Tag: Action Packed

Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka

On By The Unseen LibraryIn English Translation, ThrillerLeave a comment

Publisher: Harvill Secker (Trade Paperback – 12 November 2025)

English Translation: Brian Bergstrom

Series: Hitman – Book Four 

Length: 291 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of Japan’s most entertaining thriller authors, Kotaro Isaka, presents a great new entry in his shared crime fiction universe, with the wonderfully unhinged and entertaining Hotel Lucky Seven.

Kotaro Isaka is an amazing author who has dominated the Japanese crime fiction scene for years, thanks to his amazing and over-the-top thrillers that are filled with distinctive characters and entertaining narratives.  In recent years, Isaka has gained more of a Western following as several of his books have been translated and released in English.  This includes his best-known novel, Bullet Train, which was adapted into a particularly entertaining film with Brad Pitt a couple of years ago.  While I loved the film, I am also a major fan of the original Bullet Train novel, which is very different from its adaptation in its own awesome way.  Having really enjoyed Bullet Train when it came out, I’ve tried to read the other translated Isaka novels that have come out in his Hitman series, including the cool prequel novel Three Assassins.  While I did miss out on The Mantis, I made sure to grab a copy of Isaka’s latest book, Hotel Lucky Seven (released in Japan under the title 777).  Serving as a direct sequel to Bullet Train, Hotel Lucky Seven follows the terminally unlucky assassin Nanao, as he finds himself in a whole new mess.

Plot Synopsis:

A luxury hotel full of assassins – what could go wrong?

Nanao ‘the unluckiest assassin in the world’ has been hired to deliver a birthday present to a guest at a luxury Tokyo Hotel. It seems like a simple assignment but by the time he leaves the guest’s room one man is dead and more will soon follow. As events spiral out of control as it becomes clear several different killers, with varying missions, are all taking a stay in the hotel at the same time. And they’re all particularly interested in a young woman with a photographic memory, hiding out on one of the twenty floors.

Will Nanao find the truth about what’s going on? And will he check out alive?

In this original, gripping and inventive follow-up to the international bestseller Bullet Train, Kotaro Isaka demonstrates his unparalleled gift for unique characters and unexpected twists.

Hotel Lucky Seven was another very impressive outing from Isaka, as he once again wows with his outrageous array of assassins, fighting for their lives amongst a complex conspiracy narrative.  Slick, relentlessly entertaining and very addictive, Hotel Lucky Seven was an amazing read, and one that I powered through in less than a day.

Isaka created another very fun over-the-top story for Hotel Lucky Seven that quickly drags you in with its fantastic action.  Initially focusing on the main protagonist, Nanao, who has only recently recovered from his near-death experience on the deadly bullet train, the book sees the constantly unlucky character enter a hotel for a routine delivery, only to find himself in the middle of another quickly deteriorating situation.  Forced to kill someone while delivering a birthday present, Nanao soon find himself drawn into a larger confrontation involving Kamino, a young woman with an impressive memory, who is trying to escape her underworld boss.  Having accidently killed or incapacitated Kamino’s bodyguards while trying to flee the hotel to save his handler, Nanao soon finds himself reluctantly helping Kamino contend with a band of assassins known as the Six.  This proves to be a great central focus for Lucky Seven, which Isaka further enhances with intriguing chapters focused on other amusing characters like the killer team of Pillow and Blanket, two effective body removalists who are stalking the halls of the hotel on their own mission, as well as some interesting interludes around a famous politician in the restaurant who is being interviewed by an ambitious reporter.

These interlocking storylines come together nicely as the book continue, and I liked how well the various chapters flowed into each other.  Isaka keeps loading up the action as Nanao uses his unlikely combat skills against the various members of the slowly dwindling six as he desperately tries to escape the hotel.  After some very entertaining antics, as well as a couple of over-the-top deaths, the author sets up for the big conclusion, with the surviving characters coming together for a big confrontation.  While the story had been very fun, if relatively straightforward, up to this point, Isaka throws in an excellent twist that makes you re-evaluate the rest of the book.  There was a ton of great build-up throughout the entire story, with your perspective of one character completely changing in the best ways.  This really enhanced the overall impact of the entire story, and I came away very satisfied and intrigued by this impressive piece of Japanese fiction.

I really enjoyed the great style that Isaka utilised in Hotel Lucky Seven, which is reminiscent of the rest of the books in his Hitman series.  Made up of fast-paced chapters that switch between the several main characters, Isaka moves his exciting story along very effectively, quickly grabbing the reader’s attention with his complex characters, entertaining action, and great humour.  Serving as both an enjoyable sequel to Bullet Train and a fun standalone crime thriller, this is a very accessible novel for any reader to get into, even with its subtle yet noticeable Japanese aesthetics.  Indeed, I felt that Hotel Lucky Seven had more of a certain cinematic edge than Isaka’s previous novels, no doubt a result of the success he had with the Bullet Train film, and this help to make this book a lot easier to appreciate for new readers.  It also helped that some of the characters, such as killers known as the Six, would be fun to cast in a film adaptation, and the over-the-top figures terrorising a hotel with blowguns were particularly fun.

Speaking of awesome characters, I personally loved seeing the return of the unlucky killer Nanao, who was the best part of the original Bullet Train novel (where his role was a little less central than Brad Pitt’s in the film).  Serving much more a central role in this sequel, Nanao was the heart-and-soul of Hotel Lucky Seven, and it was very fun to see him continue to get in trouble while trying to do the right thing.  The rest of the characters are a little more serious, well as serious as people living in a world of killers can be, and I liked the certain philosophical edge that several of them had when it comes to their actions, especially the fun killer duo of Pillow and Blanket.  Throw in a couple of interesting additional villains, none of whom are really what they seem and who benefit from some layered backstories and misdirection with their intentions.  This extremely unique cast really fit the light-hearted vibe that Isaka loaded this excellent thriller with, and I had a wonderful time seeing their murderous antics and complex interactions unfold.

Overall, I had a wonderful time with Hotel Lucky Seven, which was one of the more entertaining and compelling thrillers I read last year.  A very worthy sequel to Bullet Train, Hotel Lucky Seven was another incredible read from Kotaro Isaka that will keep you hooked right to end with his awesome action, brilliant humour and fantastic storytelling.  It honestly will be interesting to see if Hotel Lucky Seven gets a film adaptation at some point, which honestly could turn into something very fun if they get a good cast for it.

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Quick Review – Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Quick Review, Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 14 October 2025)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 340 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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The unique writing team of acclaimed author Harlan Coben and world-famous actress Reese Witherspoon present a compelling and very exciting thriller, with Gone Before Goodbye.

Gone Before Goodbye was a very interesting read, that caught my attention when it was first announced thanks to the combination of it being Reese Witherspoon’s debut novel, and my previous experiences with the always impressive Harlan Coben.  I have had a great time with some of Coben’s previous novels, including I Will Find You, Think Twice and Nobody’s Fool, so I was very curious to see how this book turned out.

Plot Synopsis:

Maggie McCabe is teetering on the brink.

A highly skilled and renowned Army combat surgeon, she has always lived life at the edge, where she could make the most impact. And it was all going to plan … until it wasn’t.

Upside down after a devastating series of tragedies leads to her medical license being revoked, Maggie has lost her purpose, but not her nerve or her passion. At her lowest point, she is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy, as well as absolute discretion.

Halfway across the globe, sequestered in the lap of luxury and cutting-edge technology, one of the world’s most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance. Desperate, and one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take this job, Maggie enters his realm of unspeakable opulence and fulfills her end of the agreement.

But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself—or she will be the next one who is … Gone Before Goodbye

Gone Before Goodbye proved to be an exciting and enjoyably fast-paced read that drags you in quickly thanks to its unique plot, multiple twists and compelling medical focus.  Starting off with some good introductions to the key characters and highly damaged protagonist, you are soon drawn into the damaged life of Maggie and the mysterious job she chooses to accept.  After some useful exposition sequences in the hidden Russian compound that help to highlight how far the protagonist is out of her depth, things inevitably go downhill, and Maggie is forced to flee with the help of some unexpected allies.

What follows is a quick paced sequence of events across the world as Maggie and her family attempt to uncover the dark conspiracy that has been woven around them.  The authors do a good job of tying the current events of the book into Maggie’s complex past, including the death of her husband and their controversial medical company, and the various threads come together nicely as Gone Before Goodbye nears it ends, with lots of action and character growth thrown in for good measure.  The dramatic conclusion wraps things up nicely, and I especially loved the fantastic final twist, which was a particularly dark, but clever, way to end this entire novel.

This book comes together quite nicely, and you can really see the interesting combination of styles between Coben and Witherspoon here.  The fast-paced, character-focused storytelling, loaded with sudden twists, thrilling action and complex dramatic moments is classic Coben, who endeavours to quickly grab the reader’s attention and hook them early.  On the other hand, the inclusion of a strong military doctor protagonist is clearly Witherspoon referencing her parents, and I liked how this new author utilised something close to her and her family in her very first novel.  The resulting medical scenes are some of the best parts of the book, especially as the authors endeavoured to provide some detailed realism to the resulting sequences, and I enjoyed how they tied into Gone Before Goodbye’s larger narrative.

Gone Before Goodbye is further enhanced by some excellent and distinctive characters, including the damaged protagonist, some fun villainous figures, and the very entertaining biker character Porkchop, Maggie’s father-in-law who steals the show with every scene he’s in.  I did think that Gone Before Goodbye did come off a little too cinematic at times, and you can tell that the authors are thinking ahead to the inevitable television adaptation, especially with memorable characters like Porkchop.  Still, this cinematic forethought doesn’t take the reader too much out of the story, and the resulting book is a compelling thriller that is a lot of fun to get through.

The team of Harlan Coben and the debuting Reese Witherspoon’s first outing was an amazing success as Gone Before Goodbye was an entertaining and captivating thriller read that will appeal to a lot of readers.  Clever, twisty and filled with some great characters, Gone Before Goodbye was a ton of fun to get through, and I cannot wait to see what both authors have to write going forward, either by themselves or as a very distinctive team.

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The Feeding by Anthony Ryan

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Science FictionLeave a comment

Publisher: Orbit/Blackstone Publishing (Audiobook – 14 October 2025)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 10 hours and 13 minutes

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed fantasy author Anthony Ryan continues to explore the horror genre with the fantastic post-apocalyptic vampire novel, The Feeding, an awesome and deeply addictive read that you won’t be able to read fast enough.

Anthony Ryan is an author I’ve talked a lot about in recent weeks, primarily because his outstanding fantasy novel, Born of an Iron Storm.  The impressive second novel in the author’s Age of Wrath series, Born of an Iron Storm was one of my favourite books, audiobooks and sequels of 2025, and I am currently very excited for the third and final entry in the series, currently titled Upon a Forge of Battle, which is coming out later this year.  However, before we get to that I need to also highlight Ryan’s second book of 2025, the awesome horror novel The Feeding.  Released here in Australia under the pen-name A. J. Ryan, The Feeding is Ryan’s second major horror release after Red River Seven in 2023.  This new horror novel had a great plot behind it, as a desperate protagonist attempts to survive a twisted landscape filled with dangerous monsters.

Plot Synopsis:

Layla has spent her entire life in the Redoubt, one of the last bastions of humanity in a ravaged world. She’s never been beyond the Redoubt’s walls; only Crossers, with their special training and survival skills, are permitted to venture into the shadow-haunted wastelands.

When Layla’s father falls ill, she knows she needs to find a cure. But no such medicine can be found within the Redoubt. Instead, her only chance is to pass a series of gruelling trials to become a Crosser, and then to strike out into the wilderness.

Where the feeders are.

Internationally bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan – writing as A. J. Ryan – delivers a nerve-shredding horror novel where humans are no longer top of the food chain.

The Feeding was another extremely awesome novel from Ryan that I ended up powering through in no time at all.  A clever and intense vampire horror novel, The Feeding effortlessly keeps your attention with its impressive worldbuilding and fast-paced story.  I had such an incredible time with this book, and I deeply enjoyed seeing what Ryan could do in the horror space.

The plot of The Feeding was a great, grungy post-apocalyptic read that was a very interesting change of pace from the sprawling fantasy epics I’m used to from Ryan.  Featuring a much more fast-paced story, Ryan quickly and effectively introduces you to The Feeding’s protagonist, Layla, and the dark world she inhabits.  A lowly scavenger in the dying walled city of Redoubt, Layla finds herself desperate enough to become a Crosser, the city’s elite runners who leave Redoubt to trade in the wasteland, to find medicine for her dying father.  This leads to an excellent extended early section of the book where the protagonist needs to go through a compelling Selection process, featuring several trials designed to whittle down the applicants and ensure only true survivors can go over the wall.  This early sequence does an excellent job of hammering home just how dangerous the world outside of Redoubt is, as well as giving some intriguing insights into what the feeders, this universe’s vampire substitute, are capable of.  This first part of the book really sets the tone for the rest of the novel, and I was frankly hooked on The Feeding the second we got to Selection.

I felt that the second half of The Feeding, which takes place primarily beyond the walls, lives up to the expectations Ryan sets up in the first part of the book.  The protagonist and an interesting band of supporting characters enter the desolate wasteland and soon encounter all manner of horrors from wild feeders, even wilder humans, and the general abandonment of the outside world.  Ryan also starts working in an excellent overarching narrative threat that stalks the protagonists from a distance.  While you can easily guess at who or what this threat is, as well as a certain supporting character’s connections to it, the full impact and intensity of this looming danger keep hitting the protagonists hard and fast.  There are some brutal losses as the plot continues, and you are constantly on edge as everything closes in and the stakes keep on rising.

Everything leads up to an intense finale, as after another dark confrontation the protagonist finds herself at her most desperate.  Forced to rely on an unlikely ally, Layla attempts the impossible and soon finds herself stuck in the middle of someone else’s dark tale.  The raw intensity of the plot really grabs your attention at this point, and you are so very eager to see how the book will continue.  Ryan also throws in some interesting additional worldbuilding as the novel heads towards the conclusion, which provides some answers to the questions you’ve built up throughout The Feeding, while also ensuring you’re even more curious about what else is out in the wasteland.  After a gritty final confrontation, as well as some last-minute tragedy, Ryan ends The Feeding on a mostly hopeful and heartfelt note, which includes an excellent family moment bonding over a classic.  This proved to be an excellent end to The Feeding’s standalone narrative, although Ryan does leave the story open for a potential sequel going forward, which I personally would be curious to see.

Ryan pulls together a tight, complex and character-driven narrative in The Feeding that I think worked extremely well.  Grabbing the reader’s attention early, Ryan does an excellent job painting the post-apocalyptic scene, and I loved the complex world of walled cities and vampire-infested wastelands that emerged.  The combined tension of mass human desperation and the dark overwhelming threat of feeders surrounding the city ensures that the reader knows how deadly this version of the world is from the beginning, which ensures you are really invested in the protagonist’s personal journey.  The feeders themselves prove to be outstanding vampiric antagonists for much of the plot, especially with the combination of feral beast gamma feeders and more intelligent betas and alphas, providing some variation in the threat they posed.  Ryan crafts together some outstanding and scary sequences involving the feeders as the novel continues, and your pulse is guaranteed to race every time they appear, especially once the death toll starts to rise.  Combine that with Ryan’s proven ability to write good action scenes, of which there are some fantastic moments, as well as some excellent and compelling supporting characters (try not to get too attached though), and this really was a fantastically written novel.  I was honestly really impressed with how Ryan transitioned from his usual fantasy style to this powerful and moving horror novel, while also retaining his typical imagination and intense storytelling ability.

As has become my habit with all the previous Anthony Ryan novels I’ve enjoyed, I ended up listening to The Feeding on audiobook, which I’ve always found compliments the author’s writing style and worldbuilding extremely well.  This proved to once again be the case for The Feeding, with the format really enhancing the tension and fast-paced sequences loaded into this great horror story.  It helped that they got another very skilled narrator in the form of Devon Sorvari, who took on the role of the one perspective protagonist extremely well.  While it did take me a chapter or two to completely appreciate Sorvari’s narration style, once I got into her groove, I begun to really appreciate her take on the story and the intriguing characters.  Sorvari perfectly captures the damaged and determined spirit of the main character Layla throughout The Feeding, and the alternate accents and voices she brings for the rest of the cast also work really well.  Sorvari also keeps the pace of The Feeding constantly going, and the way she can enhance the tension of the audiobook through her voice work ensures you are constantly on the edge of your seat as you listen to it.  Thanks to this excellent narration, I got through the audiobooks roughly 10-hour runtime extremely quickly, and this proved to be a particularly amazing audiobook to listen to.

Anthony Ryan continues to greatly impress with his captivating and highly entertaining horror novel The Feeding.  Featuring an outstanding vampire-focused narrative in a complex post-apocalyptic world, The Feeding was a very fun and emotionally charged read, that I couldn’t get enough of.  I had such a brilliant time with The Feeding, and it comes very highly recommend as a result.  I will be seeking out more of Ryan’s dives into the horror genre going forward, and I cannot wait to see what other creepy tales he has planned.

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The Blackfire Blade by James Logan

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy1 Comment

Publisher: Arcardia (Trade Paperback – 11 November 2025)

Series: The Last Legacy – Book Two

Length: 583 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for adventure, intrigue and some fantastic character dynamics in the outstanding 2025 fantasy novel, The Blackfire Blade by James Logan.

Back in 2024 I had the pleasure of reading the outstanding The Silverblood Promise, which was the debut of author James Logan.  A cool fantasy novel and the first book in the author’s The Last Legacy series, The Silverblood Promise followed the banished scion of a noble house, Lukan Gardova, who finds out that his estranged father had been murdered.  Determined to find out who killed him, Lukan follows the one clue his father left him and winds up in an enticing Mediterranean-inspired fantasy city teaming with its own secret problems.  Needing to uncover a conspiracy deep within this setting before he can achieve his goals, Lukan finds himself teaming up with a brave street urchin and a talented master thief to save the day.  I really loved this awesome first novel from Logan, and The Silverblood Promise ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2024.  As such, I have been looking forward to Logan’s second novel for a while, and I was very happy to get my hands on The Silverblood Promise’s sequel a few weeks ago.  This sequel, The Blackfire Blade, was another amazing read with an outstanding and highly entertaining plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

Winter has come early to Korslakov, City of Spires, and Lukan Gardova has arrived with it. Most visitors to this famous city of artifice seek technological marvels, or alchemical ingenuity. Lukan only desires the unknown legacy his father has left for him, in the vaults of the Blackfire Bank.

But when Lukan’s past catches up with him, his key to the vault ends up in the hands of a mysterious thief known only as the Rook. As Lukan and his companions race to recover the key, they soon find themselves trapped in a web of murder and deceit. In desperation, Lukan requests the help of Lady Marni Volkova, scion to Korslakov’s most powerful family.

Yet Lady Marni has secrets of her own. Worse, she has plans for Lukan and his friends. Plans that involve a journey into Korslakov’s dark past, in search of a long-lost alchemical formula that could prove to be the city’s greatest discovery . . . or its destruction.

The Blackfire Blade was another extremely awesome fantasy adventure novel from James Logan, who showcases his growth as a writer with this excellent sequel.  Following three loveable, if chaotic, protagonists as they explore a new intricate urban fantasy setting, The Blackfire Blade was an exciting blast from start to finish, and I cannot get enough of this amazing series.

James Logan produced another particularly entertaining adventure narrative for The Blackfire Blade, which quickly drags you in with its fun excitement.  Effectively reintroducing you to the three main protagonists, Lukan, the former street urchin Flea and thief Ashra Seramis, better known as Lady Midnight, as they finally reach their destination of Korslakov.  Hoping to uncover the clue to Lukan’s father’s murder that is hidden within Korslakov’s Blackfire Bank, the group finds their mission imperilled when a drunken Lukan immediately has the vault key stolen by a mysterious thief, known as the Rook.  With no other way of accessing the vault, Lukan and his companions desperately search for the Rook with the help of some unlikely friends within the city.  However, they soon run afoul of some of Korslakov’s elites and become indebted to Lady Marni Volkova, a minor character from The Silverblood Promise.

This first part of the book nicely sets the scene for the rest of The Blackfire Blade’s plot, and I found myself really drawn into the various political intrigues and complex feuds that make up high society in Kroslakov.  Logan also does a great job setting up some interesting dynamics amongst the protagonists, which allowed the characters to come together as a more cohesive family going forward.  The second half of The Blackfire Blade was all excellent action and adventure, as the protagonists find themselves continuously forced to take on even more dangerous escapades to pay off their debts and recover the key.  This includes a particularly deadly job navigating the most dangerous parts of the city, to find an alchemical formula.  This part of the story was so damn fun, and features a great mix of scary monsters, fast-paced action, and some very interesting details about the city.

The final third of The Blackfire Blade features a range of fantastic sequences that really showcase the author’s imagination when it comes to unique obstacles and threats.  Highlights include an excellent heist sequence, manipulations of the city’s warring elite, and encounters with a secret society determined to keep the formula out of anyone’s hands.  Logan throws in a lot of great twists and turns here, and you are constantly on the edge of your seat as you wait to see what chaos will be unleashed next.  Everything leads up to the entertaining and destructive finale, where all the lies and secrets come to light, and the protagonists are forced to come together against a truly overwhelming opponent.  Logan clearly has fun detailing the resulting insanity that emerges, and it led to an impressive and deeply entertaining continuous action sequence.  The Blackfire Blade wraps up with Lukan finally getting some details about the larger series narrative, which looks set to lead to some awesome additional adventures, and readers are guaranteed to come away from this book extremely satisfied.

I really enjoyed how The Blackfire Blade came together as a novel, and it is very clear that Logan has developed his skills when it comes to writing action-focused, fast-paced fantasy adventure narratives.  Working extremely well as both a standalone novel and a great sequel to The Silverblood Promise (thanks to a great summary of the first book included at the start), The Blackfire Blade continues in a similar vein to the first Last Legacy novel, with the protagonists forced to explore and understand a new city before they can continue their main quest.  While some readers might not appreciate the requirement for each book in this series to devolve into side quests before the main storyline can be explored, I really liked how it turned out in The Blackfire Blade, as the resulting intrigue, exploration of the city, and following deadly adventures, made for some outstanding reading.  It helps that Logan excels at writing awesome and intense action sequences, and there are a lot of extremely fun moments scattered throughout this novel.  Throw in some very moment sequences where Logan continues to develop his protagonists and their unique relationships, and The Blackfire Blade was a very worthy sequel to the author’s first book, and I felt it was actually a stronger overall novel.

One of the things that most impressed me about The Blackfire Blade was the way that Logan built and introduced a whole new unique fantasy city that the protagonists were forced to explore and understand.  Serving as a fantastic contrast to the sunny and crime-infested Saphrona, the setting of The Silverblood Promise, Korslakov is a grim and snow-shrouded city of power, invention and alchemical might.  The gloomy, purple fire covered spires of Korslakov, perfectly matches the mood of the book’s main characters as they attempt to find their feet in this new local, and the subsequent exploration and understanding of this new urban setting, are some of the best parts of the book.  It’s impressive how effortlessly Logan moves his characters through the various elements of Korslakov, from the decadent battles of the high society to the terrifying abandoned section of the city, infested with flesh-eating monstrosities.  All these detailed and well-written elements of Korslakov play a compelling role in The Blackfire Blade’s narrative, and the city feels like a major character in the book, with the protagonists and the reader, needing to fully understand and appreciate its place in the narrative.  It will be very interesting to see what awesome new city Logan comes up with in his third Last Legacy book, but it’s going to be hard to top the setting he utilised here.

The final element of The Blackfire Blade that I want to highlight here are the complex and likeable central protagonists that Logan bases his story around.  The three main characters, Lukan, Ashra and the very entertaining Flea, are excellent figures, each of whom are dealing with their own issues, such as Lukan’s drunken depression, Flea’s fear of abandonment and Ashra’s constant worry about vengeful enemies coming after her.  Logan ensures that all three of these characters are well utilised in The Blackfire Blade, with a mostly equal balance of perspective chapters where they can work out their separate issues.  While in some ways these protagonists, mainly Lukan, have lost a little of the development from the first book, Logan works through that again, which ensures they come out of this latest adventure stronger.  However, the real magic of these protagonists is the way that Logan has morphed them into unconventional and dysfunctional family unit, that never ceases to entertain.  While they may bicker, argue and misunderstand each other throughout the book, the reader is never in doubt that they care for each other, and this allows them to be an extremely likeable bunch who you constantly root for (especially Flea).

Aside from the three main protagonists, The Blackfire Blade is loaded with a highly entertaining and often outrageous collection of supporting characters, all of whom add a lot to the book’s impact.  Primarily focused on the elites of Korslakov, who the protagonists need to deal with to achieve their goals, you are introduced to an interesting array of backstabbing nobles and self-important lords, whose intrigues and squabbles are a key part of the plot.  My favourites include grizzled general Leopold Razin, who proves to be a particularly entertaining, if tragic, ally to the protagonists.  There was also the imposing Lady Wretzky, the Iron Dame, who more than lives up to her title during her interactions with the main cast.  I also need to highlight the deadly Lady Marni Volkova, an ultra-wealthy heiress who Lucan finds himself indebted to and whose appearances are always quite entertaining as she pulls the main character’s strings.  There was also the briefly featured Clank, a great character whose inclusion reveals one of Korslakov’s biggest secrets, while also having some amazing interactions with Flea.  I’m honestly only barely scratching the surface of all the very entertaining and compelling characters featured in The Blackfire Blade, and I was really impressed with Logan’s ability to create and then utilise this amazing cast in his second book.

James Logan continues to shine as one of fantasy fiction’s newest rising authors.  His second novel, The Blackfire Blade, was a wonderful and highly entertaining read, that serves as an outstanding sequel to his amazing first novel.  Exciting, powerful and extremely addictive, The Blackfire Blade really showcased Logan’s amazing ability as an author, and I honestly could not get enough of this incredible fantasy read.  This second book from Logan was so damn good, and I cannot wait to see what adventures, revelations and heartfelt moments await us in his next entry in The Last Legacy series.

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Cold War by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, LGBT+, Science Fiction2 Comments

Publisher: Blackstone Audio (Audiobook – 14 October 2025)

Series: NecroTek – Book Two

Length: 19 hours and 33 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The insanity and complex storytelling of Jonathan Maberry’s incredible NecroTek series continues in 2025 with the impressive and deeply intense sequel Cold War.

2025 has been a pretty awesome year for fans of Jonathan Maberry, as we have not only gotten the new Joe Ledger/Rogue Team International novel, Burn to Shine, but Maberry also continued his excellent NecroTek series.  Released in collaboration with the iconic Weird Tales magazine, the series started last year with the amazing novel, NecroTek (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024), this series saw Maberry combine compelling science fiction elements with his love for Lovecraftian horror, when, in the near future, a space station of scientists and soldiers is transported across the galaxy and forced to fight eldritch horrors.  As the book continued, several of the human characters to become the titular NecroTeks, undead pilots of gigantic alien war machines, who are forced to risk the destruction of their souls to fight back against the monsters coming for them.  Due to how powerful, compelling, and occasionally scary this novel got, I have been keen for the sequel, Cold War, for quite some time, and I made sure to check it out the amazing audiobook version of it a few weeks ago.

Plot Synopsis:

In NecroTek, Asphodel space station was accidentally teleported to the far side of the galaxy, where they became embroiled in a never-ending war against ancient cosmic horrors.

But there is much more to the story …

On Earth, scientists uncover an alien spacecraft buried for millions of years beneath Antarctic ice. Inside are terrible secrets and a creature desperate to escape.

Soon the scientists studying the Artifact begin to have terrifying dreams, driving many of them to madness and acts of shocking violence. Dr. Evie Cronin and her team struggle to find answers, fully aware that they may only be found out among the stars. Their investigation brings them to the orbit of Jupiter moments before the WarpLine gun misfires. Destiny is a vicious and devious thing.

On Asphodel Station, the newly created ghost-driven NecroTek fighting machines are engaged in a desperate battle for survival against the deadly shoggoth fleets. But a new and far more dangerous race of creatures is poised to attack, both with their own fleets and with nightmares forced into the minds of the dwindling human defenders.

The group of scientists from Antarctica and the survivors on Asphodel are pitted against an unstoppable enemy. If they fail, Asphodel Station will fall, and the Outer Gods will be free to wage a war of conquest across the galaxy—to Earth itself.

Jonathan Maberry once again delivers an impressive read with his outstanding and complex Cold War.  Featuring an intense, character driven story that takes its protagonists to hell and back, Cold War was a powerful, horror-laden science fiction novel that refuses to let you go.  I loved this book so much, and it gets a very easy five-star rating from me, and I have recently featured it on my recent favourite sequels and audiobooks lists of 2025.

Maberry produced a very exciting and captivating narrative for Cold War that goes in a very different direction than I would have expected after NecroTek, but which works as a very effective and expansive sequel.  Initially showcasing the events in the aftermath of NecroTek and the first big battle for Asphodel Station, the reader is quickly and effectively reintroduced to the key characters from the first book and given an update on how they have continued to adapt to being transferred across the universe.  The early chapters of Cold War also take the reader back in time a few years before the events of the first book, when a group of scientists uncover an ancient alien artifact in the Antarctic snow, keeping it secret from the world and all the protagonists of the first book.

Cold War’s narrative soon develops an interesting and noticeably uneven split in the storylines.  While a good chunk of Cold War continues to showcase the figures on Asphodel and their multiple struggles, including the slow reveal of a new terrifying group of antagonists, much more focus is given to the Antarctic research plot line, with longer chapters dedicated to this part of the book.  While this move away from the established plot is surprising, I personally thought it was very clever, as it allowed Maberry to further expand both the cast and the lore around the threats humanity was facing, while also bringing the story back to Earth.  The cool exploration and first-contact scientific elements of this Antarctic storyline were also deeply compelling, and I got extremely absorbed in this part of Cold War’s narrative as the book continued.  While there was more of a focus on the Earth-based narrative, the story around Asphodel was still very impressive, with some complex character development, multiple ultra-exciting sequences of space combat, and a growing sense of dread as dark forces stalk the protagonists.

The final third of Cold War sees the book’s two separate storylines come together in very direct way, which allows many of the unique characters developed in both NecroTek and Cold War to come together.  While the transition to this part of the book is quite sudden, it allows for a very exciting end run of the book, as Maberry pumps up the action, and takes the protagonists through hell and back.  Maberry brings out all his best horror writing as the now combined cast are forced to contend with a terrifying array of monsters and eldritch creatures, including another zombie substitute (Maberry loves his zombies).  All the storylines from the first half pay off in this final part of Cold War, and while there aren’t too many surprises, you’re constantly on your feet as you wait to see who’s going to survive and which side characters are going to get killed off.  The author leaves Cold War on a very interesting note, and I’m already extremely curious to see where he takes the NecroTek series going forward.

Maberry utilised his distinctive and well-honed thriller writing style in Cold War, which combined nicely with the science fiction story and the overarching horror vibes to create a brilliantly intense and fast-paced read.  Once again breaking the story up into a series of short and sharp alternating perspective subchapters, Maberry constantly jumps Cold War’s story between multiple key protagonists, as well as some antagonists, to produce a wonderfully layered and powerful narrative that constantly has multiple awesome interlocking storylines on the go.  This quick-paced style works well to enhance both the book’s horror and science fiction elements, and the constant jumps also increase the tension of the plot and produce some excellent action sequences, including some truly unique and ultra-impressive space combat sequences.  There were also some new delightfully terrifying horrors determined to kill the protagonists both in their dreams and real life cleverly introduced in this novel, and Maberry did an amazing job building them up as a threat the entire book.  Maberry also effectively splits his book into two separate narratives for much of Cold War’s runtime, with alternating chapters diving between the events in the present at Asphodel Station and the prequel storyline in Antarctica.  This cool split really changed the feel and focus of Cold War compared to NecroTek, and while Maberry allowed both storylines to run mostly independently, they also worked well to support each other.  All these great writing techniques and narrative choices allowed Cold War to really stand out as a sequel, and I liked how much stronger Cold War turned out as a result.

While Cold War does work extremely well as a sequel, with the author’s excellent storytelling choices and alternating timelines really adding a lot to the story from NecroTek, it does mean that this book is probably not as accessible to new readers as some of Maberry’s other works.  Maberry does do his usual excellent job of recapping key events in the text as the book continues, so new readers do get a pretty good idea of what happened and who the key figures are.  However, the full emotional impacts of events, as well as the significance of some of the revelations coming to light in Cold War’s big prequel narrative in Antarctica really aren’t going to hit readers as hard if they haven’t read the first book.  Indeed, Cold War might be best read by established fans of Maberry, who will appreciate the author’s continued utilisation of Lovecraftian elements, as Maberry continues to showcase his love for the classic horrors with some fun science fiction twists.  Experienced Maberry readers will also be more used to the author’s extreme content, as Cold War is as dark and disturbingly over-the-top as many of his books, with some very adult horror moments.  Readers should also be on the lookout for easter eggs to some of Maberry’s works, including a fun reference to the antagonist of the Joe Ledger novel Dogs of War.  As such, this is very much a book for those readers familiar with the author, although I think new fans would be in for an excellent time.

As with most of Maberry’s writing, one of Cold War’s big strengths is its excellent contingent of complex and often highly damaged characters, whose unique interactions and experiences during these terrifying times frame the book’s captivating narrative.  Cold War contains an interesting mixture of returning figures from NecroTek and a new batch of protagonists who end up taking over a good part of the plot.  This includes Professor Evie Cronin, the leader of the expedition who discovers the alien artifact in Antarctica.  Evie serves as a great new major protagonist for the series, and Maberry’s choice to set much of Cold War’s narrative around her, ensures that the NecroTek books continue to have a strong scientific basis to their narratives.  The author really tries to capture the shock, excitement and fear that would accompany the discovery of an alien ship through Evie’s experiences in Cold War, and she serves as a relatable and likeable major focus for much of the book’s plot.  Maberry also works in a nice romance angle between Evie and shooter Jenny Spears, that serves as a big emotional part of Cold War’s plot, and which added to the stakes and impact of some of the high-tension sequences.  Of the remaining new characters introduced in Cold War, my favourite was probably Dr Torquil Brollachan, a government scientist who takes over the investigation of the alien artifact.  A complex and guarded figure, Dr Brollachan serves as an interesting foil to Evie and his secret motivations and dangerous priorities turns him into a bit of a Dr Frankenstein figure at times (an apt comparison that Dr Brollachan would appreciate), resulting in some fantastic reveals in the second part of the book.

While these new characters are impactful and have some very compelling storylines around them, their inclusion does mean that the cast introduced in NecroTek don’t get as much time to shine as they previously did.  Still Maberry keeps many of their storylines going, and all of them serve as a key part of the book’s plot.  This includes the main character from the first book, Dr Lars Soren, whose steady presence continues to be a great part of Cold War, and I enjoyed how Maberry further explored his cosmic philosophy ideas in the interludes.  The continued inclusion of the dead characters brought back as NecroTeks was also very compelling, with their experiences, including that of Bianca Petrescu, providing some complex existential elements to the plot.  I also liked how Maberry choice to focus a lot more on pilot character Lieutenant Commander Veronica Roland, better known as Calisto, who was forced to step up and lead the human pilots defending Asphodel Station.  Calisto’s struggle to become a leader, as well as the distinctive and beautifully written fighter combat sequences, are another amazing highlight, and I appreciated how well her scenes were written in this sequel.  Throw in the entertaining Irish necromancer, Lady Jessica, who spends much of the book recovering from the events of NecroTek, and the cast of Cold War was a very awesome part of this book, and I personally cannot wait to see where all their captivating and haunting personal stories go from here.

Like I have with all the other Maberry novels I have had the pleasure of reading, I ended up enjoying Cold War on audiobook, which I find is the best way to enjoy the author’s thrilling narratives.  I always find that Maberry’s dark tales and intricate and exciting writing style always translate nicely to the audiobook format, and they tend to be some of the best listens each year.  Indeed, as I mentioned above, Cold War was one of my favourite audiobooks of 2025, and I ended up powering through this new audiobook’s 19-and-a-half-hour-long runtime.  Much of Cold War’s epic success on audiobook once again lies in the narration of Maberry’s long-time audiobook collaborator, Ray Porter.  Porter, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, always perfectly matches the dark and sinister tones of Maberry’s writing, and I really love the sense of menace and intensity he brings to audiobooks like Cold War, as he conveys the underlying threat and fear Maberry weaves into his tales.  Porter also expertly delivers all the book’s awesome action, great humour, and other deeper emotions, to the listener and there is always a great synchronisation between Porter’s narration and the intent of Maberry’s writing.  Porter also has an outstanding array of distinctive voices for the book’s characters, and I love how he always manages to bring the best out of Cold War’s complex casts.  All these voices, including for the various new characters introduced in this sequel, were extremely fitting for their respective cast member, and I appreciate how effectively Porter portrays each figure’s emotions.  Porter also does an exceptional job voicing the sinister monsters and other eldritch figures haunting the protagonists, and the impressive array of creepy voices really emphasises the dark nature of Cold War’s story to the listener.  All this results in quite an exceptional listen, and it’s one that I cannot recommend enough.  Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be possible for me to ever not enjoy a Maberry novel on audiobook, especially if Porter is narrating, and there is a reason these epic listens always top my best audiobook lists each year.

Maberry’s outstanding NecroTek series continues in extremely strong fashion with the extremely captivating Cold War.  Cleverly expanding on the story from the first novel, NecroTek, Cold War effortlessly kept up the terrifying tension as multiple compelling characters continue to experience the dark horrors the universe has in store for them.  I had an exceptional time with Cold War, and I have no problem letting you know that this book will be appearing in my favourite novels of 2025 later this week.  I’m also extremely excited as a Maberry fan for 2026, as not only do we have the new Joe Ledger book, Red Empire, coming out in March, but the NecroTek series will also thankfully be continuing, with a third novel, Ghosts of the Void, tentatively set for release towards the end of the year.

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Star Wars: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel3 Comments

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio (Audiobook – 11 November 2025)

Series: Star Wars

Length: 15 hours and 27 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for a dive to the dark side with the captivating and impressive new Star Wars novel, Master of Evil by Adam Christopher.

2025 has been a pretty good year for Star Wars fiction, with several awesome new books introduced to the existing canon.  My favourites have so far been The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed and Sanctuary by Lamar Giles, although I have also just finished the outstanding and deeply compelling new release, Master of Evil.  The second Star Wars book from tie-in fiction author Adam Christopher, whose Stranger Things novel, Darkness on the Edge of Town, I previously had the pleasure of reading, Master of Evil is an exciting and complex book that I have been looking forward to for a while.  A very interesting read set in one of the best periods of Star Wars lore, Master of Evil had a great plot behind it, as well as a particularly epic cover.

Plot Synopsis:

After Revenge of the Sith, a newly forged Darth Vader hunts for the secrets of life and death under the watchful eye of Emperor Palpatine.

In the wake of Emperor Palpatine’s rise to power, the true nature of his most sinister enforcer remains a mystery. Darth Vader is a dominant yet illusive figure: the shadow cast by a malignant Imperial regime, unknowable to even its top officials. But even as his humanity gives way to myth, Vader remains haunted by the promises of the dark side, seeking the ultimate power that his master has hinted at but withheld—the power to conquer death itself.

On the volcanic world of Mustafar, Vader undertakes a dark ritual, bleeding a kyber crystal to forge his lightsaber. This act unleashes a power far greater than he anticipated, giving him a glimpse into the limitless potential of the Force.

Vader is determined to follow this vision, even if it means defying his master’s orders. Yet he finds the Emperor is suspiciously supportive of his mission, even sending Vader to the Diso system to investigate rumors of a Force-wielding shaman able to raise the dead. At his side are a cadre of the Emperor’s scarlet-robed Royal Guard, led by Colonel Halland Goth—a decorated soldier with a very personal interest in Vader’s mission.

Even as the Emperor’s true motivations reveals themselves, Vader falls deeper into obsession. His journey takes him far across the galaxy, chasing rumors and phantoms. But no matter how far he travels, he cannot escape the shadows within his own soul. Haunted by the echoes of his past, Vader circles the true resolution to his quest: only once all weakness is purged can he become a master of evil.

Adam Christopher presents one of the more unique and compelling Star Wars novels of 2025, with the awesome and complex Master of Evil.  Following several highly damaged characters as they move towards a dark collision course, Master of Evil had me hooked very early on, and I had an outstanding time with this novel, especially on its audiobook format.

I really enjoyed the exciting story Christopher came up with for Master of Evil, which drags the reader in with captivating Star Wars lore and some very personal character elements.  Starting off with an interesting prologue set around Count Dooku, the story soon skips to immediately after the events of Revenge of the Sith, focusing on the early days of the Empire.  While some early scenes are shown from the perspective of Vader, much of the novel is primarily shown through the eyes of new character Colonel Halland Goth, a Royal Guard assigned to Vader.  Tasked with reporting back on Vader’s actions, Goth accompanies him on his quest to find a Force-wielding shaman and learn more about the dark side of the Force.  While there is less of a direct focus on Vader and his inner thoughts than you’d expect based on the synopsis, Christopher does an excellent job of setting up Vader as a sinister and conflicted personality in this novel, especially with a cool scene on the planet Diso, where Vader clashes with the shaman. 

Following this first part of the book, the middle of Master of Evil slows down a little, as Christopher continues to develop his new characters and their motivations, as well as set up an interesting investigation arc as Goth tries to find out who or what Vader is.  There is a less direct Vader here, but I really got stuck into this part of the book and enjoyed the author’s compelling examination of his protagonists and their personal growth, as well as the early politics of the Empire and the manipulations of the Sith.  This eventually leads to an extended final third of Master of Evil, where several different groups attempt to find an abandoned Separatist spaceship filled with various secrets.  There is an excellent mixture of storylines here, with Goth chasing Vader and his chance of survival, other interested parties trying to get the treasure of the ship, and Vader accessing dark power hidden within.  While much of Vader’s adventures are told through the eyes of others, including clone troopers assigned to him, there are several fantastic scenes here where we directly see Vader access the dark side of the force hidden in the ship.  These scenes are particularly powerful, as we are given direct access to Vader’s conflicted mind, and the resulting Force visions give some outstanding insights to his psyche.  The other big character-driven storylines of Master of Evil also go in some fascinating directions, and Christopher loads them with action, self-discovery and tragedy, all of which is quite moving and addictive.  The conclusion of Master of Evil is particularly emotionally charged, and the novel ends on some complex notes that dedicated Star Wars fans are going to really appreciate.

I felt that Adam Christopher did an excellent job pulling together a compelling, character-driven Star Wars novel that was part adventure, part intriguing lore dive, that makes full use of its setting and examination of complex figures from the films.  The excellent story moves along at a swift clip throughout the entire book, and you really get dragged into the well-balanced mix of action, intrigue and emotionally charged pieces of Star Wars lore.  While parts of the book are a little slower to build up future story elements, for the most part Master of Evil was a very compelling novel that didn’t have any real wasted space. Despite some reservations I had before I read this book that Master of Evil was going to be way too lore-heavy for casual readers, I felt that Christopher produced a Star Wars novel that was actually pretty accessible.  Anyone with a good basic knowledge of Star Wars (or who has at least watched the original and prequel trilogies) will be able to follow this story along closely and have an excellent time with it. 

While I do think that Master of Evil is accessible to new readers, Christopher does feature some deep cuts into Star Wars lore that will primarily appeal to established fans of the series and its associated tie-in books and comics.  There are a lot of references to various bits of Star Wars fiction set before and after the events of Master of Evil, and Christopher has fun mentioning other books and comics.  For example, there are multiple references to the events of Charles Soule’s Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic, the first volume of which mostly takes place just before this novel.  Indeed, Christopher replicates one of the key sequences from this comic in one of Master of Evil’s opening scenes, which honestly made for a gripping read, especially on the audiobook format.  There are also a ton of clever references to the main films either side of this book, Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, including some re-enactments of a couple of major scenes from another character’s perspective.  I also loved some of the vision sequences associated with Vader’s hunt for the dark side where he envisions alternate versions of established events, many of which come out in darker and more sinister ways.  This combines well with the book’s fascinating look at the early Empire era of Star Wars history, and this was a very awesome novel for those readers who love a lot of lore in their tie-in fiction.

While I had a lot of fun with the story, Christopher’s obvious strength as a writer in Master of Evil was the impressive and complex characters that he was able to utilise in the plot.  This excellent book featured an array of compelling characters throughout the plot, including a mixture of new protagonists and some iconic figures from the films.  I personally really liked the dynamics of characters that emerged, even if there were less appearances from established figures as I would have expected.  These new characters ended up providing a great outsiders perspective for the reader, and it was fascinating to see their associated views about the Empire and Darth Vader, especially when they start digging deeper into the mysteries of the Sith.

Of these characters, the most prominent is Commander Halland Goth, a Royal Guard, who finds himself enmeshed in the chaos of Vader’s quest.  Halland proved to be a compelling and complex character, whose evolution of perspective throughout Master of Evil was a powerful part of the book’s emotional depth.  A loyal soldier who wants to serve the Empire, Halland is slowly dying due to a painful disease, which forces him to make various compromises to achieve his goals.  However, the more he comes to see of Vader and the true nature of the Empire, the more Halland changes, and Christopher wrote a good redemption arc around this protagonist as the book continued.  While Halland is a great character, my favourite was his loyal protocol droid TC-99, also called Nines.  Nines, who has been heavily modified by Halland, has a very distinctive personality, which is a mixture of the established timid protocol droid mentality, and that of a close confidant to Halland ready to help him as he slowly dies.  Nines quickly steals the show with his sassy humour, caring personality and various quirks, as well as his ability to upload other droid minds and skills to help Halland achieve his goals.  Throw some other fun supporting characters including a manipulative ISB agent, a couple of clone troopers uncertain of their place in the new Empire, and two conflicted minor Force users, and this was an exceptional cast of new characters that Christopher wraps a unique narrative around.

While much of this book’s focus is on the new characters, this is still a Darth Vader novel, and he unsurprisingly turns out to be an excellent part of this book.  While there is a lot less direct focus on Vader and his perspective of events as you’d expect, he was still a consistent presence in the novel as he went about his own goals.  While I know some readers will dislike the minimalisation of Vader’s direct appearances in the plot, I personally enjoyed how Christopher set him as a mysterious and intimidating monster whose thoughts you can’t easily guess at.  It was fascinating to see all the other characters have no idea how to deal with him or his role in the Empire, and the constant threat and fear that felt as they talked to him was palpable at times.  While he was mostly shown from other characters’ viewpoints, there were a few chapters that do feature Vader’s direct perspective, which tended to be some of the book’s best sequences.  Many of these direct scenes involved Force visions or explorations of the Vader’s psyche, and it was quite powerful to see him interact with figures from the past in his mindscape.  Christopher tries to show a somewhat conflicted Vader in Master of Evil, one who has embraced his desire for power, but who still has some flashes of good in him, occasionally helping his subordinates.  Despite that, some of the later scenes show Vader making a very final choice about his place in the galaxy, which allowed for some impressively heartrending moments.  As such, I felt that Christopher did an exceptional job of showcase this iconic figure and his unique motivations in Master of Evil, and he served as a great dark centre to the story.

While I did receive a physical copy of this novel, I instead sought out an audiobook copy of Master of Evil.  Master of Evil is a particularly good example of how epic a Star Wars audiobook could be, as Christopher’s amazing story is deeply enhanced by the combination of an outstanding narrator and the wonderful use of classic Star Wars sound effects and music.  I always enjoy how well the iconic audio features from the films are utilised in Star Wars audiobooks, and especially impressive in Master of Evil.  The always awesome score from John Williams was perfectly inserted into various chapters of the books, often at climatic and key moments of the plot, and the resulting boost to the emotional impact of these scenes is always quite impressive to behold.  The inclusion of various distinctive Star Wars sound effects was particularly important to the ambience of Master of Evil, with crowd noises, blaster fire, spaceship sounds and the thrum of the lightsaber helping to drag the listener into the plot.  However, the most effective sound effect utilised in Master of Evil are the respirator sounds of Darth Vader.  The iconic breathing sounds add some major impacts to the story, especially in the scenes where the various perspective protagonists are attempting to describe the intimidating nature of this awesome villain, and there is a certain level of dread that invades the audiobook whenever Vader can be heard.  The sudden appearance or lack of this sound in scenes involving Vader is also quite impactful, and I really appreciated how the effect was modulated and altered to back up some key story details.

While the impressive music and sound effects are a major factor in why Master of Evil’s audiobook is so damn good, much of the credit for its success needs to go to narrator Marc Thompson.  Thompson is easily one of the best regular Star Wars audiobook narrators (and one of my favourite overall audiobook narrators) due to his outstanding vocal range and ability to replicate many key characters from the films and television series, and he has previously impressed me with his work on Thrawn, The Rising Storm, Scoundrels and Dark Disciple, just to name a few.  His work in Master of Evil was just as exceptional as always, perfectly voicing the book’s cast, and moving the story along at an exciting and tense pace.  I felt his voice for some key Star Wars characters, such as the Emperor and Count Dooku, was particularly impressive, and he also managed an outstanding Darth Vader, with the help of some vocal enhancements.  His excellent voice work was particularly useful for several sequences where iconic quotes from the films were read out in the context of this story, giving them the emotional weight they had in the original films.  There were even some moments where Thompson needed to have alternative character say these lines (for example, Anakin and Obi-Wan switching dialogue from one of their Revenge of the Sith scenes in a vision), and the narrator’s take on both actors’ dialogue was just perfect.  Even some of the voices that Thompson used for the new members of the cast, such as Holland Goth, were powerful and effective, and I liked how he presented them.  My favourite was the voice he used for Nines, which was entertainingly similar to Alan Tudyk’s K-2SO from Rogue One.  I particularly loved how well Thompson changed Nines’s voice to reflect the different droid personalities he uploaded into himself, and it helped turn Nines into one of the more entertaining, and heartfelt, characters in the book.  This unsurprisingly outstanding performance from Marc Thompson let me effortlessly fly through Master of Evil’s 15-and-a-half-hour runtime, especially with the cool music and sound effects, and I had such a great time listing to this audiobook.  As such, the Master of Evil audiobook comes very highly recommended, and it is a guaranteed hit, especially for those who already know and love the Star Wars audiobooks.

With some outstanding action and cool characters, Master of Evil proved to be an excellent and compelling Star Wars novel, and one I had an amazing time getting through.  Adam Christopher excelled at diving into some interesting bits of Star Wars lore, and I really enjoyed his fantastic take on this compelling period of Star Wars history.  While some readers will probably be disappointed in chapter’s focusing directly on Darth Vader, Christopher still tells an impressive narrative for those who are open to it.  An overall awesome new Star Wars novel that resulted in one of the better audiobooks of 2025.

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Warhammer 40,000: Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok by Denny Flowers

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer1 Comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 July 2025)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 6 hours and 55 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 authors, Denny Flowers, returns with one of the more entertaining novels of 2025 with Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok.

Denny Flowers is an interesting rising author of Warhammer 40,000 fiction who has so far written several particularly notable books.  Starting with his cool debut, Fire Made Flesh, Flowers went on to write his two exceptional Lucille von Shard novels, Outgunned and Above and Beyond (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024), both of which are among some of my favourite pieces of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  I also had a great time with Flowers’s inclusions in Da Red Gobbo Collection, Da Gobbo’s Demise and Da Wrong Type of Green, two hilarious entries that focused the always entertaining orks and grotz.  These short stories were quite hilarious, and it made me very excited when I saw that Flowers had a new Warhammer 40,000 novel focusing on the orks coming out this year with Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok.

Plot Synopsis:

“I made Ghazghkull. Not the Gods. Me.”

Grotsnik comes to the aid of Beastboss Bakum on Hive Prome, and it soon becomes apparent that the Mad Dok is feverishly working on something that could change the fate of ork-kind forever.

READ IT BECAUSE
How wild does a painboy have to be to earn the nickname “Mad Dok”? Find out as you follow Grotsnik – with eager scalpel in hand – as he plans his latest galaxy-changing creation. What could it be?

THE STORY
Da Mad Dok Grotsnik, creator of Ghazghkull Thraka, is a painboy beyond legend. What – and who – he harbours in his formidable brain is a mystery to every ork but himself, and an army of orderlies provides him with a constant supply of flesh with which to tinker.

So, when Grotsnik comes to the aid of Beastboss Bakmun, whose rampage on Hive Prome teeters on the brink of going out not with a Waaagh! but with a whimper, Bakmun can’t believe his luck.

Following a series of increasingly unlikely accidents, however, it soon becomes apparent that the Mad Dok is working on something in the depths of his colossal Painwagon. Something big. Something that could change the fate of ork-kind forever, surpassing Grotsnik’s own forging of the Prophet of the Waaagh!…

Denny Flowers continues to showcase why he is one of the fastest-rising authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction with this highly entertaining and addictive new novel.  Perfectly taking on the always entertaining Warhammer orks, including the over-the-top titular character, Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok was an absolute hoot from the very beginning, and I laughed my way through the entire epic story.  One of the most hilarious novels of 2025, Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok gets a five-star rating from me due to the pure fun it contained.

Flowers comes up with an exceedingly fun narrative for Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok, which I ended up getting through in a very short amount of time.  As the title suggests, this novel follows the machinations of Grotsnik, an ork dok partially responsible for the creation of the legendary Ghazghkull Thraka, the boss of bosses for all ork-kind.  However, on the outs with his creation, Grotsnik joins up with a small band of orks led by Beastboss Bakmun, who is attempting to invade a mysterious human city.  Amongst this new band of orks is the aptly named Valtun the Patient and his clever grot Ikor, both of whom are very suspicious about Grotsnik’s intentions in joining them, especially once various members of the warband start going missing.  What follows is a hilarious series of events as Grotsnik gathers the material for his grand ambitions, while dealing with the strange humans and monsters within the city they are invading, as well as the unique intentions of other ork characters.  Primarily told through the perspective of Valtun and Ikor, who find themselves stuck in Grotsnik’s murderous orbit, these perspective protagonists slowly learn more about the titular character’s intentions, as well as the unique modifications he has made to himself, which turns him into something truly sinister.

Flowers moves this story along at a very quick pace full of funny interactions, crazy battles and the typical brutish humour that all fans of the orks will appreciate.  The action-packed and regularly over-the-top scenes that emerged were so damn fun, and there is honestly not a single slow moment in this book.  At the same time, Flowers installs a clever story throughout Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok, mostly based around the maniacal machinations of the titular character and his attempt to outsmart the suspicious Valtun.  It all leads up to a very entertaining ending that completely changes your perspective of Grotsnik’s intentions, while also leaving some of the remaining characters in ironic situations.  I personally loved where the multiple character arcs ended up at the end of this book, and while Valtun and Ikor were both great central figures, Grotsnik really stole the show with his weird behaviour, insane experiments, and the hilarious interactions he had with his unsuspecting patients/victims.  An overall awesome and well-written story that is guaranteed to suck you in with its exceptionally crazy characters and entertaining storytelling.

As with a lot of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Flowers’s Da Mad Dok book is probably best read by established fans of the franchise, who will have a lot of fun seeing the titular character come to life.  Grotsnik’s unique mentality and connection to the most iconic ork character, Ghazghkull Thraka, makes him a very interesting figure to follow for those in love with the Warhammer canon, and Flowers clearly had a lot of fun utilising him in his story.  However, Flowers has already proven himself to be a very good at making his previous Warhammer 40,000 novels accessible to all readers, and this book is no exception.  Most people with a general knowledge of Warhammer lore and fiction can easily dive into Da Mad Dok’s narrative, and the inherent humour of the characters and the ork faction will keep them coming back for more.  I personally loved Flowers’s latest dive into the orks, and his takes on this crazy faction and some of their more distinctive members were both entertaining and accurate to the lore.  As such, Da Mad Dok has a ton of appeal, and I think most readers are going to have an exceptional time with it.

As has become my habit with all things Warhammer, I ended up listening to Da Mad Dok on audiobook, which is easily the best way to enjoy this fantastic and fun novel.  Coming in with a run time just under seven hours, Da Mad Dok is a very easy audiobook to power through, especially thanks to the great narration of Harry Myers.  Myers, who has really impressed me with books like Day of Ascension and The Wraithbone Phoenix, has an outstanding voice for Warhammer 40,000 fiction, which really fits the over-the-top nature of the universe.  He is particularly good at doing ork voices, such as in Da Big Dakka, Warboss and Da Red Gobbo Collection audiobooks, so I was very happy that he leant his voices to Da Mad Dok.  Myers uses some very fun and excessively gruff voices to bring the various ork characters to life, and the multiple laddish tones he employs are very fitting and very funny.  I cannot emphasise just how good Myers’s voice for these outrageous figures is, and I especially love how he changes from his deeper voices for the orks, to the more petulant and squeaky voice for the grot characters.  There is even a cool voice he uses for one of the more intimidating and iconic members of the cast towards the end of the book, which sounds particularly epic thanks to some vocal enhancement.  This great combination of voices, as well as Myers’s entertaining overall narration was extremely awesome, and it really enhanced Flowers’s already fantastic story.  I honestly cannot recommend this Warhammer 40,000 audiobook enough, and it ended up being one of my favourite listens of the year.

Thanks to the outstanding humour and overall craziness of its characters, Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok was a truly wonderful Warhammer 40,000 novel that is very easy to fall in love with.  Denny Flowers excelled at showcasing both the orks in general, and the cruelty and insanity of the titular characters, and the resulting intense and exciting story was a true joy to listen to.  An overall exceptional read, I cannot wait to see what epic Warhammer fiction Flowers writes next.

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The Strength of the Few by James Islington

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books4 Comments

Publisher: Text Publishing/Audible Studios (Audiobook – 11 November 2025)

Series: Hierarchy – Book Two

Length: 31 hours 8 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Australian author James Islington continues his Hierarchy series in epic form with the incredible and complex novel, The Strength of the Few, an outstanding and highly addictive fantasy novel that I had an incredible time getting through.

Back in 2023, I had the pleasure of reading the outstanding novel, The Will of the Many from James Islington, which I very quickly fell in love with.  Following a fugitive prince who finds himself enrolled in an academy for the children of the elite members of the nation that conquered his homeland, The Will of the Many had an intricate plot that forced the protagonist to deal with elaborate ancient puzzles, the unique magic of his world, unlikely friendships, deadly rebels, and all his hidden secrets potentially becoming uncovered.  I had such an amazing time reading The Will of the Many that it got a very easy five-star rating from me, and it ended up topping several of my end-of-year lists for 2023, including my favourite book, audiobook, new-to-me author and Australian fiction lists.  Unsurprisingly, I have been keen to see how the series would continue ever since I finished the final page of The Will of the Many, and the long-awaited sequel, The Strength of the Few, was one of my most anticipated novels of 2025.  I started reading The Strength of the Few the second I could, and it turned out to be another captivating read, with a plot that goes in some captivating and intense directions.

After infiltrating the Academy and running the mysterious Labyrinth, the man known to the Catenan Republic as Vis Telimus thought that he would finally understand some of the secrets of the nation that destroyed his people.  However, his encounters within the Labyrinth have instead resulted in the impossible and placed him in the firing line of an ancient evil determined to destroy his world.

While the original Vis continues to live in the Catenan Republic, attempting to avenge the massacre of his Academy classmates and friends at the Iudicium, he is unaware that the ancient devices within the Labyrinth replicated him across three separate words.  Mirrors of each other influenced and altered by different history, the worlds of Obiteum, Luceum and the world Vis already knows as Res, are divergent places, each with their own troubles, rulers and chaos.

Now one of the few beings existing across all three concurrent realities, Vis stands as the only person who can stop the upcoming Cataclysm that will burn away all he loves.  But first he needs to face the different challenges each world has for him, especially as he truly belongs in none of them.  Forced to fight, to learn how to control the unique powers his situation has granted him, and to understand the different worlds they find themselves in, all three versions of Vis will be pushed to their limits as they try to prove themselves and understand the secrets behind their unlikely journey.  If any version of Vis fails, then all their chance to stop the Cataclysm are finished.  But can Vis really survive in three separate realities, each of which is filled with beings who desperately want him dead?

Well damn, now that’s how you do a sequel.  The Strength of the Few was an incredible novel as James Islington expertly continued the elaborate and ambitious narrative of his epic Hierarchy books.  Featuring a layered story loaded with complex world-building, intricate story details and compelling characters, The Strength of the Few was an exceptional novel that gets a very easy five-star rating from me.

Islington came up with an especially complex and powerful story for The Strength of the Few, which served as a very worthy follow-up to the compelling events of the previous Hierarchy book.  Right out the gate readers are treated to an intricate plot, with the protagonist from The Will of the Many split into three different versions of himself in three separate mirror worlds.  Each version has its own very distinct narrative that revolves around that specific Vis trying to overcome the challenges of that specific world.  For example, the version of Vis on Res, the world that The Will of the Many was completely set in, continues to endure the politics of the Hierarchy, while also attempting to uncover those responsible for the massacre of his classmates at the end of the previous book.  The storyline set on Obiteum is a bit of a post-apocalyptic narrative, as Vis is forced to survive a broken world ruled by the enemy responsible for several previous Cataclysms, and must try to find a way into a forbidden city, half staffed by the living dead.  The final storyline set in Luceum offers a much more adventurous narrative, as a version of Vis that is completely unaware that he is in an alternate world, is forced to explore a new culture and attempt to survive amongst people who have no idea of his past or his destiny.

These three separate and very distinctive storylines each go in some interesting directions as the book continues, and the result is a very impressive and compelling overall narrative, especially as Islington expertly sets up necessary details in the early stages of the book and cleverly builds from there.  For most part, each of these storylines stay isolated, although some key details from each bleed into the wider narrative, and you can appreciate the significance of certain events or revelations in one storyline better thanks to the events in one of the other worlds.  Each plot line goes in some very interesting directions, with the dark politics of Res forcing Vis to engage in some complex schemes and deceptions, the struggles of Obiteum slowly getting to an isolated version of the protagonist, while positive character interactions in Luceum turn that Vis into a completely different person.  Islington starts to enhance the tension of all three storylines in the second part of the book, and there are some very amazing scenes that completely change the tone of each of the main storylines.  I felt the political instability of Res allowed for some particularly powerful moments, especially after a shocking scene about two-thirds of the way through book.  A growing war in Luceum also provides some compelling drama for that storyline, as Vis must decide what he wants in life, while the continued threat of discovery in Obiteum proves to be particularly draining.

The final third of the book contains some of the best scenes of The Strength of the Few, as Islington builds on all the novel’s great storytelling and complex worldbuilding to bring forth an epic conclusion.  Thrusting all three versions of Vis into mortal danger, the tension is particularly thick, as the protagonist and much of the supporting cast are in constant risk.  This includes a final desperate attempt to achieve his goal of killing a god in Obiteum, which hits a range of snags amongst the ancient city Vis has spent most of the book infiltrating.  At the same time, the Vis in Leceum finds himself in the middle of a deadly war, where his unique abilities and the unlikely rewards of a deadly ceremony weigh him down.  However, the most intense is the narrative set on Res, where Vis finds himself attempting to save who he can from the chaotic events brought on by those manipulating him.  Islington probably throws the book’s most shocking moments into the Res storyline, which nicely builds on a lot of the drama and intrigue from the first novel, and forces the protagonist to make some dark decisions, out of both vengeance and necessity.  One scene where the title of the book is quoted by an antagonist really sticks in the mind, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to forgive Islington with the dark bait-and-switch there.  All three of these storylines end on an interesting note that hint of destructive events for the future, and it is going to be fascinating to see how Islington continues the Hierarchy series going forward.

Thanks to the elaborate ideas that Islington had for this epic sequel, The Strength of the Few turned out to be an exceptionally written read, which provides an intense and compelling fantasy narrative, filled with some great emotional depth.  The inventive way that the author splits the book to follow three separate versions of the same protagonist worked surprisingly well, and it allowed for quite a unique character-driven story, which really showcases Islington’s writing ability.  I felt that the split between the three distinctive storylines was very well done, and these separate narrative threads each stood on their own merits, provide a distinctive experience in each.  I loved how there was something special in each of the storylines, and you got some interesting interactions, world building and different focuses with each of them.  All three were very well written, and there were honestly no weak links with any of the storylines, which is always a risk when you split the narrative like this.  I will say that the intrigue-laden narrative on Res was a particular favourite of mine, but both other storylines were also quite exceptional, and they balanced each other nicely with their alternating themes and varied character growth.  Throw in some creative expansion of the universe the narrative is set in, with its cool Will-based magic system, and three worlds each inspired by different ancient cultures (Roman, Egyptian and Celtic), and this was a very well written book, and I really appreciate how effectively Islington builds up his different worlds and showcases them to the reader.

The Strength of the Few proved to be an impressive continuation of the Hierarchy series, and I felt that Islington did an outstanding job building on the impressive fantasy elements and storylines of the first book.  However, the complex narrative split and the way that Islington dives immediately into the story does mean that The Strength of the Few is probably best enjoyed by those readers who have already gotten through The Will of the Many.  While Islington does re-examine key elements of the plot from the first book as The Strength of the Few continues, it is a very gradual process, and new readers trying to read the sequel first are likely to get confused if they don’t know some necessary details from the first book.  The Strength of the Few might have benefited from a good summary or recap at the front of the book to remind readers of some key details, especially if they haven’t had a chance to read re-read The Will of the Many since its 2023 release.  Still, for the most part, all readers should be able to follow and appreciate The Strength of the Few, especially once you get drawn into the three compelling storylines, and people who love extremely elaborate fantasy narratives with a lot of intricate detail are going to have an outstanding time.

I was once again impressed with Islington’s great characters in The Strength of the Few, as this book has a massive cast, made up of an interesting combination of figures from The Will of the Many, and new characters from the three separate worlds of the setting.  However, most of this book naturally follows the young protagonist from the first book, who is primarily known as Vis Telimus.  A studious and damaged figure who had already gone through a lot before the events of this novel, Vis has rather a unique experience in this sequel, as unbeknown to him, there are now three separate versions of him concurrently existing in the mirror worlds of this setting.

Islington perfectly sets up and utilises this three-way split of his protagonist, and readers are soon treated to three distinct variations of the protagonist, each of whom are altered by their experiences and losses, especially the two versions of Vis who lose their left arm.  It was fascinating to see how each of the Vises are influenced and changed by their respective traumas, and how their adventures are altered by the different information or people that they meet.  For example, the Vis in Res, who is essentially the same protagonist from The Will of the Many, finds himself longing for vengeance after the events of the Iudicium, and spends much of the book angry and forced to endure politics and lies.  The version of Vis on Luceum, while feeling lessened by the loss of his arm, soon finds peace in his new setting, and his eventual motivations for fighting and living are very different from his other incarnations, especially as he finds friends he can trust completely.  Finally, the Vis on Obiteum is one of the more confident incarnations of the protagonist, having full knowledge of the upcoming Cataclysm and his place in the three worlds explain early in the book.  As such, he soon becomes the most competent at utilising his Will talents and appears the most undamaged of the three due to not losing his arm.  However, in many ways the Obiteum Vis is the worst off out of all versions of the protagonist due to his isolation, the desolate surroundings, and the early expectations of murder and potential death that are thrust upon him.  I really cannot emphasise just how clever the split between these different variations of the protagonist is, especially with the subtle differences and alternate reactions to similar events or situations. It really makes for quite a distinctive and moving read, especially as all three versions of Vis experiences even greater trauma and damage as this sequel continues.

While Vis is the obvious focus of The Strength of the Few, there is a huge supporting cast utilised throughout this book, including various characters only found on each distinctive world.  Indeed, each version of Vis picks up its own supporting cast, which allows for some very different interactions in each of the major storylines.  Highlights include many of the recurring characters from the first book who serve as Vis’ friends and mentors in Res.  There is a particular focus on Eidhin and Aequa, who have an expanded role as Vis’s main confidants in this novel, and I liked some of the powerful storylines that formed around them.  Other major supporting characters from the first novel are showcased to a lesser extent in this sequel, primarily due to the book being split into three separate parts, although many of these characters still got a notable role in this sequel.

The cast supporting Vis on the desolate world of Obiteum is a lot more limited, mainly to emphasise the protagonist’s loneliness, although he does find a compelling mentor in Caeror, his adoptive uncle, who the protagonist was hunting for in the first book.  A couple of other native characters from Obiteum gain prominence later in this storyline as Vis attempts to complete his mission, and it is fascinating to see how their experiences living on a dead-world, impact their interactions with the protagonist.  Finally, the cast of the Luceum plotline represent a compelling counterpart to the supporting characters of the rest of the book.  While Vis has enemies in Luceum, he also finds several true friends who he can trust with all his secrets.  It was interesting to finally see Vis truly open up to other people, and it allowed for some very different interactions to the secrets and lies that define the protagonist in the other two storylines.  Throw in a compelling array of antagonists, as well as an entertaining manipulator who keeps chucking Vis into the deep end on Res, and this was an impressive cast for this great sequel.  It honestly was an extremely intriguing experience to have three separate casts of characters set around different versions of the protagonist.  While this narrative split did result in some restrictions when it came to character depth or a full exploration of relationships, I think the overall extended length of the book overcame this and allowed the reader to grow close to the supporting characters.  I will warn readers not to get too attached to the extended cast though, as Islington does get a little murderous as the book continues, however, all these characters are impressive while they last.

While I was lucky enough to receive a physical copy of The Strength of the Few, I ended up holding out for a little bit to listen to the audiobook version of this book instead.  I’m a big fan of audiobooks when it comes to ultra-elaborate fantasy narratives, as I tend to absorb and retain more of the details that way, and this worked out well with The Strength of the Few.  I felt that Islington’s complex story came across very effectively when read out, and all the elements, including the elaborate worldbuilding and the great character work, were well translated to the reader.  I also appreciated how the switches between the three different versions of the perspective protagonist, was easily discernible, and this was a very easy story to follow on audiobook.  The Strength of the Few audiobook saw the return of Euan Morton for narrator, who previously read out The Will of the Many, and who I quite enjoyed as a narrator of the Star Wars audiobook, Tarkin.  Morton has a very interesting cadence to his voice as a narrator, which provided a very unique edge to this audiobook.  While Morton’s narration style might not appeal to everyone, I felt that he did a good job voicing this compelling story, especially through the eyes of the complex protagonist, and his unique narration on this elaborate story worked extremely well.  I also felt that Morton excelled at pronouncing all the different names and titles that Islington featured in his plot, no matter their Roman, Celtic or Egyptian inspiration, and the characters of all three different worlds had a subtly different cadence and accent that helped to distinguish the separate storylines from each other.  As such, I really got stuck into this audiobook, powering through it quickly, even with its 31-hour runtime.  This was probably one of the more intense and moving fantasy audiobooks I had the pleasure of listening to in 2025, and I cannot recommend this format enough.

James Islington does it again with his incredible second Hierarchy novel, The Strength of the Few.  Brilliantly continuing his elaborate narrative from the first novel in a unique manner, The Strength of the Few was an ultra-addictive read, that really showcased Islington’s writing ability and imagination.  Clever, powerful and easy to get addicted to, The Strength of the Few was one of my favourite books of the year, and I cannot wait to see how Islington continues the series going forward.

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Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller2 Comments

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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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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