Tag: Long Running Series

Warhammer 40,000: The Greater Good by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, WarhammerLeave a comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 January 2013)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Nine

Length: 9 hours and 50 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Continue to follow the legendary and complex Commissar Ciaphas Cain into death and danger, with another amazing book in Sandy Mitchell’s awesome Warhammer 40,000 series, The Greater Good.

After recently reviewing the eighth book in Sandy Mitchell’s iconic Ciaphas Cain series, The Last Ditch, I just had to continue following the fun adventures of the Imperium’s most charismatic yet cowardly commissar, Ciaphas Cain.  As such, the moment I finished The Last Ditch, I immediately read the ninth book in the series, The Greater Good, which had a very interesting scenario behind it that builds on several previous storylines from the series.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, legendary hero of the Imperium of Man and self-declared fraud, is once again thrust into mortal danger when he is assigned to bolster the defences of the human planet of Quadravidia, against the high-tech attacks of the Tau.  Amid the expected brutal fighting against the advanced aliens, Cain is surprised when the Tau not only recognise him amongst the fighting but also single him out to request an unexpected ceasefire right on the cusp of a Tau victory.

Expecting the worst from this unlikely turn of events, Cain is unsurprised when the Tau reveal that an even greater threat is moving towards the sector, a hive fleet of Tyranids.  With neither side capable of fighting both each other and the ravenous Tyranids, the Imperium and the Tau agree to an uneasy truce, with both sides agreeing to coordinate their offensive against the incoming hive fleet.

Accompanied by a Tau ambassador, Cain, his trusty aid Jurgen, and the Imperial fleet journey to the vital Forge World of Fecundia, a potential target for the incoming Tyranids.  Using Fecundia as a base of operations, the Imperium are hopeful the Tyrands will focus their attack on the Tau controlled planets.  However, the chances of Cain remaining out of the fight are always slim, and the commissar soon discovers the existence of a secret facility hidden on the planet, one guaranteed to draw the Tyranids to Fecundia.

Caught between an invading fleet of ravening aliens, and the troubled politics of Fecundia, Cain must rally the defenders for another deadly battle.  However, the secrets lurking within the hidden facility look set to doom them all, and Cain must discover just how far the rot goes in Fecundia, before the entire world is devoured.

The Greater Good was another excellent and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 novel from Sandy Mitchell that combines excellent and action-packed storytelling, with a fantastic and humorous protagonist.  Featuring an outstanding story, The Greater Good was a ton of fun from start to finish, and it served as an amazing continuation of one of the best Warhammer 40,000 series out there.

I quite enjoyed the plot of The Greater Good, although it did go in some different directions to what I was expecting.  From the cover and the official plot synopsis, I assumed this novel was going to feature humans and Tau fighting side by side on the initial planet the book is set, after temporarily setting aside their differences.  Instead, the plot is primarily set on a secondary planet of Fecundia, with the only Tau being a controversial ambassador providing some interesting alternative insights.  While this was still a fun and exciting narrative, it did run the risk of being a bit too similar to some of the previous Ciaphas Cain novels that focused on Tyranid invasions.

I felt that Mitchell compensated well for this change in direction, by drawing together an interesting read about infiltration, isolated battles and the Imperium’s research in the Tyranids as they attempt to find ways to defeat them.  Revisiting key story elements from the previous two Ciaphas Cain novels, the protagonist soon finds himself trapped amid a series of controversial and dangerous experiments that begin to attract the Tyranid hive fleet.  After a series of exciting set pieces, including a great extended sequence with the protagonist trapped in an alien filled desert, you reach the final third of the book which primarily takes place in the secret research centre.  Unsurprisingly, things go wrong, and Cain and Jurgen are forced into a seemingly hopeless situation as they fight enemies on all sides.  There were some good twists here, especially around potential betrayals, and while the culprit is easy to predict, there is an excellent amount of uncertainty and red herrings to keep you guessing.  The entire story comes together in an awesome way, filled with Mitchell’s usual excellent fight sequences and humour, and this proved to be a compelling and satisfying addition to the larger series.

Long-term fans of this Warhammer 40,000 series will know that Mitchell has a set format for the Ciaphas Cain books that blends clever character-driven humour with the usual grim action and lore of the universe.  This was also the case for The Greater Good, which features the usual chronicle style told from the protagonist’s perspective, bolstered by funny external commentary from a fictional editor, who also adds in some entertaining in-universe texts for some additional context.  While this style and certain narrative elements are very familiar, especially if you read a few of these books in a row, The Greater Good was still an awesome novel, and Mitchell did make it stand out by adding in some intrigue with Tyranid infiltrators, as well as some curious looks at diplomacy between the Imperium and the Tau.  I quite enjoyed seeing the conflicts that emerged between the various factions of this impromptu alliance, especially as Cain and the Imperial Guard had more issues with their Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marine allies than the Tau.  Add to that Mitchell’s usually impressive humour and wonderful action set pieces, and The Greater Good was an overall outstanding novel that I quickly powered through.

While most of the Ciaphas Cain books work well as standalone reads that are very accessible to new readers, The Greater Good stood out as it had more of a connection to the previous entries in the series.  There were a lot of heavy references to the events of For the Emperor, The Emperor’s Finest and The Last Ditch, with key plot elements and some returning characters coming into the play during The Greater Good’s narrative.  As someone who enjoyed all the previous books, it was nice to see the consequences and aftermath of these prior adventures be utilised in this entry’s plot, and I think that long-term fans will really appreciate it.  These references also helped to dispel some of the usual issues this series has with reusing descriptions and thoughts from the previous books.  While much of the plot is geared towards established fans, new readers can still easily follow The Greater Good’s plot without too much issue, as Mitchell does an excellent job of recapping these previous adventures.  As such, The Greater Good proves to be an amazing overall entry in the Ciaphas Cain series, especially as it remains accessible and enjoyable to readers of varying experiences.

As always, I must give a shoutout to the outstanding cast of this novel, especially as there is an interesting array of unique characters contained within.  This includes a great mix of familiar and new characters, with much of the action focused on the titular Commissar Ciaphas Cain, who remains the usual complex rogue we’re so familiar with.  It is always fun to see Cain struggle with his imposter syndrome and supposed cowardice, and Mitchell ensures that the protagonist is the main source of the book’s humour thanks to his self-centred narration and hilarious insights into the usual grimdark universe.  Cain’s aide Jurgen remains an excellent source of additional entertainment, while Inquisitor Amberly Vail is once again perfect as the overarching editor of the story, providing her sarcastic insights and corrections to Cain’s actions and conclusions.  Throw in a captivating combination of new or minor characters, including a frustrated general, a calculating Tau ambassador, some returning Space Marines and a cunning Tech Priest with her own agenda, and the cast of The Greater Good is exceptional and drives the story into some fascinating places.

After hyping up the audiobook versions of all the previous Ciaphas Cain entries, I doubt anyone will be too surprised that I decided to check out The Greater Good on this format.  All Warhammer 40,000 novels are damn awesome on audiobook, and The Greater Good is a particularly epic example of this.  Coming in with a runtime just short of 10 hours, The Greater Good audiobook is an amazing listen that is easy to get addicted to, especially as the excellent use of several outstanding narrators really helps to enhance and highlight Mitchell’s unique writing style.

The Greater Good audiobook features an impressive six separate narrators, all of whom will be quite well known by Warhammer audiobook enthusiasts.  As with the rest of the series, most of the work is done by returning narrators Stephen Perring and Penelope Rawlins, both of whom have a key role in this production.  Perring serves as the entertaining and flippant voice of Cain as he recounts this adventure in his own words, while Rawlins is the voice of Inquisitor Vail as she provides her editorial notes throughout the plot and introduces other intermissions.  These two have long proven themselves to be perfect main narrators for the Ciaphas Cain books, and they fulfilled their roles in The Greater Good extremely well, full grasping the complexity of their respective characters.  The other four narrators for this audiobook, Matthew Hunt, Andrew James Spooner, John Banks and Tara Rawson, have minor but entertaining roles in this audiobook, providing voices for the various in-universe history texts and other books/messages that appear at various parts of the book, which allows for some additional comedy.  This mixed narration comes together extremely well throughout the entirety of The Greater Good, resulting in a particularly epic listen.  As such, I would once again recommend that potential readers of this Ciaphas Cain novel check out the audiobook version, as there is frankly no better way to enjoy The Greater Good.

With yet another clever, exciting and hilarious take on the epic Warhammer 40,000 universe, the ninth Ciaphas Cain novel, The Greater Good, was an outstanding addition to the series that I had a wonderful time listening to.  Utilising his tried and tested writing style, Sandy Mitchell produces another compelling and entertaining read that proves to be highly addictive and a lot of fun to get through.  I really enjoyed this excellent entry in the Ciaphas Cain series, and I am hoping to finish off this series by the end of the year.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer1 Comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 February 2012)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Eight

Length: 9 hours and 29 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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The mighty hero of the Imperium returns for another rip-roaring and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 adventure, with The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell, a wonderful Ciaphas Cain novel that proves exceptionally hard to put down.

