Never Flinch by Stephen King

On December 17, 2025December 17, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery, Thriller1 Comment

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

Series: Holly Gibney – Book Two

Length: 14 hours and 44 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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

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

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

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

Plot Synopsis:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Outsider by Stephen King

On August 31, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Thriller, Throwback Thursday11 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton/Simon and Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 22 May 2018)

Series: Standalone/Holly Gibney series

Length: 18 hours and 41 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After years of having it on my to-read list, I finally got around to checking out The Outsider by Stephen King, and boy was it a particularly epic book.

Fans of this blog will know that I have been getting more and more into Stephen King lately, especially as I have been lucky enough to receive copies of his more recent books. I have so far deeply enjoyed Mr Mercedes, Later, Billy Summers (one of my favourite books of 2021), Fairy Tale, Holly (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), and You Like it Darker (one of my favourite books from the first half of 2024). These have all been amazing reads in their own way and I really enjoyed the elaborate stories, dark plots, and complex characters that King comes up with. However, one of my new favourite King novels with a captivating scenario was the fantastic read The Outsider.

Released back in 2018, The Outsider was an intriguing novel that really caught my attention with its unique concept. I immediately identified it as a book I wanted to read, but I was unable to fit it into my reading schedule back then, which I deeply regret now. Despite not reading it when came out, The Outsider remained firmly in mind, especially as it had connections to the Bill Hodges trilogy, which I had also heard good things about. This need to check out The Outsider was dramatically increased after I read Holly last year and was blown away by the elaborate and exceedingly dark story. As such, I have been looking for an opportunity to enjoy The Outsider for a while, and a recent road trip gave me all the excuse I needed, and boy was I glad that I did.

It is the worst crime to ever occur in the history of Flint City. A young boy, Frankie Peterson, has been brutally killed, raped and mutilated, his violated body left on display out in the local park. The Flint City police, led by detective Ralph Anderson, are determined to find the monster responsible for Frankie Peterson’s death, and they soon zero in on a prime suspect, local sports coach and one of Flint City’s most respected citizens, Terrence Maitland.

With unassailable evidence and numerous witnesses placing him at the scene, the police have a watertight case against Maitland, and Anderson orders the public arrest of the coach in front of his family, friends, and the entire town. However, despite the DNA, fingerprints, and numerous reliable witnesses indicating that Maitland killed Frankie, Maitland insists that he is innocent and has an airtight alibi for the time of the murder, having been in a major public conference in another city, surrounded by unimpeachable witnesses.

Determined to prove that Maitland committed the murder, Anderson and his colleagues attempt to destroy his alibi. But the further they dig, the more apparent it becomes that Maitland was nowhere near the scene of the crime, and Anderson begins to believe Maitland’s pleas of innocence. With lives being destroyed all around him and the citizens of Flint City baying for Maitland’s blood, Anderson is forced to figure out how a man can be in two places at once. But when the situation takes a dark turn, both Anderson and Maitland’s supporters call in unusual investigator Holly Gibney, whose own experience with impossible cases will take them in the darkest of directions.

Well damn, that was particularly awesome. I knew I was going to love The Outsider well before I read it, but even I was unprepared for how impressive and captivating this novel proved to be. Featuring King’s typical elaborate storytelling, powerful characters, and unique insights into the human mind, The Outsider was a complex and sinister read that will have you hooked from the very beginning and which gets a very easy five-star rating from me.

King presents the reader with an incredibly, dark, complex and thoughtful narrative that burrows into your head and refuses to leave. Starting off strong and proceeding into darker and more horror-lined territory, this complex narrative sucked me in almost instantly thanks to the very impressive initial story concept. Introducing a particularly gruesome murder, The Outsider starts off in crime fiction/legal thriller territory, as King showcases the details of the initial arrest of Terrence Maitland, while also bringing in a few key characters. These early chapters are cleverly offset by a series of short inclusions that showcase police interviews and forensic evidence for the main investigation, all of which firmly paints Maitland as the killer. However, events take an outstanding turn shortly into the book, when Maitland reveals an impossibly airtight alibi that flies in the face of the substantial evidence of the police. The full extent of this alibi is particularly compelling, especially with King name-dropping one of his peers, and it really turns the entire plot on its head. The subsequent scenes are extremely intriguing, as the reader sees both sides of the case, and find themselves wondering if Maitland committed the crime, is completely innocent, or whether something far more sinister is going on. I honestly love every second of this first half of The Outsider, and I cannot emphasise just how exceptional and thought-provoking this complex scenario proved to be.

At around the halfway point, The Outsider features a substantial moment that changes the entire tone and focus of the plot. While I was initially a little disappointed with this, mainly because I was already loving the direction the story had been going up to that point, it helps turn The Outsider into a more typical King novel, loaded with complex horror elements that reflect dark human nature. The author also deeply enhances the story’s emotional drama, placing several characters in terrible situations, and amping up the desperate tragedy of the plot. Thanks to the introduction of recurring King protagonist Holly Gibney, the protagonists start to consider a more unnatural solution to the crime and begin to investigate accordingly. I quite enjoyed the dive into the darker, supernatural side of the story, and the resulting investigation is quite unique, requiring the grounded protagonists to believe in the unknown. King ensures that the supernatural investigation elements of the book come across in a compelling and sensible manner, and it was intriguing to see how the character’s reached their conclusions. The case eventually leads the protagonists on an extended trip to Texas, which ends with a series of showdowns. King keeps the intensity of the plot going all the way to the very end, and readers will be left guessing about who’s going to survive and how the story will unfold. The chase for the culprit and the big showdown were a very solid conclusion to the entire narrative, and you will come away extremely satisfied with how The Outsider ended.

I really enjoyed how this book came together, and I personally think that this was one of the stronger King novels I have so far had the pleasure of reading. A lot of this comes down to the initial clever scenario, which King does an extremely good job of setting up. The whole idea of someone accused of a crime they are innocent of and have a perfect alibi for really makes you think, and King utilises it to perfection, diving into the thoughts of the police, the alleged perpetrator, and the various family members associated with it. It helped that King once again returned to his favourite setting of a small American town, and he was able to capture the resulting chaos as rumour and fear spread throughout Flint City. You can really feel the emotional turmoil of all the people in the town, especially the main characters, and it helped to deeply enhance the impact of every scene, especially when you have no idea whether Maitland committed the crime or not. The way in which the author starts off as a more traditional crime fiction story also works extremely well and helps to drag the readers into the plot with its mystery. However, the transition over to horror is particularly effective, and the way in which the darkness infecting the plot goes from that created by ordinary humans to something more supernatural, is an effective and powerful part of the book. This proved to be a particularly haunting and moving read that will keep you up late at night thinking about how you would react in the exact same scenario.

While most of King’s books prove to be standalone reads, The Outsider is connected to the author’s previous Bill Hodges series due to the inclusion of a major supporting character. I had heard in advance that readers needed to be familiar with the Bill Hodges books to fully appreciate this book, however, I felt that The Outsider stood on its own merits as a standalone novel. New readers can easily dive into The Outsider’s excellent story without any issues and will become enthralled in King’s complex mystery and his excellent depictions of human nature. Established fans of the Bill Hodges books will probably get the most out of The Outsider, especially as it is a continuation of King’s unique look at the crime fiction genre, and the return of a key character offers a lot of opportunities for those who loved his previous trilogy. However, I would say that this is a book that pretty much all mystery, thriller or horror fans can really enjoy, as there is something for everyone here, although some readers should be warned about how dark and graphic this story can get.

I really need to highlight the outstanding character work that King featured within The Outsider. This fantastic book featured a rich cast of complex small-town characters who find themselves caught up the twisted darkness of a small child’s murder and the subsequent revelations about who was behind it. King does such an exceptional job of diving into the various mindscapes of the impacted characters, from the obsessed investigating detective who is taking the case personally, to the distressed wife of the apparent killer, and even the confused accused himself. The complicated mindscapes of all these characters, and more, are shown in exquisite detail throughout The Outsider, and you really grow attached to their powerful personal tales.

While I don’t want to go into too much specific detail about the book’s primary cast here for spoiler reasons, I will say that the way the various characters deal with events and the many dark twists makes for quite a personal and emotionally charged read, and it was fascinating to watch so many characters try to let go of their conventional thinking and try to see the world in a different light. I also must highlight the intriguing way in which King enhances his cast in the second half of The Outsider by bringing in investigator Holly Gibney from the Bill Hodges trilogy. Holly, the slightly unusual but brilliant private eye, proved to be a compelling addition to the plot, and it proved very interesting to see her interact with the established cast, especially as Holly has a much more open mind due to her previous experiences. Fans of the Bill Hodges books will really love seeing Holly return, and her compelling character development since her original appearance in Mr Mercedes proves to be a great part of the book. I really cannot emphasise just how impressive the various characters, as well as their complex development, is in The Outsider, and you will have to check it out. Be warned though, no one comes out of this book unscathed, including the reader when they become attached to these great figures.

As I mentioned above, I managed to enjoy The Outsider while out on a road trip, which meant that I listened to the audiobook version of it. I have had some great success with Stephen King audiobooks in the past, and The Outsider was another impressive example of how this format can enhance the powerful story within. Coming in with a substantial runtime of nearly 19 hours, listeners do require a bit of a time investment for The Outsider audiobook, but it is well worth it. I felt that I got a fantastic sense of the story while listening to it, and I love the intense depictions of the characters, the small-town setting, and the dark deeds being done within.

In addition to the great way it brings to the story to life for the reader, one of the big highlights of The Outsider audiobook was the inclusion of veteran actor Will Patton as the narrator. Patton, who has lent his voice to several of King’s previous audiobooks, does an outstanding job narrating The Outsider. His softly spoken and measured voice really fits the dark and sinister story contained within The Outsider, and you get an excellent sense of the personal horror and complex emotions that the events of this book unleash. Patton also does an outstanding job voicing the eclectic and damaged characters featured within The Outsider. Patton infected many of these characters with his southern accent, which fit the small-town vibe of The Outsider extremely well, and you can really imagine King’s characters a lot better with Patton’s voice behind them. Highlights for me include his take on the antagonist of The Outsider’s real voice, as well as an entertaining old lady found down in Texas, who steals all the scenes she’s in, especially with Patton’s exaggerated tones. However, I did feel that Patton overplayed the awkward nature of Holly Gibney when she entered the plot. Patton made all of Holly’s dialogue, as well as the description of events in the chapters told from her perspective, very subdued and halting, which messed with the flow of the audiobook. While I know that he was trying to capture Holly’s ethereal and damaged nature with this narration, it was honestly a bit distracting. Despite this slight annoyance, this ended up being an awesome way to enjoy The Outsider and I can personally guarantee that it is an incredible accompaniment to a long road-trip.

Overall, The Outsider proved to an outstanding and exceptional book from the always impressive Stephen King that I could not get enough off. Featuring both an incredible mystery and some brilliant dark horror moments, The Outsider is a particularly gripping and intense read that will live rent free in the dark corners of your brain. Highly recommended and one of my new favourite Stephen King books.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation: Pliable Truths by Dayton Ward

On July 14, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Tie-in Novel3 Comments

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 21 May 2024)

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Length: 11 hours

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Leading Star Trek author Dayton Ward presents a compelling new tie-in novel that bridges the gap between two of the franchise’s most iconic shows in the outstanding and impressive Pliable Truths.

I have mentioned a few times on this blog that Star Trek extended fiction is amongst some of the richest and most comprehensive of all the assembled tie-in fiction. There are hundreds of intriguing novels that expand on the universe introduced in the television series and movies, all of which are highly fascinating, especially for fans of the various shows. While I haven’t explored Star Trek extended fiction as much as some other franchises out there, I have had the pleasure of reading several outstanding books, with some of my favourites including The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett, The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack and Die Standing by John Jackson Miller. Due to my enjoyment of these previous books, I keep an eye out for new Star Trek releases, and I was very intrigued when I saw that Dayton Ward had released a new book, Pliable Truths.

Dayton Ward is well-known science fiction author who has made a name for himself creating tie-in fiction for several different franchises. Ward’s most comprehensive work involves writing Star Trek novels, with the author writing an intriguing collection of different Star Trek books connected to different series. I have read a couple of Ward’s books in recent years, including The Next Generation novel, Available Light, and the Original Series novel, Agents of Influence. These previous books from Ward both proved to be very impressive, and I had a great time reading them. As such, when I saw that Pliable Truths was written by Ward, I knew it was going to be another fantastic read, especially as the author has a lot of experience writing fiction for the various Star Trek series, periods and timelines. This latest novel, Pliable Truths, while ostensibly tied-into The Next Generation series, also serves as a compelling bridging novel between the events of The Next Generation and its spin-off series, Deep Space Nine.

Following a tumultuous series of events, Starfleet has managed to thwart a planned invasion of a Federation system by the Cardassians. Thrown into political disarray by their military defeat, the Cardassian civilian government has acceded to Starfleet demands and ordered the withdrawal from the occupied planet of Bajor. Long enslaved by the Cardassians, the Bajorans are determined to once again rule themselves, but they first reluctantly require the assistance of the Federation.

To ensure a peaceful transition of power to the new Bajoran government, Starfleet orders Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise to the Bajor to oversee negotiations between the Bajorans and the Cardassians. Still recovering from his own recent trauma suffered at the hands of a Cardassians torturer, Picard is unsure if he is ready to fairly arbitrate the question of recompense and justice. But with no other choice, Picard travels to the massive Cardassian space station orbiting Bajor, Terok Nor.

Attempting to stay neutral and calm, Picard soon finds his patience tested by the disruptive tactics of the Cardassians, as they seek to gain advantage from the chaos surrounding the withdraw. The situation looks to become even more complicated when Ensign Ro Laren receives a message from a long-missing friend, exposing deadly secrets from inside Cardassian space. Forced to balance the needs of the Bajorans with a desire to stop a new war erupting between the Federation and the Cardassians, Picard will need to utilise all his diplomatic skills to salvage the situation. But can even Picard remain calm when he comes face to the face with the man responsible for his recent torture?

Dayton Ward continues to showcase why he is one of the top authors of Star Trek fiction with this compelling and intriguing read. Serving as a brilliant bridge between two key shows, Pliable Truths has an outstanding story behind it that does an amazing job diving into the iconic lore and characters of the Star Trek universe.

Pliable Truths had a great narrative behind it that sought to simultaneously fill in certain gaps between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, while also producing a standalone narrative that proved quite intriguing to get into. Set between the events of The Next Generation episode Chain of Command and the first episode of Deep Space Nine, Pliable Truth’s main story primarily follows The Next Generation cast, as well as several of the best characters from Deep Space Nine, as they attempt to help Bajor adapt to its independence. At the same time, a separate storyline follows a group of Bajoran labours working at a Cardassian prison camp, whose freedom is threatened by the dark secrets surrounding the camp. I very much enjoyed how both storylines unfolded, as the Cardassian labour camp part of the narrative is quite intense and focuses on a raft of intriguing new characters engaged in a game of cat and mouse, as the prisoners try to work out why they are still imprisoned and how they can save themselves. At the same time, the storyline around the Enterprise crew and Bajor focuses on the attempts to rebuilt Bajor and the future Deep Space Nine space station, as well as the ongoing negotiations between the Cardassians and the Bajorans, moderated by Picard.

This main storyline with the established characters of the two series proves to be an entertaining and enjoyable experience, especially as Ward works in so many references and key characters. The unique interactions between the characters from both shows, most of whom never shared screentime, is very fun, and Ward does a great job playing up both the emotional and entertainment value of these interactions. However, the heart of this story revolves around Picard as he comes face to face with the Cardassians after the events of Chain of Command where he was tortured (“There are four lights!”). This proves to be an emotionally charged part of the story, especially when Picard is required to deal with his former torturer Gul Madred. As Picard is forced to deal with his trauma, his crew encounter a series of complications and sabotages they need to overcome to save the station and the planet.

Both storylines come together extremely well as Pliable Truths nears its end, and I liked how well Ward balanced these separate narrative threads. The darker moments of the Cardassian prison planet serves as an interesting contrast to the fanservice taking place in the main storyline, and I think this combination of storylines made for quite a distinctive narrative that stood on its own. Ward brings a certain amount of tragedy to the end of Pliable Truths, which helped to enhance some of the more positive moments of the story, including Picard regaining his confidence, and the potentially bright future for Bajor. All the main story elements get wrapped up satisfactorily, and I liked some of the entertaining twists that Ward through in there. An overall impressive story and one that will appeal to a lot of Star Trek fans, Pliable Truths was a great read that I couldn’t get enough of.

Now this proved to be a very interesting Star Trek novel which is primarily going to appeal to fans of the franchise. Ward, who knows more than most about Star Trek, does a wonderful job turning Pliable Truths into a compelling bridging novel between the two key series. Showcasing the events that lead to the Federation having a presence on Deep Space Nine and the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor, Pliable Truth fills in a lot of the gaps between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. There is a lot of detail covered here in Pliable Truths as result, and I really enjoyed Ward’s take on the story and how the intervening events likely unfolded. As a fan of both shows, I found this to be very cool, especially as Ward layers in a ton of clever and intricate references that fans of both shows, especially Deep Space Nine, will really appreciate. Things like Riker’s legendary win at Quarks, the early machinations of Garak, the reasons behind O’Brien’s decision to stay at the station, and more are all featured here, and Ward obviously had fun including them in his story. Ward also takes the time to cover the various atrocities of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, which is referenced a lot in the shows, and which becomes a key part of this plot. Discussing the various horrors committed by the Cardassians adds a darker tinge to much of the plot, and the obviously parallels to real-life occupations, ensure the reader comes away very thoughtful. As such, Pliable Truths really is geared towards existing Star Trek fans, although I’m sure casual readers can probably have fun with this book, especially if they have watched some of Deep Space Nine.

One of the best parts of Pliable Truths was the excellent way in which Ward presented several iconic Star Trek characters and utilised them in the plot. All of the key characters from The Next Generation were very strongly featured in Pliable Truths to various degrees, and even a few minor recurring characters had major showings in this book. Each of them is featured in a manner very similar to how they appeared in the show, which I deeply appreciated, and it is a testament to Ward’s abilities as an author that he made them feel very realistic here. The most prominent of these is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who has the most compelling storyline in the entire novel. Picard, who in the story recently suffered from immense torture during the Chain of Command episodes, is shown to still be in mental recovery during this book, especially as his latest ordeal compounds various other traumatic experiences Picard has suffered over the years. As such, much of this book is dedicated to Picard facing his Cardassian-related demons, which becomes the emotional heart of the story. This becomes especially true when Picard’s former torturer appears, and their resulting scenes together are some of the strongest in the books.

Aside from The Next Generation cast, quite a lot of Pliable Truths is spent focusing on several intriguing figures who would go on to become main characters in the Deep Space Nine series. Ward does a great job setting the scene for them to enter the plot of the new show, and I liked the way in which the author bridged the gaps between their first appearances on Deep Space Nine and their established backstories. The includes focusing on Miles O’Brien and examining the reasons why he chose to leave the Enterprise and become an engineer on the station. Quark and Odo get several fun sequences, Deep Space Nine antagonist Gul Dukat gets to menace around in all his arrogant glory, while Major Kira has an extended sequence with her badass abilities on full display. However, my favourite character appearance was the always entertaining Elim Garak. The “former” Cardassian spy turned “simple” tailor, Garak has some great moments in Pliable Truths as he starts to come to terms with his exile, as well as the growing fortunes of his former comrades/rivals. Ward does an outstanding job capturing the hilarious nature of Garak and his cutting remarks, and he proved to be a fantastic figure in Pliable Truths, especially with his final hilarious, if sinister, scene. I loved seeing earlier versions of several key Deep Space Nine characters in this story, especially as they also have unique interactions with their The Next Generation counterparts, and any fan of the show will have a wonderful time seeing them in action here.

