Category: Thriller

Never Flinch by Stephen King

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery, Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton/Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 5 September 2023)

Series: Holly Gibney – Book Two

Length: 14 hours and 44 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Legendary author Stephen King continues to dominate the horror and crime fiction genres with his brilliant 2025 release, Never Flinch, a gripping and intense thriller that brings back one of his more unique protagonists and keeps the reader constantly on the edge of their seat.

Ever since I started reviewing a wider range of fiction on my blog, I have been really drawn to the works of iconic author Stephen King.  King is a truly impressive author who has impacted so many levels of world fiction with his brilliant imagination, and I have had such an epic time getting through some of his latest novels.  Highlights for me so far include the fun coming-of-age story Later, the clever fantasy novel Fairy Tale, the gripping and personal thriller Billy Summers (one of my favourite books of 2021), and the impressive short story collection You Like It Darker (one of my favourite books of 2024), just to name a few.

While I have loved some of these impressive and varied reads, some of my favourite recent Stephen King books have been those where King dives into the crime fiction genre, producing some complex and particularly powerful narrative, especially when his mysteries border on horror stories.  The author’s current dive into the crime fiction genre mostly originated with his 2014 novel, Mr Mercedes.  The first book in the author’s Bill Hodges series, Mr Mercedes was a fantastic read that saw a gritty detective attempt to stop a deranged killer haunting his town.  While the Bill Hodges books featured several compelling characters, a true standout was unusual new protagonist, Holly Gibney.  An initially timid and unsocial figure, Holly grew into a competent detective as the Bill Hodges books continued and was a true standout for this clever trilogy.

King enjoyed Gibney so much as a character that she was eventually brought back for several additional books.  This included the horror thriller The Outsider (one of my favourite horror novels), where Holly is brought in halfway through the book’s plot to investigate a murder conclusively proven to be committed by a man with a perfect alibi.  The Outsider was an exceptional read, and King soon upgraded Holly to a sole protagonist with his 2023 novel Holly.  Featuring a particularly powerful and deeply shocking story, Holly saw the protagonist take on an unlikely pair of killers with a shocking motivation for committing their crimes.  Holly ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023, and I am still very impressed with where that dark story went.  As such, I have been very keen to read more books from Stephen King since then, and I was particularly thrilled when I found out that the author’s 2025 release was another Holly Gibney novel.  This sequel, Never Flinch, was one of my most anticipated novels of 2025, and I have been meaning to write a review about it for a while now.

Plot Synopsis:

From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.

When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.

Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.

Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.

Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.

Honestly, how the heck is King still this damn good?  Never Flinch was another exceptional novel from King, who continues to impress with his elaborate narratives, slick writing and relatable characters.  Featuring a particularly clever crime fiction plot that keeps the readers on their toes to the very end, Never Flinch proved near impossible to put down at times, especially as King keeps amping up the intensity and the danger.  Never Flinch gets a very easy five-star rating from me, and I’m already listed it as one of the top books and audiobooks from the first half of 2025.

King pulls together an awesome and compelling story for Never Flinch, that had me hooked very early on.  Starting off on an interesting note as the reader is introduced the book’s antagonist, who goes by the nickname of Trig, you are soon thrown into his desperate ploy to murder 14 random people in Buckeye City to replicate the jury who put an innocent man in prison.  Serving as a very impressive start to a great story, King soon expands the narrative further by examining the police investigation into these murders, and showing protagonist Holly Gibney’s initial interest in the case.  From there the plot expands even further, as another dangerous killer starts to stalk a women’s rights activist, Kate McKay, and her assistant, and Holly is eventually hired to act as Kate’s bodyguard during the rest of her book tour.  King does an excellent job building up all the details of this second case, while also following the growing murders in Buckeye City, and you are soon absorbed in both cases, especially when you witness all the perspectives involved with the two scenarios, including the book’s various antagonists.  There are also some fun additional personal notes added to plot, as several compelling supporting characters, including recurring Holly Gibney cast members Jerome and Barbara Robinson, the later of whom builds a connection with famous gospel singer Sista Bessie, who is performing in Buckeye City.

The author keeps the pace of Never Flinch going strong and fast as you move into the story, with interesting storylines around Holly, the police, the antagonists, and other supporting characters.  There was a real interesting mixture of storylines once King had everything set up, and I really loved the various compelling character arcs and elements as the plot continued.  While some of the big twists about the antagonists aren’t too surprising and are revealed relatively early in the plot, you are still very drawn into their respective crusades, as well as the protagonists’ attempts to stop them.  Everything comes together nicely in the second half of the book, where both cases, as well as the more personal storylines of Never Flinch, collide violently, and various characters are forced to fight for their lives.  King provides an exceedingly tense final third to Never Flinch, which sees a blow-by-blow coverage of events leading up to a dramatic and bloody final confrontation.  The alternating movements of all the participants in this case, including a deranged killer, several hostages and coerced individuals, as well as the protagonists desperately trying to save the day, produced so much tension, and you really cannot turn away until all the dramatic confrontations come to an end.  I frankly powered through this final part of the book in one extended session, as I was so damn keen to see what happened next, and this ended up being an extremely satisfying ending to a really impressive book.

I really enjoy King’s great writing style when it comes to his captivating crime fiction novels, and he excels at creating tense and ultra-exciting reads, driven by multiple compelling character arcs.  Never Flinch was an excellent example of this, as King produces a brilliant story that quickly grabs the reader’s attention and never slows down.  Featuring slick, quickfire writing and very short chapters and subchapters, the story moves along at a very fast clip, and King effectively sets up the book’s compelling scenarios very effectively.  The great array of alternating character perspectives, as well as several compelling flashbacks, really works to create a layered plot, and I loved the constant switch between the many characters.  Showcasing several antagonist perspectives also helped to really increase tension, especially as you got to see their various plans in action.  This writing style also helped to make Never Flinch feel a lot more accessible to new readers, and while established fans of the author will probably get more out of some of the character developments that occur in the novel, I felt that Never Flinch was a book that any fan of crime fiction could easily get into and have no trouble following at all.