I have been in a real Warhammer 40,000 mood lately, so I decided to continue my exploration of the franchise by diving back into one of its best and most hilarious series with another Ciaphas Cain novel by Sandy Mitchell.  The Ciaphas Cain series are particularly awesome Warhammer 40,000 novels that follow the adventures of the legendary human hero Commissar Ciaphas Cain as he faces down the many horrors the grimdark Warhammer universe has to offer.  However, what sets the series apart from other series in the franchise is the fantastic tongue-in-cheek way in which the supposed hero of the series sees himself as a substantial coward concerned more with his own survival, and whose heroic exploits are down more to luck and chance.  This results in a fantastic collection of books, each one of which throws the protagonist into danger despite his best efforts, often resulting in a series of hilarious and over-the-top adventures.  I have had an outstanding team reading the previous entries in the series, including For the Emperor, Caves of Ice, The Traitor’s Hand, Death or Glory, Duty Calls, Cain’s Last Stand and The Emperor’s Finest, and I have been eager to read the eighth novel in the series, The Last Ditch for some time.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, famed hero of the Imperium of Man, is at the height of his legendary career, fighting back the many enemies of humanity despite his best attempts to stay out of battle.  However, despite his reputation usually landing him in the most challenging of conflicts, Cain’s next mission seems to be relatively straightforward.  Once again accompanied by the Valhallan 597th regiment of Imperial Guard, Cain is tasked with eradicating a simple ork infestation on the frozen planet of Nusquam Fundumentibus.  However, not even Cain’s most pessimistic musings of the future can prepare him for the horrors to come.

Travelling aboard a disreputable freighter, Cain and his soldiers are forced to make a deadly crashlanding on Nusquam Fundumentibus, right into the middle of an ork horde.  Engaged in a desperate fight for their lives against the greenskins, the Imperial Guard are blind to other threats hiding on the planet, threats that are far more insidious than a group of rampaging orks.

As the conflict continues and several isolated communities on the planet start to go dark, Cain soon becomes aware that something apart from the orks are stalking the citizens of Nusquam Fundumentibus.  Something ancient and malevolent lies hidden beneath the ice of the planet, and the new war has finally woken them up.  Outnumbered and outmatched, the Imperial Guard need to pull a desperate and no doubt suicidal plan to survive.  Luckily, they have a bonified hero to lead the charge, even if he’d rather be anywhere else in the galaxy.

The always outstanding Ciaphas Cain series continues in impressive form, as Sandy Mitchell adds further depth to some of the more entertaining and gripping novels in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.  Combining intense action with the protagonist’s unique insights into the grimdark Warhammer universe, The Last Ditch was a brilliant addition to the series that I couldn’t get enough of.

Mitchell once again came up with an outstanding narrative for The Last Ditch that grabs your attention early on and keeps you hooked to the very end.  I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about reading The Last Ditch, as it looked like Mitchell was going to rehash the similar ice-world story found in Caves of Ice.  However, this book has a very different narrative, while still maintaining all the familiar story elements that make this series to dependable to read.  Starting off on a different footing with a fun transport arc that ends in deadly tears, The Last Ditch has an explosive first third (literally), which provided a lot of initial drama and risk.

The Last Ditch’s story quickly dives into even more awesome action, as the protagonist is reluctantly forced into action against the orks, while other dangerous threats lurk beneath the surface.  I liked how Mitchell did a good job building up tension in advance of the reveal about the true antagonists of the novel, with the reader knowing that something worse was coming thanks to Cain’s prescient narration from the future, and the author used this time to expand on his new setting.  The eventual sequence revealing this enemy had a great horror vibe to it as Cain explored tight quarters underground, and it led naturally into an extended campaign.  The rest of the book is a good mixture of connected action scenes, as Cain and the other characters slowly work out just how desperate the situation is and attempt to take steps to address it.  This works well as an overarching narrative, and you really appreciate the scope of the situation and the protagonist’s continued accidental heroics as he tries to run away.

All this perfectly leads up to a final big sequence, where the desperate protagonists are forced into a particularly brutal fight with little hope of survival.  Unsurprisingly, this requires Cain to engage in another suicide mission, which leads to some of the best action scenes in the entire book.  This entire last section of The Last Ditch is a particularly awesome thrill ride which I powered through so very quickly to see how everything came to an end.  Readers come away very satisfied from The Last Ditch, which honestly was one of the stronger books in this cool series, and I really enjoyed how Mitchell continues to entertain with his amazing and entertaining Warhammer 40,000 premise.

Mitchell maintains pretty much the same writing style for The Last Ditch he has previously utilised in the other Ciaphas Cain books, which allows for a very impressive light read.  It is told primarily in a chronicle/journal format written by an older Cain, which recounts the events of this adventure through the narrow focus of the protagonist’s unreliable memory.  This allows for a fun and self-centred take on events that examines Cain’s reluctant action while also loading up the story with some entertaining humour that provides a great satirical look at the usually grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe.  This main narrative of action, adventure and supposedly cowardly behaviour is cleverly interspersed with a range of entertaining footnotes, commentary and in-universe texts that have been provided by the account’s patient, if sarcastic, editor, Inquisitor Amberly Vail.  This combination of narrative elements not only cleverly provides readers with and informative and light-hearted look at events taking place outside of Cain’s selfish storytelling, but it also pumps up both the humour and the stakes of the plot, especially as you become aware of the planet-wide impacts of the central adventure.

As with all the books in the series, The Last Ditch does work well as a standalone novel that readers can enjoy without any previous knowledge of the other Ciaphas Cain books, or indeed the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe.  While this novel is set in the middle of Cain’s personal chronology and makes mentions of several previous adventures, readers should have no trouble following along, with the point of these references made clear quickly through the writing and context.  Established fans of the series will also have a lot of fun with this book, especially as Mitchell continues Cain’s adventures with the Valhallan 597th, and there are a lot of entertaining familiar beats with this newer entry.  Like many of the previous books, The Last Ditch does have some repetition issues, with Mitchell reusing a lot of basic story ideas and phrases in Cain and Vail’s descriptions that returning readers will notice.  However, I felt that this entry was distinctive enough, especially with a more horror vibe to it, that any readers can come in and easily enjoy it.  This allows The Last Ditch to remain an awesome addition to the overall series, and it’s one I personally had an outstanding time getting through.

I also must once again highlight some of the great character work in this novel, especially when it comes to the main character of Commissar Ciaphas Cain.  A complex figure and self-professed coward, Cain spends most of the book trying to come up with ways to avoid combat and survive the inevitable danger his reputation and own bad lack force him to participate in.  With a very cynical and self-deprecating writing style, Mitchell always tries to emulate classic, comedic and craven military figures like Flashman or Blackadder with his depictions of Cain.  However, despite the protagonist’s best efforts to showcase himself as a dishonourable coward, his resultant heroic actions and Inquisitor Vail’s notes help to show the reader that his is somewhat lying to both us and himself, as he continues to be an inspirational figure.  This allows for quite a complex and relatively light-hearted read, as you are constantly wondering just how honest the protagonist is being with his observations and descriptions of his actions.  This all blends well with Cain’s witty and sarcastic humour, which lightly lampoons the usually serious Warhammer 40,000 universe and ensures that you are constantly entertained as you follow Commissar Cain into danger once again.

The rest of the cast of this novel are also a ton of fun, especially as many fan favourite characters from the previous novels are well utilised here.  This includes Cain’s faithful aide, Jurgen, who continues to toe the line between gormless soldier and ultra-effective sidekick, and is a very entertaining inclusion in any of these books.  Inquisitor Amberly Vail once again has a big impact, despite her actual appearance in the novel being quite negligible, and her no-nonsense overarching commentary allows for quite an amusing read.  The returning members of the Valhallan 597th regiment were a welcome inclusion, and it is always cool to see the close relationship that Cain has with these soldiers after so many adventures.  Throw in a young gung-ho commissar that Cain is forced to school, and a planetary governor trying to stay in control of her planet amongst the chaos of war, and the cast of The Last Ditch was pretty exceptional and continues Mitchell’s habit of showcasing entertaining and complex supporting characters.

I have long extolled the impressive virtues of the audiobook format when it comes to Warhammer 40,000 fiction, as it is just so much fun having the over-the-top stories read out loud.  Some of the very best Warhammer books in this format are the Ciaphas Cain audiobooks, due to their elaborate casts and the fantastic way their narrators capture the unique style of the series.  This is particularly true for The Last Ditch, which was another absolute joy to listen to, as its amazing narrators perfectly captured both the humour and complex action.  Coming in with a decent run time of nine and a half hours, listeners can absolutely fly through The Last Ditch audiobook, which once again features all the awesome elements that the rest of the series had.  This includes the use of several different narrators, with the incredible vocal talents of Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory, Toby Longworth and Andrew James Spooner, all adding a lot to the impact of this fun and fantastic story.

Perring is particularly awesome as he voices the main plot of The Last Ditch from the perspective of Cain.  Voicing the protagonist’s conflicted memories of the events, Perring perfectly captures the complex personality of the main character, while also providing a fun take on the action and adventure occurring around the protagonist.  Perring has a great range of different voices for this part of the book, with each of the characters getting a very fitting tone that showcases their separate personalities, including many recurring voices the narrator used in previous audiobooks in the series.  Perring is once again supported by Penelope Rawlins, who voices the character of Inquisitor Amberley Vail as she edits Cain’s memoirs.  Rawlins really dives into the sarcastic character of Inquisitor Vail in these supporting parts of the book, providing a calm, indulgently humorous voice that fits the fun feel of the series.  Rawlins’s interruptions and inclusions as Vail complement Perring’s narration extremely well, adding some great  humour to the plot without ruining the flow of the main story.  These two narrators work together extremely well to bring out much of the book’s humour, and I love how they both have kept coming back to this series to ensure some excellent continuity.

While Perring and Rawlins do the main narration, the additional narrators each have a fun supporting role in proceedings.  Emma Gregory probably gets the most use of the three as she once again voices the memoirs of an ambitious officer in Cain’s regiment, retelling events in a particularly bombastic way.  Gregory deliberately over-acts her part of the audiobook to show off the brash personality of the memoir’s author, and you have to love the pomp and self-importance that Gregory adds to her voice work in these scenes.  The other two, Longworth and Spooner, both of whom are well-established narrators of Warhammer fiction in their own right, have a lot of fun with more minor supporting roles in The Last Ditch, and their cool, if short, inclusions added some fun variety to the experience.  The overall result was another excellent listen that really enhances the fun and impact of the story and the larger franchise.  I honestly think that the Ciaphas Cain series has some of the best audiobooks, and The Last Ditch perfectly showcased how well these books come across in this fun format.

With all the fun action, humour and great focus on a fantastically flawed protagonist fans have come to know and love, Sandy Mitchell continues his exceptional Ciaphas Cain Warhammer 40,000 series with The Last Ditch.  A wonderful and deeply entertaining read, The Last Ditch was a joy to read from start to finish and I had such a brilliant time with it.  Indeed, I enjoyed The Last Ditch so much that I immediately dove into the next book in the series, The Greater Good, the second I finished it.

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Grave Danger by James Grippando

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller3 Comments

Publisher: Harper Audio (Audiobook – 14 January 2025)

Series: Jack Swyteck – Book 19

Length: 10 hours and 53 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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One of the top authors of intense legal thrillers, James Grippando, returns with another outstanding entry in his long-running Jack Swyteck series, Grave Danger, which places the titular protagonist in the middle of a particularly captivating case.

Of the various crime fiction subgenres I have the pleasure of reading, one of my favourites is the legal thriller.  There is just something exciting and addictive about well-written and thrilling books set around the courtroom, especially if they feature complex or life-altering legal cases.  While there are several great authors who specialise in legal thrillers, one of the more intriguing ones I have come across in recent years is veteran author James Grippando, who has been writing compelling novels for over 30 years, with a combination of long-running series, including his main Jack Swyteck series, and other gripping standalone reads.  I personally only started reading Grippando last year when I had the opportunity to read his latest Jack Swyteck novel, Goodbye Girl, a fascinating read that saw the titular Miami lawyer attempt to save a glamorous popstar from several music piracy-related lawsuits.  Goodbye Girl was one of the more entertaining and memorable legal thrillers I read last year, and I was keen to try out the next book in the series, Grave Danger, especially as it had an intriguing plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

Bestselling author James Grippando’s legendary criminal defence attorney Jack Swyteck is back to defend a single mother accused of kidnapping her own child in a perilous case involving politics and international diplomacy that will test his legal expertise and his marriage.

Jack Swyteck’s new client fled Iran to Miami with her daughter, and has been accused of kidnapping by her husband. The seasoned attorney must not only plan a winning defence. To stop the father from taking the girl back to Tehran, Jack must build a case under international law and prove that returning the child would put her at risk.

But everything in this case isn’t what it seems, and Jack quickly learns that his client is really the child’s aunt and that the biological mother may have been killed by Iran’s morality police. But what role did the father play in his wife’s death, and why is Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, being pressured by her bosses to persuade Jack to drop the case?

Plunging into an investigation unlike any other, Jack must discover who is behind the legal maneuvering and what their interest is. As politics threatens to derail the case and compromise the best interests of the child, Jack and Andie find themselves on opposite sides—with their marriage hanging in the balance. For their relationship to survive, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit that extends from a Miami courthouse to the highest echelons of Washington DC, and spells grave danger at every turn.

James Grippando continues to impress with this fantastic and exciting new legal thriller.  Cleverly set around some unique legal circumstances and compelling world-politics, Grave Danger had an outstanding plot loaded with a ton of drama that is guaranteed to hook you all the way to the end.

I felt that Grippando pulled together a very interesting and emotionally charged narrative for Grave Danger, which quickly drags you in with its unique and powerful elements.  The main story primarily involves protagonist Jack Swyteck choosing to defend Iranian refugee Ava Bazzi in a custody case around her daughter Yasmin, with the Iranian government backing Yasmin’s father Farid in the case.  However, as the case proceeds, it becomes clear there are more angles to the story, mostly related to whether Jack’s client is Yasmin’s mother, and whether the real Ava Bazzi is alive or has been killed by the Iranian morality police.  At the same time, Jack is dealing with deeper personal issues as his career has put a strain on his marriage with Andie, who once again is facing pressure from her bosses to influence Jack’s case.  As the various trials continue, both Jack and Andie uncover deeper lies and conspiracies from all the participants in the case, including the United States government influencing events from behind the scenes, and Grave Danger’s narrative goes in some very interesting directions.  Grippando wraps the story up with some excellent twists, which includes some tense action and danger, and readers come away satisfied with the conclusion and curious where certain long-running story points in the series will go next.

Grave Danger was another well-written novel from Grippando that provides readers will all the entertaining legal thrills and courtroom drama you could want.  Serving as the 19th entry in the Jack Swyteck series, Grave Danger works well as a continuation of the series, especially when it comes to the personal drama of the protagonists.  At the same time, Grippando has an accessible style which allows new readers to enjoy this novel without any prior knowledge of his previous books.  There are a lot of great elements to this new novel, although I personally enjoyed all the outstanding courtroom sequences, which prove to be a true highlight of the book.  The author clearly puts a lot of care, attention and personal knowledge into all the legal aspects of Grave Danger, and you really get drawn into the complex aspects of the case and the protagonist’s attempts to help his client.

I personally enjoyed how Grippando featured a complex, international custody case in this book, which gave Grave Danger a very distinctive edge, especially as it features some obscure bits of law.  The author’s intriguing dive into US-Iranian relations and how this would potentially impact a case like this was also very fascinating, especially with certain recent real-world events happening around the time I was reading this novel.  Grippando covers all these events in a measured and thoughtful manner, and the underlying political and diplomatic elements of the plot added a lot of fantastic tension to the overall narrative and helped turn Grave Danger into a particularly compelling read.

One of the more interesting elements of Grave Danger are the compelling or relatable characters featured within the plot.  Primarily focused on Jack Swyteck, a lawyer struggling with draining personal battles on top of his own legal case, the book has some interesting sequences with the protagonist, especially as he deals with the lies of his client and the emotional strain of the case on his marriage.  The rest of the cast was quite entertaining or complex, including Jack’s client,  Ava Bazzi, who has escaped from Iran with her daughter/niece, and who seeks to keep custody no matter the cost.  Ava’s various secrets add some deep intrigue to the plot, and Grippando builds some intricate storylines around her, especially with the reveal of who she is and the greater history behind Ava’s treatment by the Iranian morality police. The opposing client, Farid, Ava Bazzi’s husband and the father of Yasmin, proves to be an interesting semi-antagonist in the novel, especially with his alternating motivations and a particularly vindictive lawyer in his corner.

While I enjoyed all these characters, I must say that I had issues with how Grippando utilised Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, in this novel.  Despite being Grave Danger’s secondary protagonist (and the titular protagonist of another series), Grippando somehow manages to make Andie into one of the most annoying figures in the entire novel with her unreasonable requests around her husband’s work, constant combative nature, and sheer determination to get her way.  The author compounds this further by portraying her in this book as being particularly naïve, constantly ignoring several obvious conspiracies and lies actively working against her husband, despite her status as an FBI agent.  I honestly felt that Grippando’s portrayal of Andie was a real weak point of Grave Danger, and I struggled a little bit with her scenes.  Hopefully the author will utilise her a little more effectively going forward, as her appearance here just added way too much unnecessary drama to an otherwise excellent book.

After enjoying Grippando’s previous novel on audiobook, I made sure to get Grave Danger on the same format, primarily because it once again featured the narration of Jonathan Davis.  One of my favourite audiobook narrators, Davis is probably best known for his work voicing various Star Wars audiobook, including Kenobi by John Jackson Miller, Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber, Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp and Brotherhood by Mike Chen, just to name a few.  This excellent voice work translates across to the Jack Swyteck series extremely well, and I deeply enjoyed his work on Grave Danger.  Not only does he bring the perfect pace to the court cases and other high-intensity parts of the plot, but he also provides some great voices to the varied characters featured within.  I ended up breezing through Grave Danger’s near 11-hour long runtime because of this great narration, and the audiobook version comes very highly recommended as a result.

Overall, Grave Danger was another excellent novel from James Grippando, who continues his excellent Jack Swyteck series in impressive fashion.  Featuring a particularly compelling legal centre, as well as some great thriller elements, Grave Danger was an amazing read from start to finish, and I fully intend to read more novels in this series going forward.  Indeed, the 20th Jack Swyteck novel, the extremely interesting sounding The Right to Remain, is coming out in early 2026, and I cannot wait to read it.

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Waiting on Wednesday – Jigsaw by Jonathan Kellerman

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Murder Mystery, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

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.  In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I check out an intriguing, upcoming murder mystery that is going to be a highlight of early 2026 with Jigsaw by Jonathan Kellerman.

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Of all the murder mystery authors I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing since I started my blog, few have consistently impressed me as much as Jonathan Kellerman.  A veteran of the crime fiction genre, Kellerman has written a huge array of compelling novels throughout his writing career, including some very gripping reads.  His main body of work is the iconic and long-running Alex Delaware series, which follows the titular protagonist, Alex Delaware, a child psychologist, who works with his best friend, LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis to investigate unusual or complex cases around Los Angeles.

The Alex Delaware novels are a classic and captivating crime fiction series, and Kellerman has written a huge number of them over the years.  I became a fan of the series myself a little more recently, when I was lucky enough to grab a copy of The Wedding Guest back in 2019.  A very cool novel with a great case behind it, The Wedding Guest was a fantastic introduction to the author and the Alex Delaware novels, and I ended up going back to the series the following year to read The Museum of Desire.  This great novel was also outstanding, and it impressed me enough to make the Alex Delaware series a must-read addition to my annual reading schedule.  I have since gone on to read every new Alex Delaware novel that followed, including Serpentine, City of the Dead, Unnatural History, The Ghost Orchid, and Open Season.  All these novels were extremely amazing, and I have had an exceptional time with all of them.

Due to how much fun all the previous novels were, I am always very keen to get my hands on the next Alex Delaware novel, and we already have some details about the 2026 addition to the series, Jigsaw.  Jigsaw will be the 41st book in the Alex Delaware series and will force Alex and Milo to investigate two separate, complicated murders that have an unlikely connection.

Plot Synopsis:

When a young woman is found dead at her kitchen table – with DNA belonging to her ex-boyfriend at the scene – psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis assume it’s an open-and-shut case.

But the guy has an airtight alibi. Could an enemy from his shady past have framed him?

Many miles away, a former LAPD officer is found brutally murdered in her garage. Her co-workers knew her as meticulously organized, but her house is full of junk and meaningless objects – except for the envelopes full of cash hidden within the chaos…

But as Alex and Milo dig deeper, they discover shocking links between the victims. It soon becomes clear they have a complicated – and deadly – puzzle to solve.

Based on the above synopsis, it sounds like Jigsaw is going to be another excellent entry in this great series.  I am already quite intrigued by the hinted plot, and Kellerman clearly has quite an outstanding mystery brewing for his 41st Alex Delaware novel.  Two seemingly unconnected murders with unique circumstances running at the same time is the great basis for an addictive crime fiction read, and I look forward to seeing the protagonists dive into both compelling victims with the author’s typical methodical, character-focused, style.  While I am curious about both murders, including one featuring an obvious, but clearly innocent suspect, and the other with an unlikely hoarder, the true test of this novel is how the author will bring both separate murders together into a single storyline.  I honestly have no doubt that Kellerman will come up with a clever link between both cases, and this will likely result in Jigsaw being an outstanding and very impressive addition to one of my favourite crime fiction series.

Due to how much fun I have had reading Jonathan Kellerman’s previous novels, Jigsaw is a highly anticipated book for the first half of 2026, especially with its intriguing synopsis.  Kellerman has never failed to wow me with his compelling mysteries, and Jigsaw already looks set to be an incredible read.  I honestly can’t wait to get my hands on the next Alex Delaware novel, and I already know it is going to be amazing.

Burn to Shine by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Science Fiction, Thriller9 Comments

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 4 March 2025)

Series: Rogue Team International – Book Four

Length: 19 hours and 9 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Waiting on Wednesday – Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

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.  In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I showcase a book that many people have been talking about this week, with the long-anticipated next entry in the Dresden Files series, Twelve Months by Jim Butcher.

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Back in 2020, I was very lucky to receive a copy Battle Ground by Jim Butcher.  Part of the author’s long-running Dresden Files series, these books follow the many adventures and investigations of Chicago’s only wizard Harry Dresden, who engages with dark mystic conspiracies and the intricate battles between the world’s hidden magical creatures and factions.  At that point, I wasn’t too familiar with the Dresden Files series, but I was extremely intrigued by Battle Ground’s synopsis, which saw Chicago invaded by a horde of monsters and other magical creatures.  Even though it was the 17th entry in a series I hadn’t read before, I ended up absolutely loving Battle Ground, especially as it featured intense scenes of magical combat, high emotional stakes, and major tragedy.

Due to how much I enjoyed the epic Battle Ground (it ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), it was a very easy decision to explore this series further, and I went back and listened to book one, Storm Front, the moment I finished off Battle Ground.  Storm Front proved to be an awesome initial novel in the series, and over the next couple of years, I made a huge effort to read all the Dresden Files books, finishing off this reading cycle with Peace Talks last year.  All 17 of these novels were extremely impressive, and I ended up giving well deserved five-star rating to every entry in the series.  Highlights include the werewolf filled Fool Moon, the necromancer laden Dead Beat, the intrigue filled Small Favor, the traumatising Changes, the spirited Ghost Story and the extremely cool heist novel Skin Games, just to name a few.  I really cannot emphasise how much I loved these novels, and the Dresden Files is now one of my very favourite series.

Unfortunately for my newly awakened obsession, Butcher hasn’t had the opportunity to release a new Dresden Files novel since 2020, although some novellas and short stories like The Law, have come out.  As such, I, and the many, many other Dresden Files fans, were very happy to finally have some details about the upcoming 18th book in the series, Twelve Months, which Butcher just dropped the cover for.  Set for release in January 2026 Twelve Months will serve as an intense new entry in the series that will examine the fallout of the dark events of Battle Ground with new enemies and big dangers coming for the beleaguered and grieving protagonist.

Plot Synopsis:

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files, can he save himself?

One year. 365 days. Twelve months.

Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.

In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his level best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild. But it’s a heavy load, and he needs time.

But time is one thing Harry doesn’t have. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and taking out innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal.

It’s been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?

Ok, there is a lot to unwrap with the above synopsis, but I think it’s important to start out by saying I am so damn excited for this upcoming book.  Covering all the fallout of Battle Ground is going to be extremely awesome and interesting, especially as there were a lot of powerful and important plot threads left over after this major entry in the series.  This includes Harry’s expulsion from the White Council, the fact that more people in the world are becoming aware of magic’s existence, the warring factions who will try to take advantage of the new power vacuums, his brother’s possession and many more dangerous ongoing storylines that I cannot wait to see explored and covered.

The above synopsis reveals there is going to be quite a few challenges for Harry to try and deal with this year, including ghouls, a race that the protagonist has a particularly grim history with.  I imagine that this will combine with some of the other storylines to reveal a great enemy or plot in the background, and I cannot wait to see what returning foes or great new antagonist emerges here.  There are also going to be some very emotionally heavy storylines for Harry in Twelve Months, including his upcoming marriage to the vampire Lara Raith (which is going to cause all manner of problems), as well as the need to save his dying half-brother Thomas from both his magical sickness and the consequences of the actions he undertook while controlled.  I am really curious to see how Butcher will wrap all these storylines together, and it should make for quite an elaborate narrative.

While I am naturally particularly intrigued to see all these storylines unwind, I think that the best part of the upcoming Twelve Months is going to be the examination of Harry’s emotional state is this new book.  As the synopsis above hints, Harry has gone through a lot recently, including the destruction of his city, his loss of status as a wizard, and most importantly the death of the woman he loves.  Having to take on the suffering of the entirety of Chicago while dealing with his own grief, on top of being forced to marry someone he doesn’t love, is likely to nearly break Harry, who already has a ton of emotional baggage from his dark history and the chaotic events of the last 17 books.  I have no doubt that Butcher is going to masterfully showcase this as a central point of Twelve Months, and I fear that this emotional trauma to one of my favourite characters is going to be very hard to behold.

Honestly, at this moment I am having a very hard time thinking about any novel I am currently more excited for than Twelve Months.  Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series has been a real highlight of my reading cycle the last few years, and I am so damn invested in this epic series and the trials and tribulations of its damaged wizard protagonist.  Frankly there is no chance at all that Twelve Months won’t be one of the absolute best books of 2026 and I am planning to once again listen to it on audiobook with James Marsters (one of my favourite audiobook narrators).  Twelve Months is going to be so damn epic, and I plan to grab it the very second it comes out.

