#BlogTour Book Review | Family by Owen Mullen

About the Book

Family – might be the death of you…

The Glass family business is crime, and they’re good at what they do. Vengeance took Luke Glass behind bars – but now he’s free and he’s never going back. Luke wants out of the gangster life – all he has to do is convince his family to let him go.

His brother holds the reins of the South London underworld in his brutal hands – nobody tells Danny Glass no and expects to live – not even DCI Oliver Stanford, bent copper and one of the Met’s rising stars. The way Danny sees it, his younger brother and sister Nina owe him everything. The price he demands is loyalty, and a war with their arch enemy gives him the leverage he needs to tie Luke to the family once more.

Luke can’t see a way out, until Danny commits a crime so terrible it can’t be forgiven. Love turns to hate when secrets are unearthed which pit brother against brother. Left with no choice but to choose a side, Nina holds the fate of the family in her hands.

In the Glass family, Owen Mullen has created a crime dynasty to rival the Richardsons and the Krays. Heart-pounding, jaw-dropping with non-stop action, Family is perfect for fans of Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers and Mandasue Heller.

Purchase Link – https://buff.ly/37rHomR

Family by Owen Mullen is crime fiction at its most tragic and compelling as I witnessed Danny Glass traverse the deep dark descent into depravity through his brother’s eyes.

Though admittedly not my cup of tea, I found this story to be full of action and suspense. The telling is technically superb with artful use of two different narration types to more fully tell the tale. Foreshadowing maintains the suspense through the last page, and the flowing language tells a darkly vibrant story that’s gritty to its core.

As I read, The Godfather kept running through my mind, but this story is nothing like that one. It is unique in its premise and its characters. Danny Glass is the head of the family-run gang in South London, and he is coldly ruthless, blinded by rage, and disturbingly sadistic. There is nothing he will not do or no one he will not kill if he feels wronged. Luke tells his story through first-person narration. And though Luke is hardened and ruthless, there is a caring side of him that leads me to believe he is redeemable. They are Team Glass.

On most occasions, left out of Team Glass is Nina, their little sister who was raised by Danny. I had wished that she would be a more Lucky-Santangelo-type character, but instead, she is more of a mafia princess and wears the crown disturbingly well. I wanted her to have moxie. I wanted some sass. I hoped she would be different because this story desperately needs a strong female character. Women and children do not fare well in this gangster world – killed at a whim, used for sex, and treated like objects rather than people. Even the policeman’s wives were described in an extremely negative way, though I am sure they were treated well by their husbands, or one can hope.

If you like gang/crime fiction and have very few triggers (as this story contains many), then this is a story you will want to check out further.

About the Author

When he was ten years old, Owen Mullen won a primary schools short story competition and didn’t write another word for four decades. One morning he announced he was going to write a book. He did. Since then he has written seven. Owen was born in Coatbridge, a few miles from Glasgow, where the Charlie Cameron stories take place, and where he ran a successful design and marketing business. A late developer, he has a Masters degree from Strathclyde University which he got in his forties. In his earlier life he lived in London and worked as a musician and session singer. People tell him he enjoyed himself and he has no reason to doubt them. The journey from rocker to writer has been a fascinating experience and the similarities between the music and book industries, never cease to amaze him. His passions are travel, food and Arsenal Football Club. A gregarious recluse, he now splits his time between Scotland and the island of Crete, along with his wife, Christine.

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