MORNING TV talk shows often expose the seamier and darker side of life, with hosts often seeming to revel in the despair and pain of the people they interview.

Often, they are made to look misfits who provide a ready laugh for an unthinking audience, but what if the tables were turned and the TV celebrity was taken away from the bright lights and plunged into so-called “real life”?

This is exactly the situation which faces chat-show celebrity Carrie Kent when her beloved son, Max, is murdered.

Desperate to find out what really happened, she enters a world of poverty, fear and violence which can only add to her pain. Once Hayes gets under your skin, there’s no putting this story down.