Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE: Not so Innocent

SERIES: Shattered Glass #2

AUTHOR: Dani Alexander

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 483 pages

RELEASE DATE: January 27, 2025

BLURB:

Some secrets are worth dying for. Others are worth killing for.

Nikolaj “Cai” Strakosha lives in contradictions—ruthless killer and shy artist, calculated criminal and lovesick teenager. Two years ago, he left Denver with a broken heart and a scheme to take down a state senator. Now he’s back, but his plan is spiraling out of control, and the only option left is to ask for help from the man who rejected him again and again.

FBI Agent Riley Cordova has built his adult life on following the rules and staying in control. But Cai’s return shatters his carefully structured world. The teenager he once easily resisted is now a dangerous young man who makes his heart race—and the forbidden kiss they shared haunts his memories. Riley should stay away, but he’s soon drawn into a conspiracy with deadly consequences. When the bodies start piling up, Riley finds himself breaking every rule to keep Cai safe.

As Cai walks a tightrope of lies and deception, he will face an impossible choice between the promise he made or the promise of a future. And when it turns out that Cai isn’t the innocent victim he appears to be, Riley will have to choose between betraying the Bureau or betraying Cai.

While this is a stand alone in the Shattered Glass series, there will be spoilers for the first book.

REVIEW: 

Wooooboy.  This is a wild ride.

We’ve been waiting for Cai’s story for years and boy is it a doozy!

The story starts in flashbacks so we get a glimpse of the trauma that Cai endured as a child.  Then he goes through more trauma.  And more trauma.  He’s dealing with bipolar disorder as well.  He’s been raised by two unrelated young men he calls his brothers and who are kids themselves really.  There is a lot of bad stuff that happened to all of them and they had managed to keep surviving.

Fast forward now to Cai as a teenager – well he’s out of high school and he’s an artist.  He’s been in love with Riley Cordova – and FBI agent assigned to protect him – for years.  He’s staying with Riley’s family in fact when things really get going.  He’s returned from Europe with a sort-of boyfriend, but it’s really all a very very very long game to make the people who hurt him pay.

Well the people who hurt him plus the people who are responsible for other terrible very bad things.  I used to think these kinds of stories were a bit far-fetched.  But given what we’re seeing go on right now in the world?  Not so much.  Money can buy power, influence and apparently governments now, so who knows?  Maybe Dani Alexander has an inside track on this stuff.

So basically we’ve all been waiting for like 11 years or more for this book.  Kudos to Dani Alexander for giving it to us after all this time.  I wouldn’t recommend this as a standalone, although I guess technically you wouldn’t HAVE to read the first book.  Shattered Glass sets up so much of Cai’s background although there are flashbacks in this one as well that tell part of his story.  There is a LOT of trauma in this story – past and present.  There is a lot of the reality of living with bipolar disorder and the misunderstandings around that.  There are a lot of side characters – but they are very well written.  In particular there are a lot of strong women characters in this story – from mothers, to friends to work partners, etc.  There is a lot going on here and like in the first book, I almost needed a character bible to keep all the players straight in my head.   That being said, this is another well-written book even if I didn’t love every aspect of it.  I loved Jeremy, Riley’s wise-cracking best friend who is now the local parish priest.  I loved Riley’s family.  Getting to see Peter and Austin again as well as Darryl was half the reason I wanted this book   The one thing I wasn’t so sold on was the sexual dynamics between Riley and Cai.  Certainly not their first encounter.  Something felt really off about that.  I didn’t love Julian either if I’m honest, but I did try to understand him.

This is a wild roller coaster ride after the story really gets going and there is a LOT of bad stuff.  Some of it graphic.  I didn’t see CWs on my copy but I can confirm that there are episodes of rape, animal torture, murder, torture, etc.  Some is on-page, some off-page.  Cai has not had an easy life.  Like at all.  It’s a wonder he survived to adulthood.  I did appreciate that some people kept painting him with a broad brush and trying to box him into what they thought he was because how could someone be functional after all that?  But you know there are examples all around us of folks who have survived trauma and are still somehow able to carry on.  It’s a twisty-turny road to get to Cai and Riley making peace with themselves and each other – to some degree   Let’s hope it’s not 11 years to Darryl’s book.

For those who don’t need to avoid the triggers, this is an interesting book and worth the difficult road to the resolution.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon