Tag: Multiple Character Perspectives

The Crimson Thread by Kate Forsyth

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Drama, Historical Fiction2 Comments

The Crimson Thread Cover

Publisher: Vintage Books Australia (Trade Paperback – 5 July 2022)

Series: Standalone

Length: 360 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of Australia’s premier authors presents another compelling and powerful historical drama with The Crimson Thread by Kate Forsyth.

Kate Forsyth is a very talented Australian author whose work I have long been a fan of.  While Forsyth is best known these days for her intense historical dramas, I personally am a big fan of her The Witches of Eileanan series, which I read when I was younger.  The Witches of Eileanan books, which were Forsyth’s debut series, follows a group of powerful magical users in a troubled fantasy realm filled with dragons, mages and monsters, as they attempt to overthrow a dark anti-magic tyrant and save the world from multiple impending threats.  Filled with great characters, impressive magic, a complex setting and some brilliant and occasionally dark storylines, this was a particularly awesome and epic series, and it was among the earliest fantasy books that I ever checked out.  I deeply enjoyed The Witches of Eileanan books and the sequel Rhiannon’s Ride series, and I have been meaning to reread them all for a while.  In the meantime, I decided it would be good to check out one of her more recent works with The Crimson Thread.  This intriguing and captivating historical drama is a lot more consistent with Forsyth’s current writing focus and I was very interested in seeing something from this genre.

By May 1941, the Nazis have conquered Greece and the island of Crete lies before them as the next land to control.  As the island prepares for invasion, young Cretan woman, Alenka, attempts to find some semblance of normality amongst the chaos, but chance meetings with two Australian soldiers stationed on the island will change her life forever.  When the Germans finally invade Crete in a massive and long-running battle, Alenka finds herself stuck in the middle of the fighting and eventually chooses to hide the Australians when the Germans win.

These two soldiers are Jack and Teddy.  Lifelong best friends, the rambunctious Teddy and the shy, scholarly Jack, joined the army together to see the world, only to get caught up in the chaos of the war.  Separated during the retreat to Crete, Jack and Teddy manage to reunite on the island, with both falling for the alluring Alenka upon meeting her.  When the Germans invade and they are trapped behind enemy lines with no hope of escape, both go to ground, seeking out help from Alenka and her allies in Crete’s resistance movement.

As the Germans tighten their hold on the island, Alenka, Jack and Teddy find themselves in constant danger as they attempt to find some way for the Australians to escape.  However, their attempts to evade the Nazis are not their only trouble, as Jack and Teddy’s once close friendship starts to deteriorate through jealously and anger.  Worse, Alenka’s brother, Axel, is a dangerous Nazi collaborator, whose long simmering anger and resentment threatens everything Alenka holds dear.  As Axel searches for a way to destroy his sister and her friends, all will be forced to make some hard choices, both on the battlefield and in love.

This was a deeply moving and highly detailed historical drama from Forsyth that I had a wonderful time reading.  Balancing a captivating historical tale of invasion in a unique World War II setting with a powerful tale of romance, broken friendships and family betrayals, The Crimson Thread is an outstanding novel which really highlights Forsyth’s impressive skill as an author.

The Crimson Thread has an excellent and fast-paced narrative that quickly drags readers in with the wartime action and keeps them there with the subsequent drama and tragedy.  Told from various intriguing perspectives, The Crimson Thread does a great job of quickly introducing you to the key characters and settings before bringing the terror in the form of a sudden and devastating Nazi invasion.  What follows is captivating tale of survival, endurance and resistance, as the three central protagonists attempt to evade and outwit the occupiers while also dealing with their own simmering feelings of love, betrayal and jealousy.  Forsyth weaves together some hauntingly tense and moving scenes throughout this narrative, as you see the characters thrust into all manner of dangerous and tragic circumstances amid the horrors of war.  The entire narrative has an excellent blend of action, high-stakes espionage and deep personal drama that I found myself really drawn to, all of which fits together perfectly with the distinctive setting and period.  The entire narrative takes place over the course of several years, and I deeply appreciate the long-term storylines that Forsyth utilised as you got to see the various characters grow and change throughout the war, often for the worst.  I loved the focus on camaraderie, identity and historical pride that was worked into the story, and all the unique plot points come full circle by the end.  Forsyth ends the entire excellent story of survival and war on a tragic, but hopeful note, and while you may end up with some conflicting feelings about the fates of some of the focal characters, readers are going to come away from The Crimson Thread both moved and satisfied with the story conclusion.

One of the things that I have always appreciated about books set during World War II are the sheer number of unique stories that can be written, as there were so many different battlefields, conflicts and personal dramas that resulted from them.  While I am fairly knowledgeable about history and World War II, I honestly knew very little about the occupation of Crete during the war, nor did I realise that Australian and New Zealand soldiers were stationed there when the Germans invaded.  As such I was pretty in the dark when it came to the historical context of the novel, but Forsyth was well on hand here and spent substantial time exploring the entire Nazi conquest and occupation of Crete during the war.  Everything is covered here, including the initial 11-day battle to take control of the island, the subsequent disorganised evacuation of Allied forces, the harsh occupation of the Cretans, which included several massacres, the resistance movements, and everything else that occurred from first day to the end of the war.  I was particularly intrigued by the role that Australian troops played during this conflict, and Forsyth made sure to really highlight why they were there and the various hurdles they faced during this war, including being trapped behind enemy lines with few options to escape.  All of this is worked into the story in a clever and impressive way, and the various characters find themselves involved in many of the key events, either as witnesses or participants.  You really find yourself getting drawn into the midst of these compelling historical events, and I personally found it incredibly fascinating to see them, especially as Forsyth did some substantial research for this book.

I also really appreciated Forsyth’s dive into the culture, history and iconic landscape of the main setting of Crete.  Most of this book takes place on this beautiful island, and I felt that Forsyth really captured the heart and soul of Crete and its people throughout the story.  There are some compelling dives into the identity and culture of the Cretan people, including the importance of their dress, their customs, their speech, and their defiant nature.  Due to most of this explanation being done to show the undercover Australian citizens how to blend, it proves to be very informative, and readers without much pre-knowledge of Crete come away with a lot of detail and appreciation for its people.  There are also some fun dives into the history of the island, particularly its ancient association with legend of the Minotaur and palace of Knossos.  Due to my background in archaeology, I found this to be extremely interesting, especially as there are also some compelling depictions and discussions about the famous excavations that took place on Crete during this period.  Throw in some breathtaking and highly detailed descriptions of the various environments and settlements on Crete, including its treacherous and massive mountains, which serve as a great setting for some particularly intense scenes, and you get an outstanding appreciation for this island.  All of this is utilised in The Crimson Thread’s story really well, as the characters, like the reader, really get to know the island and how it impacts many of their decisions and actions.

Forsyth also came up with some excellent and distinctive characters for The Crimson Thread, and their unique and emotionally rich storylines are a powerful part of this great book’s story.  This includes Alenka, who finds herself caught between her culture, her troubled family past, and her attraction to the two Australian soldiers she grows close to.  Despite primarily being shown as a strong and clever woman, Alenka goes through some real tragedies and trauma in this book that slowly wear away at her psyche.  I found it fascinating to see her growth throughout the book, as well as her attempts to overcome the various obstacles and indignities that come her way.  Alenka was really well counterbalanced by her brother, Axel, a dark and dangerous youth who serves as the book’s central antagonist.  Initially shown as a youth who grows into a dangerous teenager throughout the narrative, Axel is a complex figure.  A half-Cretan boy who is the result of an extramarital affair with a German archaeologist, Axel has borne the shame of his heritage for most of his life and endured the ridicule and disdain of everyone on the island.  Focusing on his German heritage, Axel becomes obsessed with Hitler and the Nazis and quickly grows to be a valuable collaborator for the occupiers, helping them root out the resistance and hidden Allied soldiers.  While he is an extremely repulsive and evil figure, you fully understand while he idolises the Nazis and tries to join them because of how well Forsyth explored Axel’s motivations and past.  Forsyth writes a very dark storyline around Axel, and it was fascinating to see him corrupted by both his own unfair past and the invading Nazis.

The other two main characters are the Australian soldier protagonists, Jack and Teddy.  Despite being old friends, these two are very much the opposite of the other, with Teddy being a wild, confident and arrogant figure, while Jack is a kind and shy man with a stutter.  While you wouldn’t think that they would be friends, Forsyth does a good job establishing their bond, and you fully understand why they are close to each other.  Both characters are interesting in their own right, and I appreciated how Forsyth highlighted their differences and showed how their relationship eventually broke down over their mutual attraction to Alenka.  Teddy’s slow crawl from causal larrikin to arrogant jerk is subtle, but well formed, and the author shows some compelling, but damning, change in views in his mind throughout The Crimson Thread.  Jack, on the other hand, grows from unconfident scholar to strong-willed fighter, all thanks to his love of Alenka.  I loved how Forsyth showed all his artistic skills and passions, such as poetry, as a strength, and it was pretty fun to see him succeed in the specialised spy school both characters end up in.  This poetry actually had an interesting role in the wider book, and you can see a great example of it at the start of different chapters.  Forsyth really excelled at creating some amazing and captivating character arcs throughout The Crimson Thread, and I had an outstanding time getting close to these figures and experiencing their triumphs and dark pains.

Overall, The Crimson Thread was a wonderful and deeply moving read that ended up being one of the better historical dramas I have read this year.  Kate Forsyth continues to shine as an extremely talented Australian author, and I had fun exploring a book from her current genre of choice.  Featuring some damaged characters, a powerful story and some exquisite dives into Crete and its wartime history, The Crimson Thread is a captivating and clever novel that I had an outstanding time reading.

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Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Thriller38 Comments

Kagen the Damned Cover

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 10 May 2022)

Series: Kagen the Damned – Book One

Length: 20 hours and 53 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of my favourite unusual thriller writers, the legendary Jonathan Maberry, enters the world of fantasy in a big way with Kagen the Damned, a dark fantasy masterpiece with a brutal heart to it.

I have made no secret of the fact that I am a huge Jonathan Maberry fan.  I got into Maberry’s writings when I chanced upon a copy of his 10th Joe Ledger novel, Deep Silence, a few years ago, which introduced me to both Maberry’s unique writing and his iconic protagonist, the titular Joe Ledger, a badass action hero who saves the world from crazy and dark science creations.  I deeply enjoyed Deep Silence (it was one of my favourite books of 2018) and quickly moved onto his other Joe Ledger books, diving back to the start of the series with Patient Zero, and then working my way through the rest of the awesome entries, such as The Dragon Factory, Code Zero, Predator One and Dogs of War.  I also kept up with his latest releases, including the two entries in the follow-up Rogue Team International series, Rage (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019) and Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), and his standalone novel Ink (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020).  I have been very eager to see what awesome novel Maberry releases in 2022, and, luckily for me, that materialised in the form of Kagen the Damned.

Kagen the Damned is an interesting and unique read from Maberry, as it is his debut foray into the fantasy genre.  While many of his other books have had fantasy elements to them (albeit with a horror edge), this is his first pure fantasy fiction novel, as well as the start of his Kagen the Damned series.  Naturally I was rather curious about how Maberry would transition to a new genre, and while I was a tad disappointed that the Rogue Team International series isn’t getting a new entry any time soon, Kagen the Damned ended up pretty high on my most anticipated reads for 2022 list.  After a few weeks of other books getting in the way, I finally got the chance to listen to Kagen the Damned, and it turned out to be quite an impressive novel.

Kagen Vale was once one of the most trusted and revered fighters in the entire Silver Empire.  A scion of the legendary Vale family, who have served the Silver Empire for generations, Kagen was a beloved member of the royal court and so highly regarded that he was entrusted as the guardian of the Seedlings, the Empresses’ children.  That was until the fateful night when, out drinking and whoring, he was drugged and left for dead.  Awakening in a daze, Kagen found himself in the midst of hell as the capital of Silver Empire, Argentium, was besieged by a foe long thought dead, the dread nation of Hakkia, whose dark magic has once again emerged to blot out the world.

Arriving to the palace too late to save anyone, including the Seedlings, Kagen falls into despair at failing his sacred duty and can only watch in horror as the Gods of the Garden, the deities of the Silver Empire, turn their back on him and damning him for all time.  Now with everything and everyone he has ever known lost forever, Kagen the Damned wanders the ruined countryside a broken drunk, dreaming of revenge on the one man responsible for all his ills, the mysterious and feared Witch-king of Hakkia.

However, not everything is as lost as it seems, as shadowy figures across the world being to formulate their plans to repel the Witch-king’s evil.  As two young women embark on a deadly quest to awaken a sleeping, ancient god from beneath the waves, a covenant of resistance attempts to find their own magic to oppose the Witch-king with.  Determining that Kagen may bear the best chance of recovering the tools needed to succeed, they manipulate events to set him on his path to revenge.  However, what price will a doomed man truly pay to get the revenge he so desperately seeks, and will Kagen be ready for the terrible secrets he uncovers along the way?  Only the gods and the damned know for sure!

Well, it is now more apparent than ever that there is no Jonathan Maberry book I will not enjoy to the extreme.  Kagen the Damned is an incredible and very memorable novel from Maberry, who puts the ‘dark’ in dark fantasy, with this barbaric and action-packed journey into hell.  Making use of his trademark style, flair for horror and exceptional character work, Maberry pulls together a deeply addictive and extremely exciting story that I fell in love with very, very quickly.  This was another easy five star read for me, and I loved every single second I spent reading it.

Maberry once again blew me away with an outstanding and high-action narrative, and I quickly got very attached to Kagen the Damned.  This book has an extremely memorable start to it, showing the bloody fall of Argentium from the perspective of Kagen, who awakens from a drunken haze to find a vast army in his supposedly impenetrable city, destroying and killing everything they see.  This was a very compelling and brutal start the novel, and its one that I quite enjoyed, especially as you see just how dangerous the enemies are and the chaos they have unleashed.  Maberry does a great job of setting up multiple key storylines, settings and characters in this early section, and while the focus is primarily on Kagen, you get some interesting insights into other figures that will impact the rest of the book.  The entire first part of the book is very distinctive and really showcases how dark this novel is going to get, especially when it comes to the character of Kagen and the fate of the royal children.  This whole first section ends on a brilliant note, with Kagen left broken and damned, while the once great Silver Empire, which you only saw glimpses of, is destroyed and replaced with a new world order.

Following this epic start, the narrative slows down a little, as Maberry works to set up some alternate storylines and characters, while as taking the time to do some compelling and extended word building.  Set in the direct aftermath of the opening sequence, the story primarily splits into three different streams at this point, with the main one following a despondent Kagen as he traverses the former Silver Empire, lost in grief and drink.  At the same time, two separate storylines tell some great connected narratives, with one following two young women as they journey off into the unknown, while the rest focuses on the Hakkian takeover back in Argentium.  This focus on the Hakkians and their plans, as told by the Witch-king’s advisors, as well as a resistance group, is very awesome, and it was fascinating to see some impressive political intrigue going on behind the scenes as the antagonists work to consolidate power through various methods.  While the rest of the narrative continues in a straight line, the story around Kagen slowly adapts as he meets some new friends and begins his mission of revenge as planned, with some detours.

This leads up to the excellent final part of the book, which I powered through extremely quickly to see how everything ended.  All three major storylines are reaching there climax here, and they start to blend a lot more closely, especially the ones focusing on Kagen and the Hakkians.  Everything leads up to a highly anticipated confrontation that sees Kagen finally face his enemies, and it is just as epic as I was hoping.  There is a ton of action, tragedy, twists and revelations here, as many of the plot elements and storylines come full circle.  I loved the various reveals that happen here, and most have been set up really well throughout the extended course of the narrative.  I really should have seen the identity of the Witch-king coming, but it was the right choice by Maberry, which leaves some big questions open for the future.  Everyone will come away from Kagen the Damned extremely satisfied, as Maberry leaves everyone on a brilliant note, that ensures that readers will definitely come back for more.  This is an outstanding and deeply addictive narrative that is guaranteed to grab your attention early one and refuse to let go.

I really enjoyed how well Kagen the Damned was written, as Maberry brought his unique style to bear to help create an outstanding story.  In many ways, this novel proved to be essentially one of Maberry’s thrillers set in a fantasy universe.  Indeed, there were a lot of similarities in the style, the structure of the chapter, the pacing and even the use of familiar horror elements that I have previously seen and loved in the Joe Ledger books and I think this cool style worked well to tell an intense fantasy narrative.  As such, Kagen the Damned is a swift and well-structured book that pushes the story along at a swift pace, while also taking the time to build up the universe and the multitude of characters.  Maberry utilises a great range of story elements throughout this novel, and the readers are treated with a fantastic blend of action, intrigue, dark, over-the-top moments, horror, despair and humour, as the characters experience all manner of devastating trials and oppositions.

I also have a lot of love for the way that the author sets up the story and showcases the elaborate events that are occurring.  Maberry makes excellent use of a huge number of shorter, focused chapters told from a variety of viewpoints.  These briefer chapters really increase the pace and intensity of the book, and I deeply appreciated how the narrative quickly jumped across the various characters.  The interplay between the three central storylines, which are primarily anchored around Kagen, is extremely good, and I loved seeing the characters react to some of the same events or actions of their fellow cast members.  These storylines are also joined by a series of interludes that show the various impacts that the Hakkian invasion has on the wider world, especially those attuned to magic.  These interludes are usually very fascinating, and they are often used to introduce some minor supporting characters in a fun and unique way.  I loved the complexity that these interludes usually have, and the often self-contained stories are well structured and always feature a distinctive or chilling conclusion.  Maberry uses these interludes cleverly, often inserting them between major or extremely powerful chapters to help relieve tension, or to remind the reader of the wider stakes or events occurring around the main story.  I definitely enjoyed this larger look at the world that Maberry provided through them, and it was an outstanding part of Kagen the Damned’s story.

One of the major highlights of the writing in Kagen the Damned is the intricately described and fast-paced action, which is a major hallmark of Maberry’s writing style.  Maberry has always excelled at writing brutal fight scenes in a way that paints a vivid mental picture for the reader, and this was once again the case for Kagen the Damned.  The many, many action and fight sequences are brought to life in exquisite and bloody detail, and the reader is easily able to imagine every strike and slice as they happen.  This makes the action sequences really pop, and they were a particularly awesome highlight of this great book.  This focus on action and combat was really effective in this fantasy novel, and it was very cool to see Maberry bring his knowledge of combat and the accompanying writing skill to bear on large scale battles between armed and armoured fighters, while magic and gods blow stuff away around them.  There are some really great fight scenes loaded throughout this book, and I loved every skirmish, battle and duel that was featured within it.

While I did really love the action and brutal combat sequences within Kagen the Damned, I probably should add a warning about how dark and gruesome it can get in places.  Maberry’s writing style has always relied on over-the-top violence, cruelty and brutality to a degree, and this was once again the case in Kagen the Damned, which not only featured a ton of killing but also gruesome scenes of torture, corpse desecration and depictions of sexual violence.  While I think that these ultra-violent moments do work to showcase just how dark and savage the new world order is, they are often a bit hard to witness.  I will note that Maberry did take the time to discuss the emotional and social impacts of the various acts of sexual violence in the book, rather than just including them for gratuitous effect.  There are also some great scenes where the protagonist calls out and belittles several characters willing to commit such acts, before delivering his own violent justice, and I think that the author did his best to show have damaging it can be in his own way.  However, readers should probably be aware that these scenes exist, as people might find them to be a bit shocking.

I was also a major fan of the cool new fantasy universe that Maberry cooked up with Kagen the Damned, mainly because it is such a distinctive creation of the author.  Set on a giant continent made up of various nations, this is an impressive and compelling world, filled with a unique history, gods, people and settings.  The author does a great job of swiftly introducing this world and some of the key parts of its history in the early parts of the book, mainly so that readers can be a little more shocked at the early events and full appreciate the destruction and change that the Hakkian nation brings with it.  Maberry is clearly emulating some classic fantasy novels and settings throughout Kagen the Damned, and I loved seeing this bold new world that he has created.  There are some unique and cool elements featured within, and I liked how there are certain shades of grey shown when it comes to the morality and righteousness of the various factions.  Maberry also takes the time to highlight the changes that are coming to the world, thanks to the return of the Hakkian Witch-king, and the slow and steady resurgence of magic and the death of a certain pantheon of gods, are highlighted really well, both in the main story and the interlude chapters.

Perhaps one of the most distinctive features of this new world is the horror elements that Maberry worked into the plot.  I really should not have been surprised at the strong Lovecraftian elements that featured, as the author has used them strongly in some of his previous books.  However, it is even more explicit here in Kagen the Damned, with several notable Elder Gods playing key roles in the plot and even appearing in some epic scenes.  While I am not personally a fan of Lovecraft, I did quite like how Maberry utilised these elements throughout this book, and they gave parts of the book a darker and more eldritch quality that I quite enjoyed.  This, and certain discussions about other worlds and alternate realities, potentially links this series to some of Maberry’s existing works, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were some form of crossover in the future, although it would have to be handled well.  I had a great time exploring this new fantasy world in Kagen the Damned, and I look forward to seeing what other surprises and dark gods appear in future entries of this series.

I also must highlight the incredible character work featured with Kagen the Damned, as Maberry went all out to create an excellent and unique cast of characters, whom the excellent narrative revolves around.  There are some amazing characters featured within this novel, and the author works hard to feature all of them in some impressive roles.  I had a lot of fun with the huge cast of Kagen the Damned, and there are deep and emotional figures featured here.

The most prominent and intriguing character is the titular Kagen, who takes on the moniker of Kagen the Damned.  Maberry really does a number on his central protagonist early on, as Kagen awakens from a drunken haze to find that everything he cared about and held dear had been lost while he slept.  Despite his best efforts to redeem himself in the battle that follows, he still fails miserably, and manages to escape the conquered capital in a fractured haze.  Broken, dazed and emotionally destroyed, Kagen becomes even more despondent when he sees his gods in the sky turn their back on him due to his failure to maintain his sacred oaths, which convinces him that he is damned.  Naturally, these events leave him severely emotionally damaged, and he spends most of the book trying to come to terms with his failure while also trying to find some way to get revenge on the Witch-king for all he has done.  A large amount of the book is dedicated to Kagen falling into despair, and Maberry presents a realistic depiction of a man who has lost everything and who is barely able to survive, relying heavily on drink and violence to get through his days.  While Kagen is eventually able to throw off much of this despair, it is still lurking within him, and he is often shown living in regret at his failure, even though no one else blames him as much as he does.  Kagen working through these complex feelings of failure results in much of the novels emotional strength, and Kagen serves as a moving and powerful heart for the entire novel.

While I did deeply enjoy this intriguing central character and his rough and emotional journey through this book, it is hard not to notice some similarities between Kagen and another one of Maberry’s protagonists from another series.  Kagen is in many ways a fantasy version of Joe Ledger, with similarities including a propensity for violence, extreme skill with knives (technically short-swords in Kagen’s case), and even a similar sense of humour during some of the lighter moments of the books.  There is also the same high level of mental damage brought on by extreme trauma, with both characters often seeking revenge against the people who wronged them and those they loved.  Despite these similarities, I still really appreciated Kagen as a protagonist, and I felt that some of his additional elements, such as his complex familiar bonds and strong sense of failure, did set him apart in some key ways.  No matter what, Kagen is a pretty awesome character to follow, and I loved seeing him continue to go through all his dark moments to keep going.

Aside from Kagen, there are several other amazing characters featured in this novel, all of whom have some outstanding storylines around them.  Two of the most prominent are Ryssa and Miri, who were in Argentium when the Hakkians invade.  Both junior members of the Silver Empire’s clergy, the two women initially appear to be primarily concerned with surviving the invasion.  However, it soon becomes apparent that Miri, whose knowledge of the gods and creatures of this world are far greater than they should be, has a different agenda.  Taking Ryssa with her on a big journey to a remote island nation, Miri soon engages in a plot to save the world her way.  Ryssa and Miri make up a fun combination that Maberry weaves some interesting storylines around.  While these characters aren’t explored as deeply as Kagen, you still get a great sense of who they are, particularly Ryssa, who is the primary point-of-view character between them.  Their entire storyline is covered in mystery and uncertainty as Ryssa is left in the dark about what is coming her way.  I liked the religious world-building that went into this character storyline, and there are some excellent moments in it loaded with tragedy and despair.  Even with their storyline being mostly separated from the rest of the characters, and it was a little predictable that Maberry would turn them into a lesbian couple, they had a compelling relationship and I felt that they added a lot to the narrative.

I also had a great deal of fun with the primary Hakkian characters featured in Kagen the Damned.  While they are ostensibly the antagonists of the book, Maberry takes the time to really establish the main four characters and presents them as a lot more complex and even sympathetic in places.  The main Hakkian character is their leader, the Witch-king, a character shrouded in mystery for most of the book.  A previously unknown figure, the Witch-king uses his magic to defeat the entire Silver Empire in a night and then spends the rest of the book trying to set himself up as the legitimate ruler of the land while also advancing the position of his brutal god.  I loved the way that Maberry kept the details about the Witch-king’s past and identity hidden for most of the narrative, although there is some great foreshadowing of his identity scattered throughout the novel.  The Witch-king cuts a fantastic and menacing figure for most of the book, and it was intriguing to see him present himself as a fair and loving ruler, while simultaneously exuding an aura of menace and dark magic.  It was pretty hilarious to see him terrify his key advisors for much of the book, and I loved all the hints about his true objectives.  An overall excellent central antagonist, I look forward to getting more details about him and his history in the rest of the series, especially after the revelations at the end of this book.

The other three key Hakkian characters are the Witch-king’s advisors, the chamberlain Lord Nespar, necromancer Lady Kestral, and newcomer Jakob.  Nespar and Kestral are fantastic characters who spend most of the book administrating the Witch-king’s will, running his empire, hunting for Kagen, and setting up the upcoming coronation of the Witch-king to become emperor.  While they are initially shown to be quite dangerous and evil, mainly due to their role in destroying the Silver Empire and Kestral’s disturbing magic, you eventually see that there is a lot more to them.  In particular, you see that they are actually extremely terrified of the Witch-king and are desperately obeying his will in order to survive.  You actually end up feeling a bit sympathetic for the pair of them, even after you see Kestral tear a corpse apart for a ritual, and I enjoyed the intrigue and politics they got involved with to rule the new empire.  The other character is Jakob, a Silver Empire historian who is drafted into the Witch-king service as his minister for propaganda.  Rechristened as Jakob Ravensmere, he becomes fully compliant in the Hakkian takeover and proves to be a very competent advisor and political mind while also working to rewrite history to increase the legitimacy of the Witch-king.  It was extremely fascinating to see Jakob discussing the control given by those who control history and propaganda, and I really enjoyed his role in the new empire.  It was also fun to see his rather quick slide towards the dark side as he fully embraces the Hakkian lifestyle and even starts to develop a taste for a power.  I always love seeing Maberry’s narrative unfold from the antagonist’s point of view, and this worked out extremely well again in Kagen the Damned.

The final characters I need to highlight are some of the excellent supporting cast surrounding Kagen.  Kagen has two excellent companions who work with him throughout the book, Tuke and Filia.  Tuke is a giant professional thief who recruits Kagen for a job that will help an anti-Hakkian resistance movement.  Tuke serves as the comic relief for much of the book, and I loved the outstanding chemistry he had with Kagen.  The two play off each other extremely well, and their excellent camaraderie and humour were pretty fun to see.  Not only does Tuke have some of the best lines (and the funniest curses) in the book, but he also serves as an emotional sounding board to Kagen, helping him get better after all the tragedy he experienced.  Filia is a strong-willed warrior and former associate of Kagen who finds herself dragged into the chaos around the war and Kagen’s wild adventures.  Filia’s no-nonsense attitude and sarcasm are a great counterpart to the other characters in Kagen the Damned, and I especially liked it when it combined with the humour of Kagen and Tuke.  These characters, and more, really enhanced the overall quality of this impressive narrative, and I loved seeing their powerful storylines unfold in some excellent and enjoyable ways.

There was no way that I was going to check out the new Jonathan Maberry novel in any format other than audiobook.  I have had some outstanding experiences with Maberry’s audiobooks over the years, and all of them have been deeply impressive and extremely enjoyable.  This again proved to be the case with Kagen the Damned, as I had an outstanding time having this dark epic read out to me, especially as it really helped me to absorb all the details of the characters and the impressive new universe.  With a runtime of just under 21 hours, this is a pretty lengthy audiobook to get through, but it is well worth the time investment, especially as it delivers the story in such an awesome way.

Easily the best thing about this audiobook is the outstanding narration from the very, very awesome Ray Porter.  Porter, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, who has previously narrated Maberry’s books, as well as contributing his voice to other works like The Apollo Murders and The Sandman audio adaptation.  As such, the moment I heard that Porter was also going to narrate Kagen the Damned, I knew that I had to get this audiobook.  Porter has an amazing ability to move the story along, and his voice is perfect for all the intense action, world-building and intrigue Maberry features in his novels.  I love the way that Porter dives into the various characters featured in the books, with every single person getting their own distinctive voice, while Porter also effortlessly emotes all their emotion to the listener.  This includes a very sinister voice that Porter saves for when the villains are talking or some incredibly dark moments are happening, and having him use variations of this voice to highlight just how brutal a moment is being, is always a great experience.  It also works well when the characters start speaking in the languages associated with the Elder Gods, and the resultant ceremonies and spells are quite spooky to hear in Porter’s voice.

Porter also did a particularly good job at inhabiting the voice of Maberry’s central protagonist, Kagen, and you get a real sense of who he is and the intense pain he is feeling throughout the book.  While the voice Porter uses from Kagen is a little like that of Joe Ledger from Maberry’s other audiobooks (a side effect of Porter ensuring that the main protagonist’s voice matches the tone he uses for basic narration), Porter does add a little more of a growl to it here, which helped to a degree.  This was another incredible performance from Porter, and I am so very glad that they got him back to narrate Maberry’s new series.  I cannot emphasise how outstanding the Kagen the Damned audiobook turned out to be (although I did feature it in my recent best audiobooks from the first half of 2022 list before I’d even finished it), and this is the absolute best way to enjoy Kagen the Damned.

Well, after rabbiting on for nearly seven pages, I think it is exceedingly obvious that I loved Kagen the Damned.  Jonathan Maberry’s latest novel was extremely compelling and deeply exciting, and I was really impressive with the author’s jump to the fantasy genre.  Featuring a clever, complex, and action-packed narrative loaded with destruction, thrilling revenge and some great, damaged characters, Kagen the Damned was an outstanding read and its one that I absolutely flew through.  Kagen the Damned is easily one of the top books of 2022 and this is a favourite new series for me.  I am extremely excited to see where the Kagen the Damned series will go in the future, and the next book, Son of the Poison Rose, is out in a few months’ time, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

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Sparring Partners by John Grisham

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Short Stories, Thriller8 Comments

Sparring Partners Cover

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 31 May 2022)

Series: Standalone/Short Story

Length: 306 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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In the mood for more legal thriller awesomeness from the mind of legendary author John Grisham?  Then make sure to grab a copy of his new short story collection, Sparring Partners.

John Grisham is an author who needs very little introduction, especially after dominating the thriller field for over 30 years.  However, I must admit that I only recently checked out his work with the 2021 book, The Judge’s List.  The Judge’s List was an extremely captivating novel that saw a determined investigator dive into allegations that a sitting judge was also a devious serial killer.  I really enjoyed this fantastic book and it definitely convinced me that I needed to read more of Grisham’s books.  Well, I recently got the opportunity to do so when I picked up a copy of Grisham’s latest release, the short story collection Sparring Partners.

Sparring Partners is an intriguing book that contains three of Grisham’s compelling short stories.  Made up of Homecoming, Strawberry Moon and the story Sparring Partners, this collection was an awesome and fun read that will really appeal to established Grisham fans.  I personally had a great time with it, and I ended up getting through it in three short intervals, knocking off one story at a time.  All three stories are quite entertaining in their own right, and together they prove to be an excellent and awesome exploration of Grisham’s style and love of the legal thriller.

The first of these stories is Homecoming, which takes the reader back to Ford County, which has served as the fictional setting of many of Grisham’s novels.  This story follows a small group of lawyers who find themselves in a unique situation when a disgraced former colleague returns to the fold.  Homecoming starts when small-time lawyer Jake Brigance suddenly receives a letter from long-lost friend and fellow lawyer Mack Stafford.  Years ago, Mack suddenly and unexpectantly fell off the grid, taking a stack of money from his clients and vanishing to parts unknown.  Considered a legend by the local legal community, Mack left behind a wife and two kids, and no one has ever understood the reasons for his disappearance.  Now, Mack is determined to return to Ford County and wants Jake and his friend Harry Rex Vonner to help navigate the waiting legal difficulties.  But as Jake and Harry work to secure Mack’s return, some members of Ford County are less than eager to see him come back and will ensure that retribution is waiting for him if he does.

Now I must admit that the first entry in this book is probably the weakest, as Homecoming does not have the most gripping narrative of the three short stories in Sparring Partners, mainly due to its low stakes.  However, it still proves to be a very compelling and interesting narrative that sees a disgraced fugitive lawyer who went through a major mid-life crisis attempt to return to the scene of the crime.  Loaded with characters with big personalities, this proves to be a very entertaining entry, and I enjoyed the unique and character-driven narrative that it contained.  Grisham provides some intriguing insights into small-town lawyering, while also taking the time to dive into some of the more significant characters.  There is a great focus on the character of Mack, especially around why he did what he did, and I really enjoyed the moving moments that looked at the impact his actions had on his family.  However, I did think that the story, while fast paced and interesting, was a bit bland and it never really went anywhere.  Still, this was a great introduction to the sort of stories you can expect in Sparring Partners and I had a wonderful time reading it.

The next entry in Sparring Partners is the powerful and intimate story, Strawberry Moon.  Set inside a death row of a prison, Strawberry Moon follows Cody Wallace, a young inmate with only three hours left until his execution.  Waiting for his final moments while his lawyer tries and fails to save him, Cody reminisces on his life and the poor choices, tragedies, and an unfair system that led him there.  But as the last minutes of his life tick away before him, Cody has just one request to the guards around him, one that will make all the difference in the world to him.

Strawberry Moon was the most powerful and heartbreaking of all the three stories contained within Sparring Partners and it serves as the emotional heart of the entire volume.  Grisham paints a grim and realistic picture of a young man who is about to be executed, by examining this remarkable figure’s remaining three hours.  Grisham has produced a deeply compelling and concise narrative that reader will swiftly get drawn into.  The story of Cody Wallace is beyond tragic, and the slow reveal of what he did and why he is about to die really gets to you, especially as it is interposed with scenes from his current existence and mentality, which has resulted in spending half his life in death row.  Watching Cody take pleasure in some of the little things he has as he waits to die is extremely moving, as are his final interactions with some of the more important people in his life, even if they are only passing acquaintances.  This story also serves as a rather blistering indictment of the death penalty system, and Grisham really got his point across extremely well, showing a mostly innocent person get killed for reasons outside of his control.  Easily the best of the three stories contained within Sparring Partners, I had an incredible time with Strawberry Moon, and you will get hit hard in the feels when you read this one.

The final story is the amusing and fast-paced story Sparring Partners, which shares the name of the volume.  Sparring Partners follows the unusual firm of Malloy & Malloy, a storied, family-operated law firm that is going through its greatest challenge.  With the Malloy family patriarch currently in prison for murder, the two remaining Malloy lawyers, brothers Kirk and Rusty, attempt to manage the firm in his stead.  However, the two brothers are polar opposites of each other and have very different ideas about how the firm should be run.  With their feud reaching an all-time high, the firm is in dire straits, and only their neutral colleague, Diantha Bradshaw, seems capable of saving it from ruin.  But Diantha has very different plans, and the firm of Malloy & Malloy may be in some real trouble.

This final story is a great entry as well, and it is definitely the most entertaining piece in the entire book.  Following a law firm in crisis, this was a fantastic and fun blend of legal thriller and family drama, as the entire lawyer family goes at each other trying to win.  Grisham sets the entire scenario up extremely well and shows the multiple conflicts, manipulations and twists in an awesome way.  None of the characters in this story are likeable, and it proves quite enjoyable to watch them fight and bicker throughout Sparring Partners, especially as many of them get what they deserve at the end.  While this entry did feature an extremely convoluted murder and investigation, which was a bit silly, there were a lot of good elements in Sparring Partners, and I had an awesome time getting through it.  A fantastic concluding story for this excellent book!

Overall, Sparring Partners was an interesting read to get through, and I quite enjoyed the various snapshots into Grisham’s imagination and writing style.  All three stories have some excellent merits, and while they aren’t the author’s best work they were very entertaining and compelling.  I loved the mixture of legal scenarios and interesting characters featured within this book, and Grisham’s ability to craft together a concise story even in shortform was on full display.  While Sparring Partners is very accessible to readers unfamiliar to Grisham’s previous works, this is probably best enjoyed by those fans of the author who are hankering for more of his unique stories in between books.  I had a great time reading it and it gave me some more insights into an author I am still not amazingly familiar with.

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer: Van Horstmann by Ben Counter

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Fantasy, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer6 Comments

Van Horstmann Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Paperback – 1 February 2013)

Series: Warhammer Fantasy

Length: 415 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  For my latest Throwback Thursday I review another awesome Warhammer Fantasy novel, the compelling and unique Van Horstmann by Ben Counter.

Another week, another Warhammer tie-in novel that I must review.  I have been really diving into this franchise over the last year; to be fair, there are some incredible books there, including the two 2022 Warhammer 40,000 releases that got a full five-star rating from me, Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! by Nate Crowley and Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath.  Some of the best of these books are tie-ins to the now destroyed Warhammer Fantasy universe, including the novel from last week’s Throwback Thursday, Runefang by C. L. Werner.  Well, my current obsession with all things Warhammer continued again as I recently read the awesome Van Horstmann by Ben Counter.  Counter is a well-established author of Warhammer fiction, having made a ton of impressive contributions to the franchise, including his Grey Knights and Soul Drinkers series, as well as his entries in the massive Horus Heresy series.  I was really drawn to Van Horstmann when I picked it up, not only because it has a great cover (love a cover with a dragon on it), but because of its intriguing plot, which sounded extremely awesome.

In the human realm known as the Empire, magic has been feared and mistrusted through most of its history, with practitioners hunted down and burned at the stake.  However, following the Great War against Chaos, the elven mage Teclis was allowed to train various talented humans in the use of magic, establishing the eight Colleges of Magic that train scholars and battle mages to help the armies of the Empire.  Out of all the colleges that were formed, the most revered are the College of Light, whose powerful light magic can be used to push back the darkness of Chaos.

Years after its formation, a young wizard manages to find the College of Light, hidden behind a magical barrier in the Imperial capital, Altdorf.  This wandering wizard, Egrimm van Horstmann, is a talented young mage whose desire for knowledge and skill at manipulating the Wind of Hysh immediately impress his new teachers, and many believe that he will rise high in the order.  However, van Horstmann has a dark secret that burns deep within him, and knowledge, power and ambition aren’t the only reasons for his joining the Light Order.

As van Horstmann rises in the ranks of his order, it soon becomes apparent that he has a diabolical plan.  Working with dangerous forces, including daemons, cursed items and even the Chaos god Tzeentch, van Horstmann begins to manipulate his order, the other colleges, and even the emperor to get what he wants.  But the closer he gets to achieving the goal, the more enemies he makes, and soon factions within the Light Order and the greater Empire begin to move against him.  Can van Horstmann succeed in his mission before his dark purpose is discovered, or will his dastardly designs unleash the great and uncontrollable power hidden at the very heart of the College of Light?

This was an impressive and deeply captivating Warhammer Fantasy novel, and I absolutely loved the elaborate and clever narrative that Counter came up with.  Focusing on an intriguing villainous figure and crafting an addictive story around him that also explores key aspects of the franchise’s lore, Van Horstmann was an outstanding novel, and it was probably the best Warhammer fantasy novel I have read so far.

Counter has come up with an excellent and impressive narrative for Van Horstmann, which, as the name suggests, is completely focused on the character of Egrimm van Horstmann.  For those who don’t know, van Horstmann was a minor special character for the Chaos army in some of the earlier editions of the games, but he didn’t have that much background or lore surrounding him.  I personally knew him due to his name being associated with one of my favourite magical items available to Empire armies in the later editions, Van Horstmann’s Speculum, which is a very fun surprise for an unwary foe (I have fond memories of using Van Horstmann’s Speculum in a game to switch stats between my Master Engineer and my brother’s Manfred von Carstein in a duel.  The look on his face as his ultimate general was suddenly weaker than my minor hero was just hilarious).  However, Counter manages to take the short background summary of the character and uses it as the basis for this novel, expanding on the tale of van Horstmann and showing how and why he infiltrated the Light Order and ended up betraying them, which results in an epic story.

Van Horstmann has a bit of a slow start to it, as Counter takes the time to set up key parts of the story, including an intriguing prelude that examines the first wizards of the Empire and their darkest secret.  From there, the story introduces the main character, van Horstmann, and shows his entry into the Light Order and his start as a student.  The story gets quite interesting after this, especially as you see van Horstmann involved in a demonic exorcism, which quickly highlights just how ruthless and cunning he can be.  The story picks up pace from there as you begin to witness van Horstmann’s inevitable rise to power as the full scope of his desire and despicable nature become fully apparent.  Most of the middle of the book showcases the characters careful and evil manipulations, as he manages to fool everyone and become more and more powerful through deals with daemons and the Chaos gods.  There are some brilliant scenes here as you witness the full scope of his plans, from a great battle scene against the skaven, to organising several duels between the various magical factions, all in the name of gaining power.  Counter really does a good job of showcasing this viewpoint through multiple perspectives, and while much of the focus is on the gloating van Horstmann, you also see how his actions impact several supporting characters, many of whom start to get suspicious.  The entire narrative has a great dark fantasy edge to it, that occasionally borders on horror (especially when the character interacts with some of the daemons and their dark gods), and I found myself really getting drawn into this story once everything had been set up.

This leads up to the epic conclusion that sees van Horstmann’s master plan enter its final phase while his enemies begin to realise his evil nature.  This ended up being an extremely impressive conclusion, and it really becomes apparent just how much stuff Counter had set up in the first two-thirds of the book.  Everything comes together here, as compelling story elements such as van Horstmann’s long-term plans, his troubled past, all his terrible actions while part of the order, the revelations about the foundation of the Light Order, several great secondary character arcs, and the attempted investigation by van Horstmann’s enemies, all pay off.  I really appreciated the brilliant and dark way that these storylines worked out, and there are some great revelations, especially around van Horstmann’s motivations and the full scope of his careful actions.  I loved the deep and very personal reasons behind the events, especially as van Horstmann has some extremely fantastic revenge planned, which was pretty epic to behold.  The entire novel ends on a brilliant note that sets up the character for his future appearances as a special character in the tabletop game, while also stabbing home that van Horstmann isn’t the absolute master manipulator that he thought it was.  This clever conclusion was the perfect ending to this gripping plot about a conniving and dangerously intelligent villain, and it was so much fun to see how everything ended.  These final pages and the outstanding conclusion they contained, definitely increased the overall awesomeness of the entire narrative, and seeing just how well every great twist and turn was set up is incredibly awesome.

This ended up being an excellent addition to the overall Warhammer Fantasy canon, and Counter did a wonderful job of working this elaborate and impressive story into the wider universe.  As I mentioned above, Van Horstmann adapted basic character notes from an older game book, and I felt that Counter expanded on all these details extremely well, working them into the wider history of the Empire.  There are some great explorations of several key factions throughout this novel, particularly the Empire and some of the forces of Chaos, and the reader really gets an impressive view of the iconic setting of Altdorf, where much of the narrative takes place.  However, the most detailed and fascinating part of Counter’s dive into the Warhammer Fantasy world revolves around the exploration of the Colleges of Magic in the Empire.  Without a doubt, Van Horstmann contains some of the best explanations of how human wizards perceive magic that you are every likely to see in a Warhammer novel and Counter spends a ton of time examining this.  While some of the explorations surrounding magic do get a bit overly metaphysical for their own good, they are always pretty compelling to see, and I loved how there is a fun focus on the various different orders of magic, especially Light and Gold magic, as there are some awesome fights between these groups.  However, it is the Light Order that gets the most attention in this novel, as the main character is nominally a member of this group.  There is so much detail put into showcasing the Light Order’s elaborate, hidden headquarters, as well as how their particular brand of magic works, and you come away with a pretty intense understanding of this, which I deeply enjoyed.

Now, due to the sheer level of intriguing detail and Warhammer Fantasy lore contained within this novel, Van Horstmann is a book best enjoyed by those already a fan of the franchise.  Counter dives into some fantastic and occasionally obscure parts of the lore, and established Warhammer fans will really appreciate the clever touches and revelations featured within.  That being said, Counter also spends time ensuring that new readers will be able to follow the narrative rather easily, and a lot of the book’s exposition is spent establishing the history, magical elements, and some of the key factions for new readers.  As such, pretty much anyone who loves a good dark fantasy story can easily enjoy Van Horstmann as a novel, and I am sure that most people will have an excellent time with its very clever and intense narrative.  However, Warhammer fans are going to get the most out of it, and this probably isn’t the best first book for those readers interested in exploring the Warhammer Fantasy universe (the Gotrek and Felix novels, such as Trollslayer, would be my recommendation).  Nevertheless, this is an exceptional Warhammer Fantasy read that will appeal to a wide cadre of readers.

There is some great character work featured in Van Horstmann, which naturally focuses primarily on the titular character.  Counter really gets into the mind of van Horstmann in this book, and while most of the time you only see the supremely confident wizard who delights in manipulating men, wizards and daemons, there is a lot more under the surface.  This includes a tragic backstory that serves as the motivation that drives him to do all the terrible things he wants to do here.  While it would be rather easy to hate this character, especially with his inherent arrogance, I found myself getting drawn into his multiple plots and machinations, and you end up rooting for him just to see how all his plans unfold.  Despite that, it is also quite fun to see misfortune strike him, especially the fun twist at the very end of the book where his overconfidence comes back to bite him in a big way.  I had an outstanding time following van Horstmann in this fantastic novel and he proved to be a very fun central figure in this book.

Due to the massive focus on van Horstmann, Counter doesn’t spend a lot of time building up a lot of the side characters.  Despite that, there are a few interesting supporting characters and storylines that add a fair bit to the narrative and which have some compelling connections to the main plot.  Various members of the Light Order are featured throughout, and I liked the way that Counter portrayed them as mostly being quite full of themselves and unable to consider treachery from within their order.  Watching them get taken down a massive peg by van Horstmann is a little satisfying at times, especially when their fates are well deserved, although there are a few tragedies thrown in at the same time.  Other great characters include the manipulative Skull of Katam, a sentient magical skull who guides van Horstmann for its own reasons, and who served as an untrustworthy accomplice for a good part of the book.  Finally, there is also the interesting character of Witch Hunter Argenos, a rabid religious zealot who hunts agents of dark magic and the Chaos gods.  Argenos serves as a good counterpoint to many of the more magical characters, and his deep drive and desire for religious justice, helps to turn him into an excellent threat to van Horstmann.  These side characters, and more, have some interesting moments in the book, and I liked their excellent contributions that combined with Van Horstmann’s main tale in some fantastic ways.

Containing an addictive, powerful and brilliant story, Van Horstmann by Ben Counter is an incredible and awesome Warhammer Fantasy novel that follows a fantastic villain as he dives deep into the world of magic.  I loved the elaborate and captivating tale of revenge and dark power that Counter came up with here, and readers will swiftly get drawn into this amazing novel.  An excellent in the Warhammer Fantasy canon, Van Horstmann is an exceptional read that comes very highly recommended.

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Quick Review – Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Murder Mystery, Quick Review, Science Fiction2 Comments

Wrong Place Wrong Time Cover

Publisher: Michael Joseph (Trade Paperback – 15 June 2022)

Series: Standalone

Length: 402 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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Prepare to dive into one of the more unique and compelling murder mystery novels of 2022 with the trippy Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister.

Plot Synopsis:

 Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?

It’s every parent’s nightmare.

Your happy, funny, innocent son commits a terrible crime: murdering a complete stranger.

You don’t know who. You don’t know why. You only know your teenage boy is in custody and his future lost.

That night you fall asleep in despair. Until you wake . . .

. . . and it is yesterday.

Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. Another chance to stop it.

Somewhere in the past lie the answers, and you don’t have a choice but to find them . . .

I must admit that I did not quite know what to expect when I decided to check out Wrong Place Wrong Time.  However, I ended up having an amazing time with this excellent and awesome novel from Gillian McAllister, who has produced multiple interesting family orientated crime fiction books over the last few years.  Thanks to its great story Wrong Place Wrong Time was pretty damn cool, and I really enjoyed its impressive concept that combines time travel with an intriguing murder mystery.

Wrong Place Wrong Time starts off on a captivating note, with protagonist Jen Brotherhood staring out her window one night and noticing her son, Todd, go up to a man she’s never seen before, and stab him to death in front of the house.  With Todd refusing to answer any questions, and her husband, Kelly, not knowing what to do, Jen can only watch as her son is arrested and taken away by the police.  Horrified at the terrible future that now awaits her child, Jen eventually collapses into sleep, only to wake up on the morning of the killing, aware of everything that is about to happen.

Confused by what is happening, Jen manages to persuade Todd to stay home that night, thus stopping the killing.  However, her ordeal is far from over, as the next time she falls asleep she has awakened even further back in time, to the day before the stabbing, and that each subsequent night she goes back to sleep she is travelling further and further back along her own timeline.  Believing that the only chance she might have to stop her jumps into the past and save her son’s future is to figure out why Todd stabbed the man, Jen begins to investigate the crime in reverse, perusing her son’s movements in the weeks and months leading up to the crime and trying to decide how he knew the murder victim and why he felt that he needed to kill him.  However, the more she digs and the further back in time she travels, the more Jen begins to realise that there is so much about her family and her past that she didn’t know, and she’ll have to find out every single secret to find a way to stop everything.

I really liked how this fantastic story came together, and Wrong Place Wrong Time was one of the more distinctive murder mystery/science fiction hybrid novels that I have read.  McAllister sets her entire time travel premise at the start of the book really well, and you soon get really engrossed in watching the protagonist continually falling backwards in time day by day.  Once the protagonist begins to understand what is befalling her, the story launches into its mostly standard pattern as Jen attempts to live her life in reverse while also investigating the events that led up to her son committing his crime.  I really enjoyed the reverse investigation that Jen was forced to do, and it was fascinating to see her attempt to decipher events through both the lens of her future knowledge and her previous understanding of the past.

While Jen’s storyline is the most prominent in the novel, there is also an interesting secondary storyline that follows a police officer who is assigned to investigate crimes in the same area as the main story is taking place.  This secondary storyline, which is progressing in a normal linear way, intersects with the main storyline is some brilliant ways, and it provides some intriguing and powerful context to Jen’s investigations in the past.  I was really impressed with how McAllister wrote this amazing story, and the excellent combination of time travel and mystery, came together extremely well.  It takes a particularly skilled author to hide twists in a narrative where the protagonist is going backwards through time, and Wrong Place Wrong Time had several great secrets that you will not see coming.  If I were to make one complaint, it would be that the eventual reveal about what caused the time travel was a little weak, but honestly, that was a very minor issue that didn’t impact my enjoyment that greatly.  Easily one of the more complex and inventive mystery thrillers of 2022, you will become highly engrossed in Jen’s attempts to find the truth further and further back in time.

While there is an understandable focus on both the mystery and time travel aspects of Wrong Place Wrong Time, I must also highlight the compelling character nature of the book that serves as the story’s beating heart.  The story mostly follows protagonist Jen, who goes through a rough journey in this novel.  At the start of the novel, Jen is a happy and successful woman, extremely confident in her apparently strong connection to her son.  However, after witnessing her son’s crime and subsequently jumping back in time, she begins to truly appreciate just how little she knows about her family, and that there are many secrets surrounding them.  This harrowing journey into the past, combined with the multiple revelations about her family’s history really starts to wear on her, and it was highly moving and tragic to witness Jen start to break down.  However, you also get to witness her strength and her commitment to her family, as she still struggles to solve this mystery, no matter how badly it impacts her or how much of her life she is forced to relive in reverse.  I especially loved seeing the relationship that she has with her son and husband, as you get to see the various stages of their connection and life in reverse, and it helps to paint a powerful picture about family and connection.  Thanks to this, and more, you really grow attached to Jen and the other characters, and this really helps to increase the impacts and stakes of Jen’s journey.

Talented author Gillian McAllister has done an incredible job here with Wrong Place Wrong Time.  Thanks to its compelling and memorable character-driven plot that combines a slow journey back into the past with an intense murder mystery, Wrong Place Wrong Time is a gripping and clever read that I really got attached to.  There are so many great elements to this fantastic book, and it is really worth checking out.

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The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller13 Comments

The Accomplice Cover

Publisher: Orion (Trade Paperback – 26 July 2022)

Series: Eddie Flynn – Book Seven

Length: 323 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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The murder trial of the year is in session as brilliant legal thriller author Steve Cavanagh returns with his latest Eddie Flynn novel, The Accomplice.

Last year I had the great pleasure of reading a very fun and compelling thriller novel with The Devil’s Advocate, which was the sixth book in the Eddie Flynn series by talented author Steve Cavanagh.  I had heard of Cavanagh before last year, and indeed I already had a couple of his other books currently sitting on my to-read shelf, but this was the first real chance I had to read one of his novels.  I ended up being really impressed with The Devil’s Advocate, which pitted the series’ conman turned lawyer protagonist against a murderous southern prosecutor in a story that was wildly entertaining, extremely clever, and highly addictive.  As such, I have been rather eager to see what Cavanagh would write next, and his next book, The Accomplice, had been high on my upcoming books list for a while.  Well, I just received an advance copy of The Accomplice a couple of days ago and I immediately picked it up and started reading because it had such an awesome story idea behind it.

Carrie Miller is the most hated woman in America!  A seemingly normal and unassuming housewife, the world was shocked to discover that Carrie’s husband, Daniel Miller, was the notorious and brutal serial killer known as the Sandman.  After terrorising New York for months and killing 14 people, the Sandman suddenly vanished just as the police arrived to arrest him.  While the Sandman may have been gone, Carrie was still there, and everyone, including the police, FBI, media, and the entirety of America, believes that she knew about her husband’s crimes and helped to cover them up.

As the start of her trial begins, a desperate Carrie turns to the one defence attorney that could save her, former conman and legal genius Eddie Flynn.  Convinced of her innocence and determined to help, Flynn reluctantly takes on her case.  However, this will be the most difficult case of his life, as he must convince a jaded jury and the rest of the world that Carrie had no knowledge of her husband’s crimes and took no part in the murders.  But with Carrie already convicted by the media, and no evidence or witnesses that can back up her story, Eddie will have a real fight on his hands.

