A Friend in Need

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot (1888–1965)

A Friend in Need is the first book in the series written by Luke Heath.

Blurb
Angel agrees to help her best friend Julia find out whether or not her boyfriend of almost three years Jason has been cheating on her. However, further investigation leads Angel to suspect that not only is he cheating, but that he has committed a rape in the apartment they share.

Detailed Summary
Angel is taking a rare weekend off work to study when Julia, her best friend since primary school, comes to her asking for help. Without hesitation, Angel agrees. From her investigations, she gets the impression that Jason forced someone to go to bed with him, and with Julia's help resolves to find out who it was and help her. They go to see Jason's band play at a local club, to try to get more information from him, however, Jason makes a pass at Angel, and she gets into an argument with him. Meanwhile, Angel and Christian are able to track down the girl Jason is meant to have assaulted. However, when they do, they get conflicting perspectives on the event, as she insists she went to bed with him willingly, and that it wasn't rape. When Julia breaks up with Jason, he believes that Angel has talked her into it, and starts harassing her. First with messages, and then turning up at her apartment.

Characters
Jeremy Davis | Jason Fisher | Angelique Freeman | Colin Gallagher | Andrew Jacobs | Jamie Marks | Jess Marks | April Marley | Tom Simpson | Julia Wenham | Christian White

Memorable Lines
Angel is noted for her penchant for good, strong, percolated coffee. Not only is Angel involved in the Slutwalk movement, but author Luke Heath also has continuing involvement in the Perth branch. The "reputable breeder" is Luke Heath's late godfather, who did breed Siamese cats.
 *  Instant coffee was not something I would easily put up with, even for a friend like Julia.
 *  One of my closest friends had introduced me to the Slutwalk movement, and one of their main points was the fact that no matter how much you wanted it, or even seemed interested, you couldn’t give consent if you were drunk.
 * I had got him from a reputable breeder in Bassendean, and he often seemed to know how people were feeling.
 *  ‘This next song is an original, dedicated to my one and only Jules. Thanks for everything babe.’

Like the song he "wrote" for April, this is based on a poem, but presented as an "original". Also, Jules is his "one and only", but he still chooses to sleep with April.

Points of Interest

 * The song that Angel is listening to when Julia arrives is Sleeper on the Night Train by Shameem. Shameem also collaborated with Luke Heath to write the theme for Angel's Touch.