Tag: Allen & Unwin Australia

Nightshade by Michael Connelly

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery3 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (ebook – 20 May 2025)

Series: Detective Stilwell – Book One

Length: 351 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

The master of American crime fiction, Michael Connelly, introduces a cool new character with his outstanding 2025 novel, Nightshade, an incredible extremely addictive murder mystery that was a true highlight of the first half of this year.

Few authors are as consistently impressive and exciting as crime fiction legend Michael Connelly, who has continuously produced complex and captivating novels that fall across the various crime fiction sub-genres.  I have had an outstanding time reading some of Connelly’s more recent books, including the outstanding Ballad and Bosche novels (Dark Sacred Night, The Night Fire, The Dark Hours and Desert Star), his Mickey Haller/Lincoln Lawyer novels (The Law of Innocence and Resurrection Walk), as well as the impressive Jack McEvoy novel Fair Warning (one of my favourite books of 2020).  All these books have been highly enjoyable, and I am always eager to explore more mysteries and thrillers in Connelly’s shared universe.  As such, I was very excited to get my hands on Connelly’s first 2025 release Nightshade, which introduced a new protagonist in a compelling scenario.

Plot Synopsis:

No. 1 internationally bestselling author Michael Connelly introduces Detective Stilwell: a determined cop on a purgatory beat in paradise.

Detective Stilwell of the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s department has been exiled. Once he manned a mainland homicide desk; now internal politics have relegated him to a low-key post, policing rustic Catalina Island. He’s beginning to think he could get used to it.

It’s all business as usual in his new territory, following up drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts, until Stilwell receives a report of a body found wrapped in plastic at the bottom of the harbour. He begins working the case, and soon he’s forced to cross all lines of protocol and jurisdiction in pursuit of justice.

But when Stilwell discovers dark secrets hidden in the shadows he must now ask: Is Catalina really the serene island it appears to be or is it brewing a deadly poison?

Nightshade was an intense and fresh new novel from Connelly, who successfully debuts a new character in a fantastic fashion.  Featuring a slick mystery with a cool new location, Nightshade was an awesome read that I absolutely flew through.  One of the better books from the first half of 2025, Nightshade gets a full five-star rating from me and comes very highly recommended.

Connelly produced an outstanding narrative in Nightshade that perfectly sets out a compelling series of mysteries on the picturesque Catalina Island.  The plot starts off fast with new protagonist Detective Stilwell, an exiled detective turned top cop on Catalina Island, working low-level crime on the island, before discovering a murdered girl at the bottom of the harbour.  Despite being instructed not to interfere in the case, Stilwell’s curiosity and rebellious nature get the best of him, and he soon engages in his own investigation, pulling strings through his island connections.  Connelly sets the scene for this separate, protagonist-led enquiry nicely, and there is a compelling blend of investigation arcs and the protagonist resolving his many personal issues, including his growing connection to Catalina Island and its inhabitants.  The author ratchets up the intensity of the plot, as his main enquiry brings to light several sinister secrets, while other smaller cases from the island further showcase the underlying corruption of the seemingly picturesque police posting.

The second half of Nightshade goes in some excellent directions, as Connelly keeps the intensity running high.  Following a shocking yet well-set up additional death, Stilwell is forced to deal with numerous threats from all corners, including betrayal, a corrupt former partner, and a sinister assassin stalking the island.  Thanks to a combination of some fantastic revelations, a powerful confession sequence, and an intense rescue, there is barely a second to stand still in the lead up to Nightshade’s conclusion, and the attempts to solve the partially interlocked cases allows for an excellent overall narrative.  I felt that Connelly set up each of his major mysteries in Nightshade extremely well, and the solutions came about naturally through some excellent storytelling.  While the main cases are solved, Connelly leaves a few story elements open, and I feel like the legal ramifications for a couple of arrests will be explored in any sequels that Connelly has planned for this novel. 

I really enjoyed how Nightshade came together, and Connelly produces an excellent character-driven murder mystery with a lot of compelling moving parts to it.  Perfectly focused on an interesting and complex protagonist, Connelly effectively builds a great mixture of plotlines for this novel, including two central mysteries and various personal elements for the protagonist.  Each of these storylines are well balanced and come together in an effective overall narrative, with the reader easily following the various cool twists and moments of excitement.  This is a very sharp and constantly moving novel that proves easy to get drawn into and hard to put down.  I easily powered through Nightshade in a couple of days, mainly because I was curious to see how the various mysteries unfolded, but also because of the compelling personal drama surrounding the book’s characters.

This includes new protagonist, Detective Stllwell, who is an excellent mixture of professional sheriff and occasional rogue cop.  Stilwell has a similar anti-authoritarian streak to several of Connelly’s other police protagonists, especially as he is on the outs with his superiors after doing the right thing.  Connelly did an effective job of setting up Stilwell as a new ongoing protagonist, and there are some interesting hanging threads for the character, including a complicated romantic relationship and a growing contentment with his new post at Catalina Island, which clashes with his sense of injustice surrounding his banishment there.  Stilwell worked well as a standalone protagonist in this novel, but there is also potential for Connelly to expand on him in the future, especially with several open storylines and potential long-running feuds with crooks and corrupt cops going forward.  The rest of the cast of Nightshade is also well set up, and I liked the combination of Catalina Island locals and transplants from the mainland who wander into the case.  There are some strong antagonistic forces surrounding the main character during this novel, and it was fascinating to see how Stilwell worked around them to crack his cases.

The final part of Nightshade that I must highlight is the compelling new setting of Catalina Island.  I must admit I had never really heard of Catalina Island until reading this book, and it proved to be a very interesting alternate Los Angeles setting to set a crime fiction novel around.  Connelly paints a vivid picture of the island as part of Nightshade’s plot, and I liked the depiction of it as a holiday island with its own unique charm.  The focus on the local culture versus the mainland transplants taking it over was quite fascinating, and Connelly does a great job of diving into the fascinating history of the island and working that into the book’s plot.  He also develops an interesting tale of corruption and crime on the island, which ties in nicely with some of the setting’s real-life features.  The extra focus on maritime elements, police diving, and the environment of the island (including its surprising bison herds), as well as the isolated nature of the setting, gave Nightshade a distinctive feel, and this proved to be quite a memorable novel in Connelly’s shared universe.

