Originally published in the Canberra Weekly on 25 March 2021.
Make sure to also check out my extended reviews for Relentless and The Codebreakers.
Tag: Relentless
Relentless by Mark Greaney
Publisher: Sphere/Audible Audio (Audiobook – 16 February 2021)
Series: Gray Man – Book 10
Length: 15 hours and 39 minutes
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
One of the leading authors of the spy thriller genre, Mark Greaney, returns with the tenth epic book in his long-running Gray Man series, Relentless, an impressive and captivating read.
Mark Greaney is talented author who has been absolutely killing it over the last 10+ years ever since his 2009 debut. While he has written some other books, including seven contributions to Tom Clancy’s iconic Jack Ryan universe (three cowritten with Clancy, and four written after Clancy’s death) and the military thriller Red Metal (cowritten with Hunter Ripley Rawlings, and one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019), Greaney is probably best known for his awesome Gray Man series. Starting with The Gray Man in 2009, this series follows Court Gentry, a disavowed CIA operative turned assassin known as the Gray Man. I am a major fan of this series, having read the last few entries, Mission Critical and One Minute Out (the latter was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), and I have been looking forward to this book for a while (indeed it was one of my most anticipated releases for 2021).
Around the world, several top intelligence agents are disappearing, and CIA deputy director Matthew Hanley wants to know why. When a former American agent who was believed to be dead resurfaces in Venezuela under the protection of the local secret police, Hanley has no choice but to send in his most dangerous asset, Court Gentry, the Gray Man. As the Gray Man, Gentry is feared around the world as a lethal assassin and rogue operative, but his real role is as a deniable hitter for Hanley at the CIA. Journeying down to Venezuela, Gentry makes contact with the former agent, who spins a tale of conspiracy and espionage in the heart of Europe before being brutally murdered by a heavily armed team of assassins.
Barely managing to escape with his life and convinced of a larger conspiracy at foot, Gentry convinces Hanley to send him to Berlin to uncover the truth. At the same time, Gentry’s fellow CIA agent and lover, Zoya Zakharova, is infiltrating a private German intelligence firm with connections to the dead man in Venezuela. As Zoya attempts to find out who is really running the organisation, she finds herself once again in the crosshairs of her former masters in Russian intelligence, who send their most lethal assassin to kill her.
As Gentry and Zoya fight for their life in Berlin, they start to understand the full breadth of the conspiracy they have found themselves amid. Someone is playing a dangerous game at a global level and they are willing manipulate the American and European governments to further their goals. Can Gentry and his allies get to the bottom of this conspiracy before it is too late or will a terrible attack lead America into an unwinnable war?
The hits keep on coming from Greaney, as Relentless was a fantastic and incredible novel that is one of the best books of 2021 so far. I loved the impressive and complex story contained within Relentless with all its twists and turns, and I swiftly became enthralled by the well-written and intense narrative. I had an outstanding time reading this book and it gets an easy five-star rating from me.
At the heart of this awesome novel is an intense and fast-paced narrative that readers will quickly become addicted to. Set shortly after the events of One Minute Out, this multi-perspective narrative sends protagonist Court Gentry to South America on a dangerous mission that has connections to the main conspiracy. After a not entirely unexpected destructive fire fight from a third party, Gentry heads to Europe where he seeks to back up his love interest, Zoya, who is undercover in Berlin following another connected lead. At the same time, the narrative expands out to showcase other groups involved in the conspiracy, including a manipulative spy master, two separate teams of killers who are hunting different protagonists, and an Iranian sleeper agent, just to name a few. All their various storylines and character arcs are extremely interesting and exciting, as the author has crafted together some compelling narratives for each of them. Greaney throws in a lot of amazing surprises and twists throughout the novel, and while I was able to guess how a few things were going to turn out, I could not predict the amazing scale and complexity of the overarching conspiracy that the characters find themselves involved with. There is a comprehensive and captivating focus on international espionage throughout Relentless which fits into the story perfectly, and I loved all the cool details that author included, including a recreation of a recent real-life espionage event of great significance. All these storylines come together extremely well, ending with a massive and memorable conclusion that was a lot of fun, and I ended up loving every second of this cool story. Greaney also sets up some intriguing storylines for future novels in the series and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next.
In addition to Relentless’s epic story, I really enjoyed Greaney’s cool writing style, which complemented the narrative perfectly. The novel can be easily enjoyed by people unfamiliar with the series, and I really appreciated the amazing amount of detail and excitement loaded into the book. There a particular focus on trade craft with this latest novel, with some great explanations about the various spy techniques utilised by the various characters, and this pumped some real authenticity into the story. I also really enjoyed all the incredible action sequences featured within this latest novel. Greaney has always had a talent for writing explosive and powerful action scenes, and Relentless contains some impressive examples of this as the protagonists duke it out with a wide range of enemies across the world. Every action scene is well-planned out, realistic and very intense, ensuring the reader is constantly on the edge of their seat.
I also absolutely loved the author’s excellent use of multiple perspectives throughout the novel, which was a real highlight for me. While there is an obvious focus on characters like Gentry and Zoya, nearly every other character, including many of the antagonists, have their side of the story shown. I found this worked extremely well to tell a complex narrative, as the reader gets to see what everyone, from the mastermind of the conspiracy to members of the various kill teams hunting the protagonists, is doing and thinking. Not only does this build up suspense, as you know in advance some of the dangers and threats coming towards the protagonists, but you also get to see the antagonists react to all of Gentry’s actions and watch them adjust accordingly. This makes for a much richer and more impressive story, and it works particularly well in some of the combat sequences, as you get to see all the characters manoeuvring around the battlefield. There are also some extremely awesome chapters where various characters are following each other throughout Berlin. Watching several point-of-view characters engaging in surveillance and countersurveillance operations against each other, with some other interested parties thrown in for good measure, was very cool, and it ended up being one of the cleverest sequences in the novel. I really loved how this awesome writing style enhanced the story and I think it worked really well.
As usual, Greaney comes up with an excellent selection of characters for Relentless, all of whom get explored in substantial detail throughout the book. Most of Relentless’s focus is naturally on the series’ main protagonist, the titular Gray Man himself, Court Gentry. Greaney continues to paint an interesting figure with Gentry, as a former official CIA operative who was forced to become an assassin with a conscience, before secretly re-joining the CIA in the Poison Apple program as a deniable asset. Gentry has a great, action-packed story in Relentless, getting into all manner of dangerous situations, and I loved the cool ways he attempts to extricate himself from them, often by killing his opponents. I also really liked how Greaney gave Gentry a significant handicap in this latest adventure, as he is suffering from a serious infection from a stab wound gained in One Minute Out. This infection reduces his reaction speed and physical prowess throughout the book and forces him to seek continued medical care, all of which makes his mission even more dangerous and problematic, and which really raises the stakes for the entire book. It was also great to see more of Zoya and Zack Hightower, the other two Poison Apple agents, both of whom were not featured that much in the previous novel. Both these agents have some compelling and entertaining arcs in this book, and I always enjoy how well the former Russian knockout and the aging American special operator compliment Gentry as a team. Interestingly, you also get to see a lot more of CIA deputy director Matthew Hanley, the man secretly running Gentry, as he even gets into the field for a particularly dangerous assignment. Some big moments occur for Hanley in Relentless, and it will be interesting to find out what happens to him next. I also quite enjoyed the wild Russian assassin, Maksim Akulov, a drunk lunatic with a death wish, who is assigned to kill Zoya, but eventually starts targeting Gentry, seeing him as the ultimate challenge. All these amazing characters, and more, really added a lot to the story, and I look forward to seeing how the ones who survived are utilised in the future.
While I did receive a physical copy of Relentless, I ended up enjoying this book in its audiobook format instead. I have had a lot of fun with Greaney’s audiobooks in the past and I generally find that the intense and epic action and espionage translates into this format extremely well. Relentless was no exception, and I found myself really enjoying listening to all the cool sequences unfold and at times I almost felt like I was there witnessing it. With a run time of 15 hours and 40 minutes, Relentless’s audiobook is pretty long and might take listeners a while to get through. However, it is worth the time investment and you will find yourself quickly powering through it once you get caught up in the story (I personally listened to it for nearly five hours straight at one point). This latest Gray Man audiobook also sees the return of Jay Snyder as narrator. Snyder is an experienced and prolific audiobook narrator who has contributed his voice to a wide range of awesome audiobooks in the past, including all the previous entries in the series. Snyder has a fantastic gruff voice that fits the tone of Relentless perfectly, and which he uses to great effect moving the story along and describing all the deadly action and chaos. Snyder also produces some great voices for the various characters which I think encapsulate each person really well and proved to be very effective. I was a little wary about a Minnesota accent that he had to do for one of the characters, but it grew on me as the book progressed and I think it was a decent attempt in the end. All of this makes for an epic and enjoyable audiobook and this is definitely an amazing way to check Relentless out.
Relentless is another exceptional spy thriller from the always impressive Mark Greaney that comes very highly recommended. The 10th entry in the always outstanding Gray Man series, Relentless contains another captivating and deeply exciting narrative, which, combined with Greaney’s impeccable writing and fun characters, makes for a truly excellent thriller. I had such an awesome time reading Relentless, and this book is one of the best releases of 2021 so far. I look forward to seeing how Greaney continues this series in the future, and I must really go back and check out some of the earlier Gray Man novels this year, especially as a movie adaption of The Gray Man is currently being made by the Russo brothers with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans set to star (I mean, talk about a movie with some real potential).
WWW Wednesday – 10 March 2021
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
So, let’s get to it.
What are you currently reading?
Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka (Trade Paperback)
I started reading this fun translated thriller from Japan a couple of days ago and I am really loving it. Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka follows five killers who find themselves aboard the same bullet train and are forced to engage in a deadly game of cat and mouse when a suitcase full of money is stolen. This is an extremely fun and compelling read and I look forward to seeing all the twists unfold.
The Kaiser’s Web by Steve Berry (Audiobook)
It looks like I am in a bit of a thriller mood this week as the other book I am working through is The Kaiser’s Web by Steve Berry. The Kaiser’s Web is the latest entry in the long running Cotton Malone series which involves a series of unique historical conspiracies. I have really enjoyed this last few books in this series, The Malta Exchange and The Warsaw Protocol, and so far The Kaiser’s Web is turning out to be pretty awesome. This latest book is based around secrets that survived Hitler’s bunker impacting a modern day German election and it will be interesting to see how Berry wraps up this captivating conspiracy.
What did you recently finish reading?
The Art of Death by David Fennell (Trade Paperback)
Relentless by Mark Greaney (Audiobook)
What do you think you’ll read next?
The Three Paradises by Robert Fabbri (Trade Paperback)
That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.
WWW Wednesday – 3 March 2021
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
So, let’s get to it.
What are you currently reading?
The Art of Death by David Fennell (Trade Paperback)
I have made some serious progress on this cool new murder mystery novel from debuting author David Fennell and so far I am very much enjoying it. The Art of Death is a great book that sees a murderous artist pose his kills throughout the streets of London as part of a twisted exhibition (think evil Banksy). I am about halfway through The Art of Death at the moment and it has a pretty cool mystery to it that should be really fun to unravel.
Relentless by Mark Greaney (Audiobook)
I finally got a chance to start reading Relentless, one of my most anticipated releases for the 2021. Relentless is the 10th book in Greaney’s outstanding Gray Man series and follows it’s assassin protagonist as he attempts to identify a new enemy threatening the CIA for their own nefarious reasons. I have a lot of love for this series after deeply enjoying the previous two entries in the series, Mission Critical and One Minute Out (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), and this latest novel is so far pretty epic, full of cool espionage and intense action.
What did you recently finish reading?
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (Trade Paperback)
Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty by Josh Reynolds (Audiobook)
The Hunting by Stephen Leather (Trade Paperback)
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Audiobook)
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray (Audiobook)
What do you think you’ll read next?
The Three Paradises by Robert Fabbri (Trade Paperback)
That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.
Top Ten Tuesday – Most Viewed Posts of 2020
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday was to list a participant’s favourite purple, yellow, and/or green Book Covers in honour of Mardi Gras, however, I really did not have any great book covers to feature on this list so I am going to do something a little different and list my top viewed posts of 2020.
Over the last month or two I have been having fun listing some of the top releases I enjoyed in 2020, including my favourite debuts, audiobooks, new to me authors, pre-2020 novels and books that I read last year. However, it is probably time to finish this line of Top Ten Lists off and move onto different topics, so I thought that I would do something new as a closing act and decided to take a quick look at which of my posts got the most views in 2020. Not only this a fantastic way to finish highlighting some of the best novels released last year, but I am also genuinely curious to see which posts people were most interested in last year as this may some impact on what I try and read going forward.
To fill out this list I checked out the nifty stats section of my WordPress website to see which of my posts got the most views last year. While some of the posts I wrote before 2020 did get a lot of attention last year, I decided to limit this list to those blog entries that I published in 2020 and I only ranked them by views received last year. This resulted in a rather interesting collection of posts and I was so intrigued by this I decided to expand the selection out to my top 20 posts rather than 10, which I think created a much more varied and captivating list. The final list contains a great combination of different posts, including reviews, Waiting on Wednesday posts and even a few other Top Ten Tuesday lists. I am really happy with how this latest list turned out, so let us see which posts made the cut.
Top Twenty List:
Waiting on Wednesday – The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett – 940 views
The top scoring post was the Waiting on Wednesday post I did for the latest Ken Follet novel, The Evening and the Morning. I was a little surprised that this Waiting on Wednesday did so well last year, especially as a lot of the views on it occurred after the book got released, but the view count on this post has continued to grow and grow. A lot of this is probably down to how impressive each of his massive novels are, as readers know they are in for a good time and keep an eye out for the latest Follett book.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas review – 449 views
After the fantastic first entry there is a bit of a drop in views, but second place is held strongly by my review for House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. This is not too surprising, considering that Maas has a pretty substantial fanbase, and House of Earth and Blood was one of the most anticipated fantasy releases of 2020. This was only the second novel from Maas that I have read (the other being Catwoman: Soulstealer) and the first adult fantasy novel from an author that specialises in young adult fiction. I ended up really enjoying the complex and lengthy story that Maas created for House of Earth and Blood and I am looking forward to seeing how the series continues in the future.
Lost by James Patterson and James O. Born review – 317 views
Number three on this list was a bit of a surprise. While I enjoyed Lost, I must admit that it was not one of my favourite books of 2020 and I did not expect my review of it to get as much attention as it ended up getting. Still, with Patterson’s immense number of fans and followers, I guess it makes sense that people would be interested in seeing how one of his books would turn out, and I really need to check out some more of his novels this year.
Waiting on Wednesday – Relentless by R. A. Salvatore – 265 views
The next entry on this list is the Waiting on Wednesday article that I did for legendary fantasy author R. A. Salvatore’s second 2020 novel Relentless. Relentless was a particularly cool fantasy novel from last year which followed on from Salvatore’s previous novels Timeless and Boundless. There ended up being a good amount of interest in this post, and it looks like there are a lot of fans of Salvatore and his amazing fantasy novels. I actually just posted a slightly belated review of Relentless, and it will be interesting to see how much attention it gets this year.
Waiting on Wednesday – 2021 Thrillers – 229 views
Next up we have a Waiting on Wednesday post of three thrillers released in early 2021. Each of these novels, Relentless by Mark Greaney, The Kaiser’s Web by Steve Berry and Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz, are the latest entry in a popular and established thriller series, and each of these authors already have a lot of dedicated readers. I have already read Prodigal Son (review coming soon, but in short it is pretty awesome), while I have copies of Relentless and The Kaiser’s Web currently sitting on my table. It will be interesting to see how they turn out, but I am predicting some epic and amazing reads from them.
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik review – 224 views
Naomi Novik is a talented fantasy author with a lot of buzz surrounding her, so it is no surprise that a lot of people were interested in her latest book, A Deadly Education. A Deadly Education was an outstanding and captivating read that proved to be extremely inventive and addictive. I deeply enjoyed reading and reviewing A Deadly Education last year, and Novik’s upcoming sequel, The Last Graduate, is one of my most anticipated reads of 2021.
Top Ten Tuesday – Favourite Books of 2020 – 223 views
This post listed my absolute favourite books of 2020. Featuring 20 novels, including impressive reads like The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie and Battle Ground by Jim Butcher, this was always going to be a post that a lot of people would be interested in, and I was very happy with how many views it got in closing days of 2020. I cannot wait to list my favourite books of 2021 in 10 months’ time.
One Minute Out by Mark Greaney review – 222 views
Considering how much attention that the above Waiting on Wednesday for Greaney’s next book got last year, it is not surprising that a lot of people also checked out my review for One Minute Out. Serving as the ninth book in Greaney’s impressive Gray Man series, this was a fantastic read that got a full five-star rating from me. I cannot wait to read the next book, especially if turns out to be as good as One Minute Out.
Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2020 – 208 views
Another Top Ten List with a lot of major and popular entries in it, including How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It by K. J. Parker and Call of the Bone Ships by R. J. Barker. This was a fun and intriguing list to pull together, especially as I ended up reading and loving every book featured on it.
The Gates of Athens by Conn Iggulden review – 205 views
It looks like a lot of people were interested in historical fiction last year as my review for The Gates of Athens by the always impressive Conn Iggulden got viewed more than 200 times. The Gates of Athens was a particularly awesome novel as well, and I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Protector, soon.
The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly review – 196
I actually reviewed two books from iconic crime fiction author Michael Connelly last year, Fair Warning and The Law of Innocence. While both were fantastic reads, it seems more people were interested in my review of The Law of Innocence, which saw the return of the Lincoln Lawyer. This was a particularly fun and enjoyable read and I am glad that so many people were keen to see what I thought about it.
Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 34: Bunraku and Other Stories by Stan Sakai review – 173 views
I did quite few reviews of Usagi Yojimbo comics in 2020, all of which proved to be rather popular, which was great considering how niche these comics are. Out of all these, the one that got the most attention was for the 2020 release, Bunraku and Other Stories. I had an amazing time writing a passionate review for this comic, the first to be released completely in colour, and it was great to see so much interest in it. My Waiting on Wednesday article for the next Usagi Yojimbo volume, Homecoming, has already gotten a substantial number of views in 2021, so hopefully readers will also enjoy my review for this upcoming volume.
Top Ten Tuesday – Longest Audiobooks That I Have Listened To – Part II – 166 views
A continuation of a previous Top Ten Tuesday list I did, I spent a bit of time working out the longest audiobooks I have ever read. This is a post I will probably revisit again this year, although I very much doubt that the current longest audiobook, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, is going to be unseated from its top position on the list.
Waiting on Wednesday – Colonyside by Michael Mammay – 150 views
Another Waiting on Wednesday that got a lot of attention last year was one I did for the cool science fiction thriller, Colonyside. Serving as the third book in Michael Mammay’s Planetside series (which also includes Planetside and Spaceside), this article got a bit of attention after a timely retweet from Mammay. I recently read and reviewed Colonyside a few weeks ago and it really lived up to the hype.
Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio review – 143 views
Now, this was a fun book to review. Demon in White is the third epic entry in impressive new science fiction author Christopher Ruocchio’s outstanding Sun Eater Sequence, which previously featured Empire of Silence and Howling Dark. Considering how amazing this latest entry in the Sun Eater series was, I am very glad that my review for his book got some attention last year, and I would strongly recommend this impressive, gothic read.
Waiting on Wednesday – Ink by Jonathan Maberry – 124 views
I always really enjoy reviewing or promoting anything written by Jonathan Maberry, and this Waiting on Wednesday I did for his standalone horror novel, Ink, ended up getting a lot of attention in the end. Maberry has a new novel coming out in a few months, Relentless, which I am very excited for, and I anticipate a lot of views for that review when I get it written up.
The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde review – 113 views
One of the funniest books of 2020, The Constant Rabbit was a lot of fun to review and I am glad that a lot of people checked it out last year.
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett review – 111 views
While it may not have gotten as many views as its Waiting on Wednesday article, my review for The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett did make the Top Twenty list. Serving as a prequel to Follett’s iconic The Pillars of the Earth, this was one of the best historical fiction novels in 2020 and is a strongly recommended read.
Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Horror Novels – 110 views
The penultimate post on this list was an interesting Top Ten Tuesday I did for Halloween, listing my favourite horror novels I have ever read. I honestly am not the biggest fan of the horror genre, but I was able to rustle up a good Top Ten list for this post, including some great reads like Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant and Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry. It looks like a lot of horror fans were out in force last Halloween as people were quite interested in this list, and I hope I recommended a few good reads for any fans of the genre out there.
Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books from the First Half of 2020 – 107 views
The final entry on this list was a Top Ten article that highlighted some of the best books from the first half of 2020. Featuring some particularly cool reads, including Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz and Song of the Risen God by R. A. Salvatore, this one got a bit of attention early in the year and it was interesting to see which of the books featured eventually made their way onto my overall favourite reads of 2020 list later in the year.
While mainly a conduit for my ego, I think this list turned out pretty well, and I really enjoyed seeing which of my posts got the most views last year. I had a lot of fun pulling this list together and I think this might be something I will revisit in the future. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Mardi Gras.
Relentless by R. A. Salvatore
Publisher: Harper Audio (Audiobook – 28 July 2020)
Series: Generations – Book Three
Length: 15 hours and 9 minutes
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Legendary fantasy author R. A. Salvatore brings his latest trilogy of novels to an epic conclusion with his 2020 release, Relentless, the third and final book in the Generations trilogy.
War has once again come to the Forgotten Realms, as the Drow hordes of Menzoberranzan march to reclaim the soul of one of their own, the previously dead sword master Zaknafein Do’Urden. Centuries ago, Zaknafein sacrificed his life to save his son, Drizzt Do’Urden, allowing him to become the greatest hero the lands had ever seen. Thanks to the help of a mysterious Drow priestess, Zaknafein has been returned to life and finally reunited with his son. However, their reunion has been far from perfect, as Zaknafein has trouble understanding some of his son’s choices, including his unusual companions and his marriage to a human. Worse, Drow fanatics, utterly loyal to the dark god of Chaos, Loth the Spider Queen, have declared war on the surface, determined to capture and kill Zaknafein and Drizzt and everyone who stands with them.
A massive army of demons has invaded the dwarven kingdom of Gauntlgrym, trapping Zaknafein, the rogue Jarlaxle, Drizzt’s life-long friends and the legendary Companions of the Hall inside, while dark forces attack their allies on the surface. At the same time, the massed armies of the Drow city of Menzoberranzan have been forced to war and now occupy the tunnels surrounding Gauntlgrym, cutting off any chance of escape. However, all of this pales in comparison to the greatest tragedy that has occurred in the lands outside of Gauntlgrym, where a demonic device of great power tracked and disintegrated Drizzt as he tried to destroy the mechanical creature.
While things seem dire, the Companions of the Hall are far from defeated, and every man, dwarf, halfling and rogue dark elf is ready to fight. As Zaknafein, Gauntlgrym’s dwarf king Bruenor and their allies attempt to hold back the hordes besieging them by any means possible, the barbarian warrior Wulfgar works to reclaim the city of Luskan with a small force of warriors. As the battle begins in earnest, heroes will rise, empires will fall, and the world will change forever. However, the fate of everyone involved in this battle may lay in Zaknafein’s secret history, as demons from his past come back to haunt him once again.
R. A. Salvatore has produced another incredible and wonderful fantasy read that takes several of his most iconic characters on a dark and dangerous journey. Salvatore is one of my favourite fantasy authors, having produced an immense and awesome collection of novels over the years. While he has written several series, such the novels set in his Corona universe (including his other 2020 release, Song of the Risen God), his main body of work is set within the shared Forgotten Realms fantasy universe and primarily follows the adventures of the Drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden and his heroic companions. Relentless is the third entry in the latest Drizzt Do’Urden trilogy of books, known as the Generations trilogy, which includes the preceding novels Timeless and Boundless. This series continues the adventures of Drizzt and his companions, but features an intriguing new angle in the return of Drizzt’s father, who died in the 1990 novel, Homeland. This has so far proven to be an impressive and exciting trilogy from Salvatore that contains an intriguing new narrative and pays homage to his earlier novels in the overarching series. I have been looking forward to Relentless for some time, especially after the really cool cliffhanger that Salvatore featured at the end of Boundless.
