Burn to Shine by Jonathan Maberry

On August 17, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Science Fiction, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 4 March 2025)

Series: Rogue Team International – Book Four

Length: 19 hours and 9 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Bring on the chaos, carnage and craziness with the new epic Rogue Team International from Jonathan Maberry, Burn to Shine, which takes the reader on another dark and over-the-top ride in a deeply addictive thriller.

Readers of this blog will know that I am a massive Jonathan Maberry fan, having had the great pleasure getting to know and power through some of his biggest series. Thanks to his intense writing, ability to pull together amazing characters and great attention for action and combat, all Maberry’s books really resonate with me, and pretty much all the Maberry books I have read have been 5-star novels in my mind. Highlights include the dark 2024 science fiction novel, NecroTek, the creepy horror novel, Ink (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), as well as the brilliant Kagen the Damned dark fantasy trilogy, made up of Kagen the Damned (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Son of the Poison Rose (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), and The Dragon in Winter (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024).

While the above series and books are all outstanding, my favourite Maberry novels are the iconic and long-running Joe Ledger series. Following the titular troubled protagonist as he works as a part of an elite government special forces team detailed to stopping terrorist attacks or criminal organisations using advanced and unusual technology, the Joe Ledger novels were impressive and complex thrillers with over-the-top dark elements, that often featured some outstanding science fiction and compelling horror elements. The original series, which ran for 10 books, features some amazing novels, including Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory, Assassin’s Code, Predator One and Deep Silence just to name a few. Each of these novels were amazing reads on their own, although I also got really drawn into the ongoing storylines and recurring villains.

Following the end of the original Joe Ledger books, Maberry continued many of his storylines in the sequel Rogue Team International series, bringing back the major characters and setting them up as independent intelligence operatives working for themselves. This series was also extremely exciting, and I have appreciated the way in which the author has continued some of the complex story arcs and villainous narratives from the first series. The Rogue Team International books have so far featured Rage (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019), Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), and Cave 13 (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), each of which have been pretty damn amazing and filled with some dark and captivating narratives.

Naturally, I was very excited when I saw that there was a fourth Rogue Team International book coming out in 2025 with Burn to Shine. The fourth book in the Rogue Team International series and the 14^th overall Joe Ledger novel, Burn to Shine brings back the protagonist and his team in a big way, as they go toe-to-toe with some of the most dangerous recurring villains. One of my most anticipated books of 2025, Burn to Shine had so much potential, and I read it the very first chance I got.

After suffering through another set of harrowing losses and intense damage to their already shredded psyche, the members of Rogue Team International are back in the fray. Led by troubled veteran Joe Ledger and the enigmatic Mr Church, Rogue Team International continue to fight against elaborate high-tech threats and other strange occurrences across the world. However, they are unprepared for their next dangerous threat, one that has emerged from the organisation’s combined dark past.

A powerful group of military contractors are expanding their influence across the United States, seeking to cause fear, division and political uncertainty. At the same time, a series of planned attacks have breached and destroyed many of the world’s most secure bio-weapons research facilities, with the stolen diseases and technology being utilised to create chaos and fear through infected humans turned into living disease bombs.

As Ledger and his team try and counter these attacks, their path leads them to the mysterious town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania, where a multitude of dark secrets are hidden. Teaming up with old allies, new friends, and some of the more dangerous denizens of Pine Deep, Ledger and his team attempt to strike back against their enemies before a catastrophe is unleashed across the country. But can even this deadly and unlikely group of heroes stand up to some of the team’s most dangerous enemies, including a ghost from their past who plans to burn the world to ground?

Jonathan Maberry once again presents a gripping and deeply exciting tale with Burn to Shine. A compelling continuation of his long-running Joe Ledger/Rogue Team International books, Burn to Shine had another great story that continued the author’s ongoing storylines by heavily diving back into the series’ past. An excellent addition to the series that is guaranteed to keep you entertained all the way to the end.

Burn to Shine had an awesome narrative that presents its own unique tale, while also reviving multiple elements from the Maberry’s previous works, to create a novel very much designed for established fans of the author. Starting off strong with an intense action sequence around the protagonists, Maberry also takes the time to establish multiple parallel storylines and plot threads, some of which are set well before the main narrative and showcase the emergence of the book’s antagonist and the formation of their new plan. This allows for a very rich and intricate first half of the book, as you are given glimpses of the evil facing Joe Ledger and his team, while also watching the protagonists initially start to move to understand the new threat facing them. This first half ends with an extended sequence inside a secret vault built to contain some of the worst bio-weapons the protagonists have encountered throughout the series. Following a harrowing and tense descent into the vault while events get even more hectic outside, the protagonists eventually discover hints at the true mastermind of the new plot, as well as the insidious zombie-making weapon from their past that they seek to unleash.

The second half of Burn to Shine goes in some very interesting directions, as all the major characters start to converge around the town of Pine Deep, the centre of all things weird in Maberry’s shared literary universe. Teaming up with some figures familiar to Maberry fans, the protagonists engage in a series of raids against the various bases of their opponents in some high-octane and particularly brutal sequences. Due to the various over-the-top technologies and Maberry’s ability to imagine extremely bloody fights, these are some intense scenes, and the author really amps up the risk factor of the fights for his various recurring characters, with some very dark moments.

All this leads up to the big showdown between Ledger and the antagonists of the book, as he comes face to face with them in a very interesting location. This showdown was very awesome, especially sandwiched amongst the other various conflict-laden storylines, and the author kept you on the edge of your seat as Ledger comes face-to-face with familiar opponents from the past. While I love all the action and the way Maberry brought back a lot of previous story arcs, I did think that this ending was a tad rushed, and it relied way too much on having knowledge of Maberry’s first trilogy. I also wished Maberry had taken some parts of this story a little further, perhaps with some greater tragedy, as it was a little frustrating that he didn’t follow through with the telegraphed death of a major character. Still, this proved to be an excellent and exciting read, and there is also a very interesting final scene that provides some early, long-sought answers about one of the protagonists.

I have a great deal of love for how Maberry sets out his awesome stories, and his distinctive style always results in an impressive and layered novel, especially when it comes to his over-the-top thrillers. Featuring a lot of dark, over-the-top elements and an at times near horror vibe, Burn to Shine was another classic Joe Ledger novel, which showcases his damaged protagonists facing off against complicated evil antagonists. Thanks to the author’s utilisation of multiple character perspectives and scenes set in the past, this proves to be a very detailed book, and I loved the varied storylines that emerged and worked side by side with each other. This includes a vibrant look at the antagonist’s plans from start to finish, which also involves the re-introduction of previously featured villains. While not every detail of the antagonist’s sinister and over-the-top plans are revealed to the reader from the start, you get enough to really amp up the stakes of the plot, and it is compelling to see the protagonists act on the limited information they have. The villainous scheme for Burn to Shine was a tad similar to some schemes from previous Maberry books, but it still produces some particularly captivating moments, especially towards the end. I also quite enjoyed how Maberry tied the plot into a lot of modern issues, including disinformation, the use of fear in politics, fake news and AI-generated imagery, while giving it its usual excess and ultra-dark flair. Throw in the author’s impressive action sequences, which are particularly epic, as well as the overly exaggerated villains, and this proved to be a powerful and layered novel that has all of Maberry’s typical charm and intensity.

While I had a ton of fun with Burn to Shine, this was very much a novel for the author’s established readers, although even some of them might get lost at times. As I have hinted, the main villains of Burn to Shine are figures previously featured in prior Joe Ledger novels, including the series’ big bad, and one antagonist long believed dead. While Maberry loads up Burn to Shine with a lot of internal recap moments in the protagonist’s head that gives the reader all the context they need to follow the plot, the true threat or emotional impact of these villains is going to be best appreciated by those who have read the previous books, especially Code Zero. Maberry also takes the story further into his extended universe, as the plot becomes heavily enmeshed with his classic Pine Deep novels and brings in various characters from the original trilogy. I must admit, as someone who hasn’t had the chance to read Maberry’s Pine Deep novels, I would have been a tad lost here unless I had previously read Ink, which featured several of these characters, and new readers may not quite understand their significance. Even those who have read all the previous Joe Ledger novels might be a little confused with their inclusion, especially as these Pine Deep characters have never appeared in a Joe Ledger novel before, besides a couple of short stories. As such, having such a big focus on them is a little surprising, and I felt that it mucked around with the flow of Burn to Shine. Still, considering how good Maberry is at recapping or reintroducing key characters and storylines, most established Joe Ledger fans should be able to follow along fine, just keep in mind that the author is doing some deep cuts back to his previous novels.

As with all Maberry’s novels, the real heart of Burn to Shine lies in its complex characters, whose powerful stories and dark pasts allow for some deep emotional heft to the plot. This is especially true for main protagonist, Joe Ledger, whose cracked psyche is always a key part of his appearances. A very damaged figure, Ledger is a powerful part of Burn to Shine’s narrative and serves as the only first-person perspective character, influencing a lot of the novel as a result. While on the surface he is a humorous, wise-cracking cowboy, determined to save the day no matter what, deep down he is haunted by all his past experiences, including the deaths of so many loved ones and the trauma of various missions. Maberry has long perfected balancing the character’s various emotional states in his novels, and while Ledger provides a lot of the book’s humour, his darker side is a constant presence, threating to bubble out. The author adds in some interesting additional emotional elements for Ledger to deal with this novel, including the return of an antagonist who previously caused him a lot of pain, as well as the protagonist’s battle with the knowledge that he may finally have the names of the people responsible for his earliest trauma. The later of these is likely to be a big part of the characters’ battle with his vengeful emotional going forward, and it will be interesting to see how Maberry works them in.

Aside from Ledger, Burn to Shine is loaded with a ton of interesting supporting characters and protagonists whose various experiences help to shape the entire awesome story. This cast includes a huge array of figures from previous Maberry books, and it was fun to see them continue to grow. The most prominent of these characters include the mysterious Mr Church, whose secretive past has been one of the more intriguing ongoing storylines of the series. Shown to be almost human in Burn to Shine thanks to the trauma obtained during the previous novel, Cave 13, Church has some excellent appearances in Burn to Shine, especially when it comes to facing down the antagonists. I loved how well Maberry balanced this more fragile version of Mr Church with his mysterious persona, and the final scene where you get some interesting answers about who, or what, Church is, is very impressive.

The various other members of Rogue Team International are also great parts of the book, including the member of Ledger’s fire team, each of whom have their own distinct personality and complexity in this book. Maberry provides some great moments for all these characters to shine, and I felt that an interesting early part of the novel where the organisation’s resident psychiatrist, Dr Rudy Sanchez, dives into the trauma all the supporting characters are feeling after Cave 13, added some excellent emotional depth to the plot. Throw in the fascinating Pine Deep characters I mentioned above, as well as two of Maberry’s more complex and memorable antagonists, who return in a big way here, and the cast of Burn to Shine is very impressive, and you really get drawn into this dark struggles and battles.

Anyone who has read my previous Maberry reviews will know that I had no choice but to enjoy Burn to Shine on audiobook, as it is honestly the only way to enjoy one of the author’s novels. This is primarily because of the author’s long association with legendary actor and audiobook narrator, Ray Porter, who has lent his epic voice to most of Maberry’s exciting novels, and the result is always something very special. Porter is the perfect narrator for Maberry’s amazing and intense novels, bringing all the necessary energy, excitement and darkness you need to convey the author’s complex and twisted plots, and he is one of my favourite audiobook narrators. Porter effortlessly brought Burn to Shine to life from the very first word, and you swiftly get drawn into the story as a result. Everything from the dark content, the complex story elements, and the extensive action is extremely well conveyed and flows so quickly. I particularly enjoyed how Porter once again perfectly inhabited all the characters featured in Burn to Shine, with impressive takes on all the unique figures. Special mention must be given to Porter’s personification of the main protagonist, Joe Ledger, as the narrator has long mastered capturing all of Ledger’s pain, internal conflict and fantastic humour and presenting it to the listener in an outstanding way. The rest of the characters are also showcased in a really awesome way, and I still love the ultra-calm and controlled voice used for Mr Church, as well as the more sinister and often unnatural voices for the crazy antagonists of the book. I honestly loved every second I spent listening to this audiobook, and it was another outstanding performance from Ray Porter and one of the best audiobooks I enjoyed in the first half of 2025.

Once again bringing all the carnage, complex characters and dark storylines you have come to expect from a Joe Ledger novel, Burn to Shine was another amazing read from Jonathan Maberry, and one I deeply enjoyed getting through. A very interesting entry in Maberry’s long-running, combined series, Burn to Shine was an ultra-exciting and chilling Rogue Team International novel that proves very easy to power through. I look forward to reading more of Maberry’s novels in the next few months, and I currently have the tough decision of if I want to read the advanced copy I have of his upcoming release, Cold War, or wait to listen to it on audiobook.

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Throwback Thursday: Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

On December 6, 2018March 5, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, Throwback Thursday42 Comments

Publishers: St. Martin’s Griffin

Blackstone Audiobooks

Publication Date – 3 March 2009

Amazon Book Depository

Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

A couple of weeks ago I listened to and reviewed the latest book in Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger series, Deep Silence, and found myself hooked on the insane, mad science based thriller adventure. After enjoying Deep Silence and giving it a five-star review, I started checking out some of the previous books in the Joe Ledger series that I had not had a chance to read before, and found myself enjoying the plot concepts of the other books in the series. The moment I finished listening to Deep Silence, I immediately jumped back to the first book in the series, Patient Zero, to review as part of my Throwback Thursday series.

When Baltimore detective Joe Ledger is assigned to a joint terrorism taskforce, he thinks it is an opportunity to fight back against the people responsible for 9/11. What he was not expecting was to have a crazed man try to bite him on his first raid with the taskforce after discovering a warehouse filled with terrorists. His elation about a job well done is destroyed when he encounters one of the terrorists again later that week. There is just one problem: Ledger knows that he killed him during the first raid. Someone has created a terrifying bio-weapon that can turn ordinary people into zombies, and worse, they have supplied this virus to a destructive terrorist organisation that plans to release it within the United States.

As the full extent of the horror being unleashed against them is revealed, Ledger finds himself recruited into a newly created covert organisation that was set up to handle extraordinary threats such as this. Known as the Department of Military Sciences (DMS), this organisation wields the latest technology and the country’s brightest scientists under the command of the mysterious Mr Church. As a member of the DMS, Ledger leads an elite team of combat specialists in the field in an attempt to contain any attempts to unleash the virus on the population and to destroy those who have already been infected. As Ledger’s investigation progresses, he uncovers an elaborate conspiracy that will have devastating impacts for all of humanity. But with the fate of the world in the balance, it soon becomes clear that there is a traitor within the DMS who has no qualms about unleashing a zombie apocalypse.

I have to admit that after absolutely loving Deep Silence, I had very high expectations when I started reading Patient Zero. Luckily I was not disappointed and found that Patient Zero had a fantastic action based storyline that makes good use of its mad science elements to create an intense and very enjoyable novel that sets up all the elements for this future series. I also chose to check out the first book in this series in its audiobook format, which, at just under 15 hours, is a great way to enjoy this high-octane story.

Hands down, the best thing about this novel has to be the zombies and the way that Maberry has created a compelling and intricate thriller story around this classic horror story concept. The thriller aspect of this is really clever. Rather than being the central antagonists themselves, the zombies are a tool being utilised in a wide-reaching conspiracy that the protagonists have to unravel in order to figure out the origins and endgames of the book’s true antagonists. These thriller elements are quite detailed, and Maberry utilises a number of chapters told from the antagonists’ point of view to add some depth to the conspiracy and showcase the extent of their plot, as well the problems these groups have. The protagonists also have to deal with potential traitors in their ranks, advanced science that they do not understand and a surprisingly organised, devious and well-equipped terrorist organisation. All of this is an extremely captivating thriller storyline, and I love how Maberry has managed to utilise the book’s zombie element to help flesh this out.

