Family by Owen Mullen

Due for publication 21 January 2021.

Now, you might be wondering why I am publishing my review of Family by Owen Mullen so early – ten days prior to publication. The reason is to give you time to preorder this so you don’t miss out! And no, I don’t receive anything for my review, or from any sales my review may generate. This is just a really good book and I want you all to have the chance to read it.

EXCERPT: There was no warning. The car left the road, lifted by the force of the blast. Pieces of metal and glass ripped through a bus queue waiting for the 185 to Victoria. In that moment lives were irrevocably changed: people fell to the ground, blood pouring from wounds they hadn’t had a second ago; the windscreen of a Vectra coming in the opposite direction shattered, blinding the driver, who lost control and ploughed into a West Indian fruit and veg shop, crushing a teenage assistant at the beginning of only her second day on the job; on the pavement, a man in his thirties hurrying to the beat from his iPod suddenly collapsed, his leg severed at the knee.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, silence hung in the smoke, then the full horror hit, people with blood on their faces screamed and ran and burst into tears. Sam lay in the gutter, undamaged apart from a patch of singed fur. The device had been hidden under the driver’s seat so the new guy didn’t exist any more.

Cheryl and Rebecca Glass died without knowing it.

ABOUT ‘FAMILY’: 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.

MY THOUGHTS: I have read everything that Owen Mullen has written to date and have loved every word of every book. Family is no exception.

I approached Family with trepidation. Organised crime and gang warfare are not my thing. But once started, I couldn’t put this down, and read it overnight. My day didn’t start until I had turned the last page, sighing with regret that it was finished. I hadn’t expected to get so immersed in the lives of this family.

Mullen has created a superb cast of characters, from the cruel and manipulative Danny, scion of the Glass family, to Luke the younger brother who has spent nearly a decade in jail for a revenge killing, to Nina, their sister who, although she never wanted it, is part of their organisation. There are bent cops, a greedy accountant, a reluctant prostitute, and a rival gang who cause more than a few problems for Danny, who becomes an unwitting and unwilling YouTube star.

This is a gritty, gripping gangland crime thriller and, honestly?, I hope there’s more to come.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#Family #crimethriller #gangland

THE AUTHOR: Owen Mullen graduated from Strathclyde University, moved to London and worked as a rock musician, session singer and songwriter, and had a hit record in Japan with a band he refuses to name; Owen still loves to perform on occasion. His great love for travel has taken him on many adventures from the Amazon and Africa to the colourful continent of India and Nepal. A gregarious recluse, he and his wife, Christine, split their time between Glasgow, and their home away from home in the Greek Islands where all of his crime thrillers were created.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to author Owen Mullen for providing a digital ARC of Family, published by Boldwood Books for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

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