The Last True Templar by Boyd and Beth Morrison

On December 20, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Thriller10 Comments

The Last True Templar Cover

Publisher: Head of Zeus (ebook – 14 September 2023)

Series: Tales of the Lawless Land – Book Two

Length: 492 pages

My Rating: 4.5

The impressive sibling team of Boyd and Beth Morrison return with an epic and compelling sequel to their first impressive novel, The Last True Templar.

Last year I had the very great pleasure of reading the first book written by the pair of thriller author Boyd Morrison and historian Beth Morrison, The Lawless Land. Following an excommunicated knight and a noblewoman as they try to keep a sacred relic out of the hands of a corrupt cardinal, The Lawless Land was an outstanding read that blended fascinating historical detail with an intense thriller storyline. The Lawless Land ended up being one of my favourite books of 2022 and I have been eagerly anticipating a sequel for ages. This second book in their Tales of the Lawless Land series, The Last True Templar, sets the awesome protagonists on a compelling new adventure, an elaborate treasure hunt through medieval Italy.

Italy, 1351. After their first exciting adventure together, exiled English knight Gerard Fox and his determined companion, Willa, have decided to embark on a journey throughout a Europe still recovering from the ravishes of war and plague. Determined to get married, the two seek a way to escape their complex pasts and move on to a future free of violence and persecution. However, fate has something far more adventurous planned for them.

Arriving in a small village between Florence and Siena, Fox and Willa suddenly find themselves witnesses to a deadly ambush. A band of skilled, masked bandits are targeting Luciana Corosi, the wife of a prominent Sienna businessman, determined to kill her and steal the payment she carries for a lucrative deal. Intervening, Fox and Willa manage to save Luciana’s life, before escorting her home. However, it soon becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems, especially as Luciana’s scheming husband, Riccardo Corosi, is behind the attempts of Luciana’s life.

Escaping from Riccardo’s clutches with Luciana, Fox and Willa soon find themselves embroiled in a complex scheme that reaches all the way back to the fallen Knights Templar. Years ago, Luciana’s father helped the Templars hide their vast treasure from the Church before being betrayed by Riccardo. Determined to save her family’s legacy and finally expose her treacherous husband, Luciana recruits Fox and Willa to her cause and requests their help in solving a series of clues leading to the treasure. But with Riccardo and his men hot on their trail, can Fox and Willa find the legendary treasures of the Knights Templar, or have they finally met their match?

The Last True Templar was an interesting and enjoyable follow-up that captures the heart of the original book while changing some key story aspects and the background setting. The result is a fantastic and exciting read that I had a wonderful time reading and which I managed to power through in a very short amount of time.

The plot of The Last True Templar is pretty damn cool as it places the author’s established protagonists into a whole new crazy medieval thriller scenario, this time involving the warring Corosi’s and their respective legacies. Fox and Willa’s inadvertent entry into the plot is well handled and nicely ties into their current wanderings, and their continued presence in events feels pretty natural, especially as they are both trying to help a friend and achieve their own personal goal of getting married. The authors do an effective job at building up and injecting the intriguing characters and real-life history that led up the events of the book early on and the story, and you soon get swept up in the resulting treasure hunt that is rich in Templar lore. The story is masterfully told from a range of different perspectives, including the antagonists, which allows for some compelling insights into everyone’s respective motivations, histories and plots. Several chapters are also set in the past, either to strengthen the history surrounding the missing Templar treasure or provide backstory and added drama for the characters.

The main story of The Last True Templar turns into an exciting, clever, and action-packed romp, as the authors set out some major thriller antics within a historical setting. Just like with The Lawless Land, the initial thriller aspect of this story involves the protagonists attempting to stay one step ahead of the villains while learning about the dark history that surrounds their motivation. However, the characters also get involved in an elaborate historical treasure hunt which sees them decode a series of historical clues to find the location of the treasure. A storyline involving riddles and the hunt for ancient treasures is classic thriller fare, and I really enjoyed seeing medieval protagonists undertake this, especially as it takes them across 14^th century Italy. The authors come up with a fantastic and elaborate series of mysteries, riddles and clues for this aspect of the story, and I loved the constant and desperate roaming through various well-described cities as they attempt to puzzle together dated references and hints.

The authors’ use of multiple perspectives really helps to enhance the race aspect of the story, as you get to see key events through multiple eyes, including the scheming and double-crossing antagonists. I loved seeing all the different moves each character made in The Last True Templar, and you are constantly on your feet as both groups get closer to the treasure while working to outsmart or outplay their opponents. There are also some amazing set pieces scattered throughout this novel, including an elaborate horse race through the streets of a city, several skirmishes, and even ship-to-ship boarding action. Everything leads up to an exciting and intense conclusion as both sides fight for the potential treasure, and all the compelling story elements come full circle. All the characters get a compelling conclusion to their storyline, whether they want to or not, and the book ends on a satisfactory note that leaves the series open for further entries.

I loved the fantastic historical detail that was contained in The Last True Templar as the authors really immersed readers in the period. The impressive depictions of the various Italian locations and cites was well done, and I could honestly see the settings in my mind’s eye as the protagonists visited them. Much of the background setting and character attitudes and actions, whether it be in battle, business, or exploration, had some noticeable historical accuracy, and I loved the elaborate descriptions that accompanied the narrative. I particularly enjoyed the author’s depiction of a historical Palio di Siena, which the protagonist was forced to participate in, and it honestly was one of the high points of the story. However, the best historical detail in The Last True Templar is reserved for the examination of the Knights Templar and the hunt for their treasure. The authors do an excellent job of exploring the legacy of the Templars, and I found it fascinating to see characters talk about them only a few decades after their fall. This examination of the Templars adds a great deal to the narrative, as not only is it strongly tied to several of the new character’s backstories, but it also proves to be very relevant to the various riddles the characters need to unravel. Each of the riddles is tied into a specific location or has some relevance to the Templars, and it was awesome seeing the characters work out and trying to solve them. There were even some very clever instances where the relevant landmarks referenced in the clues were no longer there or current, even after only a few decades, which added some intriguing difficulties into the larger treasure hunt. All these details, and more, were extremely interesting to me, and I had a wonderful time with how well the authors incorporated them into the plot.

I had a lot of fun with the characters in The Last True Templar, especially as we got to see more of Gerard Fox and Willa, both of whom were so well set up in the preceding novel. An excommunicated knight likely to be charged with heresy for not repenting for his unfairly given punishment and a brave, independent and highly capable former servant, Fox and Willa make for an intriguing pair, and I love the idea of an entire series dedicated to them wandering around helping people. The authors do an excellent job of reintroducing them in this sequel, and I really enjoyed how they were worked into this exciting story. Since both of their backgrounds were thoroughly explored in The Lawless Land, you don’t get a lot of extra history for them in this sequel. Instead, there is an intriguing storyline regarding their adventures in Europe and the struggles they have faced on the road together as a couple. Their main issue involves their desire to get married, however, due to Fox’s excommunicated status, something he takes seriously despite the unfairness surrounding the entire situation, they are unable to find a church or priest likely to approve the ceremony. This leads to some real strain on their relationship, and I liked how the authors dived into such compelling historical concerns for their character arc. Despite this, the two remain a strong duo with a fantastic blend of talents, and it was a real pleasure to see their second adventure together.

The rest of the character focus is completely reserved for all the new characters involved in The Last True Templar. In particular, you spend a lot of time with Luciana Corosi, an Italian matron who has been betrayed and manipulated by her evil husband. A smart businesswoman with a painful history, Luciana proves to be an excellent addition to the main cast, and she plays off Fox and Willa extremely well as they work together. I loved the intriguing history surrounding Luciana, especially all the betrayals she has experienced in her life, and it was great to see her finally try and reclaim her life and her destiny. While Luciana is great, this book is would be nothing without a fantastic villain, and this role is well filled by Luciana’s husband, Riccardo Corosi. A scheming former Templar who betrayed his order and Luciana’s father and turned his ill-gotten gains into a thriving business which he uses to control his city, Riccardo is a despicable antagonist you have a very easy time hating. The authors show much of the story from Riccardo’s perspective, so you get some great insights into his various schemes, and you quickly realise just how irredeemable he truly is. Partnered with a surprisingly loyal, if murderous, English knight, and a scheming female associate who plots against everyone, Riccardo is a great foil to the main cast, and I loved the various betrayals he brings to the table, even when it comes to his own followers. This proved to be quite a fun and compelling cast of characters and I loved seeing their fantastic story unfold.

Overall, The Last True Templar was an outstanding read and I loved seeing more adventures from the team of Boyd and Beth Morrison. This second Tales of the Lawless Land novel was very exciting and I loved the great new characters, intriguing historical detail, and compelling thriller centric plot. An impressive sequel from start to finish, I deeply enjoyed The Last True Templar and I hope we get more books from these amazing authors in the future.

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Quick Review – City of Vengeance by D. V. Bishop

On April 20, 2021August 13, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, LGBT+, Murder Mystery, Quick Review3 Comments

City of Vengeance Cover

Publisher: Macmillan (Trade Paperback – 9 February 2021)

Series: Cesare Aldo – Book One

Length: 402 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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From impressive debuting author D. V. Bishop comes a powerful and exciting historical murder mystery set in the heart of 16^th century Florence with the amazing City of Vengeance.

Synopsis:

Florence. Winter, 1536. A prominent Jewish moneylender is murdered in his home, a death with wide implications in a city powered by immense wealth.

Cesare Aldo, a former soldier and now an officer of the Renaissance city’s most feared criminal court, is given four days to solve the murder: catch the killer before the feast of Epiphany – or suffer the consequences.

During his investigations Aldo uncovers a plot to overthrow the volatile ruler of Florence, Alessandro de’ Medici. If the Duke falls, it will endanger the whole city. But a rival officer of the court is determined to expose details about Aldo’s private life that could lead to his ruin. Can Aldo stop the conspiracy before anyone else dies, or will his own secrets destroy him first?

City of Vengeance is an awesome and powerful historical murder mystery that I have been looking forward to for a while. New author Bishop has come up with an excellent story that expertly combines great characters, intense historical detail, and a clever murder mystery into an awesome and exciting tale. I had an outstanding time getting through this amazing book, and this might be one of the better debuts of 2021 that I have so far read.

Bishop has produced an extraordinary narrative for his debut book which I deeply enjoyed and found myself quickly engrossed in. This book contains an excellent mystery which is actually a clever adaptation of a real-life historical murder and conspiracy in renaissance Florence which the protagonist, Cesare Aldo, finds himself investigating and attempting to stop after several other related crimes are discovered. Bishop builds a fantastic and intense story around this investigation as the protagonist goes up against several powerful foes and is forced into deadly situations as his opponents attempt to stop him. There is also a great secondary storyline about a separate murder which is being investigated by both Aldo and his associates at Florence’s criminal court. While this other murder is not directly connected to the main murder and conspiracy, they do highlight some of the personal issues surrounding the protagonist and provide some intriguing opportunities for a dastardly secondary antagonist. I loved the author’s great use of multiple perspectives throughout this narrative, and he really comes up with some intense, action-packed moments as Aldo is forced to fight for his life. This story ended up having some amazing twists to it, especially if you are unfamiliar with the events of 16^th century Florence, and the reader is constantly left on their toes as they witness all the crazy events unfold. I particularly loved the final sequence in the book, mainly because it was an extremely cathartic moment for both the protagonist and the reader, and it served as the perfect end to this dark and captivating tale. This was an overall incredible narrative, and I am really glad I got to check it out.

Easily one of the best highlights of this fantastic book was the impressive and realistic setting of renaissance Florence that Bishop brought into being. The author has clearly done their research when it comes to this iconic Italian city as the reader is shown a detailed and complex view of the city throughout the book. The various characters explore different parts of this historical location, and you get a real sense of the scale and culture of this city. I really appreciated the way in which Bishop attempts to highlight interesting parts of day-to-day life in Florence during this period, and I also deeply enjoyed the examination of the city’s justice system, leadership, and political placement in the rest of Italy. The author also utilises a range of different Italian terms and words into the text in a bid to increase the narrative’s authenticity. I really liked this clever use of language throughout the book, especially as it enhanced the storytelling without disrupting the flow of the narrative. Several major figures in Florence’s history also make an appearance, and I was deeply impressed by the way in which Bishop portrays them, as well as the infamous historical events that they are connected to. I thought that the author did a great job cleverly tying these real-life figures into the exciting plot of City of Vengeance, and it was cool to see their unique tales unfold. All this really helps to elevate City of Vengeance as a historical fiction novel and this was a captivating and clever dive back into 16^th century Florence.

I also quite enjoyed the characters featured in this great novel. On top of the historical figures who are seamlessly fitted into the narrative, Bishop has also come up with a collection of fantastic fictional characters who the main story revolves around. While I enjoyed all these characters, I must highlight two in particular: the main protagonist Cesare Aldo and secondary antagonist Cerchi. Aldo is an excellent hero for this book thanks to his dedication to justice, his maverick personality, his quickness with a blade and his investigative prowess, all of which help him attempt to solve the difficult crime before him. Aldo gets into some very rough scrapes in this book, and it was a lot of fun to see him get through them and survive. The risks are especially high since the detective also has to hide his sexuality in order to survive. This was a fantastic character element for Bishop to include and it certainly amped up the difficulties for the protagonist, especially when he is forced to contend with people like Cerchi. Cerchi is a fellow investigator in Florence’s criminal court, and in many ways he is the direct opposite of Aldo, in that he is a snivelling, corrupt and selfish individual who cares more about lining his own pocket than justice. Cerchi spends most of the book attempting to undermine Aldo while also blackmailing prominent homosexuals in the city for large amounts of money. This leads to even greater conflict with Aldo, especially as Cerchi suspects Aldo’s secret, and this adds a whole new level of drama and suspense to the narrative. I really liked the inclusion of Cerchi in the story as he was a particularly despicable and unlikeable character who the reader quickly grows to hate and beg for his downfall. Both characters have some great storylines throughout this book, and I particularly enjoyed the way in which their combined arc ends.

In the end I really enjoyed this exceptional first novel from D. V. Bishop which was a lot of fun to read. Thanks to its awesome blend of history, mystery and clever characters, City of Vengeance has an exciting and captivating narrative that proved extremely hard to put down. I was deeply impressed with the way that the author utilised his knowledge of 16^th century Florence to create a powerful and compelling tale of murder and conspiracy, and readers are in for a real treat with this fantastic debut. I look forward to seeing what Bishop comes up with next and I particularly hope that he revisits Cesare Aldo and Florence in his future novels.

The Emperor’s Exile by Simon Scarrow

On December 4, 2020June 19, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction19 Comments

The Emperor's Exile Cover

Publisher: Headline (Trade Paperback – 10 November 2020)

Series: Eagles of the Empire – Book 19

Length: 434 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of the top authors of Roman historical fiction, Simon Scarrow, returns with the latest exciting novel in his Eagles of the Empire series, The Emperor’s Exile.

Rome, 57 A.D. Following their adventures in Parthia, Legionary veterans Tribune Cato and Centurion Marco return to Rome with the remnants of their Praetorian Cohort. Thanks to the ever-shifting politics of Rome and the fickleness of Emperor Nero’s court, Cato faces a hostile reception from some of Nero’s advisors, who hold him responsible for the military disasters experienced in the Parthian campaign. Soon Cato has his command taken away from him, while Marco decides to resign from the Legions in protest, determined to live out his retirement in Britain.

Isolated in Rome, Cato is forced by one of Nero’s advisors to take on a new and dangerous mission. Nero’s mistress, the beautiful Claudia Acte, has risen too high too quickly, and Nero’s political enemies have manipulated him into sending her into exile. Travelling with a select group of Praetorian officers and his new advisor, the spy Apollonius, Cato must escort Claudia to the location of her exile, the island province of Sardinia, where he has another mission to accomplish.

Sardinia has long been plagued by tribes of bandits living wild in the centre of the island. These proud decedents of the original inhabitants of Sardinia have been causing problems in recent months, raiding the local villages and ambushes caravans. Taking command of Sardinia’s entire garrison, Cato begins to work out a strategy to defeat the locals and regain his position in Rome. However, this proves harder than originally anticipated as Cato needs to contend with a disorganised military force, a dangerous plague that is beginning to overwhelm the island and a surprisingly competent group of bandits with unparalleled knowledge of the local landscape. Worse, Cato begins to have dangerous feelings for Claudia, feelings which his enemies will exploit and which could set the entirety of Rome against him. Can Cato pacify Sardinia before his entire force is decimated, or have his adventures finally come to an end?

This was another fantastic and highly enjoyable historical fiction novel from one of my favourite authors, Simon Scarrow, who has produced an impressive new entry in his long-running Eagles of the Empire series. The Eagles of the Empire books are easily among the best Roman historical fiction series out there at the moment, and I have had an amazing time reading every single entry in this series, including the last two novels, The Blood of Rome and Traitors of Rome. The Emperor’s Exile is the 19^th Eagles of the Empire book and the author has produced another impressive story, featuring great historical elements and some fantastic character work. I had an awesome time reading this book and it is definitely worth checking out.

The Emperor’s Exile contains an extremely fun and captivating narrative which follows Cato work to defeat a new enemy in a new historical setting. Scarrow sets up an exciting and fast-paced story for this latest book, with the protagonist forced to deal with all manner of politics, intrigue and various forms of deadly peril in rather quick succession as he is assigned his mission and attempts to complete it. This naturally results in all manner of impressive action sequences which are a lot of fun to watch unfold, including one particularly good extended siege sequence. It is not all action, adventure and historical undertakings, however, as the book also has an intriguing focus on its central protagonist, Cato. Cato, who has been evolving as a character over the last 18 books, continues to develop in The Emperor’s Exile in several dramatic and emotionally rich ways. Not only does he have to adapt to a major change in his personal circumstances with the retirement of a great friend but he continues to question his role in the Roman army and whether he wants to remain a brutal killer. Throw in an ill-conceived romance, his continued regrets about his past actions and his disastrous first marriage, as well as a certain major change in his appearance for the future, and this becomes quite a substantial novel for Cato which also opens up some intriguing storylines in the future. I had a wonderful time reading this book and, once I got wrapped up in the story, I was able to power through the book extremely quickly.

In addition to having a great story, The Emperor’s Exile also serves as a key entry in this impressive, long-running series. While readers who want to check out this book do not particularly need to have read any of the previous Eagles of the Empire books, mainly because Scarrow does an excellent job of revisiting story aspects and characters from prior novels, those established fans of the series are going to find this book particularly significant and memorable. This is because one of the main protagonists of this series, Centurion Marco, who has been a major part of all 18 previous novels, retires from the Legions 100 or so pages into the book then subsequently disappears off to Britain, leaving Cato to his own adventure in Sardinia. Scarrow has been telegraphing Marco’s plans to retire for the last couple of books, and it is a natural consequence of the author realistically aging his characters (15 years have elapsed within the series at this point). While it was somewhat expected, it was still weird and a bit sad not to have Marco fighting along Cato in this latest adventure, especially as their comradeship is one of the defining aspects of this series. That being said, Cato has grown a lot over the last 18 books and the natural progression of Cato and Marco’s dynamic as characters did necessitate them splitting off at some point. It will be interesting to see how Scarrow features Marco in the future, especially if he plans to continue the Eagles of the Empire series for several more books (I personally would love it if he goes all the way into The Year of the Four Emperors, as it would wrap up the Vitellius and Vespasian storylines from the earlier books quite nicely). Based upon how The Emperor’s Exile ends, it looks like Marco is going to appear in the next book, but it is uncertain whether he will continue on as a central protagonist, become an occasional character or go down in a final blaze of glory. I personally think that Scarrow is planning to permanently retire Marco as a character soon, potentially replacing him with new character, Apollonius. Apollonius is the dangerous and insightful spy who Cato teamed up with during the previous novel, and who followed Cato back to Rome in this book. Apollonius served as Cato’s aide, scout and confident during The Emperor’s Exile in place of Marco, and it looks like he will be a major character in the next book as well. I quite liked Apollonius as a character and it will be interesting if he ends up as Marco’s replacement, especially as he shares a very different dynamic with Cato than Marco did. All of this makes The Emperor’s Exile quite an intriguing entry in the overall series and I am extremely curious to see what is going to happen to these amazing protagonists next year in the 20^th book in the series.

As always, this novel is chock full of fantastic historical detail and storytelling as the author sets his story in some intriguing parts of Roman history. Not only does the reader get a great view of Rome under the control of Emperor Nero (whose chaotic rule as described in this novel has some interesting modern parallels) but the main story takes place in the island province of Sardinia, off the Italian coast. Sardinia is a fascinating province that I personally have never seen used before in Roman historical fiction novels and which proved to be a fantastic setting for most of this book’s story. Scarrow really dives into the history, culture and geography of the island, explaining how it became a Roman province, examining some of the key towns and ports and highlighting the difference between the locals and the Roman settlers. There is a particularly compelling focus on the tribes who controlled the centre of the island and it was rather interesting to see how a group of rebellious barbarians managed to survive so close to Italy during this period. Scarrow also provides the reader with his usual focus on the Roman legions/auxiliaries, providing impressive details and depictions of how the Roman war machine operated and what their usual tactics and strategies are. All of this really helps to enhance the novel and I had an amazing time exploring Sardinia with the Roman protagonists.

Another intriguing aspect of The Emperor’s Exile was the plague storyline that saw the inhabitants of Sardinia, including Cato and his soldiers, have to contend with a deadly infectious sickness. This plague added an excellent edge to the storyline, serving as a hindrance to the protagonists and ensuring that they constantly have to change their plans while dealing with their enemy. Not only does this serve as a clever handicap for the Romans but readers cannot help but make some comparisons to modern day events. While I could potentially be reading a little too much into this and it is possible that Scarrow always intended to feature a plague in this book, I cannot help but think that this was a deliberate choice by the author. Either way, it proved to be an extremely fascinating part of the book and it was fun to compare the reactions of these historical characters to the actions of people in the real-world. While this story inclusion may potentially prove to be a little tiring for readers sick of any mentions of disease, infection and quarantine in their day-to-day lives, I thought it was a great addition to the novel, especially as it raised the dangerous stakes of this exciting novel.

With his latest novel, The Emperor’s Exile, Simon Scarrow continues to show why he is one of the top authors of Roman historical fiction in the world today. This latest novel serves as a key entry in his amazing Eagles of the Empire series and it takes the reader on an outstanding, action-packed adventure, loaded with some great character moments and some impressive historical settings. I had a fantastic time reading this book and I cannot wait to see how Scarrow continues this epic series next year. Luckily, I only have to wait a few more months for my next dose of this author’s work as his World War II crime fiction novel, Blackout, is set for release next March.

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One Minute Out by Mark Greaney

On March 31, 2020February 2, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller37 Comments

One Minute Out Cover

Publisher: Sphere/Audible Audio (Audiobook – 18 February 2020)

Series: Gray Man – Book Nine

Length: 16 hours

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Bestselling thriller author Mark Greaney returns with another fast-paced and incredibly exciting novel that this time explores the dark and shocking world of human trafficking, with One Minute Out, the ninth book in his impressive Gray Man series.

Greaney is a talented thriller author who has written a number of fantastic books since his 2009 debut, including his Gray Man series and seven books in the iconic Jack Ryan series, three of which he cowrote with the legendary Tom Clancy. I started getting into Greaney’s work last year, when I grabbed a copy of his 2019 release, Mission Critical, due to its fun-sounding plot, and I ended up really liking it. Due to how much I enjoyed Mission Critical, I also decided to check out his other release for 2019, Red Metal, which he cowrote with Lt. Col. Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV. This proved to be a very smart decision as Red Metal was an incredible read that was one of my top books (and audiobooks) of the year. As a result, I was rather keen to check out the next release from Greaney when it came out, and I have been looking forward to this book for some time.

Court Gentry is the Gray Man, a rogue CIA operative turned legendary assassin with a conscience, who is known and feared across the globe for his ability to overcome the odds and kill the most well-protected target. While still secretly working for the CIA as part of an off-the-books operation, Gentry still occasionally engages in freelance assassin work, only accepting contracts on some of the world’s most evil and corrupt individuals. His latest job takes him to a remote property in Croatia, where he is hired to kill a former Serbian general and notorious war criminal who has escaped justice for years. While Gentry is able to eliminate his target, he makes a shocking discovery in the building’s cellar: a dark room full of kidnapped women.

Gentry has inadvertently stumbled upon a human trafficking ring that transports kidnapped or coerced women across the world into a life of sexual slavery and untold horrors. Despite his best attempts to rescue the women, Gentry is forced to leave them behind, due to the fear that the women have of their captors. Haunted by what he has seen and the realisation that his actions may have led to terrible repercussions for the captives he encountered, Gentry makes it his objective to relocate and free the women, no matter the cost, while also causing as much pain to the people responsible.

However, this is no ordinary mission for Gentry. The human trafficking ring he is tracking, known as the Consortium, is made up of many different criminal organisations across the world which are highly invested in keeping the operation intact. Forced to work outside his usual intelligence networks, and with no CIA backup on the horizon, Gentry teams up with rookie EUROPOL analyst Talyssa Corbu, who has a personal stake in bringing the Consortium down. Together Gentry and Corbu are able to trace the human trafficking pipeline across Eastern Europe to Italy and America. However, the Consortium is far larger than Gentry and Corbu realised, with an elite and deadly fighting force at their back. Can Gentry once again overcome the odds to bring down his opponent, or will the Consortium and their influential allies be his undoing?

Now this was an impressive and fantastic thriller novel from Greaney, who did an outstanding job with this dark and captivating read. One Minute Out is a substantial and clever book that pits the author’s capable protagonist against a host of the most despicable villains in the world today, human traffickers. Like the rest of the books in this series, One Minute Out can be enjoyed as a standalone novel, and no prior knowledge of the other Gray Man books is required to enjoy this latest entry in the series. While this book is very grim and uncomfortable at times due to its darker subject matter, this proved to be a compelling and enjoyable thriller, which is probably my favourite Gray Man novel so far.

This is a really well-written thriller novel, and Greaney came up with some amazing scenes and sequences throughout the course of this book. One Minute Out is told from a variety of different perspectives, including the protagonist, Court Gentry, several supporting characters and a number of antagonists. This helps produce a large-scale and comprehensive read that dives into several new characters while simultaneously showing off the scale of the opponents that Gentry is going up against. While a large part of the book is told from the third person, Greaney utilises a first-person perspective for the scenes that Gentry is narrating. Not only does this help Gentry’s chapters really stand out but it allows the reader to get some fantastic insights into the mind of the complex protagonists, and why he is so determined to engage in an apparent fool’s errand and help out a bunch of people he has never even met before. I have to say that I was really impressed with the multitude of amazing action sequences that filled this book, as Greaney has his protagonist engage in a number of thrilling, high-octane scenes, which I had a blast reading. While I really enjoyed all the various shootouts, infiltrations of secure targets, examples of tradecraft throughout various European cities and explosive car chases, a couple of scenes really stood out to me. These highlights included a particularly well-written sequence set underwater, as Gentry attempts to escape from several boatloads of killers with only a damaged set of scuba equipment, and a massive assault of a heavily fortified and well-guarded complex out in the dessert, with only a few seasoned ex-soldiers and an insane relic of a helicopter pilot backing him up. All of this helped make for an excellent read, and I really enjoyed where Greaney took the story at times.

One of the most compelling things about this novel is the way that Greaney has anchored his excellent thriller story around a sinister real-life trade that is currently plaguing the world, human trafficking for sexual slavery. As terrible as it is to consider in this modern day and age, human slavery is still a thing, and for many it is a profitable and stable business. Throughout the course of the novel Greaney shines a light on this foul trade, as his protagonist encounters this evil in Europe and deals with a number of characters affected by it. As the book progresses, the reader gains a huge amount of knowledge about this malevolent criminal industry from a bunch of different perspectives. As a result, there is a quite a lot of information about how trafficking rings operate, including the way that the girls are taken, manipulated and broken, as well as the ways that they are transported and sold across the world. Greaney does an outstanding job diving into this subject, presenting the reader with a grim and uncompromising view of all the horrors associated with this trade, and ensuring that no one is left uncertain about how evil the individuals behind it are. I really appreciate the way that Greaney featured it in this book, although those people who are uncomfortable with sexual violence will probably have a hard time reading this book.

I felt that the dark subject of human trafficking served as a rather intriguing plot point for this novel, and it definitely worked well with the spy thriller genre of the series. The main benefit is that it presents the reader with a truly despicable and completely unlikeable group of antagonists for Gentry to go up against. Thanks to the author’s use of multiple viewpoints, you get to see inside the heads of several of the Consortium’s leaders, and you swiftly learn that they are an extremely vile and irredeemable bunch of characters who the reader instantly roots against. I liked the way in which the story followed Gentry progressively working his way up the trafficking ladder, from the low-level way station that he accidently discovered, through the corrupt police in several Eastern European towns, to the organisation’s middle management, their larger auctions, right up the bases of the Consortium’s leader in America. This results in a variety of different opponents and obstacles that he must overcome, ranging from low level street thugs to elite South African mercenaries trained in similar methods as Gentry. I really enjoyed seeing Gentry use his espionage tradecraft to tear through the less competent criminal elements at the lower end of the group, before going up against the better trained, elite enforcers of the organisation. Thanks to the author’s depictions of them, it was quite fun to see the upper leadership of the Consortium slowly get more and more scared and desperate after each of Gentry’s operations against them, and their eventual fates turned out to be extremely satisfying.

I also quite liked the way that for the majority of the book Gentry is working outside of the system, without his usual CIA backup or resources. This forces him to engage in a less sophisticated battle against his opponents, relying more on his skills than having any backup or intelligence, which I thought made for a much more credible narrative with higher stakes. Thanks to author’s use of the first-person perspective for Gentry’s character, you get a much more in-depth explanation for his tactics and methods, which I enjoyed and found to be rather fascinating. I also enjoyed the author’s inclusion of several female side-characters, who Gentry works with to bring down the Consortium. The main one of these is Talyssa Corbu, who utilises her financial expertise to help move the plot along and point Gentry to his next target. While Corbu is a bit of a pain at the start of the book, due to her incompetence, she grew on me over time, especially as she became more determined and capable, especially when more of her backstory was revealed. I was also quite impressed with the depictions of several female characters who were taken prisoners by the traffickers, and who eventually helped Gentry take them down. Having the women work to free themselves was a nice touch by Greaney, and I particularly loved one scene where several of the women defied typical convention and helped save Gentry, with realistic explanations for how they obtained their relevant skills (thank goodness for equal opportunity Eastern European military training). All of this led to an extremely exciting and highly compelling story, and I really enjoyed the full extent of One Minute Out’s story.