Maberry has also created a unique and intriguing zombie origin for this book that is based on potential real-life science. The zombies in this book are the result of a disease rather than a supernatural calamity. They have been created by some advanced science and extreme mutations of existing diseases and viruses, such as prion diseases. As a result, Maberry and his characters spend a lot of time examining the potential science behind this zombie virus, which pulls the reader in as they consider how close something this crazy could be to a reality. I was really struck by the way that Maberry tried to show the horror that these creatures would inflict on the people who encounter them, and the sheer terror that they inflect on normal humans. The point-of-view protagonists spend significant time explaining how terrifying and emotionally damaging it is to have to encounter and fight these infected people, as well as how guilty they feel about having to kill them. There are quite a few parts of the book where the characters discuss how damaging these events are to them, and it really adds some emotional gravitas to this story. Maberry is a prominent author of zombie fiction, so it is no surprise that he is able to create quite a number of awesome and terrifying scenes featuring the zombies as they attack and kill all around them. There are also some interesting zombie deviations that appear and offer some unique elements to the story. Overall this is an incredible and memorable addition to this story and one that will really appeal to fans of zombies and the horror genre.

Action is a major part of the Joe Ledger series, as the protagonist leads an elite special forces unit against all these elite scientific threats. As a result, there are a huge number of action sequences throughout this novel and the reader is constantly left with a racing pulse. There are so many great fast-paced elements throughout Patient Zero for action junkies to enjoy. Maberry is always great at describing special forces tactics in his stories, and I enjoyed seeing them used against the unique threats in this book. There are a number of excellent firefights throughout the story, and the author has a great mind to examining the psychology of a gun battle. Maberry’s love of martial arts and close-combat fighting once again shines through in Patient Zero, as his protagonist is an expert fighter who has innumerable hand-to-hand fights with a number of different opponents. While the above actions scenes are all extremely awesome, the best scenes have to revolve around the desperate fight between these elite soldiers and the horde of zombies that they encounter. These scenes are really fantastic and watching the special forces characters fight tooth and nail against a horde of zombies becomes a captivating and powerful part of this book. There are quite a few crazy action scenes throughout Patient Zero for the reader to look out for and which are defiantly a highlight of the book. I personally found that listening to these scenes in the audiobook format really brought me into the centre of the action, and it was an excellent way to enjoy this element.

Patient Zero is an excellent introduction to the Joe Ledger series and contains a number of elements that will continue into the rest of the series. I came to this book having first read the 10th and latest book in the series, Deep Silence. As a result, I was really intrigued to see what characters were introduced in the first book and which ones do not appear in the final book of the series. There are some interesting differences between Patient Zero and Deep Silence that I found quite fascinating. For example, the opponents and technology in this first book are a lot more realistic, as Maberry has yet to start utilising the Lovecraft-inspired aliens which feature in some of the later Joe Ledger novels. The head of the DMS, the mysterious Mr Church, also comes across as a much colder character in this first book, as well as someone who is more comfortable with civilian deaths and sacrifice if it results in the survival of the rest of the world. That being said, there are some familiar elements. Ledger is still an incredibly sarcastic and funny protagonist, and the author tries to highlight a huge range of varied viewpoints to show the whole range of the plot the DMS is trying to unravel. Patient Zero serves as a great introduction to the DMS, and I really enjoyed seeing the early days of this organisation. I also love how everyone is quite confused about what this organisation is and the mystery around Mr Church, who appears to have an incredible amount of influence and power in Washington. For example, at one point he actually tells the president of the United States that he is wasting his time and hangs up on him in, an action an incredulous Ledger describes as “bitch-slapping the president”.

Patient Zero is an incredible first novel in Jonathan Maberry’s incredible Joe Ledger series and one that serves as a fantastic introduction for readers unfamiliar with this series. Featuring all sorts of mad science, impressive action sequences, a five-star thriller storyline and a ton of amazing zombies, this is an outstanding novel and one that proves very hard to put down. After loving this book, as well as the latest book in this series, Deep Silence, I am now fully determined to read the rest of the books in the Joe Ledger series. Fully expect to see a review for The Dragon Factory very soon; I have no doubt that I will really enjoy that book as well.