As with most pieces of tie-in fiction I enjoy, I ended up listening to Pliable Truths on audiobook, which proved to be an excellent experience. I personally find that the Star Trek books come across extremely well in this format, and at times it almost feels like you are watching one of the television shows. A lot of this is due to the excellent narration of Robert Petkoff, who has lent his voice to many Star Trek audiobooks over the years. One of my favourite audiobook narrators, Petkoff is well known for his ability to replicate the voices of many of the characters from the Star Trek franchise, especially the original series. His work in Pliable Truths is pretty damn epic, especially as he brings so many classic characters to life with his great impersonations. I felt that his versions of many of the Next Generation cast members, particularly Picard, Riker, Worf and Data, came across extremely well in Pliable Truths, and I also liked his take on the various Deep Space Nine characters that appeared, including Odo, Quark and Garak. In addition to his great take on many of the characters from the show, Petkoff also supplies fitting voices to various new figures who only appear in this book. In this case, Petkoff takes care to really highlight the species of the relevant character, utilising accents and tones associated with them from the show. This excellent voice work really helped to drag me into the story, and I had a brilliant time listening to this wonderful audiobook. Coming in with a run time of 11 hours, this is a very easy audiobook to get through quickly, and I would strongly recommend Pliable Truths in this format.

Pliable Truths was an incredible new Star Trek novel from Dayton Ward that provides fans of the franchise with some great callbacks to two classic television series. Featuring a fantastic story and great interpretations of so many amazing characters, I had a wonderful time listening to Pliable Truths and it was one of the better audiobooks I have so far listened to in 2024.

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Oath of Loyalty by Kyle Mills (Based on the series by Vince Flynn)

On September 29, 2022March 29, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller6 Comments

Oath of Loyalty Cover

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 13 September 2022)

Series: Mitch Rapp – Book 21

Length: 9 hours and 23 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Fantastic spy fiction author Kyle Mills continues his excellent stewardship of the late, great Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, with the new action-packed thriller, Oath of Loyalty.

I have had a lot of fun with some cool spy thriller series over the last few years, but one series that keeps on pulling me back in is the ultra-compelling Mitch Rapp series. Originally written by Vince Flynn, the Mitch Rapp series follows rugged American spy Mitch Rapp as he wages a brutal war against America’s enemies. While sometimes a little too nationalistic for my tastes, the Mitch Rapp series nonetheless has some outstanding and inventive scenarios in its arsenal, with the protagonists forced to take on some dangerous enemies and crazy situations. Since Flynn’s death, the series has been taken over by Kyle Mills, who has continued the tradition of compelling high-concept spy action. I have had a great time reading Mills’s recent contributions to this series, with awesome reads like Red War, Lethal Agent, Total Power and Enemy at the Gate, all of which were extremely fascinating stories that proved very hard to put down. As such, I am always very keen to check out the new Mitch Rapp adventure, and I was really drawn into the fascinating plot of the 21^st Mitch Rapp novel, Oath of Loyalty.

After a lifetime of protecting the country he loves from terrorists, enemy nations and foreign spies, the shoe is on the other foot as Mitch Rapp finds himself as America’s most wanted man. The corrupt and paranoid President Anthony Cook is determined to shape America into a personal kingdom that he and his calculating wife can rule for years. However, after Mitch Rapp foils Cook’s plan to destroy his greatest rival, Rapp is now in the firing line.

Convinced that Rapp will attempt to assassinate him, especially as his actions have resulted in the death of one of Rapp’s oldest friends, Cook attempts to eliminate him, only to have Rapp slip through his fingers. With neither side wishing to be at war with the other, the President and Rapp manage to negotiate a truce through former-CIA director Irene Kennedy, by which Rapp will remain untouched if he agrees to leave America and stay in plain sight for as long as the Cooks control the White House. However, the ambitious new head of the CIA is determined to win the President’s influence and manages to convince Cook that Rapp still plans to kill him. To stop Rapp from coming after them, the new administration decides to attack those closest to him by leaking the identity and location of Rapp’s partner, Claudia Gould, to her many enemies.