I ended up listening to the audiobook format of One Minute Out, which was narrated by Jay Snyder, who has narrated several of Greaney’s books in the past. The One Minute Out audiobook ran for around 16 hours, and I was able to clear through it in a few days. I found the audiobook format to be an excellent way to enjoy the novel, and I strongly felt that listening to this book helped me connect a lot more with the story and characters. Snyder did an amazing job narrating this book, and I was especially impressed with the way that he brought all of One Minute Out’s characters to life. Not only did Snyder provide an excellent and fitting voice for Gentry, but he also produced some great voices for the other characters in the book, coming up with a range of realistic accents to show off the diversity of the cast. This turned out to be a fantastic and entertaining way to enjoy One Minute Out and I think that I will be checking out more of Greaney’s books this way in the future.

One Minute Out by Mark Greaney is an outstanding and exceptional new thriller which takes the reader on a dark and action-packed adventure around the world. This proved to be a deeply exciting and truly compelling entry from Greaney, who once again shows why he is one of the top thriller authors in the world today. This was an impressive new entry in the fantastic Gray Man series, and I cannot wait to see where Greaney takes this epic series in the future.

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Hit-Girl, Volume 3: In Rome by Rafael Albuquerque and Rafael Scavone

On January 4, 2020August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe1 Comment

Hit-Girl, Volume 3 In Rome Cover.jpg

Publisher: Image Comics

Publication Date: 19 February 2019

Length: 104 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The world’s most dangerous 12-year-old, Hit-Girl, continues her world tour of crime fighting, this time heading to Rome to bring her unique brand of justice to a new group of criminals in another fantastically fun and brutal adventure.

Mindy McCready, the pre-teen vigilante killer better known as Hit-Girl, has successfully embarked on a one-girl international crusade against crime. Not only has she decimated the criminal underworld of Colombia, but she successfully eliminated a group of Canadian drug dealers while surviving all the hazards of the Great White North. Her latest adventure sees her travel to romantic and historical Rome, where a completely different breed of gangsters awaits her.

After failing to stop a masked cat-burglar stealing a bejewelled skull at the Toronto International Airport, Mindy finds herself accidently transported to Rome. Managing to recover the skull from the thief, a talented young woman known as La Gatta (the Cat), Mindy attempts to uncover who hired her to steal it and why. However, her investigation puts her firmly in the crosshairs of a dangerous and deranged mob boss, Gilistina Malvolia, who is determined the have the skull no matter what.

Teaming up with La Gatta, Mindy faces off against Gilisina’s legion of followers in Rome in a bloody game of cat and mouse. But between killer nuns, crazed bikers and medieval monks, Mindy might have bitten off a little more than she can chew. Is Hit-Girl capable of going up against Rome’s boss of all bosses, or will she meet a gruesome end at the hands of Gilistina and the bloody saint she serves?

In Rome is the third volume of the deeply entertaining new Hit-Girl series, which has spun off from the popular Kick-Ass comics by Mark Millar. The character of Hit-Girl appeared in all of the previous Kick-Ass comics and was also the main character of the Hit-Girl limited series (now referred to as Book Two of The Dave Lizewski Years of Kick-Ass). After the end of the final series of The Dave Lizewski Kick-Ass comics, Hit-Girl decided to leave New York and go on a worldwide tour of vigilante justice. This international killing spree is covered in the ongoing Hit-Girl comic series, which started in early 2018. The Hit-Girl comics now feature a series of four issue storylines (which are later released within their own collected volume), with each storyline featuring a change of writers and artists. I really enjoyed the first volume of the Hit-Girl series, In Colombia, last year and I previously reviewed it on this blog where I gave it a full five stars. The second volume, In Canada, was an interesting follow-up, and I quite enjoyed the fun change in location.

The focus of this review is In Rome, which is the third volume of the Hit-Girl series. Containing issues #9-12 of the Hit-Girl series, this comic was written by Rafael Albuquerque and was drawn by his frequent collaborator Rafael Scavone. In Rome was an excellent addition to this amazing series, and I really enjoyed where the creative team took this fun and exciting story. Not only does it feature an enjoyable and fascinating plot, but there is some excellent character work contained within and some superb artwork, making for a deeply entertaining read.

This third volume of Hit-Girl is a pretty crazy and over-the-top read, containing a very weird story. Not only does it continue to showcase the rampage of a 12-year-old vigilante as she takes out every bad person she comes across in the most gruesome or hyper-violent way she can, but it also features a very unique new set of opponents for her. The villain of In Rome is a murderous old lady, Gilistina Malvolia, who has managed to take control of the entire criminal underbelly of Rome. Gilistina is a former nun who, after being kicked out of her order for murder, now follows the teachings of a former Vatican assassin who was canonised as a saint. To that end, she now controls the city through fear and violence, murdering anyone who disappoints her, including a poor wannabe pasta chef in a rather fun introductory scene for her. Gilistina is after the bejewelled skull that Hit-Girl liberates, the skull of her beloved saint, and she is tearing up Rome to find her. As a result, Hit-Girl must go up against Gilistina’s minions, including nuns armed with machine guns, angel inspired bikers and monks armed with medieval weapons. This is all deeply insane and I loved every minute of it as this crazy story is a deeply fun and thrilling treat.

In addition to the fantastically kooky story, there are also some great character moments throughout the comic which add some dramatic elements to the plot. One of my favourite parts of it is Mindy’s team-up with the thief La Gatta. La Gatta, whose real name is Paola, is a master thief who gets caught up in Gilistina’s plans to obtain the saint’s skull and is forced to work with Mindy to survive. Despite being way older than Mindy, La Gatta comes across as the more scared and incapable of the two and is constantly shocked by all the extreme violence going on around her. The two girls bond throughout the book, especially over apparent similarities in their familiar situations and their relationship reminded me a bit of her dynamic with Kick-Ass (sarcastic younger girl mentoring someone older but way more out of their depth). It was nice to see her team up with a friend for once in this series, rather than with a killer she is blackmailing or the ghost of her father, and there are some generally funny moments between the two of them. It also ends in a rather good plot twist that I will be interested to see if the series comes back to at some point.

In Rome also does a great job of looking at the unique dynamics of Hit-Girl’s character. Despite the fact that she was raised as the ultimate killing machine, Mindy is still a little girl, and this shows through in a number of different ways, from her cute civilian outfit and toys to her rather black-and-white view of criminality. There is also a tangible sense of innocence lost around her, as well as a longing for family and her dead father, as she makes sure to interfere in an attempted theft from a tourist family she witnesses. The look of despair and unhappiness on her face after she sees the happy family walk off after she helps them is pretty heartbreaking and it makes you appreciate that she’s not as emotionally put together as her confident exterior would imply. This longing for family and connection also explains her willingness to work with La Gatta, as she sees a lot of herself in her, and it also opens her up to some subtle manipulation. All of this proves to be a really intriguing addition to the story, and I am curious to see what other examinations of Hit-Girl’s character are done in future volumes of this series.

This volume of Hit-Girl contains some pretty amazing artwork which I really enjoyed. The artistic team behind In Rome have done a great job drawing this epic adventure, and there are some awesome scenes throughout. Based on what the story is about, there is an obvious focus on all elaborate violence and death that Hit-Girl brings wherever she goes. There are some gruesome and bloody sequences throughout the book and all the different forms of fights and violence are done pretty spectacularly. I also liked the cool designs they came up with for the various characters; I was especially impressed by the realistic faces which did a fantastic job conveying all the character’s emotions. For example, you get a real sense of the anger and hatred of Gilistina (whose stooped old-lady look is a lot of fun), the despair of the various victims of either Gilistina or Hit-Girl or the complex range of emotions of Mindy, which range from joy while she kills everyone, to something more subtle and tragic when she settles down long enough to feel. This great artwork combines extremely well with the volume’s excellent story, and it produces a really enjoyable Hit-Girl comic.

Overall, I really quite enjoyed the third volume of Hit-Girl, In Rome, and I thought it was an absolutely fantastic addition to the series. This is a perfect read for anyone interested in a fun and thoroughly entertaining comic chock full of ridiculous plot points, intense action and some character work that is surprisingly deep at times. This has proven to be an outstanding series, and I really like how they change creative teams with each volume. I must make an effort to get the next few volumes of this series, and I am especially intrigued by the fourth volume in the series, In Hollywood, which was written by Kevin Smith. In the meantime, In Rome is really worth checking out, and I would definitely recommend it.

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The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry – Audiobook Review

On April 17, 2019April 25, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller30 Comments

The Malta Exchange Cover

Publishers: Hodder & Stoughton and MacMillan Audio (5 March 2019)

Series: Cotton Malone – Book 14

Length: 13 hours and 31 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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From the brilliant mind of international thriller sensation Steve Berry comes the 14^th book in his acclaimed Cotton Malone series, The Malta Exchange.

When the pope unexpectedly dies, opportunity and chaos grips the Vatican. As the world’s cardinals arrive in Rome in preparation for the conclave to elect a new pope, one cardinal, the controversial Kastor Gallo, suddenly leaves for an impromptu visit to Malta. He has been summoned for a clandestine meeting, the results of which could hand him the papacy. The only witness to this meeting is United States Justice Department operative Luke Daniels, whose covert observations of the meeting is quickly compromised, forcing him to fight for his life.

While Daniels attempts to uncover what is happening in Malta, his former colleague, Cotton Malone, is in Italy working for British intelligence. An Italian collector claims to have letters between Churchill and Mussolini that could prove extremely damaging to Churchill’s legacy, and MI6 is eager to recover them. What is meant to be a quick mission for Malone is complicated when armed men kill the collector and steal the letters. Malone is able to trace his assailants to the legendary Knights of Malta, and his chase to recover the letters leads him into a hunt from a mysterious document from the reign of Emperor Constantine.

This document, revered by the Knights of Malta and feared by the church, has been lost for hundreds of years. Hunted by some of history’s greatest tyrants, including Napoleon and Mussolini, this secret document not only has the potential to influence the current concave if revealed, but it could also tear the church down completely. As a secret society within the modern incarnation of the Knights of Malta and elements of the Entity, the church’s intelligence organisation, both attempt to claim the document, Malone and Daniels once again team up to recover the document and destroy the conspiracy threatening to envelope them and the entire Catholic world.

Steve Berry is a veteran author of thrillers that focus on complex conspiracies, having written a number of exciting books since his 2003 debut. While Berry has written four standalone novels, including The Amber Room, The Romanov Prophecy and The Third Secret, he is probably best known for his long-running Cotton Malone series of books. The Cotton Malone series, which began in 2006 with The Templar Legacy, is made up of 14 books, each of which features the series titular character, retired U.S. Justice Department operative Cotton Malone as he is forced to investigate a series of elaborate conspiracies or secrets with origins in history.

The Malta Exchange features several characters from the previous books in the series. While this is the 14^th book in the series, The Malta Exchange can easily be read as a standalone book, as no prior knowledge of the Cotton Malone series is required to enjoy this story. While there are some mentions of previous adventures in the series, none of these brief references are really relevant to this book’s story. Likewise, the series’ recurring characters are re-introduced in some detail, and no pre-existing knowledge of them is needed. Those readers who are already familiar with this series will enjoy another amazing thriller from Berry, although there may be some repetition, as the protagonists once again dive into another elaborate conspiracy centred with a secret order associated with the Catholic Church. As one of my reviewer colleagues who is somewhat more familiar with this series than me stated, “How many conspiracies can one man wander into?” Still, for those people who have enjoyed Berry’s stories before, The Malta Exchange is another exceptional read with a thrilling mystery that is a lot of fun to unravel.