In this latest book, Salvatore tells a complex and action-packed story that makes use of multiple character perspectives to tell an epic and exciting tale, especially after establishing so many excellent plot points in the previous two novels. As he did in the other entries in this series, Salvatore features two distinct timelines throughout this impressive book. Relentless is broken up into four separate parts (not including the prelude), with two of these parts set during in the universe’s modern era, depicting the current day battle for Gauntlgrym and the lives of the author’s beloved protagonist, while the other two parts of the novel are set deep in the past. These two parts of the novel are set hundreds of years before the current events and follow Zaknafein, Jarlaxle and several other Drow characters during their younger days. Both of these distinctive storylines have their own appeals, and I had a fantastic time reading both of them.
I probably enjoyed the prequel storylines the most, as I really enjoyed the deeper look at Zaknafein’s past and its intriguing implications on the events of Salvatore’s earlier books. These prequel storylines are loaded with fantastic depictions of life in the chaotic and evil Drow city of Menzoberranzan, and it was extremely entertaining to see all the backstabbing, politics and brutal battles for supremacy that are a distinguishing feature of day-to-day Drow life. These prequel storylines also contain some of the best action sequences in the book, mainly because they focus on the character of Zaknafein, the greatest sword fighter in the world, and Salvatore always portrays his epic fight sequences in intricate detail, capturing the sheer majesty of the character’s fighting ability. I also quite enjoyed seeing more of the young, up-and-coming version of the Drow mercenary and conman, Jarlaxle, as he manipulates the entirety of the city, and all of his scenes are extremely fun. This earlier storyline in Relentless is a great continuation of the other prequel storylines that appeared in the previous entries in the Generations trilogy, and I really enjoyed how this entire expanded storyline concludes. It was fascinating to see how the events of Zaknafein’s past impacted the main storyline, and I felt that this was an outstanding addition to Relentless’s story.
While I did prefer the prequel storyline, the contemporary story contained within the other two parts of the book is still pretty epic in its own right, as it features a desperate fight for survival against the antagonists of the series. Salvatore goes big for these parts of the book, featuring massive battles for supremacy, major character moments and some universe-changing twists and turns. Like the prequel storyline, this main narrative thread flows on extremely well from the previous Generations books, and the author provides a satisfactory conclusion to the war which was set up in the last two novels. The author more strongly utilises multiple character perspectives in these parts of the book, which I felt helped to tell a richer and more exciting story, especially as you got to see the action unfold from the eyes of many established characters. A lot of the plot points established in the prequel storylines were masterfully exploited throughout these main parts of the book, and I think that the combination of time periods worked extremely well to create a powerful and memorable narrative. The major events that occurred at the end of Relentless were rather interesting, and it looks like Salvatore has some intriguing plans for any future novels set in this universe. Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable tale filled with some great action, well-established characters, and an incredible combination of compelling and varied storylines.
While I usually find all of Salvatore’s books to be extremely accessible to general fantasy fans who are unfamiliar with his prior works, Relentless is book probably best enjoyed by people who have read the rest of the entries in the Generations trilogy and who have some decent knowledge of the other Drizzt Do’Urden novels. This is mainly because Relentless serves as the conclusion to the connected storylines established in Timeless and Boundless, and the story has gotten quite complex at this point, especially with the prequel storyline focusing on the young Zaknafein, which was carefully cultivated in the prior two novels. While new readers can probably still follow and enjoy Relentless, fans of Salvatore’s work are going to be the ones who get the most out of it, especially as this latest book ties into some of the author’s earliest works. For example, the prequel storyline has some extremely strong connections to one of the author’s earliest books, Homeland. The Generations trilogy’s past-based storyline has primarily served as a compelling prequel to Homeland, and this latest book contains several scenes that shed new light on this previous book. Indeed, some of the best scenes in Relentless serve as a direct precursor to key events of Homeland or provide alternate viewpoints to them, allowing for some fascinating new context and information. I personally have always had a lot of love for Homeland, which is one of Salvatore’s best novels, and I really appreciated seeing this new take on the plot. As a result, this is a must-read for fans of Salvatore’s fantastic series and readers are in for a real treat.
Another great part of this book were the excellent characters featured throughout the various time periods. As has been the case with the other books in the Generations trilogy, much of the character development revolves around Zaknafein, as both time periods have a fascinating focus on him. Salvatore continues to explore various parts of Zaknafein’s character throughout Relentless, both in the past and present, and it was great to see how he has evolved throughout the course of the trilogy. I particularly enjoyed seeing Zaknafein’s development in the prequel storyline, especially as you get several extra scenes discussing Zaknafein’s conflicted feelings when Drizzt was born. Salvatore spends a lot of time establishing how Zaknafein became the person who would eventually sacrifice his own life for his son, and it was great to see this whole new side of this iconic and fantastic character.
Several other characters featured throughout Relentless really stood out to me. Foremost of these is of course the rogue Drow criminal and conman, Jarlaxle, who is a prominent character in both timelines. Jarlaxle is so much fun to see in action, whether he is manipulating someone or getting involved in a fight with his fantastic arsenal of insane magical weapons and tools. Drizzt, who is nominally the main character of this trilogy, and indeed most of Salvatore’s Forgotten Realms novels, was notably absent throughout this book, having been disintegrated at the end of Boundless. Salvatore works his apparent death into the story extremely well, creating some emotionally deep moments as his friends mourn his passing and try to work out how to move on. I think that Salvatore utilised his absence from the story to full effect, especially as it allowed other characters to have their moment to shine. Drizzt’s eventual resurrection, which was so predictable it is not even really a spoiler, was set up beautifully and I really liked how it tied into some of the more mystical events of some previous Salvatore novels. Aside from these Drow characters, the rest of the Companions of the Hall have major moments throughout Relentless, and each of them has a key storyline set around them. Bruenor, Wulfgar, Regis, Catti-brie, Artemis Enteri and more are all utilised throughout the story, and it was great to see all of them in action. Salvatore also focuses on several other side characters who have appeared in prior novels, and there are some notable storylines and character arcs scatter amongst them that will no doubt bear fruit in future Drizzt Do’Urden novels. Overall, Relentless continues Salvatore’s exceptional character work, and it was fantastic to see all these complex personalities come to life.