Waiting on Wednesday – Tyrant of Rome by Simon Scarrow

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Waiting on Wednesday5 Comments

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 highlight an exceptional upcoming novel that will probably be one of my favourite historical fiction books of 2025, Tyrant of Rome by Simon Scarrow.

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Readers of this blog will know that I am a massive fan of historical fiction author Simon Scarrow, who has been producing epic and compelling historical fiction novels for 25 years.  His books cover a range of interesting topics and settings, although his current body of work involves his long-running Eagles of the Empire series, as well as his Inspector Horst Schenke thriller novels set in wartime Berlin.  Scarrow has already had a successful 2025, releasing his third Inspector Horst Schenke novel, A Death in Berlin, which proved to be an outstanding read.  However, Scarrow fans are in for another treat as he has an awesome Roman historical fiction read coming out in a few months’ time.

This new book, Tyrant of Rome, will be part of the author’s Eagles of the Empire series, which follows two veteran Roman officers, Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro, as they fight their way through the various battlefields and political intrigues of ancient Rome.  Running since 2000, the Eagles of the Empire books are still going strong, and I love the author’s interesting historical insights and ability to imagine elaborate historical battles.  I have had the great pleasure of reading all the Eagles of the Empire books over the years, and I currently have reviews for several published on my blog, including The Blood of Rome, Traitors of Rome, The Emperor’s Exile, The Honour of Rome, Death to the Emperor, Rebellion and Revenge of Rome.  Unsurprisingly, any new Eagles of the Empire novels are very high up my to-read list, and as such Tyrant of Rome is one of my most anticipated books coming out in the second half of 2025.

Set for release in November of this year, Tyrant of Rome will be the 24th book in the Eagles of the Empire series and will take the protagonists onto a whole new battlefield when Emperor Nero forces the two to take control of law and order in ancient Rome.

Plot Synopsis:

AD 63. Under the reckless and tumultuous leadership of Emperor Nero, Rome is descending into near-anarchy and conspiracy. The brutal execution of 400 slaves has led to rioting and discontent. Only the strongest soldier could maintain control. And so Nero turns to Prefect Cato to help save his reign from collapse.

Cato has been lying low after a heroic campaign to quash the Boudica uprising. Now he is called upon to serve again. As the new Prefect of the Urban Cohorts in Rome, Cato needs a loyal and proven officer by his side. Centurion Macro is willing to step up.

War and rebellion hold few fears for these seasoned veterans. But the politics and intrigue of Rome make every day as perilous as the battlefield. And the fate of both men, and of the empire, lie in the hands of the most volatile emperor of the age. Death awaits anyone who dares to defy Nero.

Cato and Macro will need to call on all their experience, native cunning and bottomless courage to survive in this epic new adventure of Roman military heroism.

I love this very interesting plot idea for Tyrant of Rome, and I feel it is going to result in a particularly epic new entry in the Eagles of the Empire series.  A book filled with intrigues, politics and general unrest in Rome is going to be a very cool change of pace following the Britannia and Boudica focussed last couple of books, and I am looking forward to seeing a whole different story for this next entry.  While Cato and Macro have been deployed to Rome before, this was mainly as Praetorian Guards in the palace, so having them take on a more citizen-focused role in the Urban Cohorts should be an excellent new story arc for them.  Throw in the unpredictable element that is Nero, and I have a feeling that Tyrant of Rome is going to be a particularly chaotic novel that will hit a lot of fun ancient history notes.

On top of the excellent story ideas featured above, I am also exceedingly curious to see how the various character-focussed storylines surrounding the protagonists are going to unfold now that the characters are back in Rome.  I imagine that all the main characters, especially Macro are going to be emotionally scarred from the dark events of the last few books, and I am hoping that Scarrow will dive into this a bit in Tyrant of Rome.  At the same time, Macro is going to have to deal with the new dynamic of having a daughter, especially one with such a dangerous heritage and whose hatred for all Romans is likely to cause problems.  Cato’s life is also likely to be quite problematic as he is currently harbouring Nero’s former mistress, Claudia, whose death they faked a few books ago.  I am extremely curious to see how Scarrow will address all these ongoing threads in Tyrant of Rome, and it should add some excellent dramatic spice to an already intrigue laden novel.

Cards on the table, there is practically nothing that is going to stop me getting my hands on Tyrant of Rome later this year, especially after the years and years of fun I have had with the Eagles of the Empire series.  However, I am particularly taken with the plot synopsis above, and based on this epic description, I am extremely confident that Tyrant of Rome is going to be one of Scarrow’s more awesome novels.  Likely to be one of my very favourite historical fiction novels of 2025 no matter what, I am so damn excited for Tyrant of Rome and November cannot come soon enough.

Midnight Black by Mark Greaney

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Thriller4 Comments

Publisher: Sphere/Audible (Audiobook – 18 February 2025)

Series: Gray Man – Book 14

Length: 15 hours and 51 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The always outstanding Mark Greaney provides another addictive and heart-pounding addition to his iconic Gray Man series with the incredible 2025 spy thriller, Midnight Black.

Ever since I started getting fully into the thriller genre, one of the main authors I check out each year is Mark Greaney, a veteran master of thriller fiction who has produced some incredible reads.  Some of his more entertaining books include his Josh Duffy series (Armored and Sentinel), as well as the fun military thriller Red Metal (cowritten with Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV).  However, his best-known body of work is the long-running Gray Man series, which was adapted into a Netflix movie of the same name.

The Gray Man series is an outstanding collection of spy thriller novels that follows elite assassin and black ops operative Court Gentry, better known by the titular moniker of the Gray Man, as he faces off against an array of deadly enemies while occasionally working for the CIA.  I have become a pretty major fan of the Gray Man series thanks to the author’s complex stories, gritty action sequences and damaged characters, and I have had a blast with books like The Gray Man, Mission Critical, One Minute Out (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), Sierra Six (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Burner (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023) and The Chaos Agent (one of my favourite books of 2024).  Due to how epic all these previous Gray Man entries have been, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next entry in the series, Midnight Black.  Providing an intense follow-up to a fantastic cliffhanger from the last book, Midnight Black was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, and it really did not disappoint.

In the icy wilds of Mordovia, lies the brutal woman’s penal colony IK-2 Yavas.  A harsh work camp for the many political enemies of the current Russian regime, IK-2 Yavas is hell on earth for any women who have defied the state.  However, despite the prison holding many prominent criminals and politicians, their most valuable prisoner is former spy Zoya Zakharova.

Once a prominent Russian foreign intelligence agent, Zoya was forced to flee her position and eventually found herself working covertly for the CIA as a deniable asset.  However, after being captured by the Chinese and traded to the Russians, Zoya’s future is bleak as she is slowly worked to death.  Worse, a ruthless FSB operative is using Zoya as bait for the person most important left in her life, her lover Court Gentry, the Gray Man.  But, unknown to Zoya, the Gray Man is far closer than she realises.

Having spent months prowling the Eastern European countries, Gentry seeks a way to steal across the Russian border and save the woman he loves, no matter the cost.  Embarking on a risky entry plan with only minimal help from his old CIA contacts, Gentry is determined to find Zoya and kill anybody who gets in his way.  But with the entire Russian state security apparatus turned against him, can Gentry once again do the impossible and save Zoya, or will this be the final mission for the legendary Gray Man?

Mark Greaney continues to impress with his epic Gray Man series, as the 14th brilliant entry in the series, Midnight Black, was absolute fire.  Providing an intense and deeply addictive spy thriller narrative, Midnight Black hooked me from the very beginning and refused to let go until the final explosive confrontation.  Slick, emotionally charged and very clever, Midnight Black gets an easy five-star rating from me, and I had such an amazing time listening to it.

This proved to be an outstanding book to get through, as Midnight Black featured a compelling and cinematic narrative that had me hooked the entire way through.  Expertly following on from the emotional cliffhanger from the end of the previous book in the series, The Chaos Agent, Midnight Black starts several months later and sees a desperate Court Gentry doing anything he can to try to enter Russia, only to encounter setbacks he has to take care of in his usual destructive manner.  This works as an excellent introduction to Midnight Black’s plot, especially as it helps you appreciate the emotional stakes of the book, and you quickly become invested in the protagonist’s quest.  Greaney quickly expands the plot through several additional character perspectives, including recuring characters Zack Hightower and Zoya Zakharova, who have their own missions/problems, an intriguing new Russian rebel protagonist, and the perspective of some sinister Russian operatives, including the FSB agent pulling all the strings around Zoya’s imprisonment.  This serves as a great base for the rest of the story, and the author soon starts to feature some of the more complex and action-packed sequences in Midnight Black.

