Tag: Crime Fiction

Never Flinch by Stephen King

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

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

Series: Holly Gibney – Book Two

Length: 14 hours and 44 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

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

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

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

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

Plot Synopsis:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller1 Comment

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

Series: Nora Kelly – Book Five

Length: 10 hours and 45 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

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

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

Plot Synopsis:

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

Is it suicide or… sacrifice?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Warhammer 40,000: Crossfire by Matthew Farrer

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Thriller, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer2 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Paperback – 1 January 2003)

Series: Warhammer 40,000: Shira Calpurnia – Book One

Length: 320 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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I finally got around to reading the awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel, Crossfire.  A classic entry in the Warhammer 40,000 canon with a cool crime fiction twist, Crossfire was a great novel that serves as an excellent first entry in Farrer’s Shira Calpurnia trilogy.

In the grim future of the 41st millennium, order and control of the massive Imperium of Man is maintained through the strictest interpretation of Imperial law, with no room for variation or leniency.  The ultimate arbitrators of this law are the dedicated members of the Adeptus Arbites, elite law bringers, trained to weed out corruption, dissent and disloyalty wherever they are deployed.

Shira Calpurnia Lucina, recently promoted arbitor senioris of the Adeptus Arbites, has been assigned to the bustling dockyards of the Hydraphur system.  A glistening gem of Imperial rule dedicated to providing material to the navy, Hydraphur is a seemingly unlikely place for dissention.  But this elite planet harbours dark secrets which come to the surface after a deadly assassination attempt is made in public against Calpurnia amid the distraction and celebration of a major religious festival.

Attempting to uncover who would want her killed after only just arriving on world, Calpurnia begins her relentless investigation.  However, this is no simple case, and soon Calpurnia finds herself forced to navigate the many plots and schemes of the Hydraphur elite.  With more attacks striking close to her and the fate of the whole planet seemingly in the balance, Calpurnia must uncover all Hydraphur’s secrets before the assassins stalking her finally succeed.

Crossfire was an excellent and compelling Warhammer 40,000 novel from Farrer that proved very fun to get through.  Featuring a fantastic plot that is one of the earlier examples of a crime fiction narrative melding with the iconic Warhammer 40,000 universe, Crossfire was a great read and one that is worth checking out.

I liked the captivating story that Farrer came up with for Crossfire, which quickly gets the reader’s attention with a powerful introduction to the protagonist, as she quickly finds herself under fire from a lethal assassin.  Serving as a good start to the main investigation arc, the plot follows the protagonist as she attempts to uncover the identity of the assassin, while also learning more about the planet of Hydraphur.  While a very lore-heavy story, Farrer keeps the plot going quickly and effectively, especially as there are soon more apparent attacks against the protagonist, each of which give her more clues to follow to try and find the mastermind of the plot against her.  At the same time the protagonist gets bogged down in dealing with various other interested parties on Hydraphur, including the planet’s local elites, agents of the Imperial church, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Inquisition, each of whom have their own interests in finding out who is trying to kill Calpurnia.

While Farrer keeps up a good pace for Crossfire as the plot continues, I do think that he might have overloaded the narrative with details about Hydraphur’s society, as well as the various plots that infest it.  While these serve as good red herring motives for the protagonist to follow, it did overcomplicate the plot at times, which slowed things down even amid some great action sequences.  Despite this, the overall narrative for Crossfire was quite strong, and you get hooked into the continued investigation, especially as the author kept raising the stakes of the case.  After some exciting scenes, everything leads up to the big final confrontation, as the protagonist fully unwinds all the conflicting conspiracies they’ve been forced to encounter.  The conclusion was a sufficiently intense and over-the-top fight, which you need in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and I liked the clever way the protagonist was able to turn the tables on the antagonist, even if the set-up for it was a little heavy handed.  An overall excellent Warhammer 40,000 plot that nicely tells its own story, while also introducing the character for the larger trilogy.

I’ve previously had a lot of fun with previous Warhammer 40,000 novels that utilise strong crime fiction elements in their story telling, such as Bloodlines by Chris Wraight and Grim Repast by Marc Collins, as there are some outstanding crime narratives in this grimdark universe. Crossfire is an interesting early example of this utilisation of crime fiction in Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and I felt that Farrer did a pretty good job of building a compelling investigation around this fantastic setting.  The resulting story is a layered and intense read that sees the protagonist slowly unwind the case amid various battle sequences and other dark distractions.  The relevant clues, hints and misleading details are well scattered throughout the plot, and I felt there was a good amount of foreshadowing to some of the key plot reveals.  While some story elements and conspiracies came a little out of nowhere, for the most part this was a concise and ordered novel, well told through the perspective of the protagonist.  Farrer excelled at fitting a ton of interesting and heavy lore elements in the plot, and I particularly appreciated how well he utilised his setting throughout the story.  The various plots and schemes of planet’s noble families and prominent organisations, as well as the elaborate religious festival the novel is set around (ceremonial details of which are cleverly included at the start of each chapter), are expertly worked into the larger plot, and it was fascinating to see how they impacted the story and drove the investigation.

One of the more entertaining elements of Crossfire I enjoyed was the narrative’s compelling characters.  The focus is primarily around series protagonist Shira Calpurnia Lucina, the arbitor senioris through whose eyes we see the story unfold.  Calpurnia serves as an interesting central figure, especially as she provides an outsider perspective to the complex setting.  While Farrer writes Calpurnia as a somewhat bullish and highly determined figure that is initially hard to appreciate, I felt that this was an intentional choice by the author, which reflects the typical attitudes of the Arbites in the general Warhammer 40,000 setting.  Forcing her to deal with the more subtle techniques needed for the politically delicate Hydraphur brought in some interesting conflict for Calpurnia, as well as producing some interesting character growth.  Despite this, the outsider status of Calpurnia continues to be a compelling plot feature throughout Crossfire, which Farrer utilised extremely well with his writing.  The rest of the cast, while less prominent, adds some complexity to the plot, and I enjoyed the compelling array of fellow Arbites members, the gentry of Hydraphur, and other prominent figures in the planet’s hierarchy.  I particularly enjoyed the motivations of the book’s eventual antagonist, which had a great hint of madness behind it, and this was an overall excellent group of characters.

While I really enjoyed Crossfire’s compelling story, I must admit that this wasn’t the easiest Warhammer 40,000 novel to read.  The plot details of Crossfire are very dense, and it takes a lot of effort to absorb and follow the story.  I felt this was especially noticeable in the small-print paperback version I had, and you really had to focus to take everything in.  As a result, this one probably wouldn’t be a recommended starting point for a new Warhammer reader.  Farrer utilises a lot of intricate details about the Warhammer 40,000 universe that even people casually familiar with the franchise are going to struggle to follow at times.  While most new readers can probably follow along well enough through context, I would suggest it’s best enjoyed by veteran fans who will probably have a lot more fun with it.

Overall, Crossfire by Matthew Farrer was an awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel, and one that I was glad I finally got the opportunity to read.  A compelling crime fiction novel that makes great use of Farrer’s complex setting, Crossfire proved to be an exciting and interesting read.  While not the easiest novel to get through at times, Crossfire proved to be an excellent piece of Warhammer fiction and I’m hoping to get through the rest of the Shira Calpurnia trilogy soon.

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High Rise by Gabriel Bergmoser

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller1 Comment

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

Series: Standalone/The Hunted spin-off

Length: 309 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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

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

Plot Synopsis:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Waiting on Wednesday – Dead Fall Lake by S. R. White

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Waiting on WednesdayLeave a comment

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday post, I check out an excellent upcoming Australian crime fiction novel from an author who has really impressed me in recent year with Dead Fall Lake by S. R. White.

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S. R. White is an outstanding author who has been making an intriguing impact on the Australian crime fiction scene in recent years. Primarily known for his Detective Dana Russo series, White has written some deeply complex, character-driven crime fiction novels, that provides some fresh new takes on the classic crime fiction narrative. This includes the first book of White’s that I had the pleasure of reading, Prisoner, which contained a fantastic murder mystery solved through a series of complex interrogations.  The next novel in the series, Red Dirt Road, was another impressive read, with the protagonist forced to uncover the truth amid a closed pool of suspects in a remote Australian town.  His fourth Dana Russo novel, White Ash Ridge, featured another clever story, as the protagonist needed to solve a murder likely committed by a board member of a charity formed after a previous failed police investigation.  All of these, as well as the 2025 spin-off novel Pacific Heights, have been extremely impressive, and I like the elaborate and memorable cases they contain.

