THE THIEF (The Houlihan Men of Dublin 4) by Brooke Summers-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 13, 2025

They call me The Thief.
My job? Take what the Houlihan gang needs, no matter what the circumstance, and make sure no one knows I was ever there.
Loyalty is all I’ve ever known. I live by it. I’ll die for it.
I never planned on getting tangled up in anything more. Until her.
Alastríona Grey-Gallagher.
The secret daughter of a dead legend. The girl every enemy wants to own—or kill.
She’s off-limits. She’s dangerous.
And she’s the only thing I can’t steal without losing myself.
I was sent to bring her home.
Now I’ll burn the world to keep her.
Enemies are closing in. Betrayals are coming from all sides.
And the past I thought I buried is clawing its way back—with blood on its hands.
Protecting her was supposed to be a job.
Somewhere along the way, it became a promise.
A promise I’ll kill to keep.

•••••

REVIEW: THE THIEF is the fourth (and final?) instalment in Brooke Summers’ contemporary, adult THE HOULIHAN MEN OF DUBLIN dark, Irish Mafia romance series. This is fixer / thief Freddie Kinnock, and eighteen year old, Mafia princess Alastriona Grey-Gallagher’s story line. THE THIEF can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Freddie and Alastriona) THE THIEF follows in the wake of the murder of Alastriona’s father eighteen months earlier. Our heroine was raised outside of the Irish Mafia but the death of her father found our heroine the sole heir to her father’s line. Called home to meet the family she never knew, Alastriona finds herself under the security and protection of Freddie Kinnock, the man with whom our heroine will fall in love but someone is taking aim at our story line heroine, payment for the death of someone else.

The world building follows the hunt for a killer. The Gallagher Mafia family is heading towards war but someone is leaking important information, and everyone becomes suspect in a winner takes all.

The relationship between Freddie and Alastriona begins as protection. As the Gallagher family is targeted, Alastriona is called home for her own protection but someone is determined to destroy them all. Freddie knows to fall for Alastriona means to place our heroine in danger but the heart wants something, and Freddie was our story line heroine. The $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of familiar, colorful and ultimately powerful secondary and supporting, many of who crossing over with the author’s numerous and interconnected series including the Fury Vipers MC and Made series. We are introduced to Alastriona’s grandfather Henry Gallagher, and several members of the Gallagher Mafia family. Not everyone will survive.

THE THIEF is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, madness and obsession, family and relationships, grief and love. The character driven premise is dramatic, dark and heart breaking; the romance is seductive and fated; the characters are desperate, dynamic and charismatic.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Eraser
The Cleaner
The Silencer

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA Today Bestselling Author Brooke Summers is a Mafia Romance author and is best known for her Made Series.

Brooke was born and raised in South London. She lives with her daughter and hubby. Brooke has been an avid reader for many years.She’s a huge fan of Colleen Hoover and Kristen Ashley.

Brooke has been dreaming of writing for such a long time. When she was little, she would make up stories just for fun. Seems as though she was destined to become an author.

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