Starting with a well-layered extended shootout sequence in Europe, the second half of Midnight Black hits hard and keeps the reader deeply engaged.  Greaney continues to set out quite an impressive story, as Gentry enters Russia and proceeds to cause all manner of havoc, while his allies in Europe and the US throw together an audacious plan that really amps up the narrative.  Greaney keeps the plot constantly moving, taking the protagonists from one dangerous situation to the next, with compelling character moments and well-featured exposition that keeps everything going forward.  The author also throws in a ton of high-octane and memorable sequences, including a fun extended chase in Moscow involving a stolen train, which was so entertaining to behold.  Everything leads up to the big finale in the last third of the story, where the protagonist makes his play to free Zoya in very cinematic fashion.  There is a lot of intense anticipation involved in the leadup to this final part of Midnight Black, and it proves to be particularly captivating and exciting.  The conflict, high stakes and constant worry you have for the characters ensures you won’t be able to put this part of the book down, and I was so keen to see how everything came together.  Greaney wraps things up perfectly, and I liked the hopeful conclusion to Midnight Black, especially after some of the dark preceding books, and you come away satisfied, as well as excited to see where the series goes next.

I am always greatly impressed with how Greaney sets out his outstanding novels, and Midnight Black is a particularly strong example of this.  A fast-paced book with several interesting layers to it, Midnight Black drags you in with its powerful narrative and keeps you there with the well-set-out action, complex characters, and gritty realism.  Thanks to the blend of character arcs and alternating storylines, there is a lot going on in Midnight Black, and you are given a great mixture of ultra-exciting sequences of action and spy craft, intense personal moments of despair and hope, as well as a cool dive into real-world issues, such as the current war in Ukraine, that enhance the overall plot.  I particularly enjoyed the gritty realism loaded in the story, especially when it comes to looking at the current politics of Russia, and there was a particular dire tone to much of the plot that was well mirrored by several protagonist’s circumstances.

One of the writing techniques I always enjoy with the Gray Man novels is the author’s excellent use of alternating character perspectives, as the reader gets to see the narrative through a variety of different viewpoints.  While primary characters like Gentry, Hightower and Zakharova naturally get most of the focus, you also see events through the eyes of more minor protagonists, such as Gentry’s former CIA handler in the US, or a Russian rebel fighter launching attacks in Moscow, as well as from several of the book’s antagonists.  This provides a much more expansive narrative for readers, especially as you soon understand the compelling motivations of all the significant characters, as well as their often conflict plans and schemes.  I particularly enjoyed how well some of Midnight Black’s many action sequences become even more impressive when you get to see events through the eyes of all the participants in the event.  Seeing all the alternate sides of conflicts really helps to make the fight sequences stand out, and it is captivating to see the various moves and countermoves of all the characters involved.  I felt this worked particularly well in some of the book’s big firefights, such as one sequence out in the woods where Gentry and Hightower’s camp gets raided by a squad of hitters, and you really get drawn into the books brutal action thanks to this.

While Midnight Black can probably be read as a standalone novel, especially as Greaney does a good job recapping key events, I feel that this latest Gray Man novel is probably best enjoyed by those who have read the previous books in the series, especially the preceding entry, The Chaos Agent.  This is mainly because Greaney is following up on a major cliffhanger from the previous book, and a lot of the emotional weight of the plot is based around the protagonist trying to right this wrong and save the woman he loves.  Being invested in the relationship between Gentry and Zakharova, as well as appreciating the protagonist’s other character relationships, really helps to amp up the stakes of Midnight Black, and I know I was personally hooked on seeing how events played out.  While having this background does enhance the experience, I do think that new readers can easily come into the series here and still have an amazing time, especially once they get caught up in the intense plot.

I also need to once again compliment the compelling characters found within Midnight Black, as Greaney really went out of his way to create some intense character moments in this latest Gray Man novel.  A lot of this revolves around the protagonist, Court Gentry, who finds himself in emotional turmoil following the Russians imprisoning the woman he loves.  Unsure about her fate and desperate to enter Russia to rescue her, Gentry is a ghost of his former self, recklessly engaging in deadly actions without his former skill and tradecraft.  This uncharacteristic lack of planning from the main protagonist and the way he lets his emotions overwhelm him adds a compelling edge to the story, especially as it results in more carnage and close calls.

The rest of the cast are also well featured in Midnight Black, especially as Greaney brings back several old favourites in dire circumstances.  For example, Court’s love interest, Zoya Zakharova, ends up having a particularly powerful arc in Midnight Black, as she is imprisoned in a Russian work camp.  Slowly losing hope due to her surroundings, her imminent execution, and her worry for Court, Zoya’s scenes are often hard to read and really help to hammer home the dark stakes of the book.  Greaney also brings back fun recurring character Zack Hightower, who serves as a lighter point of view protagonist compared to Court and Zoya.  A veteran operator with a lot of history with the other protagonists, Zack was a great foil for Court’s moodier persona in Midnight Black, and I loved seeing them work together in this way.  Other characters of note include Court’s former CIA handler, Matthew Hanley, who works to provide outside help despite his own downward career trajectory, and Major Colonel Eriks Baronov, an FSB operative trying to use Zoya as bait for the Gray Man.  I really enjoyed how Hanley and Baronov provided interesting alternating tactical insights into the events of Midnight Black, which gave the novel a great global conflict feel at times.  All these characters and more helped to turn Midnight Black into something special, and I really enjoyed how complex and exciting the various character-driven storylines turned out to be.

As has become my habit with the Gray Man series in recent years, I ended up listening to Midnight Black on audiobook rather than reading a physical copy.  I find that the audiobook version of the Gray Man books, narrated by the always reliable Jay Snyder, are an excellent way to absorb Greaney’s fantastic stories, especially as the various action sequences and compelling showcases of spycraft are highlighted particularly well in this format.  For Midnight Black, I listened to this audiobook while on a holiday with a lot of flying/driving time, which not only kept me from getting bored on the bus/plane but which ensured that I absolutely powered through its near 16-hour run time.  It helped that many of the best sequences in the book, such as the epic firefight at the halfway point and the big chase through Moscow, were particularly impactful in this format, and Snyder did an excellent job voicing all the characters.  I particularly appreciated all the eastern European and Russian accents that Snyder attributed to the various characters, and he also did a good job capturing key parts of the protagonist’s personalities, especially Gentry’s weariness and desperation that were a key part of this book.  Due to this brilliant voice work, as well as my general love for the format, I would strongly recommend Midnight Black on audiobook, and I can guarantee it makes for great entertainment on long road trips.

Overall, Midnight Black was another outstanding and captivating new entry in the always impressive Gray Man series.  Author Mark Greaney did an amazing job continuing one of the very best spy thriller series out there, and I deeply enjoyed Midnight Black’s particularly intense and personal story.  Featuring some fantastic action, complex character arcs and some compelling insights into major contemporary events, Midnight Black was extremely addictive, and I cannot wait to see how Greaney continues the series in the future.

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Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Murder Mystery2 Comments

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio (6 February 2025)

Series: Alex Delaware – Book 40

Length: 9 hours and 10 minutes

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Still going strong after 40 Alex Delaware crime fiction novels, the always dependable Jonathan Kellerman presents another clever and captivating read with Open Season, an intense novel that proves very hard to put down.

Jonathan Kellerman is an excellent veteran author, whose massive body of work has been impressing crime fiction readers for decades.  While he has a couple of big series, Kellerman is best known for his long-running Alex Delaware series, which follows titular protagonist Alex Delaware, a child psychologist, and his best friend, LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis as they investigate unusual or deranged murders around Los Angeles.  This is a really great series, and ever since I came across it, I’ve made a major effort to read each new entry, especially as they also provide some great mysteries and complex police investigation narratives.  Books like (The Wedding Guest, The Museum of Desire, Serpentine, City of the Dead, Unnatural History and The Ghost Orchid), have all been extremely amazing, and I eagerly await my new Alex Delaware hit at the start of each year.  The latest entry in the series, Open Season, is the 40th Alex Delaware novel, with Kellerman still going strong this far into the series.

Los Angeles is filled with all manner of dreamers and aspiring stars, but when one of them meets a tragic end, it falls to psychologist Alex Delaware and veteran homicide detective Milo Sturgis to find them justice.  Called in to investigate the dumping of an aspiring actress’s drugged body near a hospital emergency room, Alex and Milo soon set their sights on a known abuser as a likely culprit.  However, their hunt is prematurely ended when their suspect is found murdered, shot by a sniper.

Forced to switch to a new investigation, the two friends and their team are surprised to discover that the execution of the sexual predator is connected to two other unsolved homicides, with both additional victims shot from a distance using the same rifle.  Determined to figure out how the cases are linked, the team uncover a web of seemingly unconnected innocent victims, each of whom appeared to have been killed for very different reasons.

With additional bodies starting to pile up around the city, Alex and Milo find themselves in a race to solve the case before more victims can be cut down.  But are they facing a dangerous spree killer with no rhyme or reason to their actions, or a darker figure with their own complex rationales for murder?  To solve the case and stop the shooter, these two friends will need to use all their combined skills to decipher their strange motivation before even more people wind up dead.