King also experiments with some interesting themes in this novel, which added a lot to Never Flinch’s emotional impact, while also helping to highlight character flaws in the cast.  This includes a very compelling look at addiction in all its forms, with a particular focus on how it drives people.  While this includes a focus on more obvious addictions like drugs and alcohol, other major addictions come to light throughout the book, including Trig’s growing desire to kill, and Kate’s addiction for the spotlight and controversy.  The examination of addiction served as a key part of the book’s plot, especially as it helps to explore some of the character’s motivations, and I felt that King was putting a lot of his own personal experiences into the book.  King also spends a bit of time in Never Flinch examining mentorship, as several junior characters find themselves coming under the wing of older, seemingly wiser, people.  While some of these relationships are quite positive, others, such as Kate and her assistant, come across as a little more toxic at times, especially when the mentor puts their own needs ahead of their student’s safety.  I liked the interesting comparisons in the mentor/mentee relationships that formed throughout Never Flinch, and it was a very compelling addition to the plot.

As with most of King’s books, the true heart of Never Flinch lies in its compelling and often larger-than-life characters, who the author meticulously brings to life.  The focus of this book is once again the quirky and silently talented Holly Gibney, a skilled investigator brought into the case by her own curiosity and a desire to help a prominent women’s rights activist.  Holly serves as a dependable and likeable heart to the entire novel, and it was fascinating to watch her continue to battle her own lack of confidence and lingering social issues.  Her continued growth as both an investigator and a person is an excellent part of this book, and it was great to see the various relationships she continues to cultivate.

These relationships for Holly result in an excellent cast of returning characters, including detective Isabelle ‘Izzy’ James, who has a much bigger role in this novel as the main police character in the story.  Izzy’s official investigation serves as a good counterpart to Holly’s more general queries into the case, and her maverick personality, especially in the face of police politics, added some extra intrigue to Never Flinch.  The other two major returning characters are siblings Jerome and Barbara Robinson, who have served as Holly’s backup and friends since Mr Mercedes.  While Jerome was a great emotional support to Holly and had some key roles in this book, the standout supporting figure was Barbara, whose compelling side-plot about her work with Sista Bessie helped to make Never Flinch a little more hopeful in places, especially as King has been detailing Barbara’s artistic growth in response to the darkest of encounters for the last couple of books.  Of course, as this is a Stephen King novel, this hopefulness often results in greater trauma down the line, as the author must ensure you are constantly worried that bad things are going to happen to the good people in Holly’s life.  Throw in some other compelling supporting characters, including the radiant and soulful Sista Bessie, the bombastic feminist icon Kate McKay, and Corrie Anderson, Kate’s young assistant who finds herself in the firing line alongside her boss despite her best judgement, and there are a lot of interesting figures in Never Flinch who you become quite attached to.

While I love the main cast, another major highlight of Never Flinch is the complex antagonists who King effortlessly works into the plot.  This includes a compelling stalker figure who is hunting after Kate and Corrie for their own religious reasons.  An interesting character whose deeper issues are well exploited, this stalker was an interesting alternate antagonist for Holly in this novel, and I liked how their complex actions added some additional risk to the plot.  However, the best villain was the serial killer stalking Buckeye City, determined to murder 14 people in response to an innocent man dying in jail.  This killer, Trig, was a truly fascinating figure, with some unique motivations and quirks.  King does an excellent job mostly obscuring Trig’s identity for much of the novel, while also showcasing many compelling scenes from his perspective as continues his murderous quest.  The resulting slow-burn loss of Trig’s sanity as he becomes addicted to his dark work was a particularly sinister part of Never Flinch, and King excelled at showcasing this antagonist’s changing motivations and plans.  These outstanding villains served as an impressive counterpart to the main cast, and I felt that Trig was King’s best character in Never Flinch.

While I received copies of Never Flinch on a few different formats, I decided in the end to try out the audiobook version of this novel, especially after having some very good experiences with other Stephen King audiobooks.  This proved to be an outstanding choice, as the Never Flinch audiobook was an exceptional listen, with the layered and complex mystery really transforms into something special when read out.  Coming in with a near 15-hour long runtime, Never Flinch is a decently long audiobook, but it’s one that listeners will generally be able to power through quickly, especially with the compelling, if relatively new narrator Jessie Mueller bringing the story to life.  Now, I must admit that I was initially disappointed that Holly narrator Justine Lupe (who played Holly in the Mr Mercedes television adaptation), was not returning for Never Flinch, however Jessie Mueller quickly showed herself to be an excellent replacement.  Thanks to her outstanding voice work, Mueller quickly made the Never Flinch audiobook her own, and I liked the unique flair and compelling voices she gifted to the extended cast.  Several of these characters had a lot more personality thanks to Mueller’s narration, and I liked how well she voiced some of the distinctive members of the cast.  However, I think Mueller’s best inclusion to this audiobook was her very impressive singing voice, as there a couple of music focused scenes around Sista Bessie and Barbara.  Mueller captured these parts of the book perfectly, and her resulting singing performances were extremely good, and helped to give the audiobook more impact.  As such, Never Flinch was an overall exceptional listen and one of the best audiobooks of the year, and I would strongly recommend it as the best format to enjoy this great new King novel.

Stephen King once again showcases why he the world’s top author with another exceptional and truly gripping novel.  Never Flinch was an incredible read that combines a clever crime fiction narrative with some fantastic characters, to really grab the reader’s attention.  With its epic tension and high stakes, King’s latest novel was so damn addictive, and I really appreciated how clever the story got.  An overall exceptional read, Never Flinch was one of the best books I had the pleasure of reading in 2025, and I cannot wait to see what King writes next.

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Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (Audiobook – 3 June 2025)

Series: Nora Kelly – Book Five

Length: 10 hours and 45 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for a crazy and highly entertaining crime fiction thriller as the superstar team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child continue their amazing work with the fantastic novel Badlands.

Last year I had the great pleasure of reading the awesome thriller Extinction by Douglas Preston. A cool novel that saw strange murders occur within a park filled with cloned prehistoric animals, Extinction proved to be a ton of fun, especially with some of the entertaining and over-the-top twists that Preston threw into it.  As such, I was keen to read more from Preston going forward, and I decided to see what other books he wrote.  Naturally that took me into the orbit of his partnership with fellow thriller author Lincoln Child.  Together, the two have written an insane number of unique crime fiction reads, often featuring an exciting science fiction twist, including big series like their Agent Pendergast novels and Gideon Crew series.  Due to how fun this partnership sounded, I decided to try out one of the pair’s newer works, with their 2025 release, Badlands.  The fifth book in their Nora Kelly series, Badlands had a really interesting plot behind it, which panned out into an exciting and captivating read.

Plot Synopsis:

In the New Mexico badlands, the skeleton of a woman is found—and the case is assigned to FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. The victim walked into the desert, shedding clothes as she went, and then died in agony of heatstroke and thirst. Two rare artifacts are found clutched in her bony hands—lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.

Is it suicide or… sacrifice?

Agent Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found—exactly like the other—the two realize the case runs deeper than they imagined. As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.

Badlands proved to be a very entertaining novel from Preston and Child that I had an outstanding time getting through.  Featuring a compelling and twisty mystery that went in some very fun directions, Badlands was an exciting and well-written read that was hard to put down, especially when the authors decided to make things a little crazy and over-the-top.

This new Nora Kelly book starts off strong and fast, bringing the protagonists into the case and setting them onto the course of a strange series of deaths throughout New Mexico desert.  Primarily focused on FBI agent Corrie Swanson, archaeologist Nora Kelly, and Nora’s brother, who goes off on his own side quest with a rich collector, the plot soon takes shape rather nicely, especially with the case clearly tied around the mysterious artefacts the victims were holding.  Preston and Child soon set up quite a compelling mystery that forces the protagonists to dive into ancient Native American myth, unhealthy academic relationships and other dark secrets, all to uncover why several young women are committing suicide out in the desert.

The plot moves along at a mostly smooth pace, minus one or two unnecessary shortcuts, and it proved fun to have Corrie examine the criminal aspect of the case while Nora dove into the myths and history that seemed to dominate the deaths.  It all leads up to an outstanding final third, with the main storylines all coming together in an intense, expanded sequence, where the protagonists are forced to confront the people responsible for the mystery in a dark and violent way.  While certain twists about the main antagonist and the method needed to save the day are well telegraphed, Preston and Child overcome this by making things as crazy as possible, and the sheer tension the authors manage to generate here is very impressive.  I particularly loved the ending of Badlands, which nicely blended the crime fiction and more occult elements of the story together in a cleverly ambiguous way that leaves you wondering about what exactly happened well after you finish the book.

Preston and Child pulled together an outstanding novel in Badlands, and I enjoyed how their combined writing brought this entertaining story together.  The plot of Badlands itself is quite fast-paced and exciting, as the primarily investigative narrative follows much of the classic crime fiction conventions.  However, the authors do an outstanding job of twisting the story around, with a compelling focus on Native American history and archaeology, as well as some very amusing depictions of academic relationships.  Preston and Child’s love of history and archaeology is quite evident throughout the course of Badlands, and I loved how the various myths and sites of the past played into the modern crime fiction narrative.  Combine that with the vivid depictions of the New Mexico badlands as a major setting, which is loaded with hoodoos, rock spires, and other ancient secrets, and Badlands has a very distinctive feel to it that Preston and Child use to enhance the story and give it some entertaining and over-the-top tweaks.

While part of a larger series, Badlands works extremely well as a standalone novel, and new readers can come into this Nora Kelly book really easily thanks to the author’s open style.  Indeed, I personally was able to slip into this series quite easily, and there wasn’t a single second that I felt I was missing out on key plot or character details from not having read the previous books.  Each of the key recurring characters is expertly re-introduced in this new novel, and it honestly doesn’t take you too long to fully appreciate their respective storylines and the role they play in the book.  As such, I feel that Badlands is a book that will appeal equally to new readers looking for an unusual thriller as well as established fans of either author, who are curious to see how their new novel turned out.

I ended up grabbing the audiobook version of Badlands, which I felt was an excellent format that added a lot to the reading experience.  Coming in with a runtime of just under 11 hours, Badlands was a relatively quick audiobook to get through, and I liked how well the entertaining story was read out.  Narrated by Cynthia Farrell, a veteran audiobook narrator with a lot of experience in the thriller space, this format of Badlands moves at a quick pace, and listeners are easily able to absorb the unique narrative and all it’s cool details.  Farrell excels at showcasing all the key parts of the plot, from the intense action scenes, the dramatic investigation sequences, and even a few moments that are supernatural in nature, and I really enjoyed how easily I got drawn into this compelling audiobook.  There are also some great voices for the various characters featured throughout Badlands, and Farrell ensured that each character got their own, unique and fitting voice, that allowed the listener to relate to them.  This ended up being a great audiobook, and I think I will utilise this format going forward with Preston and Child’s work, especially if I decide to read more Nora Kelly novels.

With some unique twists and turns and a truly crazy ending, Badlands was an outstanding novel that I had a brilliant time with.  I ended up being really impressed with the cool team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, and their new Nora Kelly book was a fun novel with some fantastic moments behind it.  A highly recommended read and one of the more distinctive thrillers of 2025.

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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.

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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High Rise by Gabriel Bergmoser

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Harper Collins (Trade Paperback – 1 August 2025)

Series: Standalone/The Hunted spin-off

Length: 309 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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Prepare for carnage as rising Australian author Gabriel Bergmoser presents a high-octane and beautifully brutal thriller, High Rise, an outstanding and deeply entertaining novel with some real intensity behind it.

Gabriel Bergmoser is an intriguing author who has written some compelling and exciting pieces of Australian fiction over the last few years.  Originally known more for his work as a playwright, Bergmoser has been more active as a thriller author in recent years with his Hunted books, as well as the standalone novel The Caretaker.  High Rise serves as continuation of Bergmoser’s previous Hunted books, The Hunted and The Inheritance, as well as some of the author’s separately released Audible Originals, and follows a supporting character from The Inheritance on his own brutal adventure.

Plot Synopsis:

After a year of searching, rogue ex-cop Jack Carlin has finally found his estranged daughter, Morgan, holed up in the top floor of a rundown, grimy high-rise building. The trouble is, Jack’s unconventional policing and information-gathering methods in the past has made him some serious enemies. And what Jack doesn’t know as he heads into the building, intent on saving his daughter, is firstly, that Morgan doesn’t want to be saved – particularly not by him – and secondly, that the entire criminal underworld in the city are on their way too… There’s a bounty on his head, and they’re after his blood – and they don’t mind if Morgan is collateral damage.