Rather than grab a physical copy of Relentless I ended up getting this cool fantasy novel on audiobook, which was a fantastic way to enjoy Salvatore’s latest release. The audiobook format of Relentless has a run time of just over 15 hours, which, while fairly substantial for an audiobook, is easy enough to get through once you become engrossed in the excellent narrative and is definitely worth the time investment. I really enjoyed listening to this great book and I found that it was the perfect way to absorb all the unique fantasy elements and Salvatore’s intriguing twists. Part of the reason why I enjoyed this format so much was the excellent voice work from narrator Victor Bevine. Bevine is a veteran audiobook narrator who has provided his vocal talents to a huge number of Salvatore’s previous novels, including the other two entries in the Generations trilogy. It is cool having the continuity of Bevine’s voice after enjoying so many Salvatore audiobooks, and I really enjoy the tone that he uses for this story. Bevine moves Relentless along at a quick pace, and the listener never finds themselves stuck in a slow part of the novel. I also quite enjoyed the excellent voices that Bevine utilised throughout the book. Not only did these voices perfectly fit the characters they were assigned to, helping to bring them to life, but I loved all the fun accents he used for the various races featured within the book, such as the Scottish brogue that each dwarven character had. All of this really enhanced my enjoyment of Relentless and this is a fantastic novel to check out on audiobook.
Relentless is another exceptional and epic read from the master of fantasy fiction, R. A. Salvatore, as he wraps up another amazing trilogy with a remarkable and memorable bang. Salvatore remains at the top of his game for Relentless, providing the reader with a complex, multifaceted storyline, studded with intense action, fantastic characters and some really clever story elements. I had an outstanding time reading this awesome book and I cannot wait to see what magic and mayhem Salvatore comes up with in his next captivating read. Highly recommended.
Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Release for the First Half of 2021
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For the first Top Ten Tuesday list of the year, participants need to list their most anticipated releases for the first half of 2021.
Despite only just starting, 2021 is already shaping up to be an epic and exciting year for books with a huge range of impressive and highly anticipated novels due for release in the next 12 months. This includes exciting debuts, anticipated sequels and the latest entries in beloved bestselling series. The first half of the year is looking particularly awesome, with a substantial number of incredible upcoming releases that I am deeply looking forward to.
Due to how many awesome books are currently set for release between 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2021, this ended up being a rather difficult list to pull together. There were way too many extraordinary upcoming books that I could have included, and I ended up having to make some very tough calls and cutting several novels that have an immense amount of potential. Despite this, I am rather happy with the eventual choices that I made, and I think that this list reflects the upcoming novels and comics I am going to have the most fun reading. I have mentioned several of these books before in my weekly Waiting on Wednesday articles, and some of them also appeared on my recent Summer TBR list. However, there are also some interesting new books that I am discussing for the first time here, so that should give this list a bit of variety. So let us get to my selections and find out which upcoming novels are my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2021.
Honourable Mentions:
A Prince and a Spy by Rory Clements – 21 January 2021
Firefly: Life Signs by James Lovegrove – 16 March 2021
Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn – 27 April 2021
Top Ten Tuesday (By Release Date):
Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz – 26 January 2021
Exciting thriller writer Gregg Hurwitz is set to return later this month with the latest entry in his awesome Orphan X series. I have deeply enjoyed the previous two books in this series, Out of the Dark and Into the Fire, and Prodigal Son looks like it will have a fun and fantastic story to it.
The Three Paradises by Robert Fabbri – 2 February 2021
This next novel on this list is The Three Paradises, the second entry in the Alexander’s Legacy series that examines the wars fought in the aftermath of Alexander the Great’s death. The Three Paradises serves as a sequel to the excellent 2020 novel, To the Strongest, and it should turn out be a fun and entertaining read.
Relentless by Mark Greaney – 23 February 2021
Following on from his 2020 hit, One Minute Out (which was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), outstanding thriller author Mark Greaney returns with Relentless, the 10th entry in his Gray Man series. In his latest novel, Greaney’s assassin protagonist will attempt to get to the bottom of a lethal conspiracy involving several missing intelligence agents. I have extremely high hopes for this book and I think it has the potential to be one of the top books of 2021.
Star Wars: Victory’s Price by Alexander Freed – 2 March 2021
While there are several awesome pieces of Star Wars fiction coming out in the first half of 2021, the one that I am most excited for is Victory’s Price by Alexander Freed, the third and final book in his Alphabet Squadron series. The previous two entries in the series, Alphabet Squadron and Shadow Fall, have been some of the strongest Star Wars novels in recent years and I have deeply enjoyed this intense, character driven series. This final entry will feature the final showdown between two rival groups of pilots and should be quite the emotional thrill ride.
Breakout by Paul Herron – 9 March 2021
Breakout is an intriguing thriller novel that I really like the sound of. Breakout will follow an imprisoned former cop’s attempt to escape a flooded supermax prison filled with the most dangerous convicts in the country. This cool sounding book has the potential to be one of the most awesome and exciting releases of the year and I am really looking forward to reading it.
The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst – 9 March 2021
I had the very great pleasure of reading Sarah Beth Durst’s standalone fantasy novel, Race the Sands, last year, which proved to be one of the best books of 2020. Since then, I have been keeping a close eye out for any new books from this acclaimed fantasy author and I was very excited when I saw she was releasing another standalone novel in a few short months. This upcoming book will follow a group of damaged fantasy heroes, many years after their legendary victory over a great evil. The Bone Maker sounds like it will be an incredible, character driven epic and I am deeply excited for it.
The Two-Faced Queen by Nick Martell – 30 March 2021
In 2020 I was blown away by Nick Martell’s impressive and clever fantasy debut, The Kingdom of Liars, which saw a fantastically flawed protagonist attempt to find the truth in a corrupt kingdom where magic costs people their memories. This was an extremely compelling and exciting novel, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the upcoming sequel, The Two-Faced Queen, which I believe will be another outstanding read.
Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 35: Homecoming by Stan Sakai – 14 April 2021
It should as no surprise to anyone familiar with me that the entry I am most excited about is a Usagi Yojimbo comic. The Usagi Yojimbo series is easily my favourite comics of all time and each year I eagerly await the one new volume that comes out. This upcoming volume, Homecoming, will be the 35th overall volume of the series and the second volume published fully in colour (the first being 2020’s Bunraku and Other Stories). Homecoming sounds like it is going to have some major storylines that will see Usagi return to his childhood village, where many enemies and painful memories await him. I have no doubt whatsoever that I am going to absolutely love this latest Usagi Yojimbo comic and it is going to be one of the best things I read all year.