Jonathan Kellerman continues to deeply impress with this new addictive and captivating crime fiction novel that I couldn’t get another off.  Featuring another brilliant and unique case, Open Season was an exceptional 40th entry in the Alex Delaware series that takes the reader down some dark and twisty paths.  This was a truly excellent read that I powered through in a very short amount of time.

Open Season was a particularly strong murder mystery from Kellerman, and I loved the compelling, multi-layered narrative that emerged.  Once again bringing together his two loveable main characters, Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis, the two initially begin the book by investigating the murder of a young aspiring actress, drugged and dumped near a hospital.  Starting off with the typical look at the victim and anyone who knew her, the detectives are quick to narrow in on a suspect, only for the story to take an interesting turn when their potential killer ends up dead.  From there the story becomes a lot more complex, as the protagonists and a larger team begin to investigate the shooting of the first suspect, as well as several connected crimes.  This allows for a larger story with a ton of distinctive potential witnesses and suspects, and the protagonists investigate in several different directions, adding a lot of different pieces to the puzzle. 

Thanks to a series of varied clues, compelling research and additional discovered killings, the protagonists eventual narrow down on a potential suspect with interesting connections to each of the victims.  Without giving too much away, I felt that the overall solution for Open Season’s investigation was very clever, and it nicely tied into each of the victims/cases that make up the larger mystery.  The motivations for the killer were very unique and memorable, so it proved quite fascinating to see how the protagonists identified the antagonist and led to a great conclusion to the overall story.  I particularly enjoyed the final confrontation that the protagonists had with the killer towards the end of the book, and it wrapped the story up perfectly.  An overall excellent murder mystery narrative that will have you hooked all the way to the end.

I deeply enjoy Kellerman’s style for the Alex Delaware books and he really knows how to pull together a fascinating and intense police investigation narrative.  The author prefers a slow and methodical style of investigation as the protagonists pull together various clues and connections and work them into their various theories, which always adds a great touch of realism to proceedings.  There is a particular reliance on diving into the personal histories of the victims and suspects that Kellerman enjoys, which works to drag the reader further into the plot as they become even more invested in the investigations.  I felt that Kellerman’s typical style worked particularly well in Open Season, and I loved the complex investigation that emerged.  The multiple separate murders and the large array of connected people associated with each case allowed for a particularly elaborate story, and Kellerman carefully allowed his protagonists to explore these different elements allowing for compelling drive to the big conclusion around who was responsible.  I felt that Kellerman did an excellent job layering the more important clues around the case throughout the entire story, and it was very interesting to see what discussions or personal details came into play later.  I really got invested in Open Season’s complex case as a result, and this proved to be a particularly clever and well written mystery that deeply enhanced Kellerman’s already excellent story.

In addition to the very well-written story, Kellerman features some interesting characters and interactions in Open Season that help to create a unique feel that fans of the Alex Delaware series will be very familiar with.  Much of this lies with the two main characters, Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis, who have an established and comfortable way of speaking with each other.  These two characters, both of whom are quirky in their own ways, are an excellent centre for the story, and I love how well the play off each other.  While their dialogue can be a little unique and occasionally flippant, Kellerman has spent a lot of time developing their patter, and you grow to appreciate the way these two characters work together.  In addition to their usual discussions, Open Season also had some more personal interactions between the two, especially when Alex is forced to keep some information from the team to protect the confidence of a medical professional.  I also liked how this was one of the Alex Delaware novels where the protagonist got to use his expertise as a psychologist to try to get to the root of the various suspects potential motivations.  This psychological work comes into play nicely, especially once they identify who the killer is, and it helped to give Open Season more of a distinctive edge away from other crime fiction reads.

While most of Open Season’s focus is on Alex and Milo, Kellerman also introduces an array of interesting supporting characters, each of whom are connected to the case in some specific way.  I really enjoyed the unique collection of characters that emerged, and there are some interesting storylines and connections that emerge thanks to the protagonists constant digging into the past.  The characters that get the most attention are some of the victims of the case, whose lives are explored in detail by the detectives.  Despite not interacting with the protagonists or readers while alive, you get to know all the victims thanks to interviews with their friends and families.  These many detailed interviews not only provide key information about who the victims are and potential motivations for their murders, but they also provide compelling and emotional testimony from those that loved them, which ensures that the reader becomes very invested in finding out who killed them.  You also meet a compelling group of people connected to the victims, who serve as witnesses, sources of information or suspects (sometimes all at once) in the case.  Due to the nature of Open Season’s story, you meet quite a few supporting characters, often for only a scene or two.  Kellerman makes these appearances count, though, and I liked some of the unique interactions that occurred, even if some of these characters were a little weird or had an unrealistic way of communicating.  The eventually revealed killer was particularly outrageous when eventually revealed, which I personally thought was very entertaining, although I could see some readers finding him to be too over-the-top.  Still, all these characters added something to the plot, and I enjoyed the effective way in which Kellerman introduced and utilised them throughout the book.

While I usually try to get physical copies of the Alex Delaware novels, for Open Season I ended up listening to the audiobook version, which I felt was an excellent way to enjoy this amazing book.  I personally find that the audiobook format does wonders for helping readers appreciate detailed and multilayered crime fiction narratives and Open Season was a great example of this, as I soon got drawn into every level of the author’s compelling mystery.  Part of the reason this worked so well was narrator John Rubinstein, who has lent his voice to a large chunk of the Alex Delaware series.  Rubinstein has a fun voice that lends itself to the occasionally zanier style of the Alex Delaware books and really brings the author’s complex narratives to life.  I especially enjoy how Rubinstein perfectly captures the characters featured in Open Season, including the main protagonists, Alex and Milo.  A great example of this is the very distinctive voice that Rubinstein utilises for Milo, which really captures the man’s complex and entertaining nature, and frankly I don’t know any other way how this character could be voiced.  The narrator also successfully captures the distinctive patter that the two main protagonists have between each other, and the way conversation flows between them in the audiobook is a ton of fun.  The various other characters featured with Open Season are also well represented, and I loved the colourful array of voices and accents that Rubinstein utilises for the supporting cast and various witnesses that protagonists encounter.  While a few of these voices are a little over-the-top, I personally liked them, and I felt it fit the long-running and distinctive series tone extremely well.  This exceptional narration allowed me to absolutely power through Open Season’s roughly nine-hour long run time, and I had such a blast picking up every single clue or compelling character interaction in this format.  As such, I would strongly recommend the audiobook version of Open Season to anyone interested in checking this mystery out, and I can personally guarantee it makes for great entertainment on a long trip.

Even after all these years, Jonathan Kellerman still shines as one of the masters of the crime fiction genre.  The 40th Alex Delaware novel, Open Season, was an outstanding addition to the series, and I love the compelling and awesome narrative that emerged.  Slick, addictive and featuring some interesting twists, Open Season was a truly impressive read, and I am still having so much fun with Jonathan Kellerman’s incredible books.

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Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 40: The Crow by Stan Sakai

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Five-Star Books7 Comments

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics (Paperback – 21 January 2025)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Volume 40

Length: 152 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Stan Sakai’s iconic Usagi Yojimbo comic series powers through to its 40th volume, with the compelling and action-packed collection, The Crow, which proves to be another intense and impressive read.

Readers of this blog will know that I have a lot of love for the amazing Usagi Yojimbo series by Stan Sakai, which has remained one of my favourite comic series for years.  Following a rabbit ronin in an alternate version of Feudal Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals, the Usagi Yojimbo series combines cool art and great characters with a fantastic Japanese samurai aesthetic to create a particularly awesome comic series.  I love the various elaborate stories and scenarios that Sakai comes up with for the Usagi Yojimbo comics, and it is a real highlight of my reading year to check out the new Usagi Yojimbo volume.

This latest volume, The Crow, is the 40th collected volume of the long-running Usagi Yojimbo comic and contains issues #275 to #279 of the series.  This is the second volume of the current Dark Horse Comics run of Usagi Yojimbo, which started last year with volume 39, Ice and Snow (one of my favourite books of 2024), and continues some of the ongoing storylines from the other recent volumes.  This volume is once again written and drawn by Sakai, with Hi-Fi Colour Design colouring in Sakai’s illustrations.  The Crow was another interesting addition to the series I was really looking forward to, as it follows Usagi and his unlikely companions into deadly danger.

Following their encounter in the mountains with the murderous Jei, Miyamoto Usagi and his cousin, Yamamoto Yukichi, have finally escaped the freezing north of Japan and have journeyed to warmer climes.  However, just because they are out of the ice and snow doesn’t mean they have escaped trouble.

Closing in on the nearest town, Usagi and Yukichi come across a man being attacked by four ruffians.  Interceding in the fight and driving the attackers off, Usagi and Yukichi initially believe that the man they rescued was a merchant being robbed.  However, when they arrive at their destination, they find the place overrun by disreputable bounty hunters on the hunt for a big reward, including Usagi’s old companions Gen and Stray Dog.  Once again conned into paying for lunch, Usagi and Yukichi are shocked to discover that the focus of the bounty hunters’ attention is the person they saved, a dangerous bandit warlord known as Jimmu due to his crow companion.

