There is one family you don’t mess with…

Synopsis

What was meant to be a straightforward jewellery heist goes horribly wrong, and the thieves are forced to take a hostage to make their escape. But when they discover their prisoner is the infamous Nina Glass – one of the bosses of the most dangerous criminal dynasty in London – they soon realise they have made a terrible mistake.

Greed wins out over good sense and the gang decide to make the best of a bad situation. They send Luke Glass a ransom note. But messing with London’s top crime dynasty is a serious error. Now Luke must track down the gang who abducted his sister before they carry out their brutal threats.

The Glass family have other problems. The crooked cop they have on their payroll – DCI Oliver Stanford – makes an unwelcome discovery. The insider they had all presumed dead, may in fact have survived, and still be feeding information to the police. 

Under attack from all sides, and desperate to save his sister, Luke has the reputation and survival of the crime dynasty in his hands – is this the end of the Glass family?

My review

The Glass family rule the crime world in London with a firm hand. Luke Glass and his sisters Nina and Charley have a hand in everything that happens in London’s underworld.
They are feared by enemies and friends, and nobody with a brain cell would think about doing something against a member of this powerful family.
And then the unthinkable happens… what started as a jewellery heist, turns into taking Nina Glass as a hostage. And the thieves find it a marvellous idea to send a ransom note to Luke…
But Luke Glass wouldn’t be Luke Glass if he would let some insignificant scumbags play him and his family.
And Nina’s abduction is not the only worry Luke has… because suddenly the whole family is being attacked from all sides.
Will Luke manage to save his beloved sister from the brutal threats? Or will this be the start of the fall of the Glass Empire?

Even if the Glass family is a criminal family, I have a soft spot for them…
No member of the family or in their close circle is afraid of using violence, but they always use it for a just cause. They don’t just kill or start a fight for the fun of it, but only use it when someone has been doing them wrong. Yes, I know that a criminal family is always in the wrong, but you get what I am saying, right? 😀

And what I truly like about Luke, his family always comes first. In the previous part of this series, the entrance of Charley was a shock, but now that it’s obvious she truly is hi sister, he didn’t hesitate to give her her own place in the Glass Dynasty.

The criminal world, especially when it’s like the Glass’ world, has always been a fascinating one. How does someone know who is trustworthy? How can you reign your empire and keeping everyone in line? And how to react when everything seems to go  for the worse?
All these aspects are taken care of in this book. And even if some reactions left me a bit flabbergasted, I knew somewhere that it would be a typical reaction from the Boss of the Underworld…

The thieves – turned – into – captors do for sure have several screws loose… and they are proof of how one worse seed can turn a whole operation totally over the top crazy. Out of the three criminals, there was only one I pitied, but how can one person fight off the other ones?

The conclusion of this book, of what happened to each character, didn’t come as a total surprise. But the actions Nina made, both made me like her (her sense of protectiveness towards one of the captors) but scared me also to shit (when one secret it revealed and what she does next…).
But her character also showed that in the end, even criminals are just people like you and me. They just want to be loved and taken care of, and take care of their loved ones. But once trust is broken, how can there be love?

There was one character that took some time to link to the rest of the story. I had a hunch, but seeing the unfortunate climax revealing the connection, and confirming my suspicion, showed me again how sometimes bad luck can cross your path.

This book is not for readers who are squeamish or are hoping that the brutality will be covered. It shows us just how the criminal world works, and to face the consequences when you mess with the wrong people.
But it also shows a close family, that would do anything for each other, no matter if you aren’t always on the same page…

Even if this genre isn’t my usual cup of tea (I’m a romance girl all the way), the Glass family managed to get me intrigued by their gripping, gruesome tale. And even if I never want to meet this family in real life, I cannot wait for the next instalment!