The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence – 5 May 2021
Last year I was lucky enough to get a copy of my first Mark Lawrence novel, The Girl and the Stars, which contained an epic and impressive fantasy storyline set deep beneath the ice of an unforgiving world. I deeply enjoyed this novel, and I am quite excited to check out the sequel, The Girl and the Mountains, which looks set to continue the fantastic and captivating narrative from the first book.
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik – 29 June 2021
The final entry on this list is The Last Graduate by bestselling author Naomi Novik. The Last Graduate will serve as a sequel to A Deadly Education, a fun and addictive fantasy novel that was one of my favourite books of 2020. I had an outstanding time reading A Deadly Education (I powered through it in about a day), and I cannot wait to see how Novik continues this incredible story.
That is the end of this list. I am extremely happy with how my latest Top Ten Tuesday article turned out and this list contains an intriguing collection of upcoming books that should prove to be incredible reads. I think that nearly every one of these books has the potential to get a full five-star rating from me and I cannot wait to see what amazing and exciting stories they contain. While I am waiting to get my hands on these books, why not let me know if any of the above interest you, as well as what your most anticipated releases for the next six months are in the comments below.
Top Ten Tuesday – Books on my Summer 2020-21 TBR
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this Top Ten Tuesday, participants need to list the top releases that they are looking forward to reading this winter (or summer for us down here in Australia). This is a fun exercise that I have done for each of the preceding seasons, and it is always interesting to highlight the various cool-sounding books and comics that are coming out in the next few months.
For this list I have come up with 10 of the best novels that are coming out between 1 December 2020 and 28 February 2021. I have decided to exclude novels that I have already read, or I am currently reading, so that took a couple of key books off the list. Still, this left me with a rather substantial pool of cool upcoming novels that I am excited for, which I was eventually able to whittle down into a great Top Ten list (with a few honourable mentions). I have previously discussed a number of these books before a number of my Waiting on Wednesday articles and I think all of them will turn out to be some really impressive and enjoyable reads.
Honourable Mentions:
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Vol. 1 – Fortune and Fate by Alyssa Wong and Marika Cresta – 26/01/2021
Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson – 1/02/2021
Serpentine by Jonathan Kellerman – 2/02/2021
City of Vengeance by D. V. Bishop – 9/02/2021
Top Ten List:
A Fool’s Hope by Mike Shackle – 3/12/2020
The first entry on this list is A Fool’s Hope by Mike Shackle, the sequel to Shackle’s epic debut, We are the Dead. I have been hearing some great things about his book already and I am really looking forward to checking it out. The trade paperback version of this novel is apparently not available down here in Australia until February 2021, but the audiobook version is already out, so I might grab that instead.
Colonyside by Michael Mammay – 29/12/2020
Colonyside is the third book in the amazing Planetside series by impressive science fiction author Michael Mammay. I have really enjoyed the first two novels in this series, Planetside and Spaceside, both of which were among my favourite books of 2018 and 2019 respectfully, and I cannot wait to see how the third entry in this excellent science fiction thriller series turns out.
Star Trek: Picard: The Dark Veil by James Swallow – 5/01/2021
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to read the first Star Trek: Picard novel, The Last Best Hope, which did an awesome job of bridging the gap between The Next Generation and Picard television series. Now acclaimed tie-in fiction author James Swallow presents the second Picard book, The Dark Veil, which will follow Captain William Riker and his crew as he gets drawn into the chaotic events the precede the Picard series. I had an amazing time reading the previous Picard novel and I have high hopes that this new upcoming book is going to be just as enjoyable.
Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule – 5/01/2021
Now what would a Top Ten List on this book be without a Star Wars tie-in novel featured somewhere. Luckily there are several great upcoming Star Wars novels set for release in the next three months that I am quite excited to check out. Most of these novels are part of The High Republic range of Star Wars novels and comics, which are going to be set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. Of these, the one I am most interested in reading is Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule. Light of the Jedi is set to be the main introductory novel to this new range of Star Wars fiction, and I am very curious to see what happens in this new period of the expanded universe. This new novel is written by one of the top authors of Star Wars fiction, Charles Soule, whose work on Star Wars comics such as the Dark Lord of the Sith comics (check out my review for Volume 2: Legacy’s End and Volume 3: The Burning Seas), has been rather incredible, and I am very excited to see what happens in this new book.
A Prince and a Spy by Rory Clements – 21/01/2021
The fifth book in Clement’s exciting Tom Wilde historical thriller series, A Prince and A Spy looks set to be an excellent novel to start off 2021 with. I have really enjoyed the previous entries in the Tom Wilde series, including Nucleus, Nemesis and Hitler’s Secret, and this upcoming book sounds particularly exciting as it contains a conspiracy set around the death of the Queen’s uncle during World War II.
Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz – 2/02/2021
I am particularly looking forward to checking out Prodigal Son, the upcoming sixth book in Hurwitz’s Orphan X series. The Orphan X book are an awesome and wildly thrilling series that sets an elite and incredibly deadly former government assassin go up against a series of dangerous opponents across America. I have really enjoyed the last two novels in the series, Out of the Dark and Into the Fire, and I cannot wait to see how Prodigal Son turns out.
The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick – 27/01/2021
The Mask of Mirrors is an intriguing upcoming fantasy debut that I think has a lot of potential and should make for a compelling and entertaining read.
The Three Paradises by Robert Fabbri – 1/02/2021
One of my favourite historical fiction authors, Robert Fabbri, returns with the second entry in his Alexander’s Legacy series, The Three Paradises. The first book in this series, To the Strongest, was a lot of fun and I am very keen to see where this crazy historical story goes next.
Relentless by Mark Greaney – 23/02/2021
Top thriller author Mark Greaney returns with the 10th novel in his Gray Man series, Relentless, that sees his protagonist, assassin Court Gentry, investigate a new conspiracy around the world. Greaney has been killing it over the last couple of years, especially with the previous two entries in the Gray Man series, Mission Critical and One Minute Out, and this upcoming book looks set to be another fantastic and captivating novel.
