Month: December 2025

WWW Wednesday – 3 December 2025

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WWW Wednesday is a weekly post hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading:

Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon (Trade Paperback)

I’ve started reading the exciting thriller Gone Before Goodbye.  Written by the intriguing team of Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon, Gone Before Goodbye follows a disgraced former surgeon who is dragged into a dark conspiracy when she is selected to perform surgery on a mysterious Russian oligarch. This book is proving to be awesome and compelling thriller, and I am hoping to finish it off soon.

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The Strength of the Few by James Islington (Audiobook)

I’m still going with the epic fantasy novel, The Strength of the Few by James Islington this week. The sequel to Islington’s deeply impressive The Will of the Many, The Strength of the Few features a complex plot, as three separate versions of the protagonist from the first book simultaneously journey through alternate worlds. I’m in the final stages of this incredible book, and I am having an outstanding time, especially as things are getting so damn desperate and dark. I already know that The Strength of the Few is going to be one of my top books of 2025, and I cannot wait to see the final twists and turns that Islington has imagined for this intricate and captivating novel.

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What did you recently finish reading?

Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka (Trade Paperback)

I finished off the amazing Japanese thriller, Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka this week. A follow-up to some of the author’s previous novels, including Bullet Train and Three Assassins, Hotel Lucky Seven sees the unlucky protagonist of Bullet Train trapped in hotel with several deadly assassins. This was a very fun novel, and I’m hoping to get a review up for it soon.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

King Sorrow by Joe Hill

I hoping to read the excellent sounding horror novel, King Sorrow, in the next week. A particularly epic sounding novel that will follow a group of friends who make a dark deal with an ancient evil, King Sorrow has a ton of potential, and it sounds like it is going to be a twisted and impressive read.

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Star Wars: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher

Once I get through The Strength of the Few this week, I’m hoping to start listening to the recently released Star Wars audiobook, Master of Evil. An intriguing novel that will follow the newly created Darth Vader on a journey of discovery as he tries to fully understand the dark side of the Force. I have been looking forward to reading this novel for a while, and I think it has the potential to be one of the more compelling Star Wars novels of 2025.

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That’s it for this week; check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Right to Remain by James Grippando

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on WednesdayLeave a comment

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I focus on a cool upcoming legal thriller I recently highlighted as one of the top books I’m looking forward to reading in early 2026 with The Right to Remain by James Grippando.

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Over the last couple of years, I have grown to really enjoy the fantastic legal thrillers of veteran author James Grippando, especially those that form part of his Jack Swyteck series.  Following the titular Jack Swyteck, a Miami based criminal defence attorney who takes on the toughest cases, the series features some outstanding court sequences and legal scenes, especially as Grippando routinely envisions some very clever and unique scenarios and clients for the protagonist to defend.  I had an incredible time with the last two books in the series, Goodbye Girl and Grave Danger, and I am extremely keen to see where the series goes next.

Luckily, I don’t have too much longer until the next Jack Swyteck novel is released with the epic upcoming book, The Right to Remain, coming out in early January 2026.  The 20th entry in the Jack Swyteck series, The Right to Remain features another very interesting plot idea, with the protagonist this time forced to defend a man accused of murder who is literally refusing to speak up in his own defence.  I love the cool idea behind this upcoming book, and I can only imagine just how awesome and unique the resulting trial is going to be.  As such, The Right to Remain is now poised to be one of the first new thrillers I check out in 2026, and I am so damn curious about how this story will unfold.

Plot Synopsis:

In this thrilling novel from bestselling author James Grippando—the twentieth in his revered series—legendary criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck takes on a twisty, difficult case that becomes one of the most complex in his illustrious career.

Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck must contend with a unique problem. His client, Elliott Stafford, indicted for murder, has gone silent. Not just silent in asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination—Elliott refuses to speak. He won’t talk to the judge, his girlfriend, or even the attorney fighting for his life. There seems to be no medical or psychological reason for his silence. He has, as Jack puts it, “chosen to become his own worst enemy.”

To some, it’s an act of protest against a broken criminal justice system. Jack doesn’t buy it. Undeterred by the hoopla and calls to walk away, he keeps his client and tries his best to save Elliott from himself. As he digs for facts, Jack discovers a much more disturbing reason for Elliott’s silence. Virtually everything Elliott told Jack before the indictment is proving false, including Elliot’s criminal history, family turmoil, and secret past. As Jack plunges deeper, he comes to believe that Elliott isn’t trying to hide his own guilt. He may be protecting someone else—and the stakes could not be higher.