Overall, Nightshade was an outstanding new novel from Michael Connelly that proved very hard to stop reading.  With an intriguing new protagonist, setting, and original murder mysteries, Nightshade was a deeply compelling and highly exciting read that I had such a wonderful time with.  This book comes very highly recommended, and I cannot wait to get my hands on Connelly’s next novel, which is set to come out very soon.

Amazon

Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy8 Comments

Publisher: Recorded Books/Zaffe (Audiobook – 7 January 2025)

Series: The Broken Blades – Book Two

Length: 13 hours and 31 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

One of the hottest fantasy sequels of 2025 is the impressive Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland, that once again follows an entertaining band of killers and self-interested liars as they get drawn into dark events that threaten their entire world.

Last year I had the pleasure of reading the outstanding debut Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland.  The first book in Corland’s Broken Blades trilogy and one of my favourite debuts of 2024, Five Broken Blades was an impressive fantasy novel with some great Korean aesthetics that followed five deadly killers who are recruited to kill the king of Yusan and steal the magical crown that makes him invulnerable.  However, their planned assassination and heist becomes complicated by secrets, treachery and the fact that each member of the group had hidden motivations for being there.  Corland provided a pretty wonderful story for this first book, loaded with betrayals, lies and compelling character-driven perspective chapters, and I loved the great twist at the end that saw the protagonists captured and forced to engage in a new heist.  As such, I have been eagerly awaiting the sequel since last year, especially as I couldn’t wait to see how Four Ruined Realms resolved the awesome cliffhanger Corland left the first book on.

The group known as the Blades are five of the best killers, liars and thieves in the kingdom of Yusan.  Made up of a master spy, a beautiful poison-maiden, a murderous banished prince, a lethal thug and a mysterious thief, the Blades were hired to pull off an impossible task: kill Yusan’s God King Joon and steal his crown.  Each of the killers had a reason for becoming involved with the plot, as well as their own dark secrets that drove them onwards.  However, all of them underestimated Joon’s manipulations and greed, as the entire job was a ploy from the King to bring them together and evaluate their skills.

Captured and forced by bribes and threats to accept a new mission, the Blades now find themselves journeying to the neighbouring nation of Khitan, which has long resisted the armies of Yusan.  Ruled over by Joon’s vengeful sister, Quilimar, Khitan remains free thanks to the power of the Golden Ring of the Dragon Lord, one of five legendary magical treasures gifted to the ruling houses of the rival realms.  Determined to possess all the treasures, Joon gives the Blades one month to steal the ring and return it to him.  If they succeed, they will have everything they desire, but if they fail, then they and everyone they love will be killed.

Arriving in Khitan, the Blades find dangerous enemies all around, an impossible theft before them and their once cohesive group fractured thanks to their uncovered lies.  But even with their conflicting motivations and secrets out in the open, these killers can all agree on one thing: King Joon is their true enemy.  Determined to fight back, the Blades embark on a mission to gain an audience with Quilimar and find a way to use Khitan’s resources to defeat Joon.  However, there is a darker conspiracy at play within the borders of Khitan, and the Blades have once again underestimated the lengths their enemies will go to win.  Worse, each of the band still has secrets, and soon a new set of lies will tear them apart from within.

Four Ruined Realms was another exceptional fantasy novel from Corland that effortlessly drags you in with its fun action, compelling story, doomed romances and outstanding and damaged protagonists.  Perfectly telling a massive, multi-character narrative, Four Ruined Realms was a very worthy sequel to Five Broken Blades that proved very hard to put down.

Corland set forth another complex and emotionally charged narrative in Four Ruined Realms, and I loved how well she continued after the cool cliffhanger ending of the first book.  Taking place right in the aftermath of the betrayals and lies of Five Broken Blades, Four Ruined Realms begins just as the Blades arrive in Khitan and are forced to work together to survive and secure the prize, despite the complete lack of trust and the anger brought about by their revealed secrets.  Corland works a lot of great character development into these early chapters, as the book flits between the protagonists and showcases their respective mindsets.  There is a good blend of early planning, espionage, and personal issues, as the protagonists try to work together, while also maintaining additional secrets that they know will tear the group apart.  The first part of the book features some very fun sequences, especially when the male protagonists depart on an expedition for knowledge, while the girls attend a party that ends in turmoil.  At the same time, there are hints of a bigger conspiracy beneath the surface of the new realm they are in, and Corland provides some interesting clues that perfectly come into play later.

As Four Ruined Realms continues, Corland enhances the book by including more chapters from the perspective of returning protagonist Tiyung.  Tiyung, while a perspective character in Five Broken Blades, only had a relatively minor point-of-view role, so it was interesting to see him as more of an equal protagonist in the sequel.  His storyline of being stuck in a notorious prison back in Yusan proved to be particularly compelling, especially as he gets to interact with two of the book’s best supporting characters.  Tiyung’s storyline blends well with that of the main protagonists, and thanks to the simultaneous timeline, you get to see him react to the events occurring over in Khitan and find out secrets that have potential impacts on how the Blades succeed in their task.

The second half of the book primarily details the Blades’ attempts to learn more about Khitan and find a way to get an audience with its queen.  Their plans to achieve this see them once again split up into dramatic groupings, and you get some interesting adventures and interactions as a result, especially as all the powerful emotions come to the surface.  It also perfectly sets up the final massive sequence of Four Ruined Realms, which really delivered in both action and tragedy.  While I don’t want to spoil too much, readers will come away from this novel pretty heartbroken, and there are some very intense moments going on in the last third of the book.  Combined with a series of final reveals and twists, all of which are nicely foreshadowed by earlier subtle inclusions from the author, you come away from Four Ruined Realms both moved and extra excited to see how the series is going to come to an end.

As with the first book in the series, Corland sets Four Ruined Realms out in a fantastic manner, and I deeply enjoyed how the complex narrative came across.  The use of six separate perspective characters was a major highlight as it allowed for a multi-layered narrative with a focus on character development and interactions.  The author did an outstanding job of balancing the different perspectives, with all the protagonists getting their chance to shine in their respective chapters, and even the increased use of Tiyung didn’t throw this out of whack.  Indeed, Tiyung’s chapters honestly pulled the other perspectives together into a tight and captivating overarching narrative, as the inclusion of an outsider character viewing events from afar increased the complexity of the plot.

The author makes full use of the book’s alternating viewpoints to insert a lot of great story elements into the plot, so there is a little something for everyone here.  The constant intrigue and danger that the protagonists found themselves in was well balanced by the author’s excellent worldbuilding, while the cool action scenes are guaranteed to get anyone’s blood pumping.  There are also multiple romance subplots that none of the protagonists are immune to.  While not a full-on romantasy novel, a good chunk of the book is focused on the complicated relationships that have formed between various protagonists, which will appeal to some readers, especially as the doomed nature of many of these romantic affairs leads to some excellent drama and heightened personal tensions.  While there were a few more romantic subplots than I typically enjoy in a fantasy novel, I felt that Corland got the right equilibrium here, with the focus on relationships and failed love enhanced the main fantasy intrigue elements of the plot rather than distracting from them.

Four Ruined Realms proved to be a very worthy sequel to Five Broken Blades, and I really enjoyed how effectively the author continued her elaborate storylines and continued to build up her great characters.  Corland uses this book to substantially expand the overarching setting of the series, including exploring a second realm and diving into the larger politics of the world.  The primary new setting, Khitan, worked extremely well as a background to the story, especially as its history and inherent intrigue played nicely into the chaotic mission of the protagonists and the plots surrounding it.  While I loved how the narrative continued in this sequel, readers should be warned that Four Ruined Realms isn’t necessary the best place to dive into the Broken Blades books, primarily because it is the second entry in a complex ongoing fantasy series.  While Corland does a great job of recapping the key events of the first book throughout Four Ruined Realms to make it accessible to newcomers, readers should really start at the start of the trilogy as it will give you the full emotional impact, especially when it comes to the character arcs.  Still, there is plenty for everyone to enjoy here, and I feel that Four Ruined Realms was a great book and sequel for readers new or returning.

As with the first book in this trilogy, the element that really ensures Four Ruined Realms stands out was its well-crafted main characters through whose eyes we see the narrative unfold.  Corland brings back all six protagonists from the first novel, made up of Royo, Sora, Euyn, Mikail, Aeri and Tiyung, and features them as equal parts of the plot.  After exploring their tragic backstories in Five Broken Blades, Corland spends this second novel diving into the drama and turmoil caused by the events of the first book, including the reveal of their darkest secrets and hidden motivations.  This brings out a lot of mistrust, antagonism and broken romances, which works to create quite a turbulent and entertaining plot.  I really appreciated how well each of these protagonists came through as a result, and it was fascinating to see their next set of secrets and hidden concerns, especially the deeper you get into their new mission.

Of the six, Royo, Mikail and Tiyung probably had the best arcs in Four Ruined Realms.  Royo continues to be the loveable, tough street thug with a past, and his more straightforward approach to life and honest need for redemption are quite refreshing amongst the rest of the schemers in the group.  Mikail, the dark spy master, proves to be the book’s ultimate badass, and his entertaining persona, complex backstory, and conflicted opinions about his love interest Euyn, ensure that he is one of the better perspectives in Four Ruined Realms, especially as he continues to mislead and lie to everyone.  Tiyung, as I mentioned above, gets much more of a chance to shine in this sequel, and his transformation from spoiled rich kid to starving prisoner ensures you get a better look at his character.  A genuinely good person, Tiyung continues to rise above his family legacy here, and his narrative of prison life and unexpected connections was a true highlight of the book.

The rest of the Four Ruined Realms protagonists also had some excellent moments, and I really appreciated their storylines.  Euyn, the fugitive prince of Yusan, has a troubled time in this sequel, primarily as he has the most paranoia and mistrust after the events of the first book.  This leads to a lot of conflict, and Euyn’s character growth from the first book starts to reverse in places as he seeks fights and alienates his allies.  However, Corland works this conflict into an excellent overarching narrative for Euyn, with its resolution being a key part of the plot.  I also felt that Sora, the beautiful and deadly poison-maiden, had a great arc in this sequel, especially as she loses her confidence and her killing edge, becoming the group’s conscience.  The final protagonist, Aeri, is my least favourite, although she ties the central cast together nicely.  The secret child of the main antagonist Joon and the group’s traitor in the first book, Aeri is the most mistrusted protagonist, despite being in the same boat as the rest of the Blades, and spends much of Four Ruined Realms trying to prove herself again.  While her storyline is really interesting and an essential part of the overall plot, I still didn’t connect with Aeri.  I’m not sure if this is because of how she is written, or because of the narrator assigned to Aeri’s chapters, but I feel that there is a huge disconnect between Aeri and the other protagonists which makes her not quite fit in, especially with her overly manic (and horny) personality.  Still, she does have some great moments in Four Ruined Realms, and it will be very interesting to see where Aeri and her doomed romance ends up.  Throw in an array of excellent supporting figures, including outstanding and ruthless antagonists, and this proves to be an amazing overall cast, whose layered roles and interactions helps to turn Four Ruined Realms into quite an exceptional read.

As with the first book in the series, I chose to listen to the audiobook version of Four Ruined Realms, especially after Five Broken Blades came across so epically on the format.  Unsurprisingly, the sequel was just as impressive on audiobook with Four Ruined Realms also featuring talented narrators, Greg Chun, Zion Jang, Roger Yeh, Donald Chang, Jaine Ye and Sophie Oda, each of whom voiced the chapters of a particular character.  These multiple narrators worked wonders to tell Four Ruined Realms’s elaborate character-driven story, and I loved how each of them inhabited the role of their respective protagonist.  All the narrators really impressed me in Four Ruined Realms and thanks to the even spread of chapters between characters, they all got a chance to shine.  There was a fantastic array of voices featured in each chapter, and we get to hear several differing tones for the same characters throughout the course of the audiobook.  I will admit that the narration for Aeri’s chapters still didn’t quite seem to fit the tone of the rest of the audiobook, but the other chapters more than made up for it, and I really enjoyed some of the elaborate and varied voices that emerged.  Featuring a 13-and-a-half-hour runtime, this was a quicker audiobook to get through than Five Broken Blades, and it ended up being a wonderful way to appreciate Corland’s fantastic story.  As such, this format comes very highly recommended for Four Ruined realms, and I am currently planning to finish this series off on audiobook.

With even more betrayals, secrets and tragedy, Four Ruined Realms was another exceptional novel from Mai Corland, who is really starting to impress me as an author.  An outstanding sequel to Five Broken Blades, Four Ruined Realms perfectly continues the trilogy’s captivating narrative, and you won’t be prepared for all the cool twists, turns and major moments.  A brilliant and moving fantasy novel with some dramatic character moments, Four Ruined Realms was such a good book and I’m so very glad I continued this fantastic series.  I cannot wait to see how this trilogy concludes, and luckily the final book, Three Shattered Souls, is out in July.

Amazon

The Bluff by Joanna Jenkins

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery3 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (Trade Paperback – 4 March 2025)

Series: How to Kill a Client – Book Two

Length: 432 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Impressive new Australian author Joanna Jenkins presents another captivating piece of crime fiction with the gripping and emotionally charged read, The Bluff.

Back in 2023 I had the very great pleasure of reading the fantastic legal thriller, How to Kill a Client.  The debut novel of Australian author Joanna Jenkins, How to Kill a Client followed various members of a prestigious Australian law firm who are forced to deal with the fallout of the murder of one of their biggest clients, a man who everyone in the firm had a motive to kill.  Jenkins produced an outstanding story in her first novel, and How to Kill a Client ended up being one of my favourite debuts and pieces of Australian fiction of 2023.  Due to how good her first book was, I have been keeping an eye out for anything else from Jenkins and I was very happy to see she had a new book coming out in 2025 with The Bluff.  A surprising sequel to How to Kill a Client, The Bluff has been on my to-read list for a while, and I was very glad that I finally got the chance to check it out.

Plot Synopsis:

People like Dash didn’t die. He was only what? Mid-thirties? Well off. Adored. By some anyway. World at his feet. Well, Myddle at his feet, which was his world.

Ruth Dawson has taken a break from big city law to fill in for a few months at a mate’s small-town legal practice in Myddle. It’s not what she’s used to . . .

So when she hears the front door of her office open she’s expecting a weird demand, or a question she doesn’t know the answer to. But it’s Bea Baulderstone’s mum, worried that she hasn’t seen her seventeen-year-old daughter for five days, and Constable Gazza Parker is refusing to report the girl missing.

Ruth tries to find Bea, but Myddle is a wall of indifference. Then Dash Rogers is found at his farm gate, dead from a gunshot wound, and suddenly the town is very interested in Bea’s whereabouts.

An unputdownable thriller of deception and greed, The Bluff reveals an enmeshed web of family and community loyalties, set in the lush rural hinterland of east coast Australia.


The Bluff was an extremely captivating and complex Australian thriller from Joanna Jenkins that stands on its own feet while also serving as a great sequel to How to Kill a Client.  Featuring a fantastic character-driven story loaded with mystery, impressive storytelling and an excellent rural setting, The Bluff had me hooked very quickly, and I ended up powering through it in a day.

I really enjoyed the amazing story that Jenkins came up with for The Bluff, as she provides both an intriguing mystery, and some great character development.  A mostly standalone plot set after the events of How to Kill a Client, the reader is reintroduced to high profile layer Ruth Dawson, who is taking a break from the high-flying life to manage a small law firm in the small New South Wales town of Myddle.  This change in setting and story focus towards a rural thriller, rather than the big-city legal thriller of Jenkins’ previous book, proved to be quite effective, as was the very clever way the author set out The Bluff’s story.

Jenkins ensured that readers get dragged into The Bluff’s tale almost immediately, with two very quick sequences at the start: one that showed a key moment of the plot without any context, and then a subsequent scene where the protagonist is reintroduced and then finds out about the narrative’s two main mysteries, a missing girl and a murder.  With these important bits of information in your brain, the reader is then transported back six months and is shown all the events that occurred over this period that led up to the disappearance of Bea Baulderstone and the murder of Dash Rogers.  Through this six-month period, you become acquainted with all the key players around Myddle and observe their interactions with the victims and the protagonist, and you begin the appreciate the complex web of relationships, problems and personalities that surround the case, as well as the many potential motivations for the book’s main crimes.

This dive back in time was an outstanding writing choice by Jenkins that allowed the reader to really appreciate the full breadth of the relationships and troubles that accompany the crime, all while perfectly utilising The Bluff’s excellent rural setting.  With every brick of plot laid down to hint at the events to come, you find yourself becoming more and more involved with the plot as you try to picture how and why the murder will occur and which of the many interesting and emotional characters may commit it.  The inclusion of a countdown at the start of each new chapter gives a great ticking clock vibe to The Bluff, and you become more and more anxious and excited as you get closer the plot’s principal event.  The reader also begins to appreciate just how despicable the main murder victim is, and that allows for an even more compelling read, as you can see just how many potential people have a motive to kill him, as well as cause the disappearance of the missing girl.

The final third of The Bluff is probably the best, and I flew through it to find out how the story ends.  The final series of events leading up to the pivotal killings are particularly dark (and potentially triggering for some readers), and it was fascinating to see everyone’s emotional state in advance of this crime, especially as there are so many potential suspects.  However, rather than show the killings there, Jenkins instead jumps back to the timeline from the front of the book and spends the last 100 or so pages dealing with the subsequent investigation, with the protagonist pulling events together.  I liked this delay, as it provided an excellent trickle effect for the twists and also allowed the protagonist to shine as she uses her knowledge of events and her own skills at deduction to identify the culprit and protect her friends in the town.  The eventual solutions for the mysteries were very clever, and Jenkins did such a great job subtly dropping the clues throughout the backstory of the plot and setting up the various motivations.  I really appreciated the many complex and compelling twists which fit into the plot perfectly, especially the last one that really made you think.

This entire brilliant story is wrapped up in some great character arcs, as Jenkins features a range of protagonists and potential suspects, each of whom were quite compelling and brought different shades of drama to the plot.  I loved seeing their complex relationships and interactions throughout the plot of The Bluff, especially those that could lead to them committing the book’s main crimes.  There are some really great characters here, and it was especially interesting to see more of series protagonist Ruth Dawson, who is not only continuing to move on from the personal trauma and loneliness that was a key part of How to Kill Your Client, but is also trying to figure out where her life is going after the collapse of her previous law firm.  These character arcs come together in a very satisfying manner at the end of The Bluff, and a lot of this book’s complexity and strength came from how relatable and compelling Jenkins’ made these various characters, especially when it comes to their anger, fear and potential ability to commit murder.

Overall, The Bluff was an exceptional and deeply impressive sequel from Joanna Jenkins that I think was even stronger than the excellent first book.  Featuring a very clever and well-written narrative that brings together powerful character storylines and a great rural setting with complex mystery, The Bluff proved to be extremely captivating, and you will become engrossed in uncovering the full extent of the plot.  One of the best Australian crime fiction books of 2025 so far, The Bluff comes highly recommended and is really worth checking out.

Amazon

Book Haul – 10 February 2025

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Book HaulLeave a comment

I’ve had a excellent couple of weeks for books, as I was lucky enough to receive several incredible and amazing new novels from local publishers and Netgalley.  These novels include some truly awesome new releases, including books that have the potential to be some of my top reads of the year.  I cannot wait to dive into them, and I so excited to see how they all turn out.

Midnight Black by Mark Greaney

The first recently received book I want to highlight in this post is the new Mark Greaney novel, Midnight Black. The 14th entry in the author’s Gray Man series, Midnight Black follows on from the cliffhanger at the end of the previous novel, The Chaos Agent, and sees the dangerous spy protagonist attempt to rescue his love interest from a Russian prison camp. One of my most anticipated books of 2025, Midnight Black sounds really cool, and I cannot wait to see what brutal action and over-the-top chaos emerge in this amazing read.

Amazon

 

The Reunion by Bronwyn Rivers

The next book I want to highlight in this book haul post is the intriguing Australian thriller debut, The Reunion by Bronwyn Rivers.  Set in the iconic landscape of the Blue Mountains, The Reunion will see five former friends return to the site of a fateful incident 10 years before where one of their friends died during a hike.  Set to feature old secrets and lies re-emerge, The Reunion has a ton of potential, and I think it will end up being one of my top debuts of 2025.

Amazon

 

The Medici Return by Steve Berry

I was very happy to receive a copy of The Medici Return by Steve Berry.  The latest entry in the long-running Cotton Malone series (of which I have become very fond of), The Medici Return will see the series’ titular protagonist investigate a deadly conspiracy involving an old debt owed to the historical Medici family by the Catholic church, which could impact the entire future of Italy.  I cannot wait to see what elaborate narrative Berry has pulled together for The Medici Return and I know I am going to have an amazing time with this book.

Amazon

 

The Bluff by Joanna Jenkins

One of the more intriguing novels I recently received was the cool Australian legal thriller, The Bluff by Joanna Jenkins.  The sequel to Jenkin’s fun and clever first novel, How To Kill A Client (one of my favourite debuts of 2023), The Bluff looks set to be another compelling read as the big-city lawyer protagonist investigates a deadly cover-up in small-town Australia.

Amazon

 

Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben

Easily one of the more intriguing thrillers of 2025, I was very happy to get a copy of the new Harlan Coben book, Nobody’s Fool.  A follow-up to Coben’s classic novel, Fool Me Once, Nobody’s Fool will see returning character Sami Kierce forced to face his past after an old girlfriend he thought long dead returns, initiating an impossible mystery.  I really like the sound of this amazing book, and I cannot wait to read another incredible novel from Coben.

Amazon

 

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

A very fun and meta thriller that will see several bestselling murder mystery and thriller authors caught up in a classic whodunnit situation when they are summoned to the private of a famous and mysterious author.  I love books that attempt to place their own twist on the iconic old-school mystery novels, and You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego sounds like it is going to be something very special.

Amazon

 

Count My Lies by Sophie Stava

An intriguing upcoming debut thriller that will see a chronic liar caught up in a dark situation thanks to her bold stories. This could be a very cool read and I look forward to checking it out.

Amazon

 

Grave Empire by Richard swan

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the new fantasy novel from Richard Swan, Grave Empire.  One of the most anticipated fantasy novels of 2025, Grave Empire takes readers to a new age of the Empire of the Wolf and presents a whole different raft of threats and challenges.  This sounds like a really cool book and one I hope I get the chance to check out this year, although as I still haven’t finished off the preceding The Empire of the Wolf trilogy, I worry I won’t be able to enjoy Grave Empire as much.

Amazon

 

Barren Cape by Michelle Prak

I was very happy to get an early copy of the fantastic thriller novel, Barren Cape, from Australian author Michelle Prak. This awesome novel will see a desperate person squatting in an abandoned and isolated resort, which will backfire on her in some dark ways.  I am extremely curious to see how Barren Cape turns out, and I think I am going to have a lot of fun with this book.

Amazon

 

Nightshade by Michael Connelly

Last, but definitely not least, is the new upcoming Michael Connelly book Nightshade.  I was very, very lucky to receive an early copy of Nightshade and I am very excited to check it out, especially as all my recent experiences with Connelly’s books have been extremely positive.  Introducing a new Connelly protagonist who operates on Catalina Island, Nightshade looks set to be a particularly impressive book and I am very excited to check it out.

Amazon

 

Well, that’s the end of this latest Book Haul post.  As you can see I have quite a bit of reading to do at the moment thanks to all these awesome books that have come in.  Let me know which of the above you are most interested in and make sure to check back in a few weeks to see my reviews of them.

Quick Review – The Chilling by Riley James

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Quick Review, Thriller3 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (ebook – 3 September 2024)

Series: Standalone

Length: 312 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Australian author Riley James presents a captivating and amazing debut novel with The Chilling, a distinctive debut novel that I had an outstanding time getting through.

Plot Synopsis:

An unputdownable thriller set in the pressure-cooker environment of an Antarctic winter.

An isolated research station. A storm approaching.

There’s nowhere to run. But so much to hide.

Keen to flee the wreckage of her marriage, Australian scientist Kit Bitterfeld accepts a coveted winter research position at Macpherson Station in Antarctica. On the way there, Kit and her fellow researchers field a distress call from a nearby ship.

By the time they reach the vessel it is on fire and the crew has vanished. A lone survivor is found, but he can’t remember who he is or what has happened.

They bring the survivor, identified as geophysicist Nick Coltheart, to Macpherson but it’s clear that something is wrong. More and more of Kit’s colleagues are acting strangely. And she can’t shake the suspicion that Nick knows more than he’s letting on. With the winter darkness setting in, Kit must figure out the truth before they are completely cut off from the outside world. But is the danger lurking out on the ice, or is it closer than she thinks?

The Chilling offers a compellingly icy twist on the winter thriller setting, transplanting the most haunting elements of Scandi noir to the southern hemisphere, and announces Riley James as a brilliant new talent writing in a fresh corner of Australian crime fiction.


The Chilling was a great novel from Riley James that features a fascinating story of survival, identity and secrets.  Set on and around Antarctica, the story initially focuses on damaged protagonist, Kit Bitterfeld, who attempts to escape her failed marriage by volunteering for a lengthy expedition.  Things get interesting very quickly when the protagonist attempts to assist another research ship in distress, but instead finds it abandoned and on fire, with one mysterious and seemingly amnesiac survivor hidden aboard.  While this injured survivor, Nick Coltheart, appears to have no knowledge of what happened aboard the ship or his past life, Kit soon becomes suspicious of him and the behaviour of her fellow scientists, especially when mysterious deaths and disappearances occur around the research compound.  At the same time, a separate storyline follows the survivors of the damaged ship, who are attempting to cross the treacherous ice on foot and encounter danger, death and despair, especially as some of the survivors consider the lies and crimes that led them there.  The separate storylines come together in an impressive manner as the book continues, and the converging secrets lead to some excellent reveals and moving moments.

This ended up being a deep and intriguing novel that blended a cool thriller storyline with a compelling and moving character-focused plot line.  I loved the blend of mystery, drama and intrigue that emerges as James dives further into her narrative, and the resulting twists and swerves are well set up and have a satisfying impact.  I felt that the reveals about who was responsible for the various crimes where quite clever, and the slow-burn dive into each of the figures in question allowed for great plot.  While some thriller fans may not enjoy how much character drama was contained within The Chilling, I felt that the protagonist’s powerful arc about trauma, lack of trust and finding herself was particularly heartfelt, and it will no doubt resonate with many readers.  Other character storylines have some interesting focus on guilt, as the sins of the past come back to haunt them, and it proves very moving to see the various lines of this unravel to discover who did what.

I can’t finish this review without highlighting the way that James featured Antarctica throughout The Chilling, as the continent served as a haunting background to her story.  Not only does the author provide some vivid and powerful descriptions of the setting through her writing, but she also describes the impacts of the isolation and desolation of the ice continent on the people who visit it.  I loved the complex sense of duality you get from the author’s depictions of Antarctica, as there is both hope and despair hidden within it, and it was fascinating to see some of the characters find themselves there for good or for ill.  James also did an excellent job incorporating the aspects and features of Antarctica into the overarching plot, and the problems caused by the remoteness, the weather, and other complicating factors really amps up the thriller aspect of the plot in some fantastic ways.  This was such a cool (ha ha) background setting, and it made James first book really striking and memorable.

Riley James really impresses with her debut novel, and I felt that The Chilling was one of the stronger Australian novels I read in 2024.  Featuring a complex and multi-layered story of survival, intrigue and deep characters, The Chilling was an outstanding read which is worth checking out, especially if you are interested in something distinctive from a fresh Australian author.

Amazon

Quick Review – The Heart of the World by Amie Kaufman

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Quick Review, Young Adult3 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 27 August 2024)

Series: The Isles of the Gods duology – Book Two

Length: 424 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Amazon

One of Australia’s leading authors of young adult fiction, Amie Kaufman, presents a cool conclusion to The Isles of the Gods duology with the fun read, The Heart of the World.

Amie Kaufman is an impressive Australian author who has produced multiple entertaining and enjoyable series over the years, mostly in collaboration with other awesome authors.  For example, I best know Kaufman from the intriguing and addictive young adult science fiction trilogy she cowrote with Jay Kristoff, the Aurora Cycle trilogy, which proved to be particularly fun (see my reviews for Aurora Rising, Aurora Burning and Aurora’s End).  Kaufman’s latest body of work has been The Isles of the Gods duology, a great young adult fantasy series that follows several teenage protagonists who find themselves drawn into an ancient war between gods.  This series began last year with the first book, The Isles of the Gods, and has just come to an end with the compelling read, The Heart of the World.

Plot Synopsis:

Magic and sacrifice will collide as lovers and gods, enemies and allies vie for the fate of the world in this heart-pounding sequel to The Isles of the Gods, which Stephanie Garber called deliciously diabolical and full of heart.

When Selly and Leander began their treacherous voyage to the Isles of the Gods, the captain’s daughter and the playboy prince were strangers. But amid talk of war and a deadly attack on their ship, the unthinkable happened.

They fell in love.

Leander’s ritual at the island temple was meant to prevent a war between the gods. Instead, it nearly cost him his life, and drew the goddess Barrica back from exile. Now, as her Messenger, Leander is imbued with her deadly magic, and only Selly’s presence can stop it from consuming him.

But Barrica wasn’t the only immortal roused from sleep. The God of Risk, Macean, was awakened by an enemy all thought dead, and across the sea he’s calling for war.

The fight to save their world will take Selly and Leander from the gilded ballroom of the royal palace to the hallowed halls of an ancient library. Battle lines will be drawn, and bonds will break.

With the wrath of gods and the machinations of power-hungry rulers straining their loyalties, can their love withstand the trials that await them?

The Heart of the World was an exciting and moving book that did an excellent job wrapping up the storylines started in the first book.  Set immediately after the events of The Isles of the Gods, Kaufman presents an intense, character-driven narrative, as the teenage protagonists attempt to deal with the return of gods into their world.  Told from the perspective of five characters, you get some interesting storylines here, including Leander learning to control his power as his god’s Messenger while Selly tries to help him while also learning about the deadly politics of the realm.  Other character storylines of note include the scholar Keegan attempting to determine how to stop the oncoming chaos while also dealing with his many personal issues, the antagonistic Messenger of Macean, Laskia dealing with having power for the first time, and the conflicted Jude trying to determine where he stands in the world.

Kaufman does a great job blending these cool, character-driven storylines together into one compelling and exciting narrative with a very fast pace.  There is an excellent blend of politics, character growth and a deepening of personal relationships, as each of the protagonists react to the changes brought on by the events of the first book.  Things take a more urgent turn halfway through as the warring gods emerge and the characters find themselves desperately caught up trying to stop or control the destructive fight to come.  Featuring a countdown towards inevitable carnage, I liked how Kaufman kept the intensity and stakes of the second half of the book high without showing too much actual conflict and bloodshed, instead relying on compelling character moments thanks to a variety of unique interactions.  The protagonists are forced to overcome the consuming influence of their gods, both of whom want war, as they attempt to save their world, and I felt that the author came up with a well-written and cleverly set up solution to the entire plot.  The book ends on a satisfying and hopeful note, and I really had a fun time getting through this compelling story.

I really liked how The Heart of the World came together, and Kaufman ensures that it is accessible and enjoyable for a range of fantasy fans.  While I would recommend reading The Isles of the Gods first, new readers can probably dive into The Heart of the World straight away without too much prior context, as the author’s descriptive writing style and ability to effectively recap events really helps.  While some of the key fantasy elements from the last book aren’t as comprehensively covered in this sequel, such as spirit magic, Kaufman ensures that all the key features of this universe are well covered.  Indeed, there is a major religious focus throughout The Heart of the World, and it was fascinating to see various characters react to the direct influence and power of the two warring deities.

The resulting story moves at high speeds, and I honestly found myself powering through The Heart of the World every time I picked it up.  It helped that Kaufman made excellent use of quick and sharp perspective changes, and the jump from one short character-focused chapter to the next allowed for some quick plot progression.  As with the prior book in the duology, I felt that The Heart of the World was an excellent fantasy book that would appeal to a lot of readers, not just its intended young adult audience.  In particular, Kaufman sets up a lot of mature and intelligent themes and moments, most of the based around her complex protagonists, which I think will resonate with a teenage audience.  However, older fantasy readers can also enjoy The Heart of the World thanks to Kaufman’s clever writing and intriguing themes.

I also need to quickly highlight the excellent character work contained within The Heart of the World, which I felt helped to turn this sequel into something special.  Kaufman does an outstanding job continuing to explore her five damaged protagonists, and there is some great continuation to the complex character elements set up in the first book.  This includes a compelling look of the romance angle between Leander and Selly, who are forced to deal with major obstacles, including Leander’s sudden uncontrollable power, while Selly is forced out of her comfort zone on the waves and into the deadlier wilderness of court life.  I also loved the storyline of Laskia, who’s experience as her god’s Messenger went in a darker direction, as she struggles with finally having power and the ability to control her destiny after a lifetime of being manipulated by others.  All of the other protagonists have their own unique moments as well, and I really appreciated how all their respective family issues became even more apparent in this second book, as all five of them experience some form of betrayal or disappointment at the hands of their family which they must overcome.  Throw in a particularly entertaining new supporting character in Kiki, a bubbly and unstoppable force of social energy, and the cast of The Heart of the World was particularly strong and resulted in some moving moments.

Overall, The Heart of the World was an amazing new novel from Amie Kaufman that I was glad I checked out.  Providing a great ending to The Isles of the Gods duology, The Heart of the World had a brilliant, character-driven narrative, that is so easy to get lost in.  A fantastic and very fun novel that is worth checking out, especially if you enjoyed Kaufman’s previous work.

Amazon

Quick Review – Body of Lies by Sarah Bailey

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Quick Review, Thriller1 Comment

Body of Lies Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 27 February 2024)

Series: Gemma Woodstock – Book Four

Length: 470 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Amazon

One of Australia’s best authors of crime fiction brings to life another complex and intense murder mystery with Body of Lies by Sarah Bailey.

Plot Synopsis:

A car crash victim clings to life and is rushed to hospital but can’t be saved. Hours later, her corpse is stolen from the morgue. No one knows who the dead woman was or why her body was taken.

Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is back in her hometown of Smithson on maternity leave when the bizarre incident occurs. She is intrigued by the case but reluctant to get involved, despite the urging of her journalist friend Candy Fyfe. But in the days after the body goes missing, the town is rocked by another shocking crime and Gemma can’t resist joining the investigation.

Candy and Gemma follow the clues the dead woman left behind. As they attempt to discover the identity of the missing woman, Gemma uncovers devastating secrets about the people she thought she knew best. The closer Gemma gets to the truth, the more danger she is in. She desperately needs to confide in someone—but is there anyone she can trust?

This was another interesting and compelling read from Bailey, who really impressed me back in 2021 with her standalone novel, The Housemate, which ended up being one of my favourite books and Australian novels of that year.  Body of Lies is another outstanding book from Bailey, which serves as the fourth entry in her Gemma Woodstock series and provides the reader with an amazing and dramatic mystery.

I had a lot of fun getting through Body of Lies as Bailey comes up with an elaborate story that really draws you in.  Whilst it is part of a larger series, Body of Lies is easily read as a standalone novel, with Bailey doing a good job of reintroducing key elements from the previous novels where necessary.  Thanks to this, Body of Lies has a quick start which reconnects readers with the protagonist while also providing key information about the initial death, as well as the unusual circumstances surrounding the missing body.  Despite still being on maternity leave, protagonist and main point-of-view character Gemma Woodstock begins investigating, and soon finds herself drawn into a series of additional crimes in the Smithson area that may or may not be related to the stolen body.

This resolves into quite an awesome story, as you really get drawn into Body of Lies’s intense and intricate mystery.  Bailey keeps making the case even more complex thanks to additional deaths and other unusual events, and the constant raising of stakes ensures the reader’s attention stays on the story.  At the same time, the protagonist’s personal life also takes centre stage in the plot as Gemma deals with a new baby, a traumatised older child, a lying family, a pushy friend, and multiple work conflicts as she attempts to reintegrate back into her own job.

While I got really invested in the story, I think that the final third of Body of Lies got a little off the rails.  Not only are there a huge number of emotional and family dramas surrounding the protagonist, many of which seem a little unnecessary, but there proves to be a huge number of personal connections to the case that drive the protagonist on.  While I liked the increased motivations for the protagonist, these connections seemed way too coincidental, and honestly it stole a lot of realism from the plot.  I also did get a little tired of the many personal dramas that seemed to surround the protagonist.  While I realise that Bailey was trying to showcase the complex life of her protagonist, much of which is driven by the tragic events of the prior books, as well as the side effects of single-minded determination to finding the truth, it honestly got a bit frustrating to follow her at times.  Still, Gemma’s struggles out of her own obsessed mind added some excellent drama and substance to the narrative and Bailey certainly kept her story arc interesting.

The solution to the big mystery turns out to be pretty darn bonkers, and I guarantee most people won’t see the full extent of it coming.  While Bailey did do a good job of setting this reveal up and laying down some hints, it ended up being a very surprising and over-the-top solution that might not work for everyone.  Still, readers are left with an excellent final confrontation and the mystery ends up wrapping up in a satisfying and intriguing way.  There is also a really good twist around a hidden antagonist, which is guaranteed to shock readers and keep them on their toes.  As such, this was a pretty awesome story, and I had a wonderful time getting through it.

In the end, Body of Lies proved to be an outstanding and highly exciting novel that drew me in with its elaborate mystery.  While I didn’t love everything about Sarah Bailey’s new narrative, Body of Lies was still an amazing piece of Australian crime fiction, and well worth a read for anyone looking for a complex and impressive mystery with compelling character elements behind it.

Amazon

Quick Review – Glenrock by Lee Christine

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Quick Review1 Comment

Glenrock Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 30 January 2024)

Series: Standalone

Length: 320 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Bestselling Australian author Lee Christine brings together a compelling and intriguing crime fiction read with the excellent Glenrock; a fantastic mystery set around the Australian city of Newcastle.

Plot Synopsis:

A murdered judge. Two missing lawyers. A thrilling tale of mystery and suspense from the bestselling author of Charlotte Pass and Dead Horse Gap.

When Justice Maurice Tempest is murdered in the Glenrock State Conservation Area in Newcastle, local detective Senior Sergeant Callan O’Connor is the first on the scene. News of a second body, found in the same location days later, makes what had looked like a revenge killing into so much more.

Angela Avery, formerly a political journalist, is spending a lot of time at the Hunter Valley Prison interviewing a soon-to-be-released forger, Benjamin Reid. When O’Connor’s investigation reveals an interest in Ben, Angela is determined to protect both her source and her fledgling relationship with O’Connor.

Meanwhile, two young, female lawyers have disappeared after making a devastating discovery in an upcoming case. Can O’Connor unravel the connections before the body count rises further? And how much does Angela Avery really know?’…


Glenrock was a great and fast-paced crime fiction novel that I had the great pleasure of reading earlier in the year.  Christine came up with a fantastic story that really drew you in thanks to its multilayered mystery, compelling characters and high stakes.

The main mystery of Glenrock is set around the murder of a prominent judge in the Glenrock National Park area, which sets off an elaborate investigation primarily seen through the eyes of Senior Sergeant Callan O’Connor.  O’Connor is a great central protagonist, and I enjoyed his intriguing insights into the case, especially as it pairs well with his complex family life and adversarial past with the Sydney homicide detective who arrives to take over the case.  While the murder of a judge would be an interesting focus for the book by itself, especially when the apparent murderer is found in the most unlikely of scenarios, Christine raises the stakes by introducing two parallel storylines that combine into one heck of a novel.

The first of these storylines revolves around Angela Avery, a journalist for the local paper who finds herself drawn into the larger murder story thanks to the human-interest story she was writing.  Thanks to her relationship with Callan, which provides a good romantic subplot for the story, Angela gets more involved with the case, especially as her investigation reveals connections to two young lawyers who disappeared the day of the murder.  These two lawyers, who went on the run to save themselves, provide the third overlapping storyline, and it was fascinating to see their attempts to flee, especially as they provide some compelling context to the main mystery.

All three storylines prove to be very entertaining on their own, but their real strength is the way that they wrap together and form a complex, overarching narrative.  Christine ensures that all three character-focused storylines stand on their own before bringing the various characters together in a sensible and compelling way.  I really enjoyed seeing the various story arcs come together, and Christine enhances this with several moving dives into the complex characters.  The focus on O’Connor’s family life is a prominent one, although I was particularly drawn to the character of Angely Avery, the plucky reporter who drives much of the plot’s investigative angle.  Christine draws together a complex and harrowing past for Avery, as her previous reporting experiences resulted in great pain, and I would be very interested to see Christine revisit these characters in the future.  The entire story, including the clever mystery, comes together extremely well, and Christine ensures there are some intriguing twists and reveals that keep you hanging in to the very end.  Throw in some excellent depictions of Sydney and the picturesque area surrounding Newcastle, including Glenrock, and this proves to be quite an impressive read.

Overall, Glenrock was an excellent piece of Australian crime fiction by Lee Christine that I had a wonderful time reading.  The combination of a compelling story, fantastic characters and an intriguing mystery is hard to resist, and readers will come away from Glenrock very satisfied.  An amazing and exciting read from a talented Australian author.

Amazon