Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia (Trade Paperback – 29 September 2026)
Series: Sam Speedman – Book Two
Length: 496 pages
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Prepare for one of the more insane and compelling thrillers of 2026, as Matthrew Reilly brings all the chaos he can in King’s Ransom, an incredible novel I had a ton of fun with.
Earlier this year I finally got the chance to read the 2025 novel from iconic Australian author Matthew Reilly, The Detective. The first book in Reilly’s new Sam Speedman series, The Detective was a particularly addictive novel that saw an unusual private investigator, Sam Speedman, as he becomes involved in a shocking case going back over a century, involving missing persons, dead detectives and modern-day slavery. Thanks to its excessive narrative, amazing humour and enjoyable main protagonist, I found The Detective to be a particularly addictive read that ended up getting a full five-star rating from me. I really cannot emphasise how much I loved The Detective, and I was immediately keen to continue the series. Luckily, I’d timed my reading of The Detective so that I only had a little bit to wait for the sequel Reilly released this year, King’s Ransom. Bringing back Speedman for another complex case, King’s Ransom was an intriguing sequel with a suitable crazy plot.
Plot Synopsis:
Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller.
A DARING ABDUCTION
The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children.
THE DEADLY CHALLENGE
The kidnapper’s demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing tech billionaire’s penthouse in New York City by noon and engage in a deadly series of riddles and ransoms to find and rescue them.
THE FIFTH DETECTIVE
Among the five investigators brought to New York is Sam Speedman.
Skinny, bespectacled and brilliant, Sam is different to most other detectives.
But as the situation escalates and the bodies mount, Sam is going to discover that appearances can be deceiving and that maybe some villains are best left alone…
Now this was an awesome sequel! King’s Ransom was an extremely fun thriller as Matthew Reilly presents a layered and impressive story, loaded with over-the-top antagonists, crazy moments and multiple clever twists. I ended up powering through this fantastic book in very short order, and I was immensely entertained the entire way through. Due to how damn addictive this was, I have to give King’s Ransom a full five stars, and this was probably one of my favourite thriller releases of 2026.
I was uncertain how Reilly was going to top The Detective in this sequel, but the author did not disappoint as he produced another suitably outrageous story that drags you in with its big moments and intense reveals. Set a year after the events of The Detective, King’s Ransom follows a now famous Sam Speedman, who is woken up at night by the FBI and urgently flown to New York City with his team. A mysterious figure has kidnapped the world’s richest man, Aristotle King, and his five children from their luxury penthouse, and is now demanding the attendance of the five best private detectives in the country. The author does a great job immediately setting the scene for this intriguing scenario while also provide a succinct and effective reintroduction to the protagonist and several other returning supporting characters.
Once everything is set up, Reilly dives right into the action as the kidnapper starts challenging the detectives with a series of riddles that reveal the location of the hostages, each of whom are in some sort of peril. While the protagonists initially prove successful at solving the clues and saving the victims, things quickly get out of hand, with various traps, attacks and ploys stacking up the body count around the survivors. This extended sequence of riddles and traps takes up most of the first half of King’s Ransom, and Reilly keeps raising the stakes and throwing in more carnage as the book continues. There are also some excellent clues and hints throw into this first half of the book, which the author comes back to later, and I really appreciate these inclusions in hindsight. This entire sequence leads up to a big confrontation, which appears to resolve the entire case suspiciously early, with the supposed masterminds caught or killed, while Speedman finds himself rocked by a personal tragedy.
While this first part of the book is extremely exciting and draws you in with its big moments, the second half of the book is where the truly impressive narrative work is contained. Despite being distracted by personal issues, Speedman finds himself drawn back into the case, especially when he discovers various inconsistencies in the official narrative. Resolving to investigate the full circumstances of the kidnapping, Speedman soon finds himself being opposed by the FBI (including his girlfriend’s ex-husband) and other people invested in the case. Worse, he soon encounters an antagonist with an unparalleled mind for planning and evil. This results in some fantastic discoveries, as well as an excellent cat-and-mouse storyline, as Speedman attempts to uncover the truth while being hunted by everyone. The big twist about some of the responsible parties is clever, even though some of the revealed individuals are a little obvious, and the sheer range of insanity and action around this part of the story keeps you highly engaged as you eagerly wait to see what happens next. Following a final excellent public reveal and confrontation Reilly ends the story on a fun note, with everyone getting what they deserve one way or another, with chilling hints at further insanity to come thrown in. A wonderfully addictive story that lived up to all my expectations.
This was another well-written and easy-to-read thriller from Reilly, who sets an impressive and crazy story around his unique protagonist. Serving as an excellent sequel to The Detective, King’s Ransom features an effective move away from its original southern setting, and instead masterfully utilises New York City as an outstanding background. King’s Ransom works well as a both a follow-up and a standalone read, especially as Reilly effectively recaps relevant moments from the first book. The author again makes great use of the first-person perspective in this novel, allowing you to see the entire case through the entertaining eyes of his protagonist. This allows you to get not only the benefit of the humorous observations of the protagonist but a great firsthand look at the unique case, including all its exciting twists and reveals. It also works to build up tension, especially when things get particularly personal and the protagonist finds himself dropped into several desperate corners.
All this draws you into the very intense story, and I loved just how outrageous and over-the-top the story turned out to be. While some moments are possibly a little too crazy, it all fits the tone of this series perfectly, and all thriller fans are guaranteed to have an outstanding time getting into it. I also must highlight the various drawings that were featured in the novel, especially as they provide an interesting way at looking at the unique clues and scenarios of the book. The diagrams showing how some of the book’s death traps were set up, as well as how Speedman attempted to counter them, were particularly awesome, and I loved how well they supplemented Reilly’s descriptive style and helped the reader envision the crazy situation even more. The author did another amazing job of writing King’s Ransom, and I cannot emphasise how well Reilly’s writing style helped to showcase his latest outrageous plot.
The final thing I want to highlight about King’s Ransom was the outstanding and distinctive characters featured within it. This includes Reilly’s unique new protagonist, Sam Speedman, a brilliant private investigator with a severe lack of normal social skills. Reilly does an amazing job showcasing Speedman’s unique thoughts, which are usually both fun and insightful and make him a very well-written autistic character. Despite the character’s established lack of social skills, he spends much of this book making unlikely connections, with many of his detective peers, and others, quickly realising his investigative prowess. I appreciated how Reilly did a good job showcasing Speedman’s character growth since the first book, especially his new confidence after getting a girlfriend and making new friends, and Speedman remains a particularly entertaining and relatable protagonist to follow.
Without going into too much detail about the rest of the characters in this book, especially as it could result in some spoilers, I will say the supporting cast for King’s Ransom was particularly good. Not only do you get some fantastic returns from The Detective but there are some great new characters introduced in this book. For example, the four other detectives summoned to the scene alongside Speedman are a wonderful eclectic mixture, while the kidnapping victim, Aristotle King, provided a fun look at the dark lives of the uber wealthy. All these characters, and more, added a lot to the plot, and I appreciated how well Reilly dove into their personalities and motivations of everyone involved in the case, especially as it provided hints about how involved they truly were. I will say that the best new characters ended up being the eventually revealed main antagonist of the story, who Reilly builds up as a particularly diabolical supervillain. Serving as a dark shadow to Speedman, this new antagonist really grabs your attention when they are showcased in their full evil glory. I really appreciated that Reilly introduced a worthy nemesis for Speedman in this second book, and readers will appreciate the resulting battle of wits, which goes so damn crazy.
Matthew Reilly continues to wildly entertain with his latest brilliant thriller. King’s Ransom was a deeply exciting and awesome read that I honestly couldn’t get enough of. An outstanding second Sam Speedman book, King’s Ransom was a ton of fun, and I honestly couldn’t get away from its insanely inventive and captivating plot. A highly recommended read, especially for those who love intense and over-the-top plots, I really enjoyed King’s Ransom, and I cannot wait to see what Reilly writes next.