With plenty of courtroom action, scenes in which “Grippando’s years of experience shine brightest” (New York Times), The Right to Remain is one of the most thrilling entries yet in this hugely popular series that keeps going strong.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Pre-2025 Novels

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List1 Comment

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. This week participants of Top Ten Tuesday get a freebie to list whatever topics they want.  So, I am going to take this opportunity to start my annual end-of-year lists here by looking at my favourite pre-2025 novels that I read this year.

Each December I have a lot of fun looking at some of the best and most impressive books and comics that I have read throughout the year in a series of Top Ten Lists.  While these lists will mostly focus on books that came out in 2025, for the last few years I have also taken the time to list out some of the best older novels that I have read in the last 12 months.  There are some excellent novels that were released pre-2025 out there that I haven’t had the chance to read before and it is always fun to go back and explore them.  I ended up reading a bunch of awesome older books throughout 2025, including some incredible novels that got easy five-star ratings from me and are really worth checking out.

To come up with this list I had a look at all the novels I read this year that had their initial release before 2025.  While I struggled due to an overabundance of choice, I eventually managed to pull together a fantastic list that covered some of the best books I read this year released before 2025. I did have to put one restriction on my choices for this year’s list, primarily because I read quite a few novels from authors, Matt Dinniman and Terry Pratchett, and I could have filled this top ten list with books from these two alone.  As such, I limited myself to three books from each author, which ensured a bit more diversity in this list.  With this rule in place, I feel that this list still reflects the best pre-2025 novels I read throughout the year, so let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Warhammer 40,000: Crossfire by Matthew Farrer – 2003

An intense classic novel from the Warhammer 40,000 franchise with a great crime fiction twist.

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The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso – 2024

An intricate fantasy novel that makes excellent use of a clever, time-loop scenario

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Death on the Tiber by Lindsey Davis – 2024

Flavia Albia returns for another ancient Rome mystery, this time hunting down an organised crime boss that she has a dark history with.

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Top Ten List:

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett – 1992

I had a lot of fun re-reading several Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett in 2025, including the impressive and thought-provoking Small Gods.  One of Pratchett’s absolute best Discworld books, Small Gods provides a clever and hilarious look at religion and how it impacts the human condition, all while following two of the author’s most relatable protagonists.  There is so much to love about Small Gods, and it was a pleasure to read it once again, especially with the new audiobook format that featured narration from Andy Serkis.

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Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett – 1993

Another outstanding Discworld book I enjoyed in 2025 was the second entry in the City Watch sub-series, Men at Arms.  The sequel to Pratchett’s earlier release, Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms sees the unlikely heroes of the Ankh-Morpork city watch attempt to stop a deranged killer wielding the Disc’s first firearm.  A very impressive crime fiction novel that makes full use of the iconic city of Ankh-Morpork as a gritty background setting, Men at Arms was another early classic from Pratchett, that I will never get tired of re-reading.

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Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett – 1996

The final book from Pratchett that I want to highlight on this list is the third City Watch book, Feet of Clay.  Following the returning protagonists from Men at Arms as they attempt to solve a series of brutal murders connected to Ankh-Morpork’s golem population, as well as stop the poisoning of the patrician.  Probably the best crime fiction novel that Pratchett ever wrote, Feet of Clay is an exceptional book that still brings me joy whenever I read it.

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Warhammer 40,000: Titanicus by Dan Abnett – 2008

It wouldn’t be a reading year for me without some older Warhammer 40,000 novels thrown into the mix.  One of my favourites of these was the epic novel Titanicus by the legendary Dan Abnett.  A spin-off of his Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Titanicus follows a sprawling war between the gigantic Titan war machines, as they rain destruction and death across an entire planet.  Massive in scope and featuring some outstanding battle sequences, Titanicus was an outstanding read and one I had such an incredible time getting through.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Emperor’s Finest by Sandy Mitchell – 2010

I also continued my dive into another awesome older Warhammer 40,000 series this year with The Emperor’s Finest by Sandy Mitchell.  A particularly hilarious entry in the entertaining Ciaphas Cain series, The Emperor’s Finest once again follows the galaxy’s smartest, if most cowardly, commissar, as he attempts to avoid deadly danger in space, only to inadvertently end up facing even worse monsters or deadly situations.  I laughed myself silly throughout The Emperor’s Finest and it was a great entry in one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 series.

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Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – 2020

Those who are familiar with this blog will already know that 2025 started my obsession with the incredible Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman, as I dove into several of these novels which were all released before 2025.  I ended up powering through the entire series on audiobook in a couple of weeks, it was that damn good, and I just had to include a few entries from this series on this list as a result.  This includes the very first book in the series, Dungeon Crawler Carl, which serves as a powerful introduction to the elaborate narrative and setting.  I love how well Dungeon Crawler Carl sets the entire adventure up, and you get a perfect taste of the author’s unique humour and crazy imagination with this incredible read.  Highly recommended, although be warned, once you start reading this book, you won’t be able to stop.

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Mickey7 by Edward Ashton – 2022

The highly entertaining and inventive science fiction novel, Mickey7, proved to be excellent entertainment for a road trip earlier this year.  A fantastic novel that I’ve been meaning to read for a while, Mickey7 featured a great story about an expendable member of a distant space colony, who gets in trouble when an extra clone of him is created.  I really enjoyed this awesome novel and it really worth going back and checking out.

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The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman – 2022

After already featuring the first Dungeon Crawler Carl novel on this list, I was spoiled for choice about which other entries from the series to feature here, especially as I read them all this year.  however, in the end the choice was rather easy for me as I had to feature one of the very best books from Dinniman with the fifth book in the series, The Butcher’s Masquerade.  Featuring an elaborate plot that sees the increasingly damaged protagonists transported to a new level filled with alien hunters who plan to butcher them for sport, The Butcher’s Masquerade was another exceptional entry in the series.  Between its epic story, amazing humour, crazy moments, and impressive emotional depth, The Butcher’s Masquerade was a true standout amongst an already incredible series, and I just had to feature it here.

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The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman – 2023

The third Dungeon Crawler Carl novel I decided to feature on this list was the sixth book, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride, which I honestly think was one of the most impressive entries in the series.  Perfectly building on the plot from the previous novels, Dinniman turned what could have been a fun bridging novel into an emotionally charged and traumatic read that really dived into several of the series’ outstanding characters.  Funny, exhilarating and absolutely heartbreaking, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride features some of Dinniman’s best writing, and I honestly could not get enough of the elaborate scenarios and shocking moments in this book.  The crown jewel of one of the best ongoing series you need to read.

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The Ascent by Adam Plantinga – 2024

The final book I want to highlight on this list is the very exciting 2024 thriller The Ascent by Adam Plantinga.  A compelling read that saw a damaged former cop attempt to climb up through a chaotic and deadly rioting prison, The Ascent was a very impressive novel, and one I flew through extremely quickly.  I really enjoyed this great book, and I’m hoping to read the sequel, Hard Town, sometime soon.

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And that is the end of this list.  As you can see, I have managed to read a huge number of epic pre-2025 releases this year.  Each of the above were exceptional and fun reads and I would strongly recommend all of them, especially if you are in the mood for some fun fantasy or science fiction adventures.  I look forward to reading many more older books in 2026, and it will be interesting to see what makes my next version of this list then. Make sure to check back in next week for some other end-of-year lists as I continue to highlight some of my favourite reads from 2025.

Warhammer 40,000: Crossfire by Matthew Farrer

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Thriller, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer2 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Paperback – 1 January 2003)

Series: Warhammer 40,000: Shira Calpurnia – Book One

Length: 320 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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I finally got around to reading the awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel, Crossfire.  A classic entry in the Warhammer 40,000 canon with a cool crime fiction twist, Crossfire was a great novel that serves as an excellent first entry in Farrer’s Shira Calpurnia trilogy.

In the grim future of the 41st millennium, order and control of the massive Imperium of Man is maintained through the strictest interpretation of Imperial law, with no room for variation or leniency.  The ultimate arbitrators of this law are the dedicated members of the Adeptus Arbites, elite law bringers, trained to weed out corruption, dissent and disloyalty wherever they are deployed.

Shira Calpurnia Lucina, recently promoted arbitor senioris of the Adeptus Arbites, has been assigned to the bustling dockyards of the Hydraphur system.  A glistening gem of Imperial rule dedicated to providing material to the navy, Hydraphur is a seemingly unlikely place for dissention.  But this elite planet harbours dark secrets which come to the surface after a deadly assassination attempt is made in public against Calpurnia amid the distraction and celebration of a major religious festival.

Attempting to uncover who would want her killed after only just arriving on world, Calpurnia begins her relentless investigation.  However, this is no simple case, and soon Calpurnia finds herself forced to navigate the many plots and schemes of the Hydraphur elite.  With more attacks striking close to her and the fate of the whole planet seemingly in the balance, Calpurnia must uncover all Hydraphur’s secrets before the assassins stalking her finally succeed.

Crossfire was an excellent and compelling Warhammer 40,000 novel from Farrer that proved very fun to get through.  Featuring a fantastic plot that is one of the earlier examples of a crime fiction narrative melding with the iconic Warhammer 40,000 universe, Crossfire was a great read and one that is worth checking out.

I liked the captivating story that Farrer came up with for Crossfire, which quickly gets the reader’s attention with a powerful introduction to the protagonist, as she quickly finds herself under fire from a lethal assassin.  Serving as a good start to the main investigation arc, the plot follows the protagonist as she attempts to uncover the identity of the assassin, while also learning more about the planet of Hydraphur.  While a very lore-heavy story, Farrer keeps the plot going quickly and effectively, especially as there are soon more apparent attacks against the protagonist, each of which give her more clues to follow to try and find the mastermind of the plot against her.  At the same time the protagonist gets bogged down in dealing with various other interested parties on Hydraphur, including the planet’s local elites, agents of the Imperial church, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Inquisition, each of whom have their own interests in finding out who is trying to kill Calpurnia.

While Farrer keeps up a good pace for Crossfire as the plot continues, I do think that he might have overloaded the narrative with details about Hydraphur’s society, as well as the various plots that infest it.  While these serve as good red herring motives for the protagonist to follow, it did overcomplicate the plot at times, which slowed things down even amid some great action sequences.  Despite this, the overall narrative for Crossfire was quite strong, and you get hooked into the continued investigation, especially as the author kept raising the stakes of the case.  After some exciting scenes, everything leads up to the big final confrontation, as the protagonist fully unwinds all the conflicting conspiracies they’ve been forced to encounter.  The conclusion was a sufficiently intense and over-the-top fight, which you need in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and I liked the clever way the protagonist was able to turn the tables on the antagonist, even if the set-up for it was a little heavy handed.  An overall excellent Warhammer 40,000 plot that nicely tells its own story, while also introducing the character for the larger trilogy.

I’ve previously had a lot of fun with previous Warhammer 40,000 novels that utilise strong crime fiction elements in their story telling, such as Bloodlines by Chris Wraight and Grim Repast by Marc Collins, as there are some outstanding crime narratives in this grimdark universe. Crossfire is an interesting early example of this utilisation of crime fiction in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and I felt that Farrer did a pretty good job of building a compelling investigation around this fantastic setting.  The resulting story is a layered and intense read that sees the protagonist slowly unwind the case amid various battle sequences and other dark distractions.  The relevant clues, hints and misleading details are well scattered throughout the plot, and I felt there was a good amount of foreshadowing to some of the key plot reveals.  While some story elements and conspiracies came a little out of nowhere, for the most part this was a concise and ordered novel, well told through the perspective of the protagonist.  Farrer excelled at fitting a ton of interesting and heavy lore elements in the plot, and I particularly appreciated how well he utilised his setting throughout the story.  The various plots and schemes of planet’s noble families and prominent organisations, as well as the elaborate religious festival the novel is set around (ceremonial details of which are cleverly included at the start of each chapter), are expertly worked into the larger plot, and it was fascinating to see how they impacted the story and drove the investigation.

One of the more entertaining elements of Crossfire I enjoyed was the narrative’s compelling characters.  The focus is primarily around series protagonist Shira Calpurnia Lucina, the arbitor senioris through whose eyes we see the story unfold.  Calpurnia serves as an interesting central figure, especially as she provides an outsider perspective to the complex setting.  While Farrer writes Calpurnia as a somewhat bullish and highly determined figure that is initially hard to appreciate, I felt that this was an intentional choice by the author, which reflects the typical attitudes of the Arbites in the general Warhammer 40,000 setting.  Forcing her to deal with the more subtle techniques needed for the politically delicate Hydraphur brought in some interesting conflict for Calpurnia, as well as producing some interesting character growth.  Despite this, the outsider status of Calpurnia continues to be a compelling plot feature throughout Crossfire, which Farrer utilised extremely well with his writing.  The rest of the cast, while less prominent, adds some complexity to the plot, and I enjoyed the compelling array of fellow Arbites members, the gentry of Hydraphur, and other prominent figures in the planet’s hierarchy.  I particularly enjoyed the motivations of the book’s eventual antagonist, which had a great hint of madness behind it, and this was an overall excellent group of characters.

While I really enjoyed Crossfire’s compelling story, I must admit that this wasn’t the easiest Warhammer 40,000 novel to read.  The plot details of Crossfire are very dense, and it takes a lot of effort to absorb and follow the story.  I felt this was especially noticeable in the small-print paperback version I had, and you really had to focus to take everything in.  As a result, this one probably wouldn’t be a recommended starting point for a new Warhammer reader.  Farrer utilises a lot of intricate details about the Warhammer 40,000 universe that even people casually familiar with the franchise are going to struggle to follow at times.  While most new readers can probably follow along well enough through context, I would suggest it’s best enjoyed by veteran fans who will probably have a lot more fun with it.

Overall, Crossfire by Matthew Farrer was an awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel, and one that I was glad I finally got the opportunity to read.  A compelling crime fiction novel that makes great use of Farrer’s complex setting, Crossfire proved to be an exciting and interesting read.  While not the easiest novel to get through at times, Crossfire proved to be an excellent piece of Warhammer fiction and I’m hoping to get through the rest of the Shira Calpurnia trilogy soon.

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