The Kaiser’s Web by Steve Berry – 23/02/2021
The final entry on this list is The Kaiser’s Web, the 16th upcoming entry in the long-running Cotton Malone series. The Cotton Malone books are an exciting and interesting collection of novels that feature a series of fascinating history-based conspiracies. I have been really getting into this series over the last couple of years, and the last two novels, The Malta Exchange and The Warsaw Protocol, have contains some excellent and intriguing adventures. The Kaiser’s Web features another cool sounding plot and I cannot wait to dive into this latest adventure.
Well that is the end of my Top Ten list. I think it turned out pretty well and it does a good job of capturing all my most anticipated books for the next three months. All of the above books should be pretty epic, and I cannot wait to read them soon. Let me know which of the above you are most excited for and stay tuned for reviews of them in the next few months.
Waiting on Wednesday – Relentless by Jonathan Maberry
Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. In this latest Waiting on Wednesday I take a look at next upcoming book from the incredible Jonathan Maberry, Relentless, which will continue the exciting adventures of his long-running protagonist Joe Ledger.
Long-term readers of my blog will know that I have a lot of love for Jonathan Maberry’s books; indeed I am currently in the middle of listening to his latest novel, the standalone horror book Ink. However, the Maberry novels that I have most enjoyed over the years has been the extraordinary Joe Ledger series, which follows a covert military operator, the titular Joe Ledger, as he attempts to counter several elaborate plots and terrorist attacks by sophisticated and high-tech adversaries. I absolutely fell in love with these books the moment I read one of the later novels in the series and I have spent the last couple of years going back and reading every single Joe Ledger book, finishing it off earlier this year. Each of these books was extremely well written, deeply compelling and full of intense action, and I ended up rating every single one of them extremely highly.
The original Joe Ledger series came to an end in 2018, but the storylines and characters from this original series continued with the Rogue Team International series, which started in 2019 with Rage. The Rogue Team International books are written in a similar vein to the original Joe Ledger novels and they continue to follow Ledger as he takes on international terrorists and criminal masterminds. I had an outstanding time reading Rage last year and it ended up being one of my favourite books (and audiobooks) of 2019. Needless to say, I have been eagerly awaiting news of any upcoming Joe Ledger novels for a while and I was extremely excited when I heard that the second Rogue Team International novel, Relentless, is coming out next year.
Relentless is currently sent for release on 13 July 2021 and it looks set to continue some of the excellent storylines set up in the first novel. Both the cover art and the synopsis for Relentless are already out, and if I wasn’t hyped up for this book before I found out what was going to happen in it, I sure as hell was once I read the following:
Synopsis:
Rogue Team International joins Joe Ledger in a new hunt that spans the globe and journeys deep into the terrifying landscape of the human heart.
JOE LEDGER’s world has been torn apart. The people closest to him have been savagely murdered and Ledger is on the hunt for the killers. His already fragile psyche has cracked apart, allowing a dangerous darkness to overwhelm him.
His hunt takes him deep into the world of the deadly black market weapons sales, and standing in his way are a new generation of private military contractors. These mercenaries have been enhanced with cutting-edge cybernetics and chemical enhancements, transforming them into real-world super soldiers. Stronger, faster, harder to hurt, and fitted with built-in weapons. They are beyond anything Joe has ever faced.
But he is not the Joe Ledger they expected to fight. He is defined by the Darkness now. The attempt to destroy him–to break him–has backfired. Instead his enemies have turned him into a far more fearsome weapon.
Everyone is out for blood.
This is an extremely cool synopsis, and there is a lot of detail in there about what amazing features the reader can expect when Relentless comes out. Not only is the protagonist going to come up against a group of cool new villains, enhanced super-solider assassins no less, but there is going to be a huge focus on the protagonist’s psyche after the traumatic ending to Rage, in which his entire family was killed before his eyes. This should make for some really intense moments, especially as Joe Ledger has always been a particularly damaged individual who turns his severe childhood trauma (and no author writes trauma as well as Maberry) into supreme murderous rage and an impressive fighting spirit. Having him even more unhinged than before is going to be extremely fascinating and terrifying, and I cannot wait to see how deep and far Maberry dives into his character and what carnage will result from his actions (a fight between a super pissed Joe Ledger and super-soldiers will definitely be worth seeing). It will also be interesting to see if Ledger catches up with the antagonists behind the attack on his family in this novel, or whether they will be an alternate antagonist in the story. Either way, the reader is in for a lot of fun and a lot of hyper-violence when Relentless comes out.
Like many novels I feature in my Waiting on Wednesday articles, I know well in advance that I am going to love Relentless when it comes out. Based on how much I have enjoyed the author’s prior books, I very confident that I am in for a real treat with Relentless and I am deeply excited to find out what sort of impressive narrative he comes up with this time. Maberry is such an incredible author and I have grown to really enjoy his fantastic writing style and ability to come up with captivating storylines and fascinating characters. I cannot wait to see what happens in this awesome upcoming novel and this next chapter in the life of Joe Ledger is sure to be a good one. I am planning to grab the audiobook version of it (especially if it is narrated by the always impressive Ray Porter) and I have no doubts that Relentless will end up being one of my top novels and audiobooks of 2021.
While I am waiting for Relentless to come out (it is going to be a long eight months), make sure to come back in a week or so to read my review of Ink. You should also make sure to check out my reviews of Maberry’s Joe Ledger series, including Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory, The King of Plagues, Assassin’s Code, Extinction Machine, Code Zero, Predator One, Kill Switch, Dogs of War and Deep Silence.
WWW Wednesday – 9 September 2020
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
So, let’s get to it.
What are you currently reading?
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (Trade Paperback)
I have just started to read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, the epic new science fiction novel from Christopher Paolini, author of the bestselling The Inheritance Cycle. This is so far proving to be a rather compelling read and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. This is a massive book, so it’s probably going to take me a while to get through it. Still it will be worth it if some of the early buzz I’m hearing around this novel is true.
Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)
I was in between audiobooks so I thought that this would be a good time to listen to Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry. Falling in between Kill Switch and Deep Silence, this is the only Joe Ledger novel I have so far not read and I am eager to finish this series off this year. I am making some very steady progress with this awesome audiobook so far and I should get through it in the next few days.
What did you recently finish reading?
V2 by Robert Harris (Ebook)
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Audiobook)
Relentless by R. A. Salvatore (Audiobook)
What do you think you’ll read next?
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (Trade Paperback)
That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.
The Unseen Library 