve her community as a Special Constable.

After seeing what being a police officer was really like she decided that she wanted to become a regular officer, so she applied to join the Greater Manchester Police.

Even though she had already been accepted as a Special Constable the process of application and acceptance was still a protracted one and after several months she was accepted as a Police Officer.

Over the next decade she was involved in some fairly major police operations and her book shows what it was like, serving as a female police officer in the early part of the 21st century.

However, Gemma was not a typical police officer, starting out previously as a personal trainer and also becoming a fully trained exponent of martial arts, holding a range of titles in her chosen field of Kick Boxing.

Some of the stories that she tells are humorous, some are horrific, such as rescuing a badly emaciated dog from a flat that was stacked high with rubbish in every room, only to discover that the dog had only survived by feeding on his deceased owner who had died because she had slipped on some of the rubbish in the bedroom and become wedged between the bed and a wardrobe.

There were harrowing tales of suicide, such as a former Macmillan Nurse who, when she developed cancer, decided that she would take her own life and die with dignity.

It was this case that helped Gemma decide to volunteer with dealing with deaths and welfare cases as she wanted to feel as if she could make a difference.

It's a story of highs and lows and I think everyone who is thinking of becoming a police officer or who has a police officer in their family should read this excellent book.

It is published by The Book Guild at £8.99 and can be obtained here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG