King’s Ransom by Matthew Reilly

On November 1, 2026 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Five-Star Books, ThrillerLeave a comment

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia (Trade Paperback – 29 September 2026)

Series: Sam Speedman – Book Two

Length: 496 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Prepare for one of the more insane and compelling thrillers of 2026, as Matthrew Reilly brings all the chaos he can in King’s Ransom, an incredible novel I had a ton of fun with.

Earlier this year I finally got the chance to read the 2025 novel from iconic Australian author Matthew Reilly, The Detective. The first book in Reilly’s new Sam Speedman series, The Detective was a particularly addictive novel that saw an unusual private investigator, Sam Speedman, as he becomes involved in a shocking case going back over a century, involving missing persons, dead detectives and modern-day slavery. Thanks to its excessive narrative, amazing humour and enjoyable main protagonist, I found The Detective to be a particularly addictive read that ended up getting a full five-star rating from me. I really cannot emphasise how much I loved The Detective, and I was immediately keen to continue the series. Luckily, I’d timed my reading of The Detective so that I only had a little bit to wait for the sequel Reilly released this year, King’s Ransom. Bringing back Speedman for another complex case, King’s Ransom was an intriguing sequel with a suitable crazy plot.

Plot Synopsis:

Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller.

A DARING ABDUCTION

The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children.

THE DEADLY CHALLENGE

The kidnapper’s demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing tech billionaire’s penthouse in New York City by noon and engage in a deadly series of riddles and ransoms to find and rescue them.

THE FIFTH DETECTIVE

Among the five investigators brought to New York is Sam Speedman.

Skinny, bespectacled and brilliant, Sam is different to most other detectives.

But as the situation escalates and the bodies mount, Sam is going to discover that appearances can be deceiving and that maybe some villains are best left alone…

Now this was an awesome sequel! King’s Ransom was an extremely fun thriller as Matthew Reilly presents a layered and impressive story, loaded with over-the-top antagonists, crazy moments and multiple clever twists. I ended up powering through this fantastic book in very short order, and I was immensely entertained the entire way through. Due to how damn addictive this was, I have to give King’s Ransom a full five stars, and this was probably one of my favourite thriller releases of 2026.

I was uncertain how Reilly was going to top The Detective in this sequel, but the author did not disappoint as he produced another suitably outrageous story that drags you in with its big moments and intense reveals. Set a year after the events of The Detective, King’s Ransom follows a now famous Sam Speedman, who is woken up at night by the FBI and urgently flown to New York City with his team. A mysterious figure has kidnapped the world’s richest man, Aristotle King, and his five children from their luxury penthouse, and is now demanding the attendance of the five best private detectives in the country. The author does a great job immediately setting the scene for this intriguing scenario while also provide a succinct and effective reintroduction to the protagonist and several other returning supporting characters.

Once everything is set up, Reilly dives right into the action as the kidnapper starts challenging the detectives with a series of riddles that reveal the location of the hostages, each of whom are in some sort of peril. While the protagonists initially prove successful at solving the clues and saving the victims, things quickly get out of hand, with various traps, attacks and ploys stacking up the body count around the survivors. This extended sequence of riddles and traps takes up most of the first half of King’s Ransom, and Reilly keeps raising the stakes and throwing in more carnage as the book continues. There are also some excellent clues and hints throw into this first half of the book, which the author comes back to later, and I really appreciate these inclusions in hindsight. This entire sequence leads up to a big confrontation, which appears to resolve the entire case suspiciously early, with the supposed masterminds caught or killed, while Speedman finds himself rocked by a personal tragedy.

While this first part of the book is extremely exciting and draws you in with its big moments, the second half of the book is where the truly impressive narrative work is contained. Despite being distracted by personal issues, Speedman finds himself drawn back into the case, especially when he discovers various inconsistencies in the official narrative. Resolving to investigate the full circumstances of the kidnapping, Speedman soon finds himself being opposed by the FBI (including his girlfriend’s ex-husband) and other people invested in the case. Worse, he soon encounters an antagonist with an unparalleled mind for planning and evil. This results in some fantastic discoveries, as well as an excellent cat-and-mouse storyline, as Speedman attempts to uncover the truth while being hunted by everyone. The big twist about some of the responsible parties is clever, even though some of the revealed individuals are a little obvious, and the sheer range of insanity and action around this part of the story keeps you highly engaged as you eagerly wait to see what happens next. Following a final excellent public reveal and confrontation Reilly ends the story on a fun note, with everyone getting what they deserve one way or another, with chilling hints at further insanity to come thrown in. A wonderfully addictive story that lived up to all my expectations.

This was another well-written and easy-to-read thriller from Reilly, who sets an impressive and crazy story around his unique protagonist. Serving as an excellent sequel to The Detective, King’s Ransom features an effective move away from its original southern setting, and instead masterfully utilises New York City as an outstanding background. King’s Ransom works well as a both a follow-up and a standalone read, especially as Reilly effectively recaps relevant moments from the first book. The author again makes great use of the first-person perspective in this novel, allowing you to see the entire case through the entertaining eyes of his protagonist. This allows you to get not only the benefit of the humorous observations of the protagonist but a great firsthand look at the unique case, including all its exciting twists and reveals. It also works to build up tension, especially when things get particularly personal and the protagonist finds himself dropped into several desperate corners.

All this draws you into the very intense story, and I loved just how outrageous and over-the-top the story turned out to be. While some moments are possibly a little too crazy, it all fits the tone of this series perfectly, and all thriller fans are guaranteed to have an outstanding time getting into it. I also must highlight the various drawings that were featured in the novel, especially as they provide an interesting way at looking at the unique clues and scenarios of the book. The diagrams showing how some of the book’s death traps were set up, as well as how Speedman attempted to counter them, were particularly awesome, and I loved how well they supplemented Reilly’s descriptive style and helped the reader envision the crazy situation even more. The author did another amazing job of writing King’s Ransom, and I cannot emphasise how well Reilly’s writing style helped to showcase his latest outrageous plot.

The final thing I want to highlight about King’s Ransom was the outstanding and distinctive characters featured within it. This includes Reilly’s unique new protagonist, Sam Speedman, a brilliant private investigator with a severe lack of normal social skills. Reilly does an amazing job showcasing Speedman’s unique thoughts, which are usually both fun and insightful and make him a very well-written autistic character. Despite the character’s established lack of social skills, he spends much of this book making unlikely connections, with many of his detective peers, and others, quickly realising his investigative prowess. I appreciated how Reilly did a good job showcasing Speedman’s character growth since the first book, especially his new confidence after getting a girlfriend and making new friends, and Speedman remains a particularly entertaining and relatable protagonist to follow.

Without going into too much detail about the rest of the characters in this book, especially as it could result in some spoilers, I will say the supporting cast for King’s Ransom was particularly good. Not only do you get some fantastic returns from The Detective but there are some great new characters introduced in this book. For example, the four other detectives summoned to the scene alongside Speedman are a wonderful eclectic mixture, while the kidnapping victim, Aristotle King, provided a fun look at the dark lives of the uber wealthy. All these characters, and more, added a lot to the plot, and I appreciated how well Reilly dove into their personalities and motivations of everyone involved in the case, especially as it provided hints about how involved they truly were. I will say that the best new characters ended up being the eventually revealed main antagonist of the story, who Reilly builds up as a particularly diabolical supervillain. Serving as a dark shadow to Speedman, this new antagonist really grabs your attention when they are showcased in their full evil glory. I really appreciated that Reilly introduced a worthy nemesis for Speedman in this second book, and readers will appreciate the resulting battle of wits, which goes so damn crazy.

Matthew Reilly continues to wildly entertain with his latest brilliant thriller. King’s Ransom was a deeply exciting and awesome read that I honestly couldn’t get enough of. An outstanding second Sam Speedman book, King’s Ransom was a ton of fun, and I honestly couldn’t get away from its insanely inventive and captivating plot. A highly recommended read, especially for those who love intense and over-the-top plots, I really enjoyed King’s Ransom, and I cannot wait to see what Reilly writes next.

Amazon

Hard Town by Adam Plantinga

On November 1, 2026 By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Throwback ThursdayLeave a comment

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (Paperback – 8 April 2025)

Series: Kurt Argento – Book Two

Length: 307 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Rising thriller author Adam Plantinga follows up his excellent first novel with the intense and highly addictive sequel, Hard Town, and outstanding book I read so damn quickly.

Readers of this blog may remember that at the start of 2025 I had the great pleasure of reading a particularly epic thriller novel, The Ascent. The debut novel from new author Adam Plantinga, The Ascent was a fantastic novel that followed a former cop, Kurt Argento, who finds himself stuck in the middle of a brutal prison riot, which forces him to fight through several levels of a deadly killers and criminals. I had an amazing time with The Ascent (it was one of my favourite debuts of 2024), and I have been keen to read more from Plantinga for a while, especially as he intended to write more about his original protagonist. After highlighting it as a cool upcoming novel early last year, I finally got a chance to read Hard Town and I’m glad I did.

Plot Synopsis:

When a plea for help sends retired Detroit cop Kurt Argento to the small desert town of Fenton, Arizona things immediately don’t appear to be as they seem, and he finds himself unravelling secrets that want to stay hidden and questioning his own moral compass.

After having survived a deadly prison break, ex-Detroit cop Kurt Argento is ready for some quiet. Still working through his grief over the passing of his wife, Argento finds himself house-sitting for a friend with his loyal companion, Hudson, a Chow Chow-Shepard mix. It’s a simple life, picking up odd jobs here and there, but it’s one that Argento is content to live.

Then Kristin Reed shows up with her young son, Ethan, and begs Argento to help find her missing husband… and Argento tells her he’d just be in the way. He’s no investigator, not anymore. He’s a handyman who fixes fences. But he’s not one to ignore his gut feeling when something is wrong. After an attempt to talk with Kristin more in the next town over, just to find her and her son missing as well, Argento starts to notice that Fenton, Arizona is more than meets the eye.

First there’s the large, overly equipped public safety team complete with specialized tactics and sophisticated weaponry. Then there’s the unusual financial boosting of failing small businesses by the U.S. government. And finally, there’s one man with no name who seems to have control over this town in an unprecedented way.

Argento finds himself unravelling not just the truth behind the disappearance of a family, but a conspiracy that’s taken a whole town to cover up. But Fenton, Arizona is going to push him further than he’s ever had to go. And along the way, he may just lose a part of himself as well. Because justice isn’t as black and white as Argento would like to believe.

Hard Town was a great second novel from Plantinga, who follows up his debut with a highly compelling sequel I had an outstanding time with. Loaded with striking action, an excellent over-the-top story and a gritty protagonist, Hard Town was an amazing novel that is worth checking out.

Plantinga pulls together an excellent plot for Hard Town, which I felt served as an excellent continuation of the protagonist’s personal journey, while also working well as a standalone story with its own distinctive plot. Reintroducing protagonist Kurt Argento as a battered survivor with some infamy behind him after the events of The Ascent, Hard Town sees him get dragged back into trouble when a desperate woman begs him to investigate the disappearance of her husband from the town of Fenton, Arizona. Despite his misgivings, Argento eventually agrees to help, only to discover that the woman and her young son have gone missing. Searching for answers in Fenton, he discovers a surprisingly well-equipped police force of former soldiers, while a mysterious genius is holding court in town. Plantinga sets up this unusual scene extremely well in the first third of Hard Town, and you soon become quite engrossed in uncovering the full mystery, especially as things are just about to kick off in all the wrong ways.