As bounty hunters and gang members converge on the building, father and daughter are thrown into a desperate fight for survival through fifteen storeys of deadly enemies – with only each other to rely on. Die Hard meets The Raid, but the funnier, grittier Australian version. Fast, furious and ferocious, this is thriller writing at its nail-biting, unputdownable best.

Now that was a load of fun.  High Rise was a highly entertaining and relentlessly exciting Australian novel, as Bergmoser unleashes one of his dangerous protagonists on a horde of criminals.  Featuring a continuous blast of action, violence and family drama, High Rise was an amazing and addictive novel that I absolutely powered through.

I had a great time reading the ultra-exciting narrative featured within High Rise, especially as Bergmoser eagerly created an Australian thriller in the same vein as some classic over-the-top action films.  Starting off fast with an effective reintroduction to protagonist Jack Carlin, Bergmoser sets up the main points of the narrative extremely well, and you soon get stuck into the main part of the book, with Jack finding himself trapped on the top floor of a high-rise building filled with petty criminals, bikies, thugs and even some professional hitmen.  What follows is an entertaining blitz of outrageous and brutal action as Jack, and his daughter Morgan, attempt to fight their way downstairs.

Unsurprisingly for an action-packed brawl against criminals and killers, the plot of High Rise moves at a very quick pace.  Bergmoser does a good job splitting the narrative between the two main protagonists, Jack and Morgan, which allows the author to dive into their strained relationship, as well as their own complicated pasts.  Thanks to some creative splitting up, both characters have some interesting solo moments in the middle part of the novel, which also features some unlikely allies.  The climax of the story comes on fast, and there are a couple of good twists there, as well as the appearance of a figure fans of Bergmoser will be very familiar with.  While the identity of the main antagonist of the novel isn’t too surprising, some of the supporting villains were quite fun, especially as the author made good use of the character history he introduced in this novel.  Everything leads up to an intense and emotionally charged finale, which features even more over-the-top action for the reader to enjoy, including some very unique weaponry for an urban Australian setting.  The conclusion of the High Rise was quite poignant and served as a good wrap up to the character development Bergmoser had been exploring throughout the book.  This was an overall exciting and intense narrative that has a lot of great moments for action fans.

Bergmoser did a great job of showcasing his action-packed story throughout High Rise, and this proved to be a very entertaining and addictive read as a result.  The many, many fight sequences I have already gushed about are well-written, and readers can easily visualise these brutal battles and over-the-top sequences thanks to Bergmoser’s descriptive style.  The author also successfully kept up his frenetic pace the entire way through, which allowed me to easy power through this book quickly.  There is a certain level of humour to High Rise, especially with a range of clueless goons and other entertaining characters, and things do get a little ridiculous at times.  This bit of comedic charm is well balanced by the deeper personal issues of the two protagonists, whose dysfunction is further showcased by various flashback sequence, which Bergmoser works into the plot without slowing the pace of the book down.  As such, there are no impediments to powering through this book quickly, and I guarantee most readers will knock this off in only a few sessions.

As I mentioned at the start of the novel, High Rise serves as an extension to the author’s Hunted series.  The protagonist has previously appeared in some of Bergmoser’s previous novels and audiobook releases, most prominently The Inheritance, while another of the author’s protagonists is reintroduced later in the novel.  Despite being part of a larger series, any reader interested in checking out High Rise should be able to follow the plot of this novel without any issues.  Indeed, I personally haven’t had the chance to read Bergmoser’s previous books, and I was able to enjoy High Rise quite easily.  While there are references to previous events from the series, and the author is a little cagey at first about the protagonist’s connections to Maggie, the main character of The Hunted and The Inheritance, Bergmoser quickly fills in any necessary gaps with his accessible writing, and new readers should be able to follow along easily.  As such, High Rise is a great book for any thriller reader, and indeed it works quite well as an introduction to Bergmoser and his writing style.

While I did decide to read High Rise mainly because of its fun-sounding plot and the excessive violence it promised, I came away appreciating the great character work that Bergmoser featured.  Most of the book follows main protagonist Jack Carlin and his daughter Morgan, both of whom have a troubled past and a tense relationship with each other.  The author does an excellent job diving into their complex personal history, especially with the novel’s regular split in perspective, and you get some intriguing insights into their pasts, much of which impacts their current motivations and reactions.  This includes Carlin’s regretful history as a corrupt cop, much of which impacted his relationship with Morgan, who herself suffered a dark childhood due to her mother, as well as her own alcohol induced mistakes.  These character elements become cleverly entwined with the main narrative, and the antagonism and mistrust between the two added to the drama of the plot.  I think that Bergmoser handled this troubled relationship very well, and it was a great highlight of High Rise’s plot, especially attempt to address it in their own troubled way.

While High Rise is primarily focused on Jack and Morgan, several other characters do get their moment to shine.  This includes Maggie, the protagonist of several of the author’s previous books, who has a more supporting role in this novel after appearing later in the plot.  Due to her lack of perspective chapters, Maggie does have less of an impact than the author’s previous novels, but her intense personality and unique friendship with Jack ensure she stands out.  Other key figures, including a Swedish assassin and the violent former member of a bikie club that Jack and Maggie previously destroyed, add some interesting flair to the plot, especially when some unlikely alliances form, and both had some memorable histories and appearances here.  Throw in an army of low-level thugs and criminals who also attempt to claim the bounty on Jack, including some who have history with him, and High Rise features a very entertaining cast of characters, and it was very fun to see them try to kill each other.

Gabriel Bergmoser continues to produce extremely thrilling and entertaining Australian crime fiction content with his latest novel High Rise.  A relentlessly brutal novel, loaded with action, bloodshed and some fantastic emotional depth, High Rise was a great read that I had an amazing time getting through.  Highly recommended!

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Grave Danger by James Grippando

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Harper Audio (Audiobook – 14 January 2025)

Series: Jack Swyteck – Book 19

Length: 10 hours and 53 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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One of the top authors of intense legal thrillers, James Grippando, returns with another outstanding entry in his long-running Jack Swyteck series, Grave Danger, which places the titular protagonist in the middle of a particularly captivating case.

