Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After starting the Reading Challenge, I filled my “To Read” list with tons of crime thrillers, cozy mysteries and historical fiction novels. I’ve switched back and forth between the cozy and the grisly murders to my fascination with history and the complexities of family dramas… after 20 novels, I found myself wanting something different. I’m not one to read romance stories though I do enjoy quintessential “chick flick” films… either way, I stumbled upon Shattered Glass mostly because that was a title I was considering for a family drama in which I had started the outline [now I think I’ll call it “Watching a Glass Shatter.” I digress… back to Dani Alexander’s “Shattered Glass.”
After reading some reviews and the love affair with bunny slippers (don’t ask, you have to read it to understand), I thought to myself “this one may have potential” and ordered it online. When it arrived, I was just finishing the new Harry Potter book (talk about a vastly different world) but got to it the next day. It’s about 350 pages long, so I expected about 5 to 6 hours of a read for me, so probably 5 days given that I have about an hour a day where I have time to read. Perhaps because it was a weekend, or maybe I chose to make more time because of how engaging it was, it only took me 2 days.
Mind you, I have nothing to compare it to when it comes to either romance or gay fiction, having read very little of either, yet it feels like it’s at the top of its category. It had mystery and intrigue, crime and thrills, some romance (well, mostly sex) and very bold characters that bordered on obnoxius and charming all at the same time (in a good way). I could never be best friends with either of the main characters as they would eventually annoy the hell out of me, but anyone would be blessed to have a friendship with either Austin or Peter given their intensity and committment to learning about each other.
Could something like this ever really happen? Seems far-fetched, but I could be naive on the subject. Would someone really give up their entire career given the risks being taken? I suppose if they wanted to get out of their job, yes, but Austin seemed to love his job. It is fiction though, so I hold my disbelief given the amazing characters that are created and the sarcastic but real dialogue contained throughout the whole story.
If you’re looking for something with some spice, intrigue, passion and witty humor, definitely give it a read. If you are a bit faint of heart when it comes to this kinda stuff, it may be too much for a first read! I’ll definitely read the second book in the series and will probably add it to the lineup for later this year after an Agatha Christie story and a cozy about a librarian who solves crimes.