It’s around this point that the entire tone of Hard Town changes dramatically, and Argento finds himself caught up in a deadly battle for survival. After an intense extended sequence, you follow Argento as he attempts to uncover the true secrets of Fenton while also searching for his own brand of justice. This involves an interesting investigation arc, followed up by a dangerous plan to gain allies and resources. Plantinga perfectly paces out the second half of Hard Town, drawing you into Argento’s plans before hitting you with the big confrontation. This final part of Hard Town is extremely brutal, with multiple deadly fights and encounters. Plantinga throws in a couple of good twists here, as well as a lot of over-the-top deaths, and you will find yourself extremely hooked. Everything wraps up in a satisfying, dark ending, with the protagonist resolving the story at a cost, and thriller fans will come away happy with how Hard Town turned out. I personally loved this well-planned out and compelling narrative, and I ended up powering through the entirety of Hard Town in only a couple of days.

You can see that Plantinga has improved as an author since his first book, as he has done a good job moving the plot away from the prison setting of the first book into a sprawling adventure throughout Arizona. Hard Town initially had a bit of a slower pace to it, which I felt helped to build tension and allowed for a stronger, more character-focused read. The use of an underlying mystery to drive the initial plot and increase tension and interest was a great choice by Plantinga, and it allowed the author to take his time to set up the story. Once things do kick off, Plantinga does not hold back, bringing in a series of intense confrontations and over-the-top moments to raise the stakes and sate the action fans. Plantinga makes sure there is a gritty realism to all the action, as Plantinga provides detailed depictions of event, amping up the impact of events. I also quite enjoyed the multiple realistic depictions of police techniques and procedure, as Plantinga pulls from his own extensive personal knowledge of law enforcement to enhance his story. All this results in a powerful tone for Hard Town, which intensifies the action and the fantastic focus on the characters.

While there is a lot of carnage in this thriller, Hard Town isn’t all action, as Plantinga adds some nuance to the plot, especially around protagonist Kurt Agento’s motivations and the morality of the antagonists. Argento, who the author expertly reintroduces in this sequel, continues to develop from the angry figure we were introduced to at the start of The Ascent. Now somewhat calmer, Argento is forced back into the life of violence when pushed in the most dramatic of ways, although Plantinga continues to portray him as having a little more restraint, while also moralising a little more over his actions and desire for revenge. The author works in some interesting flaws and personal concerns for the protagonist to deal with. Despite certain moral quandaries Plantinga includes in the plot, there is not a moment that you aren’t on the side of the protagonist as he seeks justice, especially after a certain scene. The clever and usually over-the-top ways that Argento attempted to resolve the situations he found himself in also draws the reader to his side, and there were some very memorable moments in this plot as Argento attempted to get justice.

While most of the book’s focus was on Argento as protagonist, Plantinga does include some interesting supporting characters, especially in the book’s antagonists. These antagonists are a group of mysterious soldiers who have taken over policing in the small town of Fenton as part of a larger mission. Employed to ruthlessly defend their objective and keep the town in order, these characters do some terrible things and there are some true monsters amongst them. However, Plantinga includes a couple of conflicted figures in their midst, and their varied morality becomes an interesting plot point, especially when Argento seeks his revenge. The objective of these soldiers and their government agent handler adds in some interesting moral conflicts to the plot, especially as they try to balance the need for dark actions with the overall objective of the mission they believe in. I enjoyed how Plantinga balanced these morally grey characters by also including a completely irredeemable character as Hard Town’s main antagonist. The sinister mastermind behind the whole operation in Fenton, this initially unnamed antagonist was delightfully over-the-top, and Plantinga had fun writing in his sense of superiority and evil nature. If anything, the author made him too outrageously evil, as this character came across as a parody of an arrogant intellectual, but I still had fun seeing this antagonist in action, especially when confronted by the more serious Argento. All these characters add a lot to Hard Town’s story, and I felt that Plantinga’s character work was a lot more impactful in this sequel.

Adam Plantinga showcases his improvement as a writer in this excellent second novel, Hard Town. An amazing and nuanced thriller novel that balances an emotionally charged plot with some outstanding action, Hard Town was a highly addictive read that I found near impossible to put down. I really had an amazing time with this sequel, and I look forward to reading more from Plantinga going forward, especially as the third book in this series, Dark Country, just came out.

Amazon