Despite their intentions to avoid the hunt for Jimmu, the two rabbit ronin find themselves dragged into the fight by the deadly mercenary Inuyoshi, another acquaintance of Usagi who is also seeking Jimmu’s bounty.  Initially forced into conflict with Inuyoshi, Usagi and his friends soon find themselves unlikely allies of Inuyoshi’s bounty hunter band, as they must work together to take down Jimmu and his massive bandit army.  But with skilled warriors on both sides, and no mercy on the horizon, will Usagi and his associates survive unscathed?

The Crow was another exceptional comic from Sakai, who continues his Usagi Yojimbo series with masterful style.  Featuring one major story that pitted the protagonists against an array of deadly warriors, The Crow had me hooked from the very beginning, and I finished the entire volume within an hour of getting my hands on it.  An outstanding comic with great art and some brilliant character arcs, The Crow unsurprisingly gets a full five-star rating from me and was so damn good.

I felt that The Crow had a particularly strong story behind it, as Sakai continues his recent trend of featuring a single multi-issue story in the volume, rather than a series of smaller short stories like in many of his earlier volumes.  This allowed the author to produce a complex, interwoven narrative that features several intriguing character-focused storylines.  Featuring the old classic start, with Usagi and Yukichi rescuing a traveller from assailants, you are drawn into familiar Usagi Yojimbo ground of bandits and bounty hunters, as the rabbit samurai encounter two of Usagi’s oldest companions, the money-focused Gen and Stray Dog.  This allows for some excellent early story tension, as the naïve and highly honourable Yukichi clashes with the morally flexible and cynical bounty hunters, especially when they discover that the traveller Yukichi helped was the notorious bandit chief Jimmu.  Sakai quickly moves the story into its central arc, when Yukichi is kidnapped by returning figure Inuyoshi, who seeks to keep Usagi, Gen and Stray Dog out of his hunt for Jimmu.

This kidnapping arc proved to be quite interesting, especially as the formerly honourable Inuyoshi verbally clashes with Yukichi and is forced to find his honour in the face of betrayals within his own gang of bounty hunters.  I really enjoyed some of the compelling interactions between some of the cast in the central part of the story, and Sakai cleverly works events so that Usagi and his friends can find and rescue Yukichi.  This central part of the story also features some great action sequences, especially a brutal, multi-page ambush by Jimmu who robs a merchant convoy.  The revelation about the true size of Jimmu’s bandit army inevitably results in Usagi’s group teaming up with Inuyoshi to find and defeat Jimmu, which results in a massive battle that takes up most of the final quarter of the volume.  This battle was everything you could hope for, and Sakai is in fine form with his drawings as he portrays the various fights.  The final duels between bounty hunters and Jimmu have some outstanding and memorable moments, and Sakai ensures there is some powerful tragedy that will live with a certain protagonist.  Sakai ensures that all the key character-driven story arcs are well wrapped up, and there are some touching moments that perfectly define some of the major protagonist’s personalities or struggles in this volume, which I felt made The Crow really stand out.  A very impressive overall story from Sakai, that shows just how interesting and intense his writing can be, even when he returns to his well-trodden tales of bandits and bounty hunters.

One of the things that I felt Sakai did particularly well in The Crow was to feature an array of great characters, whose combined arcs come together extremely well in the context of the larger story.  There is an awesome collection of characters in this volume, including old favourites, returning one-shot figures, and some intriguing new characters who proved to be excellent additions to the overall story.  Sakai does an excellent job balancing a number of these character storylines within the course of The Crow’s four issues, and there are some moving and compelling moments as a result.

A lot of the volume focuses on the three longer-term recurring members of the cast, Gen, Stray Dog and Usagi himself, who are the veteran presence in The Crow.  While they are featured quite prominently, Sakai doesn’t provide a massive amount of development for them, as they mostly fall into the same routines as they previously have, with Gen being the money-fixated conman, Stray Dog being the seemingly selfish and unfriendly killer, while Usagi is his usual honourable self.  I did like how Sakai once again painted Usagi more as a mature and world-weary figure, especially when compared to Yukichi, and it was interesting to see how much more realistic he is here than in some of his earlier encounters with Gen and Stray Dog.  Sakai also has fun once again featuring the dichotomy of Stray Dog, whose selfish outer-shell is cleverly balanced by his actual charitable actions, which are used to great effect for a secondary character towards the end of the volume.  Finally, Gen was his usual self, although considering how fun that is, I was happy with the result.

While these three long-running figures were well utilised, I felt that Sakai did his work with two more recent, returning additions to the Usagi Yojimbo universe with Yamamoto Yukichi and the mercenary Inuyoshi.  Yukichi, Usagi’s cousin introduced in volume 36: Tengu War!, has proven to be an interesting traveling companion for the protagonist, especially as he is very similar to a younger Usagi.  His naivety and unbending belief in honour without compromise is on full display in this volume, especially in his first interaction with Gen and Stray Dog, and it is interesting to compare him to the now more flexible Usagi.  Inuyoshi on the other hand is an intriguing figure who was introduced in the story The Sword of Narukami in the series’ 27th volume, A Town Called Hell.  A formerly honourable samurai betrayed by his lord’s heir, Inuyoshi has become a much more deadly and disreputable figure since his last encounter with Usagi.  I really liked how Sakai devolved Inuyoshi since his last appearance, both in his art and personality, as while he still maintains some of his honour, he has become even more ruthless, going so far as to capture Yukichi to keep Usagi and his companions away.  These two characters are in a way antithesis of each other, with one strictly holding onto samurai ideals while the other has abandoned them and is now more interested in money and survival.  The two play off each other extremely well, despite some major fractious moments, and I liked how they both gain something from the experience, with Yukichi getting a lesson in the real world, while Inuyoshi remembers some of his old honour.  Inuyoshi’s appearance here also perfectly wraps up some of the open storylines from The Sword of Narukami, and I appreciated that Sakai finally provided some closure for a one-off tale from several years ago.

Aside from these great major characters, Sakai rounds out the cast of The Crow with some additional fun figures who each add some fantastic elements to the comic.  The volume’s main antagonist, Jimmu, proves to be a ruthless and competent outlaw leader, and I liked how his crow companion gave him a distinctive edge and allowed for some intriguing and well-drawn battle scenes.  The street urchin, Isamu, was a great mischievous figure who reminded me of a young, but brave, version of the recurring Snitch character.  Isamu has some fantastic interactions with some of the main characters, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we see more of him in the future.  Finally, Sakai has fun including a comedic merchant duo who get caught up in one of Jimmu’s raids.  Their entertaining banter during several scenes had me chuckling, especially when their newly discovered brotherhood is ruined by some ill-matched confessions, and they provided an excellent bit of humour amongst the darker story elements.  These great characters all filled their roles perfectly, and I deeply enjoyed how effectively Sakai utilised them in this fantastic narrative.

As with all the Usagi Yojimbo comics, I really need to highlight Sakai’s exceptional artwork featured within The Crow.  Sakai does another remarkable artistic job in this latest volume, and the comics are just gorgeous as he effortlessly brings his elaborate stories and characters to life with his amazing drawings.  All the characters are lovingly drawn, and their resultant actions, especially the cool battle sequences, are so intense and expressive.  I was particularly impressed with Sakai’s portrayal of rival samurai Inuyoshi, who had previously appeared once some years ago.  It was absolutely fascinating to see how Sakai’s drawing style has changed in the intervening years (I had a look at A Town Called Hell after reading The Crow), as Inuyoshi has so much more detail and depth in this appearance.  His scarred and somewhat more deranged appearance perfectly matched his darker personality, and I really think that he looked even more impressive in colour, which has only been a recurring feature since volume 34, Bunraku and Other Stories. 

These excellent character drawings are only matched by Sakai’s superb landscape drawings, which provide beautiful and powerful pictures of the story’s background setting.  These background drawings, whether they be depictions of historic Japanese towns or of the shaded natural forests, come across extremely well, and you really feel yourself becoming immersed in the setting as a result.  I must once again mention the awesome action scenes scattered throughout The Crow.  Sakai is a master of drawing epic sword clashes in his comic style, and you can feel every thrust and cut that the various samurai characters make.  Highlights for me this time included two massive group battle sequences that each have their own fantastic moments, cool duels against the bandit leader and his bird companion, and a somewhat graphic but very well-drawn decapitation panel which was both epic and gnarly.  This art once again perfectly enhances and compliments Sakai’s outstanding writing, and I love how even after 40 Usagi Yojimbo volumes, Sakai is still producing such masterful and moving pictures.

Stan Sakai continues to impress and wow me with his outstanding Usagi Yojimbo comic series.  This latest volume, The Crow, was another captivating comic, loaded with striking drawings, intense action, and some excellent samurai characters.  I felt that The Crow was a particularly strong entry in this always incredible series, and I am so very glad we were gifted a volume this early in the year.  I am hoping that we will get another volume later in 2025, but until then, do yourself a favour and make sure to check out the first exceptional 40 volumes of one of the best ongoing comic series.

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