As such, I am always keen to see what White will be writing next, and it looks like he has another very interesting novel coming out in March 2026 with Dead Fall Lake.  Featuring another compelling case, this time involving an extreme sports enthusiast found dead in a wilderness sinkhole, Dead Fall Lake sounds pretty damn awesome, and I am curious to see how this new novel unfolds.  Based on my experiences with White’s other novels, I already know I’m going to love Dead Fall Lake, and it is already one of the top Australian releases I am looking forward to in the new year.

Plot Synopsis:
Deep in the Australian wilderness, a famed sinkhole renowned as a stunning freediving spot attracts people from all over the world. But there’s a dark, puzzling mystery when a local sports hero – and the glamorous face of a high-adrenaline video channel – is found dead far beneath the surface.

Despite diving the sinkhole hundreds of times, his lifeless body is discovered dressed in normal clothes, handcuffed to a supply line. With no witnesses – and evidence submerged 30 metres underwater – how can Detective Dana Russo unravel such a shocking case?

Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Comedy/Satire, Five-Star Books, Murder MysteryLeave a comment

Publisher: Penguin (Trade Paperback – 30 September 2025)

Series: Erenest Cunningham – Book Four

Length: 355 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The over-the-top investigations of Ernest Cunningham resume in the outstanding and highly entertaining Australian crime fiction novel, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson.

For the last few years, the Australian crime fiction scene has been the playground of Benjamin Stevenson. A comedian and performer with his brother, Stevenson started writing back in 2018 when he debuted his first crime fiction novel Greenlight (also released as Trust Me When I Lie and She Lies in the Vines), which Stevenson expertly followed up a year later with the great sequel Either Side of Midnight.  While these initial books were really good, for me Stevenson’s best work has been his Ernest Cunningham novels.

The Ernest Cunningham series follows the titular character, a crime fiction expert from a notorious family, who finds himself caught up in some real-life whodunit situations. The first book in the series, Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone (one of my favourite Australian novels of 2022), was particularly impressive, and it cleverly combined the author’s great sense of humour with a compelling mystery. Stevenson continued to impress the following year, with Everyone on this Train is a Suspect (one of my favourite books and pieces of Australian fiction of 2023) a worthy sequel that further parodied various crime fiction subgenres. Stevenson even released a short, but impactful, Christmas entry in the Ernest Cunningham series last year with Everyone this Christmas has a Secret, which saw a Christmas variety show get very bloody, and which ended up being one of my favourite pieces of Australian fiction in 2024. Due to how wildly entertaining these books were, I just had to get the fourth book in the series, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief, when it came out this year, and it was one of my most anticipated reads for the second half of 2025, especially with its fun title and awesome plot concept.

Ernest Cunningham, murder mystery expert and Australia’s least likely detective, has so far solved three murders, each in its own outrageous scenarios.  But even he is unprepared to solve a case in the middle of a bank robbery.

Trapped in a small-town bank while trying to get a loan for their new detective agency, Ernest and his fiancé Juliette find themselves at the mercy of a masked armed bandit, who has locked down the bank and demanding access to the vault.  The only problem, the bank’s chief of security who knows the code is missing, and Ernest was just in the process of being hired to find him.

Besieged by the police and with no chance of escape, Ernest is determined to get his fellow hostages out alive by discovering out the vault’s code.  However, as he begins his enquiries, he quickly discovers that the armed man holding them hostage isn’t the only criminal he’s dealing with.  There are many different things that can be stolen in this bank, and all the trapped hostages have their own plots in motion.  However, only one person is there to steal a life, and when bodies start turning up, Ernest once again finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.

With all the suspects trapped in the bank with him, Ernest works quickly to solve the murders before the police end the siege.  All the people in the bank are suspicious, but is the killer the bank robber, the silent priest, the greedy film producer, the teen gaming prodigy, the dying teenage girl and her mother, or a member of bank’s staff? To find the truth, Ernest will have to uncover everyone’s secrets and work them into his established rules for a murder mystery.  But can he solve the crime before the killer takes him out, or is this one crazy investigation that even Ernest Cunningham cannot survive?

Benjamin Stevenson once again deeply impresses as Everyone in this Bank is a Thief was a brilliant and highly addictive novel that perfectly combines over-the-top mystery with the author’s distinctive humour.  Clever, wildly entertaining, and just a little silly, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief was so much fun to read, and it gets a full five-star rating from me.

What another brilliant and hilarious story.  Everyone in this Bank is a Thief was such an entertaining read, and I loved how crazy and exciting Stevenson made it.  Starting off with an interesting introductory note from the protagonist that sets the scene and foreshadows some of the events to come, you are quickly taken to the bank setting in small-town Australia, where Ernest and returning character Juliette are tasked with investigating the missing head of security, who has changed the code to the vault.  Stevenson does an effective job of introducing the locked room scenario, as well as the various suspects in these opening chapters, before the bank is taken over by the masked armed robber.  With everyone gathered as hostages and the bank surrounded by police, Ernest finds himself taking on the task of finding the combination to the vault to fulfil the robber’s unusual request of a single dollar from the bank’s vault.  This initial investigation provides a lot of hints about events for the future, before the story takes an enticing turn when someone dies in a spectacularly unusual situation.  This inspires Ernest to take on an unadvised secondary role in the case, which moves the story into an entertaining new direction.

The second half of the book is even more compelling, and you power through it fast as you can to get to the conclusion.  It quickly becomes apparent that there are multiple murders associated with this case, in addition to the other simultaneous heists taking place throughout the bank, all of which Ernest needs to uncover to solve the entire case.  The author selectively reveals some of these secondary crimes earlier in the plot, which allow the story to move forward, while also moving the suspicion away from some of the potential suspects.  While Stevenson continues to work in even more details about the suspects and the circumstances of their heists, there is also a certain amount of personal drama added into the mix, especially once Juliette realises the lengths Ernest has gone to solve the case, with some excellent moments leading up to it.  The interplay between the main plot and the author’s notes that hint at the future become even more entangled and urgent as the book continues, especially as the events of the two start to catch up, and Stevenson works in the usual concern about the protagonist’s survival a little earlier than usual.  Everything leads up to the classic summation gathering, where all the remaining secrets are revealed in hilarious and over-the-top fashion.  Featuring a big and deadly climax that all of Ernest’s investigations seem to require, the book ends on an entertaining note, with the series still having the potential to go forward.

I really enjoyed this new novel from Stevenson, which was an excellent continuation of the Ernest Cunningham series.  Working well as either the fourth book in the series, or an excellent standalone novel, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief was a lot of fun, with the concept of a crime fiction expert using the tropes of the genre to identify the killer in a humorous situation still as effective as ever.  Told in the form of a true-crime book by the protagonist as he recounts the events of the bank heist, the narrative features a classic closed circle of suspects as Ernest investigates several murders, including an actual locked-room mystery, as well as several adjacent thefts, all while trapped in the murder scene.  The result is an over-the-top mess of an investigation, as the various big personalities trapped in the bank clash with Ernest’s unusual methods and style, much to the audience’s glee.  While there is a lot of focus on the book’s humour, Stevenson also does a great job pulling together a complex mystery with a lot of compelling suspects.  There are a lot of intricate details and clues loaded into the story, often hidden by the more comedic interactions, and all these elements are well used later in the book, whether in solving the murders or examining the various hidden motivations of the other characters.  The eventual reveal of the killer also proves to be quite clever, and there is some fantastic build-up to the discovery, even if the methods the protagonist uses to uncover them, as well as the crimes itself, are a tad ridiculous.

As with the previous books in the series, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief is a great satirical take on classic crime fiction novels, with the author and the protagonist both keen to utilise and honour the well-known tropes of the genre.  While Stevenson once again features a fun takedown of old-school detective fiction murder mysteries, he also takes his protagonist outside of his crime fiction wheelhouse with the murder taking place amid a heist.  Forcing the protagonist to apply heist tropes alongside his established rules for classic murder mysteries results in a great hybrid case, with a lot of jokes and references about both subgenres of crime fiction.  Stevenson naturally goes overboard with the heist elements, with several concurrent thefts happening in the bank, all of which could serve as a potential motive for murder.  I loved the outrageous variety of thefts that were worked into the plot, especially as most weren’t typical fictional robberies, and it was quite impressive to see Stevenson work them into the novel’s larger murder mystery.  The series’ usual pre-narrative hints of events and murders to come, with accompanying page numbers, were missing in this latest novel, instead replaced by the alternate focus on the protagonist’s plight, as he instead uses the introduction to reveal that he is trapped in a safe and slowly running out of air.  The humour of this situation, as well as build-up of suspense to when Ernest gets locked in the safe, added some extra fun and drama to the plot, and it was an interesting twist on the usual Ernest Cunningham book.  I really enjoyed how Stevenson continues to experiment and alter the initial story and writing concepts he introduced in Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone, and this book was a worthy addition to this series, especially with the new focus on heist fiction in addition to other comedic differences.

As with the previous books in the series, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief features a memorable and over-the-top cast of characters.  This includes series protagonist Ernest Cunningham, a writer and crime fiction expert who has accidently found himself in the middle of several murder investigations.  Attempting to continue his unlikely career as a professional detective, Ernest proves to be an intriguing and entertaining protagonist, especially with his cynical outlook on the world.  Much of the book’s humour comes from Ernest’s entertaining observations of the people around him, and he has a unique way of solving crimes that mocks traditional murder mysteries in all the best ways.  There is a compelling addictive element to Ernest’s need to solve crime in this latest novel, which often forces him to make some stupid decisions, and the author adds in some interesting and entertaining self-reflective moments that I quite enjoyed.  There is also and quite entertaining look at Ernest’s notoriety and semi-fame in wider society, which plays into the story in several fun ways, including making him a potential target for murder.  I loved how much Ernest has developed over the series, and this proved to be a great extra inclusion to his story.

The rest of the cast of Everyone in this Bank is a Thief is also quite impressive, with my favourite being Ernest’s patient fiancé, Juliette.  A strong-willed, intelligent supporting character who has been Ernest’s love interest since the first book, Juliette often finds herself trapped in these elaborate murder investigations alongside her partner.  Her latest outing in Everyone in this Bank is a Thief was particularly fun, as Stevenson used some interesting shenanigans to showcase Juliette’s feelings about Ernest’s antics, especially when he gets caught up in an investigation.  The real brains and emotional heart of this novel, Juliette was extremely awesome, and I love how well she complements Ernest as the protagonist.  The rest of the cast, the majority of whom are fellow hostages in the bank, also prove to be a ton of fun, especially as all of them are thieves in one way or another.  While I’m going to limit my discussion about these supporting characters to avoid spoilers, I will say that Stevenson came up with an awesomely eclectic group of suspects, red herrings and rogues here, and uncovering their associated ploys and schemes made for some great reading.

Overall, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief was outstanding fourth entry in the Ernest Cunningham series, and I had such an epic time getting through it.  Benjamin Stevenson has perfected his formula for highly entertaining murder mysteries, and the intricate blend of complex mystery, excellent humour and outrageous characters makes for quite an impressive read.  One of the best Australian crime fiction novels of 2025, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief comes very highly recommended, and I cannot wait to see what Stevenson writes next.

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Waiting on Wednesday – Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe

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

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

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

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

Plot Synopsis:

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

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

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

And then Billie disappears.

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

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

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

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

But does Billie really want to be saved?

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

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

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery1 Comment

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (ebook – 19 August 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 310 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Those looking for a fun and very meta murder mystery that looks back at the classics should check out the very amusing new novel from Australian author Sulari Gentill, Five Found Dead.

There are few Australian crime fiction authors whose works have entertained me over the years as much as Sulari Gentill’s have.  An amazing author who knows how to combine unique premises with compelling mysteries, Gentill has written some great novels over the years.  I am a particular fan of her Rowland Sinclair series about an unlikely gentleman protagonist in the 1930s who solved crimes loaded with historical cameos, while some of her more recent standalone novels, such as Crossing the Lines, The Woman in the Library and The Mystery Writer, have also received critical acclaim.  As such, I was very happy to get my hands on her latest novel, Five Found Dead, which had a very fun plot behind it which resulted in quite an exciting and fast-paced read.

Plot Synopsis:

On a train, there are only so many places to hide…

Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe’s muse awake, and he’ll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just what the doctor ordered…

And then some. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. The pair soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead—and one still missing. Now Joe and Meredith must fight once again to preserve their newfound future and to catch a cunning killer before they reach the end of the line.

Gentill brings the fun with this very compelling and exciting crime fiction novel that serves as a great love letter to a classic Agatha Christie novel.  Bringing together a colourful array of characters, including an overabundance of cliche detectives and setting them loose against an apparent serial killer, Five Found Dead was a very easy book to fall in love with, and I ended up powering through it in less than a day.

