When things get tough for the toughest family…

Synopsis

It takes a thief to catch a thief…

Charley Glass arrived in her family’s lives like the hurricane she’d escaped. But she hadn’t run far enough: the ruthless Giordano family are on her tail and want two things – her life, and the return of the property she stole from them. No matter how many bodies stack up.

After years of longing, Charley finally has the family she’s always wanted, but now she’s going to have to tell them the real reason she came looking them. There is only one way she’s going to stay alive, and that is to employ the muscle of the notorious Glass Family.

The head of the family, Luke, has become embroiled in a dangerous political plot and isn’t sure they’re strong enough to take on one of New Orleans’ biggest crime gangs. But he’d put his life on the line to protect the empire they’ve built – even if they’ll have to take on an enemy hurting enough to cross an ocean for revenge.

Page-turning, gritty, and utterly compelling, Thief is Owen Mullen’s best book yet. Perfect for fans of Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers and Mandasue Heller.

My review

Charley hasn’t always been part of the Glass family, but now she has proofed her value in building a real empire with her just found brother Luke and sister Nina.
Things don’t always go easy, but Charley stands her ground and knows that nobody can just mess with the Glass family.
But there is a reason why Charley came looking for her family, and that reason is the same one she ran away from New Orleans. Now biggest crime gang from New Orleans, the Giordano family, is in London to reclaim what Charley took from them.
No thief can just walk away unharmed… But Luke won’t allow any enemy to hurt his family… Because there is one golden rule to behold… Family First, Family Last, Glass Family Always… 

I am not a fan of criminal families… And I always hope that these people will pay for whatever crime they committed.
But I think that the Glass family is the exception that proves the rule.
We know that all the members of the family are not on the good side of the law and playing nice. Yet despite that knowledge, I have sympathy for them.
To tell them I like or love them, would be an exaggeration, as I still have my moral grounds. But knowing where they came from, what they have endured and how they manage to show their power, well, you have to admire that somehow… 

In the previous parts we got to know Luke and Nina much better, but the new arrival Charley still remained an enigma.
Previously she appeared out of the blue, managed to proof her worth and is now truly a member of the Glass family.
So I was happy to get to know her and her past better in this book. 

However, it is not a happy past, as we slowly get to learn. I understand the choices that she made in New Orleans, and I admired how she managed to escape the Giordano family. And I was glad that she has found her place and her family.
But I also realized it would only be matter of time before her past would catch up. 

While Charley keeps to appears as a strong woman, we see so much vulnerability in this book. I liked how she wanted to protect her family, even wanting to sacrifice herself as long as that meant that her siblings would be alive.

From the beginning I absolutely despised the Giordano family. And not only because they are after Charley, but mainly because they lacked a moral compass (even criminals have a tiny compass) and also lacked any kind of humanity. While the Glass family rule with iron fist, they are also righteous, while the Giordano don’t see a problem with just hurting and killing people for fun… 

I feared that these clashing families would end terribly, but I also felt some pride to see how Luke was adamant to protect his family. Nobody messes with the Glass family! But we also see the struggles he is facing with him trying to keep being ahead of everything. Not only is he protecting Charley, he himself too is facing some issues, with political involvement. And then there is Nina… 

Nina is the character that I felt the most sorry for. What happened in the previous book, truly broke her and while I don’t agree what she is doing, I understand where she is coming from.
It was so sad to see her getting into a downward spiral. But there were also silver linings as she found people who were there in her darkest moments, with good intentions and desire to help her out. 

This book is best read in its whole series, to understand better each development and each character. It’s not easy to like the criminal Glass family, but seeing them united and by each other’s side is what family is about, whether you’re part of a criminal one or not.

In this chapter of the series you feel that the coin can fall on either side. It’s a gripping thriller, with twists, betrayal all around the place, but also loyalty and sense of protectiveness.
Things aren’t beautiful in this book, yet I kept turning page after page, wanting to know more and hoping that the right family would end victorious with as less casualties as possible…