Of the various crime fiction subgenres I have the pleasure of reading, one of my favourites is the legal thriller.  There is just something exciting and addictive about well-written and thrilling books set around the courtroom, especially if they feature complex or life-altering legal cases.  While there are several great authors who specialise in legal thrillers, one of the more intriguing ones I have come across in recent years is veteran author James Grippando, who has been writing compelling novels for over 30 years, with a combination of long-running series, including his main Jack Swyteck series, and other gripping standalone reads.  I personally only started reading Grippando last year when I had the opportunity to read his latest Jack Swyteck novel, Goodbye Girl, a fascinating read that saw the titular Miami lawyer attempt to save a glamorous popstar from several music piracy-related lawsuits.  Goodbye Girl was one of the more entertaining and memorable legal thrillers I read last year, and I was keen to try out the next book in the series, Grave Danger, especially as it had an intriguing plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

Bestselling author James Grippando’s legendary criminal defence attorney Jack Swyteck is back to defend a single mother accused of kidnapping her own child in a perilous case involving politics and international diplomacy that will test his legal expertise and his marriage.

Jack Swyteck’s new client fled Iran to Miami with her daughter, and has been accused of kidnapping by her husband. The seasoned attorney must not only plan a winning defence. To stop the father from taking the girl back to Tehran, Jack must build a case under international law and prove that returning the child would put her at risk.

But everything in this case isn’t what it seems, and Jack quickly learns that his client is really the child’s aunt and that the biological mother may have been killed by Iran’s morality police. But what role did the father play in his wife’s death, and why is Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, being pressured by her bosses to persuade Jack to drop the case?

Plunging into an investigation unlike any other, Jack must discover who is behind the legal maneuvering and what their interest is. As politics threatens to derail the case and compromise the best interests of the child, Jack and Andie find themselves on opposite sides—with their marriage hanging in the balance. For their relationship to survive, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit that extends from a Miami courthouse to the highest echelons of Washington DC, and spells grave danger at every turn.

James Grippando continues to impress with this fantastic and exciting new legal thriller.  Cleverly set around some unique legal circumstances and compelling world-politics, Grave Danger had an outstanding plot loaded with a ton of drama that is guaranteed to hook you all the way to the end.

I felt that Grippando pulled together a very interesting and emotionally charged narrative for Grave Danger, which quickly drags you in with its unique and powerful elements.  The main story primarily involves protagonist Jack Swyteck choosing to defend Iranian refugee Ava Bazzi in a custody case around her daughter Yasmin, with the Iranian government backing Yasmin’s father Farid in the case.  However, as the case proceeds, it becomes clear there are more angles to the story, mostly related to whether Jack’s client is Yasmin’s mother, and whether the real Ava Bazzi is alive or has been killed by the Iranian morality police.  At the same time, Jack is dealing with deeper personal issues as his career has put a strain on his marriage with Andie, who once again is facing pressure from her bosses to influence Jack’s case.  As the various trials continue, both Jack and Andie uncover deeper lies and conspiracies from all the participants in the case, including the United States government influencing events from behind the scenes, and Grave Danger’s narrative goes in some very interesting directions.  Grippando wraps the story up with some excellent twists, which includes some tense action and danger, and readers come away satisfied with the conclusion and curious where certain long-running story points in the series will go next.

Grave Danger was another well-written novel from Grippando that provides readers will all the entertaining legal thrills and courtroom drama you could want.  Serving as the 19th entry in the Jack Swyteck series, Grave Danger works well as a continuation of the series, especially when it comes to the personal drama of the protagonists.  At the same time, Grippando has an accessible style which allows new readers to enjoy this novel without any prior knowledge of his previous books.  There are a lot of great elements to this new novel, although I personally enjoyed all the outstanding courtroom sequences, which prove to be a true highlight of the book.  The author clearly puts a lot of care, attention and personal knowledge into all the legal aspects of Grave Danger, and you really get drawn into the complex aspects of the case and the protagonist’s attempts to help his client.

I personally enjoyed how Grippando featured a complex, international custody case in this book, which gave Grave Danger a very distinctive edge, especially as it features some obscure bits of law.  The author’s intriguing dive into US-Iranian relations and how this would potentially impact a case like this was also very fascinating, especially with certain recent real-world events happening around the time I was reading this novel.  Grippando covers all these events in a measured and thoughtful manner, and the underlying political and diplomatic elements of the plot added a lot of fantastic tension to the overall narrative and helped turn Grave Danger into a particularly compelling read.

One of the more interesting elements of Grave Danger are the compelling or relatable characters featured within the plot.  Primarily focused on Jack Swyteck, a lawyer struggling with draining personal battles on top of his own legal case, the book has some interesting sequences with the protagonist, especially as he deals with the lies of his client and the emotional strain of the case on his marriage.  The rest of the cast was quite entertaining or complex, including Jack’s client,  Ava Bazzi, who has escaped from Iran with her daughter/niece, and who seeks to keep custody no matter the cost.  Ava’s various secrets add some deep intrigue to the plot, and Grippando builds some intricate storylines around her, especially with the reveal of who she is and the greater history behind Ava’s treatment by the Iranian morality police. The opposing client, Farid, Ava Bazzi’s husband and the father of Yasmin, proves to be an interesting semi-antagonist in the novel, especially with his alternating motivations and a particularly vindictive lawyer in his corner.

While I enjoyed all these characters, I must say that I had issues with how Grippando utilised Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, in this novel.  Despite being Grave Danger’s secondary protagonist (and the titular protagonist of another series), Grippando somehow manages to make Andie into one of the most annoying figures in the entire novel with her unreasonable requests around her husband’s work, constant combative nature, and sheer determination to get her way.  The author compounds this further by portraying her in this book as being particularly naïve, constantly ignoring several obvious conspiracies and lies actively working against her husband, despite her status as an FBI agent.  I honestly felt that Grippando’s portrayal of Andie was a real weak point of Grave Danger, and I struggled a little bit with her scenes.  Hopefully the author will utilise her a little more effectively going forward, as her appearance here just added way too much unnecessary drama to an otherwise excellent book.