The plot for Five Found Dead had a lot of interesting elements to it, which resulted in a very fast-paced novel that hit a lot of entertaining notes.  Starting off with some quick introductions to the lawyer protagonist and her author brother, you soon find yourself aboard the iconic Orient Express.  A natural setting for any murder mystery, Gentill brought together an amusing array of characters inspired by classic crime fiction novels, many of whom are revealed to have law enforcement backgrounds, as well as a very similar grudge.  The story naturally soon devolves into a compelling murder mystery when a guest disappears from their blood-soaked room.  Thanks to a new strain of coronavirus infecting part of the train, the passengers find themselves stuck on the rails, and it falls to the protagonists and the various assembled detectives to solve the case.  However, a series of additional murders quickly unfold across the train, resulting in chaos and anarchy, especially when the normal passengers of the train attempt to escape the growing massacre.

I loved the excellent and fast pace of Five Found Dead as Gentill cleverly lays out the respective murders and keeps increasing the stakes of the plot.  While much of the story is intentionally silly, including the appearance of so many stereotypical detectives with connections to the initial victim, the author works it into a great investigation angle, and I had fun working out who was behind the killings.  There are some fantastic twists and turns throughout the book, and while I saw a few reveals coming thanks to the featured clues, the identity of the actual antagonist hit me by surprise.  Some of this was due to the clever red herrings and potential alternate suspects that Gentill included, although I must admit the brilliantly crazy disguise utilised by the killer helped a lot.  This led to a very exciting and over-the-top conclusion, where all the secrets come out and the various fun storylines come together.  I had an absolute blast getting to the end of Five Found Dead, and Gentill crafted an extremely exciting murder mystery here that served as an homage to the classic, while also bringing its own flair to the occasion.

While Five Found Dead is loaded with amazing and familiar characters, I feel that I need to highlight protagonist Meredith Penvale and her brother Joe as the two best written characters in the novel.  A pair of Australian twins, Meredith and Joe have journeyed to the Orient Express to celebrate Joe’s recent cancer remission and to rejuvenate his writing muse.  While much of the story revolves around Meredith’s inadvertent role as amateur detective aboard this train of suspicious souls, Gentill also spends time examining the emotional health of these two main characters, and as a result dives deep into the impacts of cancer and the effects it can have on both the sufferers and their loved ones.  In this case, Meredith is the loyal sister who sacrificed a successful career to care for her brother and, now that he’s recovered, is wondering where her life will go and whether to follow her true passions.  Joe, on the other hand, is a seemingly light-hearted figure who has an amusing meta initial arc about a murder mystery set onboard the Orient Express.  However, there is also a lot of hidden fear in Joe about his cancer returning, which sees him literally running from bad news, while also trying to keep this potential truth from his long-suffering sister.  You can tell that Gentill put a lot of herself into these two characters, and their personal focuses outside the mystery are extremely realistic and powerful.  Indeed, these personal concerns and the powerful writing that accompanies them gives Five Found Dead some much needed emotional heft that helped to evolve this novel into something truly special.  Throw in all the additional eccentric figures that accompany Meredith and Joe onto the Orient Express, and Five Found Dead has a truly amazing cast who enhance the entire story.

Overall, I found Five Found Dead to be an addictive and engaging novel that I honestly couldn’t stop reading.  Sulari Gentill’s latest standalone novel was a wonderful blend of mystery, charming humour and complex characters, that came together into something extremely awesome.  I really enjoyed Five Found Dead, and it is an excellent read for someone in the mood for a light-hearted murder mystery with some amazing heart to it.

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The Bolthole by Peter Papathanasiou

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery1 Comment

Publisher: MacLehose (Trade Paperback – 29 July 2025)

Series: DS George Manolis – Book Four

Length: 349 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed Australian crime fiction author Peter Papathanasiou returns with another outstanding entry in his DS George Manolis series, The Bolthole.

Peter Papathanasiou is an Australian author who has been making some excellent waves in recent years with his intricate and culturally relevant murder mysteries set around striking areas of outback Australia, as well as one novel set in Greece.  These books form part of his DS George Manolis series, which I had had the pleasure of first reading in 2023 with the third entry in the series, The Pit.  A fantastic novel that combined moving character history with the red desert of the Kimberley mining region, The Pit was a captivating and memorable novel that I had a great time with.  As such, I was very interested when a copy of The Bolthole arrived, and it proved to be another curious read.

Plot Synopsis:

Located off the coast of South Australia, Kangaroo Island lies surrounded by violent seas harbouring deadly great white sharks and forgotten shipwrecks.

Over the centuries the Islanders have cultivated a sense of self-sufficiency, independence and resilience. But times are changing: multimillionaires from the mainland are building immense clifftop mansions and filling the skies with private planes and helicopters. A quiet paradise is being transformed into a bolthole for the rich and privileged. And the locals aren’t happy.

Richard Marlowe, a wealthy “blow-in” to the island, goes missing, last seen wading into the ocean for a dawn swim. A shark attack is blamed, but things don’t add up. Reuniting for a new investigation, Detective Sergeant Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow arrive on the island, but their presence isn’t welcomed, either. Faced with hostility from both Islanders and newcomers, their attempts to locate the missing man are derailed by a civil war over limited resources, a fragile environment, and fractured community dynamics.

The Bolthole was another compelling novel from Papathanasiou that successfully blended a cool focus on an iconic Australian setting with a slow-burn mystery.  The result was an awesome novel that I had an excellent time getting through and which consistently kept my attention.

Papathanasiou’s new novel is primarily set on the historical and picturesque Kangaroo Island and features an intricate mystery about a powerful business luminary who goes missing during his morning surf.  Arriving on the island, protagonists Detective Sergeant Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow begin an investigation of the disappearance.  With a split focus between these two protagonists, The Bolthole’s narrative goes at slow but steady pace, as the police officers become familiar with the island, its people, and certain controversial local politics and developments that the victim, Richard Marlowe, was involved in.

The author sets The Bolthole’s mystery out in a very methodical and detail focused manner, with the protagonists trying to learn everything about the victim and potential suspects in the case, while also dealing with their own personal conflicts and concerns.  While the plot was often focused more on the social, cultural and environmental issues affecting Kangaroo Island, the investigation angle was constantly ongoing, and Papathanasiou continued to fit in subtle clues and development.  The conclusion of The Bolthole was intense and captivating, with several clever twists, some great reveals, and even a bit of exciting action.  Most readers are going to come away from this novel very satisfied, and I felt that Papathanasiou produced an impressive piece of Australian crime fiction.

The Bolthole proved to be an effective, character-driven mystery novel that once again showcased the author’s love of remote and unique locations.  A rich and detail laden book, The Bolthole is a slower read than most crime fiction novels; however, this deliberate pacing from Papathanasiou allows him to feature a great collection of supporting characters, while also really diving into compelling setting of Kangaroo Island.  The author spends a lot of time exploring the island, and readers come away with a great deal of knowledge about its history, environment and culture, with a particular focus on some of the modern issues impacting it.  This includes extended discussions about new developments, exploitation of natural resources, impacts on the environment, and concerns about cultural changes to Kangaroo Island led by new wealthy residents buying up the land.  While the focus on these issues comes across a little preachy at times, it plays into the narrative around the main mystery extremely well and helps to explore certain character motivations and attitudes, while also laying down some false leads for the reader.  As such, the resulting mystery proves to be quite compelling, and the unique tone that Papathanasiou took for this book is going to appeal to a lot of readers.

On top of the above elements, I must also mention the great characters featured within The Bolthole, as Papathanasiou brings back the two main protagonists from his previous novels, Detective Sergeant Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow.  Both these police characters have some interesting character elements, which the author does an excellent job exploring through their separate perspective chapters.  Manolis, for example, is still dealing with certain revelations about his family that came up in previous books and spends much of the novel guilty about how the truth will impact his partner.  At the same time, he tries to balance his obsession with finding justice with his failing marriage and his inability to properly prioritise them.  Sparrow, on the other hand, is dealing with his extreme dislike of the island due to the historical atrocities inflecting on his people there by white settlers, as well as issues around his own past and hidden sexuality.  While the author somewhat overplayed Sparrow’s cultural outrage and snarky nature in this book, for the most part these two protagonists are great to follow, and they blend well with the massive array of supporting characters that populate the author’s version of Kangaroo Island.  There are a lot of interesting figures in this supporting cast, and it proved fun to see the protagonists dive into their various histories.  This includes the victim, Richard Marlowe, whose own history and motivations proved quite interesting to uncover.  These characters, and more, all added a lot to The Bolthole’s overall impact, and it allowed for quite a compelling narrative in the end.

Peter Papathanasiou continues to showcase his skill as one of Australia’s more unique crime fiction authors with the distinctive novel, The Bolthole.  An excellent book with a lot of interesting elements to it, The Bolthole hits hard and keeps the reader’s attention with a great mystery and a compelling look at certain real-world issues.  A recommended novel, especially for those who love crime fiction reads that make full use of the background settings.

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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

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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.

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