While I received a physical copy of this book to read, I ended up listening to the audiobook format of The Malta Exchange narrated by Scott Brick. This book was an absolutely fantastic piece of thriller fiction as the reader is thrown into an extremely intriguing and wide-reaching conspiracy involving hidden documents, major historical figures and deep dives into the history and background of several fictional and real-life organisations.

This is an excellent book for thriller fans, as The Malta Exchange contains a number of intense and complex conspiracies and plots overlayed across each other to create an addictive and enjoyable read. The main plot focuses on the search for a long-lost document that originated during the reign of Emperor Constantine, which has the potential to damage or destroy the Catholic Church. As a big fan of the historical fiction genre, I loved how this central mystery cleverly utilised a number of massive historical events and figures in its overall conspiracy. For example, this central conspiracy has ties to Emperor Constantine, the founding of the Catholic Church, Napoleon, Mussolini, the Crusades and important events in World War II. It even features a number of cool flashbacks to Mussolini and Napoleon’s life, showing how they were embroiled in this conspiracy. This results in a treasure hunt so large, mysterious and potentially world-changing you cannot help but be intrigued and eager to see how it ends. On top of that, a number of secret organisations with conflicting agendas and plots are duking it out around the hunt for this document and the reader is uncertain of their true motivations until later in the story. All these story threads come together incredibly well at the end of the story, resulting in an intense, intelligent and entertaining thriller storyline that I could not wait to fully uncover.

Except for a couple of chapters featuring flashbacks to historical figures like Mussolini or Napoleon, The Malta Exchange is told from the point of view of four main characters: Cotton Malone, Luke Daniels, Cardinal Kastor Gallo and a mysterious ‘knight’ who remains unnamed for most of the book. Malone and Daniels serve as good central protagonists, and I liked the contrast in their styles and personalities. While Malone is the older, wiser and occasionally more careful protagonist who puts together the various clues around the hidden location of ancient document, Daniels is the younger, more action orientated character who does a number of crazy stunts throughout the book while also hiding his intelligence and cunning behind a convincing “good ol’ boy” routine. The unnamed knight is The Malta Exchange’s main antagonist, whose identity remains hidden for much of the book. This knight is an interesting character, and it is always fun to see the antagonist’s point of view as they attempt to outwit the protagonists. While the reveal of this character’s secret identity is somewhat obvious due to there only being a few significant secondary characters, the antagonist’s overall plan was quite ingenious and devious. Kastor Gallo is another interesting character; a self-serving Cardinal who wants to become Pope, he skirts the line between protagonist and villain in this story. While the character considers himself an honest and pious priest, he is not particularly likeable due to his extremely conservative religious views and unbridled arrogance. Still it was fun watching him try to manipulate the other characters, as well as his plot to try and gain the papacy. There are several other fantastic side characters whom I will not discuss in any detail lest I hint at the identity of the unnamed knight above, but they really add a lot to this story.

One of the things that really impressed me about this book was the way that Berry dived into several organisations and locations in extreme and intriguing detail, particularly when it comes to two specific organisations. The first of these organisations is the Knights of Malta, otherwise known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta or the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. Throughout this book, Berry spends a significant amount of time exploring this order, from their origins as the Knights Hospitaller and the Crusades, to their current existence as a massive charitable organisation. Berry examines a large amount of their history, how they are organised, where they are located, what they do, their political status and how they have evolved over the years, and this amazing examination is further extended out into the incredible history of the nation of Malta. Even the order’s leadership crisis between 2016 and 2018 is somewhat represented in the book, as the author describes a similar crisis affecting the organisation featured within The Malta Exchange. All of this is deeply fascinating, and I really enjoyed the author’s examination of this organisation and how he was able to utilise the Knights of Malta’s actual history to the degree he did, with only a few alterations to fit his story.

The second organisation that Berry dives into is the Catholic Church, as a number of key aspects of the church and the Vatican come into play throughout the plot. Like with his deep dive into the Knights of Malta, the author included a number of detailed examinations about church history, organisation and key events, like the selection of a new pope, that I quite enjoyed learning more about, and which fit incredibly well into the story. The part of the examination into the church that I enjoyed the most was the look at the church’s supposed intelligence organisation, the Entity. While the church has never confirmed they have an official intelligence organisation, several historical books have discussed its potential activities, and a number of thriller writers have utilised such an organisation, often known as the Entity, to great effect. Perhaps because thrillers are not a genre that I read an awful lot of, this was the first book I have read that featured a church intelligence agency. I really liked the idea of a secret intelligence organisation working for the Vatican, and Berry really utilises them well throughout his book, making them out as one of the most elite and effective intelligence organisations on the planet, who people really should not mess with. I absolutely loved all the Catholic Church inclusions that the author featured and that, combined with the captivating examination of the Knights of Malta, helped turn this into an amazing overall story.

As I mentioned above, I chose to listen to the audiobook version of The Malta Exchange, which was narrated by Scott Brick. This was not a massively long audiobook, only clocking in at around 13 and a half hours, and I was able to power through this really quickly, especially as I become more and more enthralled with the book’s compelling story. I was quite glad that I chose to listen to this book rather than read it. While you do lose out on some of the book’s visual elements, like some of the diagrams of anagrams or secret codes that feature throughout the physical copy, I found that listening to The Malta Exchange really helped me absorb the massive conspiracy storyline, as well as the history and organisation examinations, a hell of a lot more. Brick has an amazing voice for thrillers, and I quite enjoyed listening him narrate this fantastic novel. The voices he creates for the various characters in this book are quite good, and I liked some of the accents that he came up with. I would strongly recommend the audiobook version of The Malta Exchange, although readers will still be able to get a huge amount out of the physical copy of the book.

The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry is an incredible and addictive ancient conspiracy thriller that I had an amazing time reading. Once you get sucked into the book’s various conspiracies and mysteries it is hard to pull yourself out until each and every one of them is untangled. What I enjoyed most about the main conspiracy was the author’s ability to explore fascinating history and famous organisations in outstanding detail, and then use these events to really enhance his story. The end result is an awesome novel that comes highly recommend from me. Appealing and accessible to established fans of the Cotton Malone series, as well as other fans of the thriller genre, I was really glad I decided to check this book out and I am curious to see what historical conspiracy Malone uncovers next.

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