Soon, everyone Claudia and her dead assassin husband ever crossed is out to get her. Despite Rapp’s violent reprisals against her attackers, the threat increases dramatically when one of Claudia’s old enemies hires the infamous Legion. Legion is a completely anonymous team of assassins who rely on secrecy and never meet their client in person. No one knows who they are; all they know is that once Legion accepts a contract they don’t stop until their target is dead, no matter how long that may take. With their country turned against them, can Rapp and his allies save Claudia from this new threat before it is too late, or will he lose another woman he loves?

Kyle Mills continues to showcase just how awesome a Mitch Rapp novel can be with this fantastic new entry. Perfectly utilising all the typical action, intrigue and political insight that the latest Mitch Rapp books have all been known for, Oath of Loyalty features a fantastic narrative that I really got stuck into. This was another impressive and fun spy thriller read, and I ended up powering through this book in no time at all.

Oath of Loyalty had another excellent Mills narrative that took the protagonist on a wild adventure of survival, revenge, and political upheaval. The start of the book contains a detailed prologue that replays the closing scene of the prior novel, Enemy at the Gate, which was a good recap to start off with. The rest of Oath of Loyalty seamlessly follows on, showing Mitch Rapp in the crosshairs of the new President and his corrupt administration. After a great escape sequence, Rapp flees to South Africa and arranges a truce, and begins to watch the decline of America from afar. However, the President is far from done with him, and his fearmongering advisor convinces him to keep Rapp occupied while they prepare for his potential retaliation. Rapp is forced to defend Claudia and her daughter from several dangerous assassins, which includes one particularly impressive action sequence as Rapp fends off an entire hit squad by himself. This results in some A-grade vengeance as Rapp goes after Claudia’s enemies in retaliation, which naturally includes some very over-the-top results.

However, the characters find themselves in dire straights when one enemy hires the unstoppable Legion assassin team, who specialise in elaborate kills. Mills sets up Legion extremely well, and the reader is soon engrossed in watching the cat-and-mouse game that emerges between them and Rapp. At the same time, Rapp and his allies are forced to contend with a selfish and power hungry president who is determined to destroy them all. The second half of the book has some great sequences, and I loved seeing Legion’s actions and their attempts to get past Rapp, and the protagonist finds himself in a tough situation, especially as his limited help sometimes proves to be even more dangerous than his opponents are. Everything leads up to a fantastic and very entertaining conclusion, which I think worked very well. While I did think that part of the solution was a little silly when it came to just how threatening the protagonist could be, this was a pretty amazing story and I had a wonderful time getting through it.

I felt that Mills did a great job setting out Oath of Loyalty’s narrative, and there are many great elements to it that make it so much fun to read. The author makes excellent use of multiple character perspectives to showcase the fun narrative, and it was awesome to see the various sides of the story. I especially liked the parts of the book shown from several antagonists’ standpoints, and it was great to see the simultaneous moves and counter-moves that Rapp and his opponents put into play. Like the rest of the Mitch Rapp books, Oath of Loyalty has several great action scenes that come together extremely well. The brutal combat is crisp and flows off the page perfectly, ensuring that every action junkie can imagine just how the protagonist is kicking ass. This works in concert with the book’s outstanding espionage elements, which Mills features so very well here. I love the author’s take on spy craft in Oath of Loyalty, and there is a gritty realism to how Rapp and his allies go up against their foes, especially as this time they are going up against the American intelligence apparatus. Oath of Loyalty is also well paced out and readers are left with barely a second to breathe between the various exciting or compelling sequences of espionage, or political malfeasance. All this, and more, definitely helped me stayed glued to Oath of Loyalty and I really got stuck into the cool narrative and couldn’t wait to see how it all came together.

While characters are never the strongest part of a Mitch Rapp novel (I always felt that the protagonist was a tad one-dimensional), I did like how some of the recurring figures turned out in Oath of Loyalty. There was some interesting work on Mitch Rapp himself in this book. While he is still the same highly feared and insanely talented assassin and general sadist, you can see that the years are really starting to get to him in this book as he starts to think about winding down. The cynical weariness that infects him in this book as his country turns against him is pretty compelling, and it was interesting to see him as America’s enemy for once. Throw in some growing family concerns and touching relationship moments, and this was an interesting book for Rapp, and I quite enjoyed seeing his deeper thoughts on several matters here.