As Eddie prepares for the case, a dangerous new problem enters the picture.  After a lengthy absence, the Sandman has returned to New York, and he’s determined to save his wife from a life sentence.  Even with the police, FBI and rogue serial killer specialist Gabriel Lake on his tail, the Sandman begins a new reign of terror, targeting the prosecution’s witnesses and members of the FBI.  With the stakes higher than ever, can Eddie prove Carrie’s innocence before the killer strikes again or will he and everyone he cares about face the wrath of the Sandman?

Cavanagh hits it out of the park again, providing readers with a brilliant and intense thriller that is dark and fun at the same time.  Combining fantastic legal elements with a gripping psychological narrative about a dangerous killer, The Accomplice was another impressive read from Cavanagh that was well worth the wait.

This seventh Eddie Flynn novel has a really awesome and intense story to it that takes the reader on an impressive ride that is near impossible to stop.  Starting off with a great introduction to the case, the story quickly loops in Eddie Flynn and his team, while also bringing back the great villain in the Sandman.  Following some subsequent exposition and background to the case, Eddie gets into planning the defence, only to have a substantial shock hit him as the Sandman strikes in several different directions.  As the various characters attempt to deal with the issues surrounding the Sandman’s new attacks, Eddie is forced to defend his client in impossible circumstances as the trial starts.

Thanks to his great use of multiple character perspectives, which follows everyone including Eddie, his team, and even the Sandman himself, you get a great view of the events occurring throughout the book.  The middle of this impressive novel is filled with some excellent sequences depicting the killers’ current brutal actions, the desperate search for him that envelopes several main characters, and Flynn’s always impressive legal scenes.  I loved the awesome changes in tone and focus that occurred between these various chapters, and there is an intriguing and powerful contrast between the intensive cat-and-mouse games surrounding the killer and the more legal focused scenes.  All the perspectives come together in a big way towards the end of the book, and The Accomplice has a fantastic and wildly entertaining finale.  There are some pretty cool twists loaded up here and Cavanagh does a great job setting them up throughout the narrative.  I was kind of able to predict how one of the main ones would turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised by the other, and looking back it was cleverly set up and then hidden by the other secrets.  The author ends The Accomplice on a great note, and readers will come away wildly entertained and very impressed with how everything was so neatly wrapped up.

Cavanagh was in the zone when he was writing The Accomplice, and I deeply enjoyed how the entire story came together.  Like most of Cavanagh’s novels, the pacing in The Accomplice was spot on and the reader is never really given a chance to relax or put the novel down, which ensures that they try really hard to get through everything in one go (it worked on me).  There was an excellent blend of styles throughout The Accomplice, and Cavanagh once again did a great job of combining the darker subject matter of a disturbed killer, with the lighter scenes that focused on Eddie Flynn’s outrageous behaviour.  The scenes focused on the Sandman were particularly dark and gripping, especially as you get to see directly into his diseased mind, and the use of them throughout the novel really helped to amp up the drama and threat, while also moving the narrative along in some impressive directions.  Likewise, you get some intriguing and powerful character driven scenes from some of the other major characters, such as Flynn’s investigator Bloch and newcomer Gabriel Lake, as they get obsessed with finding the Sandman and bringing him to justice.

However, my personal favourite scenes in the book are those that deal more with the legal thriller aspects of the book.  I am always a sucker for a good legal battle in fiction, and Cavanagh, a man who knows a thing or two about the law, does a brilliant job of showcasing trials, legal prep work, and the formation of a defence case throughout his novels.  The court sequences scattered throughout the novel are very well written, and it was fascinating to see the author’s take on certain prosecution and defence strategies (some of the names for the strategies were quite amusing) as the protagonists do their darndest to blow a hole in the seemingly airtight case against their client.  I really loved how Cavanagh once again let Eddie go wild during the court case, and he uses all his knowledge and flair for the dramatic to manipulate the court in some inventive and often hilarious ways.  Most of Eddie’s appearances in the court are wildly entertaining, and his over-the-top shenanigans so much fun to behold, especially when he takes down every smug opponent and obstacle in a big way.  The author has a lot of fun setting up some of these events throughout the book, and it is really entertaining to see the protagonists coming up with their eccentric plans, as the hints about what they are going to do are left purposely vague to capture the reader’s attention.  I have so much love for Cavanagh’s ability to bring some wacky ideas into the court setting, and I can’t wait to see what convoluted and hilarious strategies the protagonist employs in any future books.

On top of the great story and distinctive sequences, Cavanagh also excels at character creation and development, which adds an extra impressive layer to the narrative.  The Accomplice features an interesting complement of characters, from the established cast of the previous books to some exceptional new figures whom the current case revolves around.  Naturally, most of the focus falls on the protagonist of Eddie Flynn, who is once again brought into an impossible case.  Flynn has another strong turn in The Accomplice and gets up to all his old tricks to win.  This results in quite a few entertaining and hilarious moments, and most of the book’s strong humour is because of Flynn’s more outrageous behaviours.  However, parts of this case do really get to Flynn and show that deep down he’s a good and flawed figure who lets his work dig into him.  Watching certain stresses and griefs take their hold on him really adds to the drama and intensity of the book, and I really appreciated how Cavanagh portrayed him throughout this latest novel.

On top of Eddie, the author brings back the central legal team, who are very strongly featured throughout this seventh book.  This includes Eddie’s mentor and advisor, Harry Ford, who continues to be a solid and calming presence for much of the book.  Harry serves as an excellent foil to the more outgoing Flynn, and they work well together as a team, especially during some scenes that see Harry have a bigger impact on the story than usual.  The other two key members of the staff are the firm’s other associate, young lawyer Kate Brooks and investigator Blotch, who are well utilised throughout The Accomplice.  Both bring something very different to the story, whether it be Kate’s relative innocence and determination to help wronged women, such as their client in this book, or Blotch’s investigative knowhow, capacity for violence, and general determination.  Both prove a good match for Flynn throughout this book, and I really liked the major impacts they have on the story, as it resulted in a much more varied and fun narrative.  There is also a great look at their strong friendship, which has lasted since childhood, and it was fun to see more examples of Blotch’s overprotective nature, especially when it comes to a thieving neighbour.

Finally, there are also some excellent new characters utilised in The Accomplice, who each bring something very different to the table.  Due to their stronger involvement with this particular case, be it suspect, perpetrator or hunter, Cavanagh does spend a bit more time introducing and developing these new characters than the existing cast, and you end up getting to know them extremely well.  This includes Flynn’s new client, Carrie Miller, the wife of the infamous Sandman, who finds herself under attack from pretty much the entire country in this book.  Carrie cuts a fascinating figure as a result, and while you are constantly wondering just how innocent she is, you get to see her at her most vulnerable as everyone she knows has turned against her.  I particularly enjoyed some of her insights (her choice of favourite film is excellent), and the journal entries that the author scatters throughout the novel really enhances her tale and gives greater context to her present actions.

In addition, Cavanagh also introduces the character of Gabriel Lake, a former FBI agent turned private investigator who specialises in catching serial killers.  A brilliant man with interesting ideas about the way to hunt killers which goes against the established theories of the FBI, Lake is an integral part of the plot, as he helps Flynn with his case in the hope of catching the Sandman.  However, there is also a deep well of anger within Lake, due to both his past and his personal connection to the Sandman case, and this becomes a major problem for the protagonists as the book goes on.  You never quite know what Lake’s motivations or intentions are, and he ends up adding an entire extra layer of complexity to an already twisty plot.

The final character I need to mention is the killer known as the Sandman.  While I won’t go into too much detail here about them to preserve some plot details, they serve as a sinister and threatening figure throughout the story, and their presence really impacts the events of the narrative.  Cavanagh goes out of his way to make the Sandman appear as deadly and deranged as possible, and it was fascinating to get a glimpse into his mind, especially as he truly believes that the Sandman is his true persona.  Watching him work his deadly skills in several disconcerting point of view chapters really adds to the intensity of the narrative, and he ended up being a particularly impressive literary villain.  I really had a great time with all these amazing and complex characters, be they old and new, and Cavanagh has once again really showcased his excellent skill when it comes to writing damaged people.

Unsurprisingly, I had a wonderful time with The Accomplice and Steve Cavanagh continues to impress me as one of the more entertaining thriller authors out there today.  This latest Eddie Flynn novel has all the series trademark flair as Cavanagh presents the reader with another unique and captivating case.  I loved how The Accomplice featured a great combination of a dark killer, hilarious legal scenes, a twisty thriller plot, and some well-established characters, which result in an incredible and addictive narrative.  A deeply enjoyable read, I really must go back and check out some of the earlier Eddie Flynn novels when I get a chance.  Highly recommended!

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer: Runefang by C. L. Werner

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Throwback Thursday, Warhammer5 Comments

Runefang Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Paperback – 24 June 2008)

Series: Warhammer Fantasy

Length: 413 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  For this week’s Throwback Thursday I have a look at a classic Warhammer Fantasy adventure novel with the entertaining fantasy thrill ride, Runefang.

I have been reading an awful lot of Warhammer 40,000 novels lately, but deep down my heart will always belong to the Warhammer Fantasy franchise, as that was the game that I played back in the day.  Even though the Warhammer Fantasy game has ended (replaced by The Age of Sigmar), while it was going the Black Library invested a lot of time into creating some excellent novels in this setting, which I have also been enjoy recently.  This includes the awesome Broken Honour and some of the earlier entries in the iconic Gotrek and Felix series (including Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer, Dragonslayer and Beastslayer).  Even after reading these, I am still in the mood for more fun Warhammer Fantasy adventures and so I just read Runefang by established Warhammer fiction author C. L. Werner.  Werner, whose other writing credits include the Witch Hunter, Thanquol & Boneripper and The Black Plague series, came up with a compelling idea for this novel which I had a lot of fun getting through.

As civil war, discord and political instability rock the human realms of the Empire, a far greater threat marches upon it from the south.  A massive horde of undead creatures has been raised from the grave and is  cutting its way through the heavily populated province of Wissenland.  As the forces of Wissenland gather to fight, they are disheartened to find that these are not the typical shambling herd of undead horrors, but a well-organised, highly disciplined force of relentless fighters with dangerous magic backing them up.  Worse, the leader of this force is a true monster, the wight lord Zahaak, an ancient general of the legendary dark necromancer, Nagash, who has risen from his last defeat to finally achieve the victory he promised centuries before.

After several devastating slaughters, it becomes apparent that the undead force before them is unstoppable and the only way to defeat it is to kill the unkillable undead general.  In desperate need of anything that will save his realm, the Count of Wissenland and his advisors come up with an unlikely plan: recovering the Solland Runefang.  Lost years before when an orc raid destroyed the former province of Solland, the stolen Runefang, one of the legendary 12 swords signifying rulership of the Empire’s provinces, is rumoured to be the only weapon capable of killing Zahaak.

The task of finding the Runefang falls to Baron von Rabwald, who pulls together a small expedition of soldiers, knights and adventurers and leads them to the Runefang’s purported hiding place in the Worlds Edge Mountains.  However, this is no easy quest, and the chances of success are low, especially as the Worlds Edge Mountains are a notorious haunt for monsters, orcs and innumerable other dangers.  Worse, they are not the only group seeking the lost Runefang, and the fell magic of Zahaak is never far behind.  Can the expedition recover the Runefang before it is too late, or will Wissenland fall at the hands of its greatest foe from the past?

This was an outstanding and extremely exciting Warhammer Fantasy novel that I had a wonderful time reading.  C. L. Werner did an excellent job providing readers with an amazing fantasy adventure, and Runefang has a lot of great elements that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

At the heart of Runefang lies a captivating and highly enjoyable fantasy narrative that quickly drags the reader in with its impressive action, enjoyable characters, intriguing examination of the Warhammer world, and exciting adventure narrative.   Starting off with a fantastic introduction that sees the Wissenland army’s first disastrous attack against the undead horde, you are swiftly brought into the middle of the conflict as you witness the aftermath of the defeat, which also introduces several of the main characters.  Following some compelling exposition about the enemy they are facing, the story splits into two parts, with Baron von Rabwald leading most of the supporting cast off to find the lost Runefang, while the rest of the story focuses on the Count of Wissenland’s attempts to delay the undead army to give the adventurers time.  This split works really well, and seeing the disasters unfolding in Wissenland heightens the stakes of the expedition’s adventures and ensures that the reader is even more invested in its outcome.  The expedition storyline encounters multiple obstacles throughout their adventure, including monsters, traps, and orcs and goblins.  They are also forced to deal with a rival force of humans who are also hoping to claim the Runefang, untrustworthy mercenaries, as well as a traitor within their ranks who is helping the enemy.

This all translates into a very good and action-packed adventure, and I loved seeing all the epic events unfold through the eyes of the varied characters.  The story chugs along at a quick and exciting pace, with a good combination of action, dark moments and some fun, if grim, humour that I quite enjoyed.  Werner also ensures readers are in for a wild ride by not being sentimental when it comes to character survivability.  This became really apparent around halfway through Runefang when several key characters, many of whom had been built up in a big way for most of the narrative, were very suddenly killed off, and one of the supporting cast took the reigns as lead protagonist.  While this was a little surprising, I think it worked rather well, and it added to the suspense and drama of the tale, as the new protagonist is forced to make some big choices and deals to keep the quest alive.  Following this, the story keeps advancing at a great pace, with new foes and dangers appearing the closer the protagonists got to their goal.  This leads up to the epic final sequences of the expedition narrative, and it was fantastic to see the surviving protagonists go up against all the villains that had been chasing them in a big, extended confrontation, and Werner kept continuously hitting the reader with twists, surprises and dangers.  The reveal about the traitor in the ranks was pretty good, especially as Werner threw in an excellent red herring character (although by the time it is revealed, there were limited potential characters who it could be).  Everything comes together extremely well, with all the storylines and character arcs reaching their natural end, and I felt that it was an excellent, if rather bittersweet, conclusion.