After enjoying Grippando’s previous novel on audiobook, I made sure to get Grave Danger on the same format, primarily because it once again featured the narration of Jonathan Davis.  One of my favourite audiobook narrators, Davis is probably best known for his work voicing various Star Wars audiobook, including Kenobi by John Jackson Miller, Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber, Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp and Brotherhood by Mike Chen, just to name a few.  This excellent voice work translates across to the Jack Swyteck series extremely well, and I deeply enjoyed his work on Grave Danger.  Not only does he bring the perfect pace to the court cases and other high-intensity parts of the plot, but he also provides some great voices to the varied characters featured within.  I ended up breezing through Grave Danger’s near 11-hour long runtime because of this great narration, and the audiobook version comes very highly recommended as a result.

Overall, Grave Danger was another excellent novel from James Grippando, who continues his excellent Jack Swyteck series in impressive fashion.  Featuring a particularly compelling legal centre, as well as some great thriller elements, Grave Danger was an amazing read from start to finish, and I fully intend to read more novels in this series going forward.  Indeed, the 20th Jack Swyteck novel, the extremely interesting sounding The Right to Remain, is coming out in early 2026, and I cannot wait to read it.

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The Pilgrim’s Revenge by Scott Mariani

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 26 August 2025)

Series: Will Bowman – Book One

Length: 323 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for war in Scott Mariani’s compelling and action-packed historical thriller, The Pilgrim’s Revenge, an awesome read with some real heart to it.

Scott Mariani is a veteran author whose work I have been meaning to check out for a while.  A major thriller author, Mariani is best known for his long-running Ben Hope series which features modern spy fiction narratives with the protagonist unwinding puzzles and conspiracy theories from history.  While I haven’t had the chance to read any of Mariani’s thrillers, his 2025 release, The Pilgrim’s Revenge caught my eye, especially as it is the first time that Mariani has written a full historical fiction novel.  The first book in Mariani’s new Will Bowman series, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an intense and captivating take on the classic medieval historical fiction adventure, featuring a great revenge twist.

Plot Synopsis:

1190 – Humble layman Will Bowman lives in the countryside with his pregnant wife, when soldiers from Richard Lionheart’s army tear through his home. Will is beaten unconscious, and awakes to find his wife murdered, his farm burnt down, and his life forever changed.

In vengeance, Will infiltrates Richard’s army to find the marauding gang, and finds himself swept along in the march of the Crusades. With the help of new allies and fuelled by his loss, Will crosses Europe with the King’s army.

Can Will avenge his wife? Or will he be swept away by the unstoppable force of Richard’s Crusade?

The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an outstanding and action-packed novel from Mariani, who dives into full historic fiction with great enthusiasm.  Setting the scene quickly, with an introduction to point-of-view protagonist Will Bowman, a minor landowner and skilled hunter, the book soon takes a dark twist when a group of pillaging soldiers kill his pregnant wife, burn his farm and leave Will for dead.  Determined to get revenge, Will takes up his bow and starts following the attackers, determining them to be pilgrims on the way to join Richard the Lionheart’s attack on the Holy Lands.

After a good initial period in England, where Will encounters friendship and additional heartbreak as part of his personal journey, the protagonist soon boards a ship towards the Holy Land.  This middle section of the novel is useful for introducing several great supporting characters and provides some compelling historical context to the events that Will is a part of.  After some exciting sequences at sea, as well as a sudden action-packed siege, the plot takes the protagonist into King Richard’s orbit in Sicily as part of some established historical events.  Mariani also gives Will the first glimpses of his goal, which ends in an exciting and tense series of encounters that add some excellent drama and risk.  Following some surprising developments, Mariani continues to explore the early parts of Richard’s crusade, including his landing in Cyprus, which provides some awesome fight sequences, before setting the protagonist up for the big confrontation of the novel.  While the development of the later part of this story isn’t too surprising, it features some fantastic and exciting moments, and plays into the established historical events really well.  Wrapping up on an excellent, if unexpectedly complete, note, Mariani leaves the story open for more adventures, which we’ll probably see very soon.

I think that the author provided a strong story for The Pilgrim’s Revenge, and this proved to be an excellent piece of historical fiction with a bit of a thriller flair to it.  Loaded with action, intriguing descriptions of the period, as well as some entertaining characters, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was a great historical adventure, which Mariani ensures stands out from the various other novels set in this period thanks to its central character and he’s unique motivations.  I particularly appreciated the author’s use of the third-person perspective through the eyes of protagonist Will Bowman, which really paints a personal and insightful look at the events of the Third Crusade.  Having a simple English farmer, who has relatively little knowledge of the land outside his local community, slowly learn about the lands of the later 12th century as part of his own personal journey, really allowed new readers with less historical knowledge to dive into the events of this book a lot easier.  At the same time, Mariani clearly puts the work in describing the historical elements of the book, whether it’s the details of the crusade, interesting depictions of real-life figures, or even complex depictions of day-to-day life and the social, technological and military element of the time.  Thanks to the exciting, action-packed plot, readers can power through The Pilgrim’s Revenge quickly, but for those who stop to savour the author’s compelling writing, there are some amazing details and compelling character moments to appreciate.

Overall, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an outstanding and captivating novel, as Scott Mariani sets up an exciting new series.  Featuring an enjoyable, action-laden plot, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an amazing novel to get through, especially with its compelling depictions of war and life in the 12th century.  A very exciting read, I quickly flew through The Pilgrim’s Revenge and is worth checking out especially if you enjoy intense and detailed historical reads.  I look forward to continuing the Will Bowman series going forward, and I’ve already got a copy of the sequel, The Knight’s Pledge, which I am hoping to read soon.

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The Widow by John Grisham

On By The Unseen LibraryIn ThrillerLeave a comment

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 21 October 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 404 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Iconic author John Grisham continues to shine as one of the leading authors of the legal thriller genre with his outstanding new novel, The Widow, a clever, character-driven book that relentlessly drags you in.

Most people will be very familiar with author John Grisham, considering he has been presenting awesome novels filled with complex legal cases since 1989, many of which have been turned into films or television series.  I started reading Grisham in the last few years, having been lucky enough to receive copies of some of his latest novels, including The Judge’s List, The Boys from Biloxi, Sparring Partners, The Exchange and Camino Ghosts.  All these novels proved to be a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the interesting collection of stories and sub-genres that Grisham would explore in these books.  As such, I was very keen to read Grisham’s new novel, The Widow, especially as it had an exciting and compelling plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

She needs a lawyer. He needs a payday.

Simon Latch is a small-town lawyer struggling with debt, gambling issues and an impending divorce. But when Eleanor Barnett, an 85-year-old widow, visits his office to secure a new will, it seems his luck has finally changed: she claims she’s sitting on a $20 million fortune and no one else knows about it.

She could be the ticket to his fortune.

Once he’s hooked the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar, even from his own assistant. But there are complications: other lawyers are circling his client like vultures.

But when she is hospitalised after a car accident, Eleanor’s story begins to crack. Simon realises that nothing is as it seems. And as events spiral out of control, he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t commit: murder.

The Widow was a very interesting and captivating novel from Grisham that combined a distinctive story of a down on his luck protagonist, with a complex mixture of murder and thrilling legal elements.  A very clever read that I had an excellent time getting through, The Widow is Grisham at his best and proved to be a particularly engaging read.

Grisham relies on a well-crafted character-driven narrative for The Widow, which gradually draws the reader in until they are unable to put the book down.  Starting off with a deliberate, slower pace, the early parts of The Widow are primarily focused on introducing and showcasing the life of protagonist Simon Latch, as well as the various people in his orbit.  A lawyer with a stalled career, gambling issues, and a failing marriage, Simon is eager for fresh opportunities, which seems to walk in the door in the form of elderly widow Eleanor Barnett, who requires a new will.  Unable to resist the allure of Eleanor’s reputed fortune, Simon secretly takes her on as a client, hoping to manipulate her into signing a favourable will that he can later abuse for his own financial gain.  Forced to remain in Eleanor’s orbit for his scheme, Simon begins to learn more about his unusual client, who seems to bring trouble down on all around her.  At the same time, Simon keeps making all the wrong decisions in the other areas of his life, which results in him becoming increasingly desperate for a payday.  Grisham does an outstanding job of building up the extensive background of the characters and their motivations in the first half of The Widow, and the elaborate picture of greed, secrets and self-destructive behaviour allows for a very impressive second half of the book.

Deftly amping up the pace in the second half of The Widow, things change quite dramatically when Eleanor passes suddenly, and Simon is free to enact his plan.  However, before he can go through with it, Simon is charged with Eleanor’s murder and soon finds himself a pariah in his own town.  With the evidence stacked against him, the protagonist finds himself embroiled in an elaborate court battle as he tries to prove his innocence.  Expertly building on all the events and interactions in the first half of The Widow, Grisham sets up an impressive and very realistic series of court sequences, all while the Simon’s life falls even further apart around him.  There is a brilliant sense of desperation and despair in this second half of the book, and you really get drawn into the thrilling legal battles, which are laced with beautiful uncertainty, as you are unsure if the protagonist is truly innocent and where the story is going to go next.  I personally was enthralled with this second half of The Widow and powered through it extremely quickly, as I was keen to see how the court case ended and the reveals about who was responsible for Eleanor’s death.

While I loved all the key legal battles, and the extensive court case that takes up a good chunk of the second half of the book, I must admit that I was a little disappointed with how The Widow ended.  This was because the final 50 pages contained a rushed, and slightly unlikely, investigation arc that looks to uncover the truth of how the titular widow died.  While there are some excellent elements to these final pages, the revealed truth about Eleanor’s death comes a little out of nowhere and derailed the careful nature of the rest of the plot.  While there are some hints about who or what was responsible earlier in the book, I think that Grisham erred with this ending, and a different reveal more connected to the main plot would have been better.  Still, it was a mostly satisfying conclusion to book’s overall narrative, and readers will be happy where some of the main cast, especially the protagonist, finish up.

I really enjoyed how Grisham wrote The Widow, as the author effortlessly pulled together a complex story of the legal system told primarily through the eyes of an ethically dubious lawyer.  Featuring elements reminiscent of the author’s other small-town legal thrillers, particularly those set in Clanton, this was an amazing character-focused book.  Grisham does an excellent job of effectively introducing the protagonist, Simon Latch, and viewing his descent from respected lawyer to suspected killer thanks to his own greedy actions.  Thanks to Grisham’s clever examination of all the events of the protagonist’s life, you feel very sympathetic towards Simon, even if he continuously makes things worse for himself.  The somewhat simplistic dishonestly of Simon is well matched by some of the more devious or naturally deceitful characters in The Widow, including the elderly Eleanor Barnett, who suddenly becomes the most important person in Simon’s life.  Old, crotchety and stubborn, Grisham paints a great layer of uncertainty around Eleanor, which ensures the reader is never quite sure whether she is genuinely rich, or pulling some sort of elaborate con on Simon and the other lawyers in his town.  The eventual reveal of this truth is extremely fun, and thanks to the way the two characters are entangled at the end of Eleanor’s life, it helps produce a fantastic murder trial that you can really sink your teeth into.

The resulting criminal defence case was the true highlight of The Widow, and Grisham was in his wheelhouse writing not only the trial but the more mundane legal elements of the protagonist’s practice, which proves to be a key part of the plot.  I deeply appreciated how well the court case played out in the second half of The Widow, which cleverly revisits the events of the first half of the book to examine the protagonist’s guilt.  It soon becomes clear that Grisham did an amazing job hiding a lot of hints and relevant details in the early parts of the plot, and the way these elements come to be used later in was extremely clever.  While I still have my doubts about the novel final reveal, the rest of the book has an excellent flow to it, and I really appreciate how Grisham upped the pace in the second half of the book with a truly gripping court battle.  Throw in an excellent depiction of small-town life and the Virginia legal system, thanks to the portray of fictional town of Braxton and this ended up being a very compelling novel I honestly couldn’t put down.

John Grisham continues to highlight why he is one of the very best writers of legal thriller fiction with The Widow.  A complex and powerful novel, with a compelling protagonist focus, The Widow was a brilliant read, and I loved how wrapped up I got in the book’s outstanding mystery and the various secrets and legal battles surrounding it.  While there are some stumbles towards the conclusion, The Widow was an overall incredible read that is going to appeal to all Grisham fans and those who love a good legal thriller.  I look forward to diving into whatever Grisham writes next.

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Waiting on Wednesday – The Shark by Emma Styles

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

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.  In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday post, I check out an intriguing and intense upcoming Australian thriller with The Shark by Emma Styles.

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Back in 2022 I had the pleasure of reading the exciting and entertaining thriller, No Country For Girls, which was the debut novel of new Australian author Emma Styles. Set in the harsh Western Australian outback, No Country For Girls was an outstanding read, featuring two great protagonists on a gritty and deeply personal journey. Fun and compelling, No Country For Girls ended up being one of my top debut novels of 2022, and I was curious at the time to see what Styles would write next.

Well, it looks like I will finally be able to find out soon as Styles has her second novel coming out in early 2026, and it sounds pretty epic. This new novel, The Shark, is set for release in March 2026, and features a powerful plot about a deadly Australian serial killer and two teenage girls who attempt to stop him.

Plot Synopsis:

A killer is stalking the suburbs of Western Australia. Two teenage girls hell-bent on revenge take matters into their own hands, with deadly results. Another dark, uniquely voice-led crime thriller from Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize-winner Emma Styles.

Every monster has a weakness.

At the height of Australian summer, a serial killer dubbed The Shark stalks a beachside suburb, targeting young female swimmers whose bodies are later found on the shoreline.

Disempowered and angry at the failures of the police to protect them, two young women are hell-bent on revenge. Raych has lost someone and will go to any length to discover what happened to her, while Carmen suspects a disturbing connection to the killer.

Together they form an uneasy alliance and, in a moment that changes the trajectory of their lives, Carmen and Raych abduct and imprison the prime suspect. Do they think they can save the day, or are their intentions darker? Can they trust one another’s agenda? And when another young woman goes missing, what stops them from going to the police?

A dark and voice-led serial killer thriller that subverts the tropes of crime fiction at every turn, The Shark is an unforgettably propulsive novel about victimhood, power and autonomy.

Now this is a very interesting book by Styles.  I love the awesome scenario above, which promises to turn The Shark into a particularly intense read.  Pitting two teenage protagonists against a potential serial killer, while other deaths and disappearances are occurring outside their prison has so much potential, and this thriller has one of the more distinctive and exciting plot synopses of novels coming out in early 2026. 

While I would probably have grabbed The Shark no matter what in 2026, especially after really enjoying No Country For Girls, I must admit that I’m already a little obsessed with the above plot.  Emma Styles has come up with an extremely interesting idea for her second novel and I am extremely curious to see how it comes together.  If Styles backs up this great plot with some amazing characters and dark moments of dread and uncertainty, then The Shark will likely be one of the top pieces of Australian fiction in 2026.  I cannot wait to see how this book comes together, and I have a strong feeling that I am going to love it.

Waiting on Wednesday – Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday2 Comments

In addition to the Waiting on Wednesday post I did for 30Seven by Jeremy Robinson, I’m also going to do an additional post this week for an awesome upcoming Australian crime fiction read.  This is to make up for missing my regular Waiting on Wednesday post last week (I was away), plus I really wanted to talk about this book which I literally discovered was coming out last night.  This new book is Dark Desert Road by impressive Australian thriller author, Tim Ayliffe, which sounds extremely awesome.

Tim Ayliffe is a rising Australian author whose work I have been really enjoying in recent years, primarily thanks to his John Bailey series.  Utilising his experience as a journalist, Ayliffe has pulled together a series of compelling and complex crime fiction novels as part of a series that follows his journalist protagonist, John Bailey, as he finds himself part of a series of dark crimes and conspiracies. Many of these books, which include The Greater Good, State of Fear, The Enemy Within, Killer Traitor Spy and The Wrong Man, cleverly reference or utilise real-world elements that have been impacting Australia, such as terrorism, espionage and the rise of right-wing extremism, to enhance their narratives.  I have really enjoyed these excellent books, which are regularly amongst the best Australian novels released each year, and it is always interesting to see what Ayliffe explores next.

While I was hoping that we would be getting a new John Bailey novel soon, it looks instead that Ayliffe is going in a very different direction with his next book, Dark Desert Road.  Following a new protagonist, Dark Desert Road will feature a complex Australian thriller as a burnt-out cop attempts to save her long-estranged family while also dealing with the dark fringes of Australian society.  Set for release in early January 2026, Dark Desert Road will likely be one of the very first books I read in the new year, and I am already excited by its compelling sounding plot.

Plot Synopsis:

Kit McCarthy hasn’t seen her identical twin sister, Billie, in more than a decade.

The sisters don’t see eye to eye, which is understandable, considering Kit’s a police officer and Billie followed their violent father into a life of crime.

Kit is no angel. Burnt out by years working in child protection, she has been accused of using excessive force in the arrest of a violent drunk. Kit has just been ordered to take time off work when she gets a frantic message from Billie, telling her she has a young son and that somebody is trying to kill her.

And then Billie disappears.

Determined to find her estranged sister, Kit’s only lead comes after visiting their father in prison. Malcolm McCarthy claims Billie married a former United States Marine and has been living with a group of sovereign citizens in the desert country of the New South Wales Riverina.

Kit’s journey to find Billie takes her through shuttered towns destroyed by drought, where everybody owns guns, nobody talks to cops, and people get lost for a reason.

Out here a war is brewing between a ruthless bikie gang and a separatist community that is re-engaging with society in the most violent way.

Kit will risk everything to find her sister and the nephew she never knew she had.

But does Billie really want to be saved?

Ok, now this looks like another particularly impressive Australian crime fiction novel from Ayliffe.  Moving away from the author’s previous journalistic/espionage focused narratives in the big city, Dark Desert Road will be more of a classic, outback Australian crime fiction tale, loaded with gritty action, complex characters and an isolated setting.  However, Ayliffe will also throw in his customary examination of Australian society, this time by looking at sovereign citizens in the countryside, which, thanks to recent tragic events, is a very significant issue.  I look forward to seeing Ayliffe’s compelling take on this, as well as his depiction of Australia’s declining rural towns, and I am curious to see what sort of story he writes around them.

Due to how compelling and socially relevant Ayliffe’s previous novels have been, I’m quite keen to check out Dark Desert Road, especially as it has an outstanding sounding plot behind it.  It is going to be interesting to see Ayliffe focus on a new protagonist and a very different story focus, and I strongly believe that Dark Desert Road is going to be one of the top Australian releases of 2026, and I am very excited to check it out.