I have to say that this was a particularly good and accessible entry in the wider Warhammer Fantasy canon, which is very well suited to this sort of immense and powerful story.  While Werner could have just phoned in Runefang with a generic adventure story set in the universe, he does a great dive into the lore.  This novel is set well before the events of most Warhammer Fantasy novels and takes place during the Age of the Three Emperors, where the Empire was split by a raging civil war.  As such, the province of Wissenland is on its own throughout the novel and must also deal with the substantial machinations of its neighbours as it fights to survive, which gives it a great additional edge of intrigue.  The author also spends a great deal of time focusing on the ruined province of Solland and the importance of its lost Runefang.  It was fascinating to see the ruins of Solland in Runefang, as it was still badly scarred by the orc invasion that destroyed it, and the impact of Wissenland’s absorption of it was quite interesting.  I also really appreciated the fantastic portrayal of the notorious Worlds Edge Mountains, the former realm of the dwarfs that is now controlled by orcs, bandits, and monsters.  The author did a really good job showing this to be a desolate and dangerous place, and he really did not disappoint when it came to featuring the variety of cool creatures and threats it contains, forcing the protagonists up against dangerous odds again and again.

Finally, I must highlight the author’s excellent use of the undead army in this book.  Rather than using the armies of the Vampire Counts or the Tomb Kings (which were the two undead factions at the time of Runefang’s release), Werner features a historic army of undead creatures who have risen after their defeat during the early days of the Empire to have their vengeance.  As such, they are a unique force of undead creatures, and I loved seeing them in action, particularly as you get some awesome reactions of terror from the human characters observing them.  Overall, I really loved the cool use of Warhammer Fantasy elements, history and settings in Runefang, and I felt that this was the sort of Warhammer novel that any fantasy fan could pick up and enjoy.

I also need to highlight all the impressive action featured throughout Runefang, and Werner has a clear talent for making fight scenes come to life in a big way.  There are so many battles throughout this book, and each of them is showcased to the reader in exquisite detail.  Whether it be a small skirmish, a one-on-one fight, a brawl against a giant monster, or a large pitched battle between armies, the author ensures that the reader gets the full sense of everything that his happening.  It was extremely cool to see all these fights unfold, and I was able to mentally see every sword swing, desperate charge and epic moment.  I liked how some of these fights emulated the battles from the table-top Warhammer Fantasy game, and you could really envision how they would have looked being played out on the board.  These action scenes combined well with the awesome and exciting story, and I think that they strongly enhanced my enjoyment of Runefang.

The final thing I want to talk about is characters, as Runefang features an excellent and massive cast of distinctive protagonists and villains.  Now, I am not going to go into too much detail about character arcs or development here, as to do so might ruin which key characters are killed off early.  However, I have to say that I was really impressed with the awesome way that Werner introduced each of the major figures in the book.  As such, you quickly grow to like many of the figures in Runefang, especially as Werner goes out of his way to feature a unique and often damaged group of protagonists to fit the story around.  I will say that I deeply enjoyed the Baron’s notorious and scarred champion, Kessler, who has some great moments; the dwarf Skanir, who serves as cantankerous guide; and the fantastic duo of the halfling Theodo Hobshollow and his ogre sidekick, Ghrum, who were an excellent and entertaining comic relief team.  There are also some really good villains in this novel, including the bandits who are also after the Runefang (featuring a brilliantly despicable leader and an entertaining pair of cowards), and an extremely dangerous orc warlord, Uhrghul Skullcracker.  Uhrghul was a particularly fun character, and I liked both his philosophical insights about being an orc leader as well as his effective way of questioning human prisoners (eating my legs in front of me probably would get me to talk).  I did think that the main villain of Runefang Zahaak was a tad underdeveloped, even if he was shown to be an epic badass with major historical cred to his name.  However, this might have been a deliberate choice by Werner to highlight the uncomplicated nature and motivations of the undead compared to the more insidious, evil, or animalistic plots of the humans and orc villains.  I had an amazing time following these characters, just try not to get too attached to any of them.

Filled with fantastic action, a compelling adventure storyline, fun characters and great use of the Warhammer Fantasy setting, Runefang was an outstanding novel from C. L. Werner that I had an amazing time reading.  Werner really went out of his way to create the most impressive and exhilarating fantasy adventure he could, and the result is really worth checking out.  A highly recommended Warhammer fantasy novel that you are guaranteed to have fun with.

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Armored by Mark Greaney

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller16 Comments

Armored Cover (2)

Publisher: Sphere (Trade Paperback – 12 July 2022)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 497 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Bestselling thriller author Mark Greaney presents one of the most exciting and action-packed novels of 2022, the high-octane thriller Armored.

Over the last few years I have been really getting into the awesome thriller novels of impressive author Mark Greaney, who is having a very big 2022.  Not only has he released two separate novels but he also has a film adaptation of his iconic series coming out later this week, The Gray Man.  I am really looking forward to this film, especially as I am now a pretty big fan of The Gray Man novels, having enjoyed both the first book, The Gray Man, and some of the latest entries, such as Mission Critical, One Minute Out, Relentless and Sierra Six.  However, Greaney’s year is far from done as the novel version of his 2021 Audible Original release, Armored, has just come out.  Converted into book format, Armored tells an impressive and over-the-top tale of survival and destruction that has already grabbed the attention of legendary director Michael Bay, who plans to adapt it into his next major blockbuster.

Joshua Duffy used to be one of the best close protection agents in the world, working with teams of private military contractors as security for elites in some of the most dangerous countries.  But after his fateful last mission in Lebanon cost him his team, his client and his lower left leg, Joshua finds himself suddenly and violently out of the game.  Forced to work as a mall cop to support his struggling family, Joshua’s future seems shot.  However, opportunity is about to come knocking with a deadly offer he cannot turn down.

Following a chance encounter with an old colleague, Joshua is given the opportunity to work one last job that promises to solve all his financial issues.  A violent and highly organised drug cartel has risen to power in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico, and its recent actions have greatly infuriated the Mexican government and army.  To save the large civilian population living in the Sierra Madre Mountains, the United Nations is sending a peace mission in to ease tensions and attempt to negotiate a truce before it is too late.  However, the only way to reach the cartel’s base of operations is by road, and that means travelling through one of the most dangerous and lawless areas on the planet, the Espinazo del Diablo, the Devil’s Spine.

Joining up with the notorious Armored Saint company and hiding his injury, Joshua is recruited as a team leader in the convoy assigned to keep the UN dignitaries safe.  Even loaded up in advanced armoured vehicles and working with a team of elite operators, Joshua has no allusions that his chances of success are slim, but even he is unaware just how dangerous this mission is going to be.  The other Mexican cartels are determined that the peace talks fail and are willing to pay any price to see the UN team killed and their rivals destroyed in the aftermath.  Worse, someone else is working behind the scenes to manipulate events to their advantage, and they are willing to kill everyone in the convoy to get what they want.  Can Joshua and his new team survive the deadly onslaught about to be unleashed upon them, or will they end up another victim of the Espinazo del Diablo?

Greaney continues to shine as one of our leading thriller readers with this highly entertaining action saga.  Armored is pure pulse-pounding excitement from start to finish, and I ended up powering through this substantial novel in very short order, especially once I got lured into its amazing narrative and impressively written fight scenes.

Armored Cover

I had a lot of fun with the awesome story that Greaney came up for this impressive release that is based around an intriguing and epic premise of a small team of mercenaries caught up in the violence and backstabbing of the Mexican cartels in a remote and dangerous area.  Armored has a great start to it that sets up complex protagonist Joshua Duffy extremely well, showcasing his last mission as a conventional private security contractor in a massive and deadly confrontation.  After this action-orientated introduction, you see a very desperate Duffy as he attempts to get on with his life, only to be dragged into the main mission of the book.  Greaney sets up many key parts of Armored’s plot in the early pages, introducing the main characters, showing the desperation surrounding the central protagonist, and introducing all the substantial opposition that they are likely to face.  Thanks to the use of mysterious antagonist Oscar Cardoza, you see just how rigged the situation is against the protagonists as the villain manipulates and deals with multiple cartels to ensure that they are all set against the peace mission.  As such, you know pretty early on that you are in for a wild thrill ride later in the book and Greaney does not disappoint.

Once Armored’s main story gets underway, the book moves at an extremely fast pace to match the convoy of armoured cars it is following.  The protagonists immediately face opposition, obstacles and attacks as they continue on their way, ignoring the multiple warnings about the even greater threats to come (seriously, they get so many warnings).  After surviving an increasingly deadly barrage of ambushes, betrayals and personal dramas, the story takes a whole new turn as a big twist switches the entire narrative on its head.  This twist was a fantastic game changer that was well set up during the earlier parts of the book, and it was really cool to see it fully unfold, introducing some intense new problems and opportunities.  Thanks to this twist, the second half of Armored essentially becomes one continuous battle for survival.  There are some really awesome and over-the-top moments during this second half, as several key characters die, the odds become more and more stacked against the protagonists, some final twists come into play, and new players are drawn into the fray.  This all leads up to the big conclusion, which unsurprisingly contains more action and excitement, before bringing everything to an awesome end.  I came away feeling pretty satisfied with how the story came together, and I think that Greaney wrapped up everything really well.

I quite enjoyed how Greaney wrote Armored as he brought his typical style to this later thriller.  The story was expertly told using multiple character perspectives to show the various viewpoints of the key protagonists and antagonists.  Not only does this result in a much richer story with various intriguing characters, but Greaney ensures that it ramps up the novel’s tension, especially when the reader can see betrayals and traps being formed in advance of them being unleashed upon the characters you are rooting for.  The author uses these alternate perspectives to also hint at hidden motivations in some of the supporting characters and it does a good job mostly disguising who the culprits are, while ensuring that the reader knows something big is about to go down.  There are even some intriguing flashback sequences thrown in for greater context, which help to highlight the bond two key characters have.  The entire story is very well paced, with Greaney doing a good job evenly spreading out the big action moments and the intriguing character development to ensure a continuous story that never has any slow points.  I also liked the way in which Greaney adds in some intriguing commentary about certain real-world issues, including around private military contractors, the issues surrounding wounded veterans, and the current political and criminal situation in Mexico, especially regarding the volatile cartels.  All this comes together extremely well, and the reader has a very hard time turning away from the story as everything unfolds before them.

Unsurprisingly, the real star of Armored is the action sequences, as Greaney really goes all out to provide the reader with all the high-octane gun fights they could ever want.  This thriller novel is packed to the gills with battle scenes as every major character is dragged into a series of brutal and bloody fights as they attempt to achieve their goals and survive.  I have always been really impressed with how realistic Greaney can make his fight sequences in The Gray Man novels, and this awesome attention to detail and realism continues over into Armored.  Greaney clearly knows what he is talking about when it comes to gun battles, and you really get drawn into the intense battles, as well as the detailed descriptions of proper military tactics and strategies, especially in the first half of the novel.  However, I did think that Greaney went a little too far with some of the action scenes in the second half of the book, as the already over-the-top action started to get a little insane.  Greaney was clearly trying to set up some big Hollywood moments for the announced adaptation here (to be fair, Michael Bay is going to love bringing some of these sequences to the big screen), even though it was a little too much at times.  I was especially bemused by one scene that saw several characters shooting guns out the back of a small plane, which resulted in one of the most ridiculous things I have read about in a serious thriller read.  While these crazy moments honestly did not detract too much from my enjoyment of the novel, it did give Armored a bit of an unfortunate sillier edge that it really did not need.

Finally, I need to highlight the characters featured within Armored.  Greaney has a good knack for creating large groups of likeable and distinctive characters, and most of the protagonists and antagonists in Armored were extremely good, adding some great elements to the overall story.  I particularly liked main protagonist Joshua Duffy, the wounded veteran contractor who is dragged back in for one last dangerous job.  Greaney does a lot with Duffy in this novel, showcasing him at his emotional height, slamming him down hard, and then slowly building him back up through the course of the main story.  As such, Duffy serves as an excellent central figure for most of the story, and watching him try to escape the ghosts of his past and bring his new team together to complete the mission proves to be deeply captivating in many ways.  I really enjoyed watching him being a major badass, even with one leg, and Greaney wrote a fantastic storyline over his attempts to take on a leadership role in this mission, despite dealing with a group of disrespectful and arrogant soldiers.  A definite standout character for me, it will be very interesting to see who is cast to play Duffy in the movie adaptation, and whoever it is will have a great role to fill.

Aside from Duffy, Armored featured a pretty large and fun cast of characters, with a decent focus being on the team members in Duffy’s armoured vehicle.  Made up of six members, Charlie team proves to be a solid group of protagonists, and Greaney writes a good story about them slowly coming together as a team, despite being gradually picked off.  While I enjoyed them, I did find them to be a little stereotypical in ways, with most of them being classic disrespectful and uncontrollable soldiers.  This is especially true for the characters of Wolfson, the arrogant former seal; Frenchie, the weathered veteran acting as the voice of reason; Squeeze, the extremely angry African American former Marine; and Tony Cruz, the talented but token Spanish-speaking soldier.  All of the above filled overused action tropes to a degree, and it felt a little lazy, especially when compared to some of the other characters in the book.  Luckily, this group of soldiers were well balanced out by their final member, NASCAR, the team’s driver and the book’s comic relief.  NASCAR, a former race driver turned military contractor with a history of crashing his vehicles, was an excellent addition to the cast, and his entertaining antics helped to distract from some of the blander figures in the team.

I also need to mention Duffy’s wife, Nikki, a former Army officer who has taken to cleaning houses to support her family and wounded husband.  While initially just a supporting role to help motivate the protagonist, Greaney ends up bringing Nikki into the main story in a big way as she attempts her own rescue mission.  I deeply enjoyed the determined narrative around Nikki, and it was a fantastic addition to the plot, even if it resulted in more problems for the protagonist.  I also enjoyed the other major female character in the novel, Dr Flores, a Mexican anthropologist who is assigned to the peace talks as a cultural advisor and interpreter.  Despite being a bit of a preachy figure, Dr Flores is pretty much the only character that has any common sense or idea of what they are walking into, and her knowledge and passionate personality slowly bring the main cast around.  I really enjoyed Dr Flores’s scenes throughout the novel, and you really feel for her as she keeps trying and trying to talk some sense into the soldiers or diplomats, only to be knocked back by their arrogant and dismissive attitudes.  The final character I need to highlight is Oscar Cardoza, who serves as the book’s main antagonist.  Billed as a cartel consultant who works for the highest bidder, Cardoza is a mysterious and dangerous figure for most of the book, visiting the various cartel leaders and working them to his advantage, before getting closer to the action halfway through.  I instantly enjoyed Cardoza from his first scene, especially after some fun, if ineffective, small talk with some cartel guards, and it was fantastic to watch him flit around the various cartels and play them to his advantage.  He also serves as a great foil to the main band of protagonists, and once he gets involved in the hunt for them, he really shines as a villain, especially once some secrets about him are revealed.  The cast of Armored ended up being a fantastic and captivating band of character, and I ended up becoming really invested in their unique and powerful storylines.

I cannot emphasise how exciting and enjoyable Armored turned out to be and I am really glad that I got the chance to read it.  Mark Greaney obviously had a ton of fun turning his latest novel into the most action-packed adventure he could, and Armored really lived up to its plot potential, providing the reader with wall-to-wall fire fights and intense combat.  While the novel did get a little over-the-top in places, this was a solid and impressive read that is really worth checking out.  An excellent and fast-paced thriller designed to entertain anyone who reads it; the Armored adaptation is going to end up being a pretty awesome movie that Michael Bay will have a wonderful time making.

Armored Cover 3

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Warhammer 40,000: Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer21 Comments

Assassinorum Kingmaker Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 2 April 2022)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 11 hours and 12 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 hours

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The most lethal assassins in the Warhammer 40,000 universe go face to face with a gigantic foe in the impressive and deeply thrilling Assassinorum: Kingmaker by amazing author Robert Rath.

I know I’ve said this before, but 2022 is turning out to be a fantastic year for Warhammer fiction.  Thanks to my recent obsession with this franchise, I have been deeply enjoying all the new tie-in novels associated with this table-top game, as a bevy of talented authors seek to expand on the already massive lore.  I have already had a lot of fun with books like Steel Tread, The Bookkeeper’s Skull, Day of Ascension, Kreig, Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh!, Reign and The Vincula Insurgency, but I may have just finished one of the most purely entertaining and awesome new entries, Assassinorum: Kingmaker.  Written by Robert Rath, who previously wrote the intriguing Necron focused book, The Infinite and The Divine, Assassinorum: Kingmaker had a very appealing story that instantly grabbed my attention and which ended up being an outstanding read.

In the 41st millennium, a new generation of war has engulfed the Imperium of Man, as the forces of Chaos press mankind from all sides and the recently resurrected Roboute Guilliman leads his forces on a new crusade.  Enemies attack the Imperium from all corners, often hidden in the shadows, and all the Emperor’s agents must work to find and eliminate them.  The most deadly, effective and feared of these agents are the members of the Officio Assassinorum, elite modified assassins who kill all of the Emperor’s enemies without mercy or fear, and who many believe are merely myth.

When the mechanical warriors of the Knight World of Dominion fail in their duty, the Imperial overlords task Vindicare assassin, Absolom Raithe, to travel to the planet and kill Dominion’s High Monarch, Lucien Yavarius-Khau, and managed the succession of a suitable replacement.  However, this will be no easy kill as the High Monarch has long ago bonded himself to his massive war machine, remaining permanently within its heavily armoured cockpit.  To kill this near-invulnerable king, Raithe is forced to recruit a kill-team with variable talents, featuring the Callidus assassin Sycorax and the Vanus assassin Avaaris Koln.

Infiltrating the planet using returning Knight, Sir Linoleus Rakkan, who has been co-opted into their plans, the assassins arrive to find a world in turmoil.  The planet’s two rival ruling houses are in constant battle with each other, and in the ensuing chaos, anti-Imperial sentiment is high, and the already invincible High Monarch is under heavy guard.  Seeking to infiltrate the court of Dominion, the kill team begin to manoeuvre themselves into position, while manipulating the feuding knights around them.  However, the assassins soon begin to realise that not everything is as it seems, and a dark secret lies at the heart of this noble planet.  Can Raithe’s team achieve their goals, or are they destined to die at the hands of a dangerous foe with malicious plans for the entire Imperium?

Damn! Damn! Damn! What an over-the-top and extremely cool Warhammer 40,000 novel that I deeply, deeply loved.  Robert Rath really went out of his way to make Kingmaker as awesome as possible, and the result is an extremely thrilling, electrifying and epic read, loaded with so many cool elements.  This was honestly one of the best Warhammer novels I have had the pleasure of reading and I have very little choice but to give it a full-five star read.

I really, really loved the cool story in this book, which essentially boiled down to ultra-elite assassins attempting to kill the king of a planet of mecha, which is such an awesome idea.  Despite this being a heavy concept to achieve, Rath managed to achieve it in spades, providing readers a fantastic and clever narrative that instantly grabs your attention.  This book starts off extremely well, introducing the world of Dominion, the unique mission, and the four central characters of the three assassins, and their Knight patsy, and generally setting up all the key elements of Kingmaker to ensure some outstanding moments later.  From there, the story turns into a bit of an espionage thriller, as the three assassins begin their infiltration of the court, impersonating the knight Rakkan, and coming to grips with the unique world they have arrived at.  Rath provides an excellent balance of story elements in this first half of the novel, and the reader gets a fantastic mixture of character development, massive universe building, political intrigue, spy elements and some early mecha-action, all of which is a ton of fun and ensures that the reader is firmly addicted with this novel.

While I deeply enjoyed the excellent story elements contained with this first half of Kingmaker, it’s the second half that made me a major fan of this book, as Rath amps up the action, excitement and thrills in a massive way.  Following a major, action-packed moment around the halfway mark that sees all the characters in their element, the protagonists soon have a new objective.  This leads to several great sequences of entertaining mayhem and death as the protagonists attempt to manipulate local politics to their advantage.  However, the fun doesn’t last much longer, as the book enters its final phase and big conclusion.  While it initially appears that everything is going to plan, you just know it will end badly as there is still a lot of book left to go.  However, you do not appreciate just how bad things have gotten for the protagonists until they are suddenly hit from every direction and hell reigns down all around them.

The story essentially devolves into all-out war for its last quarter, as the protagonists find themselves facing enemies all around, and all four main characters are forced go in some amazing directions at this point as they attempt to stymie the damage before them, with varying degrees of success.  Rath really pulls out all the stops here, and the reader is dragged into non-stop action on every front, from a mass of deadly mecha fights, close combat against abominations in the bowels of an ancient castle, and an intense gun fight against overwhelming numbers.  At the same time, there are a ton of big revelations occurring here as a lot of the storylines Rath has been patiently setting up throughout the rest of Kingmaker finally come to fruition.  I honestly did not notice some of the clues that Rath set out in the earlier stages of the novel, but once you realise what he has done, it really becomes apparent how much detail and planning the author put into the story.  Everything comes together extremely well at the very end, and Rath wraps up most of the storylines perfectly, leaving the reader very, very satisfied, with all their action needs firmly quenched.  However, he also leaves a couple of storylines opened, which could potentially lead to some form of sequel in the future, which I would be very excited for.  An, epic story with so much going for it!

Rath has a great and exciting writing style which I deeply enjoyed and which I found to really enhance the cool story.  The author was able to successfully blend multiple key elements together into a very cohesive narrative which delivered the right combination of action, intrigue, character moments, world building, a little humour and more.  This was a very fast-paced and exciting story, especially during some of the key moments at the centre and towards the end, and there was honestly not a single slow moment that made me even considering turning this book off.  With the use of multiple character perspectives, particularly of the four main characters, the reader is gifted a massive overarching view of the key events occurring throughout the novel, and they are always right in the centre of the story.  I particularly need to highlight the very impressive action sequences, as Rath had a real talent when it came to displaying violence and death, whether it be by the hands of the assassins, or via the multiple Knights featured throughout the book.  There is a wonderful interchange between perspectives during some of the more impressive action sequences, with the reader is shown multiple angles of key events, which really helped to enhance how epic they were.  I was really drawn to one sequence where you see a group of characters “talking” before it flashes over to another character quickly and efficiently killing everyone nearby.  Elements like this really drew me into Kingmaker’s story and were a lot of fun to see in action.

Kingmaker proves to be a very impressive addition to the Warhammer 40,000 canon, especially as Rath ensures that the reader leaves with a healthy amount of knowledge about the universe, and several major factions within it.  Ostensibly a standalone read (although there is room to expand out into an extended series), this is a book that will appeal to a wide range of Warhammer fans, especially as it focuses on two particularly unique and brilliant Imperial sub-factions, the dual use of which clash together perfectly to create an awesome narrative.  As such, a little bit of pre-knowledge about the Warhammer 40,000 universe, its recent history and the various major groups are useful to help you enjoy this story fully.  However, Rath did a great job of explaining a lot of these key universe elements throughout his story, and general science fiction fans should be able to pick up on the context easily enough.  As such, Kingmaker has a pretty broad appeal, and I loved seeing the great ways he expanded and explored some crazy groups.

The first faction that Rath deeply explored in Kingmaker is the Officio Assassinorum, the Imperium’s elite, hidden network of ruthless trained killers, who most people believe are a myth.  Trained, conditioned and modified to become the deadliest killers in the galaxy, the Officio Assassinorum are a pretty badass part of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and there are only a few novels currently about them.  However, Rath really goes to town exploring them, and as they come together as a Kill Team to take facilitate the plot’s main mission.  Kingmaker features three different types of Imperial assassins from Officio Assassinorum temples, each of whom has their own unique skills, methods and technology.  As such, you are given a great insight into three additional sub-factions, with the Vindicare, Callidus and Vanus temples all featured here.  Rath really does a great job showcasing these different assassins throughout Kingmaker, and you come away with some major insights into how these assassins operate, what their skills are, and how they work or don’t work together.  There is also a deep and intriguing examination of the inner minds of these assassins, and you get a good idea of their opinions on the events unfolding, as well as their general thoughts on being deadly killers in service to the Emperor.  I really enjoyed the unique and compelling team-up of assassins featured in Kingmaker, and their technologically focussed attacks and elaborate methods worked well in contrast to the other major faction in this book, the Imperial Knights.

Imperial Knights are another great human sub-faction from the Warhammer 40,000 game, and one that I really didn’t know too much about before this novel.  However, that changed really quickly as, despite Kingmaker being labelled as an Assassinorum novel, Rath spent just as much time, if not more, examining members of a Knight World.  Knight Worlds in the Warhammer 40,000 universe are unique planets that have evolved into a feudal system equivalent to Earth’s medieval period, with peasants and other servants serving the noble houses who field Knights for war.  I always love seeing the cool range of different societies, cultures and technology levels throughout the Warhammer universe, and the Knight Worlds are especially fun, as they have gone out of their way to stay as a feudal society, rather than become standard Imperial worlds.  The contrast between the spoiled nobility and the poorer peasants in this futuristic context is just great, and I loved seeing so many Medieval elements being altered to fit into a degree of advanced technology, while still retaining a lot of traditional elements (e.g. footmen with laser rifles).  However, rather than riding to battle on a horse, these knights are mounted in the Imperial Knight war machines, massive mecha that, while not as large as the god-sized Titans, are still impressive walking weapons.  Rath has a lot of fun showcasing these Knights throughout Kingmaker, and you end up getting a good look at the unique machines, which are bounded to their pilot, and which contain the spirts of all their previous riders.  The impressive Knight-on-Knight battles throughout the book are extremely good, no matter their context, and I particularly enjoyed the focused look at the war machines’ apparent sentience, as the riders are bombarded with the thoughts and voices of the previous riders.

Dominion also proves to be a great and complex setting for Kingmaker, and I loved all the unique politics and elaborate back stabbings it created.  Featuring two rival houses, Stryder and Rau, as they battle for supremacy, Rath explores its rather elaborate and distinctive rulership and court as the assassin characters search for a weak spot.  Dominion’s status as a somewhat independent planet in the Imperium was also pretty intriguing, and it was fascinating to see members of the planet arguing over whether they should serve themselves or help the Emperor.  An overall deeply impressive examination of the Imperial Knights and their worlds, I deeply enjoyed how well Rath was able to work this faction into his complex narrative and it really highlighted his attention to detail and his love for the lore.

I also need to highlight the great characters featured within Kingmaker as Rath has created an excellent collection of enticing figures whose unique personal stories deeply enhanced the overall tale.  This was a fantastic group of deep and complex characters, and their statuses within this universe ensured that they all had some unique experiences.  Most of Kingmaker’s narrative is spread amongst the three members of the Assassinorum who represent a different Assassinorum Temple, and as such have very different viewpoints on the universe and the best way to operate as killers.  This provides some compelling initial conflict amongst them as they try to work together, something none of them are really good at.  However, they soon start to come together as a team as the novel continues, and they ended up playing off each other’s strengths and personalities to create an excellent, core group of protagonists.

The Assassinorum characters in Kingmaker are headlined by Absolom Raithe, the Vindicare assassin who has been appointed team leader.  An infamous sniper, tactician, and resolute loner, Raithe struggles the most with working as a team, and his initial attempts at leadership aren’t that successful.  The author adds in some additional issues for Raithe as the story continues, especially as he is forced to deal with an injury and taking on roles that are outside his comfort zone, producing some dangerous risks for the team.  However, Raithe ends up growing a lot as a leader as the book continues, while his multiple sniper scenes contain some of the best action in the entire novels.

Apart from Raithe, there is also a lot of focus on Sycorax, a Callidus assassin who specialises in infiltration and whose enhanced abilities allow her to morph her shape.  Due to her role impersonating Rakkan for most of the novel, Sycorax is one of the most significant characters in the book, and she ends up with some thrilling and intrigue laden sequences.  Watching her take on multiple personalities throughout the novel is really cool, and it was captivating to watch her more elaborate methods strongly clash with Raithe’s more direct attempts throughout the book.  Sycorax also provides the reader with some of the best and most intense insights into being an Imperial Knight pilot, as she is required to bond with Rakkan’s Knight Jester for much of the book.  Seeing an outsider character interact with Jester’s mind, which contains the spirits of its previous riders, was extremely fascinating, and you get a good sense of the difficulties and insanities involved with piloting such a machine.  In addition, the experiences and memories she obtained from the link impacted on Sycorax’s psyche and ensure that she gets some fantastic interactions with Rakkan, while also gaining a better understanding of the people and machines she is trying to manipulate.

The final assassin character in Kingmaker is Koln, a Vanus assassin with a skill in technology, data manipulation and analysis.  Even though Koln tended to get the least focus of the assassin characters, I really grew to like this tech-focused assassin, especially after her awesome introduction at the start of the book.  Koln proved to be an excellent third member of the Assassinorum team, balancing out the impulsive Raith and manipulative Sycorax well.  Her ability to kill just by manipulating some data, providing an elaborate forgery, or by hacking into a device was really fun, and I really appreciated the examination of the lesser utilised Vanus assassins.  Koln had some interesting story moments in Kingmaker, particularly towards the end of the novel, and it sounds like the author has some intriguing plans for her in the future.

I also need to highlight the character of Sir Linoleus Rakkan, a noble of Dominion who is co-opted into the plans to kill the high monarch and becomes a member of the assassin team.  At the start of the book, he is introduced as an ambitious pilot attempting to raise his fortunes.  However, after nearly being killed, he becomes a mercenary Freeblade, fighting against the forces of Chaos, before being kidnapped by the assassins.  Initially a depressed prisoner who relies heavily on drink to mask his emotional pain and the issues surrounding his disabled legs, the assassins manage to convince him to help Sycorax impersonate him on Dominion and use his return to gain access to the court.  Due to being a son of both the rival Stryder and Rau houses, Rakkan provides some great insights into both houses and the royal court, as well providing instruction on how to pilot a Knight.  It was a lot of fun to see Rakkan’s reactions to many of the early events of the book, especially as he is forced to watch himself being impersonated, providing information to help them pull off the charade.  While Rath could have left Rakkan as a useful, one-note character, he instead spent a good portion of the novel evolving Rakkan and ensuring that he ended up being a key part of the plot.  Not only does he mature greatly after witnessing some of the key moments of the mission and Sycorax’s impersonation of him, but Rath also dives into his past and the connection he has to his father, a Dominion hero whose glorious death Rakkan continually witnesses due to his connection to Jester, which his father died in.  This obsession with his family and the past eventually leads him to some big revelations in the present, and he ends up having some major and exciting moments in the last half of the novel.  Rakkan ended up being one of the most complex and entertaining characters in Kingmaker, and I really appreciate the excellent way in which the author developed him.

Aside from these four main characters, Kingmaker is loaded with an excellent group of supporting characters, most of whom are members of the Dominion nobility.  As I mentioned above, I had an amazing time seeing the diverse and contentious Knights of Dominion, especially as most of them are engaged in a brutal blood feud between the two ruling families.  Several of these noble characters have some intriguing storylines throughout Kingmaker, with an interesting focus on the members of the Court, the king’s inner circle who are hiding some major and disturbing secrets.  Of the rest of the noble characters, the best is probably Rakkan’s mother, the leader of the Stryder family, Baroness Hawthorn Astair-Rakkan, a domineering and ambitious woman who spends most of the novel trying to manipulate Rakkan for her own gain.  Baroness Hawthorn had some excellent moments throughout the novel, and I especially loved her collection of hounds, each of whom are humorously named after famous Imperial commanders, just to show off her arrogance and disrespect to the Imperial Guards.  Hawthorn’s story arc really changes towards the end of the book, and it will be interesting to see if we get some extra appearances from her in the future.  The other major supporting character of Kingmaker is Gwynne, Rakkan’s loyal Sacristan (Jester’s mechanic, a low-level Tech Priest with some additional cultural restrictions).  Gwynne serves as another ally to the main characters, and her knowledge of the Knights and their inner workings proves invaluable, as does her inquiring mind.  The author weaves some subtle, but important, storylines around Gwynne in Kingmaker, and she ends up serving a key and impressive role.  Overall, this was an excellent collection of characters, and I deeply enjoyed how well Rath used them throughout Kingmaker’s narrative.

Like many of the newer Warhammer novels I have been lucky enough to enjoy, I chose to check out Kingmaker on audiobook, which I found to be an awesome way to enjoy this book.  Coming in with a run time of just over 11 hours, this was a decently long Warhammer novel, but I honestly flew through it in just a few days, especially once I got fully addicted to its impressive story.  The audiobook format really helped me dive into the highly detailed setting and narrative, and I deeply appreciated how much more epic it made the action sequences.  Having the intense and over-the-top fighting between the various mechanical Knights was an outstanding experience, and you got the full impact of every powerful strike.  I also really enjoyed the excellent narration of veteran audiobook voice actor Gareth Armstrong, who has done a ton of other narration for the Warhammer franchise.  Armstrong’s work in Kingmaker was very good, and I loved the great array of voices he features for the various characters, capturing the ethereal and strange nature of the assassin characters and the more robust, proud and arrogant nobles of Dominion.  There was a great contrast between these two groups, and I loved how Armstrong succeeded in making every single character stand out on their own.  An overall exceptional way to enjoy this wonderful Warhammer book, the Kingmaker audiobook is without a doubt the best way to enjoy this novel, and I deeply enjoyed every single second I spent listening to it.

I think it is fair to say that I deeply enjoyed Assassinorum: Kingmaker.  Robert Rath crafted together a brilliant and exceptionally entertaining Warhammer 40,000 novel that was loaded with action, fun and great characters.  Featuring lethal assassins facing down massive Imperial Knights, Kingmaker has a little bit of everything, including political intrigue, impressive use of Warhammer elements, and some fantastic war sequences towards the end.  Easily one of the most impressive and captivating Warhammer novels of 2022, Kingmaker is a must-read for all fans of the franchise, and you are guaranteed to have an incredible time with this epic book.

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Wake by Shelley Burr

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Thriller14 Comments

Wake Cover

Publisher: Hachette Australia (Trade Paperback – 27 April 2022)

Series: Standalone

Length: 360 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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2022 is proving to be quite the year for Australian crime debuts, with several compelling and thrilling read already out.  However, one of the more impressive recent debuts is probably the amazing release by new Canberran author Shelley Burr, Wake, a gripping and powerful crime thriller that takes the reader on a wild and emotionally charged ride.

Nannine is a small rural town in the harsh heart of New South Wales, punished by drought and slowly declining as the local agriculture industry starts to deteriorate.  However, Nannine will always have one harrowing claim to fame: the unsolved disappearance of Evelyn McCreery.  In 1999, young Evelyn disappeared from her rural house in the dead of night, right from the bedroom that she shared with her twin sister, Mina.

Now, 19 years after Evelyn’s disappearance, Mina lives a reclusive life on the destocked family farm, desperately seeking some shreds of normality.  However, the shadow of the unsolved case and the subsequent massive media storm that bombarded her family still haunts her, especially as many question whether she had a role in the tragic events, while others constantly attempt to claim the massive reward the family posted.  However, despite the time and her attempts to not get involved in the craziness again, Mina finds old wounds reopened when Lane Holland arrives in town.

Lane is a private investigator and failed Federal Police cadet who has made a living out of cracking cold cases involving missing girls.  Interested in claiming the substantial reward, Lane begins his own in-depth investigation of Evelyn’s disappearance, and his determination and insights soon grab Mina’s attention and she finds herself drawn close to Lane.  However, Lane has his own personal reasons for solving the case, and his dark ghosts could end up dragging Mina down with him.

This was an excellent and captivating debut novel from Shelley Burr, which is already gaining some major recognition, including some major Australian awards.  While I knew I was likely to enjoy this amazing novel, I ended powering through Wake in a day as I got really hooked on its compelling and intense outback story.

I deeply enjoyed Wake’s awesome story, especially as Burr makes sure that it contains all the necessary elements to grab your attention.  This novel starts in the modern day, 19 years after the disappearance that rocked Nannine, and sees newcomer Lane Holland arrive to attempt to solve the case.  The introduction of this sleuth character helps to jumpstart the narrative, especially as his new investigation allows the reader to find out all the relevant details about the old case, while also revealing the lasting issues it had on the various protagonists, including the long-running infamy of being involved with such a major case.  Most of the first half of the book revolves around Lane trying to find his feet in the investigation and get close to Mina, while also finding himself involved in a separate case involving another missing girl.  At the same time you get to know Mina from her perspective, and find out just how messed up she is because of the disappearance and media scrutiny.  All the key characters, major story elements, hints and settings are perfectly set up in the first half of Wake, and the captivating mystery and damaged characters really drag you in and ensure that you become deeply invested in seeing how the case unfolds.

After some big reveals about halfway through the novel, the story intensifies even further, especially once you fully understand Lane’s drive and get to know the characters even better.  There are some compelling twists and turns in this second half of the book, with multiple theories and red herrings to cleverly distract the reader, while major personal moments hit all the key characters.  This all perfectly sets up the big finale, as all the plot points, tragic backstories and hidden hints come together extremely well for the major reveal.  I really liked how Wake’s story concluded, and I think both the solution to the mysteries and the resolution of all the character arcs was pretty ingenious, especially with how well it tied together the various character’s secrets, histories and regrets.  Overall, the reader will come away very satisfied with how everything is tied up, and this ended up being a very impressive and compelling narrative that was well-paced and loaded with some great surprises, major moments, and a very intriguing central mystery.

There were many cool elements to Wake that I deeply enjoyed and which I felt helped to enhance the mystery-laden story.  I liked the rural setting of Nannine, a fictional town that captures the heart of feel of many rural Australian communities, especially those that are suffering from many issues such as drought and the slow decline of the agricultural economy.  This decaying agricultural town serves as the perfect backdrop to this amazing story, and you really get to see how the small-town vibes and attitudes affect the investigation of the case.  I also appreciated the fantastic dive into the over-the-top press coverage that surrounds famous crime cases.  The disappearance attracted a massive media focus, and Burr spends a lot of time exploring how it initially covered the case, how it morphed over the years, and the lasting impact that growing up as a media sensation had on both Mina and the other supporting characters from Nannine.  I particularly enjoyed the examination of how the case became a favourite of true-crime fanatics, which is primarily shown through a series of posts on the murder forum that appears in front of multiple chapters.  These posts highlight the attitudes, theories, mindsets and more of the true-crime internet community and serves as an intriguing weather vane for the wider Australian community.  I loved these posts, not only because they were entertaining and realistic but because it proved to be a great way to provide the reader with some interesting context while also having some impacts on the main story.  Throw in the great way that Burr utilised several flashback sequences, some hidden clues in character names, some clever insights into missing person cases, and other outstanding elements, and you have a really impressive book that will easily keep your attention.

I also need to highlight Wake’s awesome damaged characters that the plot focuses on.  Burr has come up with some sensational and powerful story arcs for these great characters, and their various histories, connections and life events add some excellent emotional heft to the story that I really enjoyed.  This includes Mina McCreery, who serves as a major point-of-view character for most of the plot.  Mina is the twin of the disappeared Evelyn, and has spent the last 19 years living in her disappeared sister’s shadow.  Not only did she have to deal with the emotional backlash of her sister being either killed or abducted but she also had to experience the intense media scrutiny and other issues associated with the major case, especially as her mother ended up becoming a media sensation to keep the focus on Evelyn’s case.  Due to this, the strained relationship she had with her sorrowful mother, and certain suspicions from some that she had something to do with her sister’s disappearance, Mina now lives a solitary life, avoiding most people and not having many friends.  This makes her rather standoffish, angry and a little paranoid (for good reason) for most of the novel, and she has a hard time connecting to anyone, especially Lane.  The events of this book really shock her in some major ways, as the years of repressed trauma and emotional uncertainty come to the surface again, especially once secrets and long-hidden truths come to the surface.  I felt that the author did an amazing job highlighting all the major issues contained within Mina’s psyche, and the subsequent emotional moments were a fantastic and powerful part of the book.

Aside from Mina, the other major character in Wake that I need to discuss is private investigator Lane Holland, who arrives in Nannine to investigate the case.  Burr created something really impressive in Lane, a former police cadet turned private investigator, as he ends up having one of the more intense and memorable character arcs in the entire novel.  Initially seen as an unwelcome outsider by most of the other characters, apparently interested in only the reward money, Lane is able to prove himself to Mina and other characters and manages to gain their trust.  However, everything you think you know about Lane is blown out the water when you find out his surprising connection to the case, as well as his motivations for investigating it.  Burr sets up the connections extremely well in the early parts of the novel, putting in several clever hints and suggestions, while also doling out useful flashbacks to Lane’s past that explain everything.  These revelations, as well as some insights into Lane’s personal history and motivations, help to both intensifies the story, while also dragging you closer to Lane as a character, hoping that he will succeed for everyone’s goods.  Burr takes Lane’s character arc into some very dark, by captivating, directions, and his entire story comes together in a brilliant and powerful way, especially with some major decisions made towards the end of the book.  These two excellent, intense, and very damaged central characters, really acted as the heart-and-soul of Wake, and I was really drawn into the outstanding narrative Burr wove around them.

With her excellent debut novel, Wake, Shelley Burr has successfully entered the world of Australian crime fiction in a big way.  Featuring a captivating and distinctively dark murder mystery narrative that sees damaged characters bring a notorious cold case into the light, Wake was a gripping and deeply thrilling read that I had a fantastic time reading.  A moving and enthralling novel, Wake was an exceptional Australian crime debut and I am extremely excited to read more stories from Burr in the future.

Wake Cover 2

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