Several other characters had some fantastic moments in Oath of Loyalty. Irene Kennedy and several of Rapp’s allies find themselves on the wrong side of politics here, and it was compelling to see the loyal American soldiers realise they have been betrayed by their country. Claudia gets quite a lot of focus, especially as her past mistakes are brought into focus, and Mills does a good job of examining how she fits into Rapp’s life and how their relationship has grown. I liked the fantastic backstory around Legion, and Rapp manages to make them appear dangerous and interesting in a very short amount of time, which I really appreciated. Without ruining too much, I also was highly entertained by Rapp’s allies in the second half of the book, especially as they result in a really mental minefield for the protagonist, who finds himself stuck with two damaged people he has no idea how to deal with. Finally, President Cook and his inner circle prove to be entertaining antagonists, and I loved seeing them abuse their power all in an attempt to kill one man. Their ambition, ruthless political savvy and complete disregard for the people they serve makes them quite unlikeable, and it was fun to see them thrown for a loop by a single man as they live in fear of what Rapp may do to them. The growing instability of the president as he gets consumed by his paranoia is particularly fun, and Mills comes up with a great crony character who feeds on that for unique reasons, all of which is very amusing to see. I had an excellent time with all these fantastic characters, and Mills certainly wrapped an awesome story around them.

One of the things I have appreciated with Mills’s last few Mitch Rapp novels is his insights into the current state of American politics and the country’s current divides. All his major American protagonists, who are old hats at politics and espionage, are disillusioned by the direction the country has taken, and this becomes apparent in their discussions and inner thoughts, as many of them begin to wonder what they were fighting to preserve all these years. At the same time, several of the villainous political figures in this book are shown to be quite aware of the divides occurring in America, and are very willing to manipulate it to their own ends. Indeed, many of their discussions about strategy show them actively doing this, and there are several scenes with them attending the sort of rallies and conventions that people familiar with contemporary politics will know and loath. I really appreciated this frank and intriguing look into American politics and the state of the country in Oath of Loyalty, and I honestly felt that the author and the characters were even more critical than in recent books (although some of that was tied into the plot). It is honestly a little refreshing to see this sort of introspection from a series that has always been very pro-American, and it is definitely a sign of the times. However, these political insights aren’t just there for the sake of making the novel stand out, and they play quite a vital role in the plot. The characters have many discussions about the future of America, and their decisions are very tied into how they want it to proceed. It proved to be quite a key part of Oath of Loyalty’s narrative, and I think that Mills did a pretty good job of utilising this modern-day elements in his latest book. It will be quite interesting to see how this is presented going forward, and I really appreciated how Mills is trying to keep the series relevant.

As I have with the last few Mitch Rapp novels, I chose to check out Oath of Loyalty’s audiobook format, which was a great way to enjoy this book. With a run time of just under nine and a half hours, this a relatively short audiobook and I managed to get through it quite quickly once I got stuck into the story. I had an excellent time getting through the Oath of Loyalty audiobook, and I felt that it did a great job enhancing the narrative, especially by picking up the pace of the awesome action sequences. I am however, once again on the fence when it comes to narrator George Guidall, who has lent his voice to most of the Mitch Rapp audiobooks. I always find that Guidall’s voice sounds a little tired when he reads these audiobooks and there really is not that much variation between the various characters, although I never had any issue working out who was talking. While this would ordinarily put me off, I have actually gotten quite used to Guidall as narrator for this series, and I honestly could not imagine anyone else voicing these cool books. I also feel that Guidall’s older, wearier voice perfectly fits the character of Mitch Rapp in these latest books, especially as he is getting sick and tired of all the political games and general BS surrounding him. I was quite happy to listen to Guidall once again in Oath of Loyalty, and I look forward to hearing him again with the next Mitch Rapp audiobook.

Overall, I was very happy with this great book and Oath of Loyalty proved to be an excellent addition to this brilliant long-running series. Kyle Mills continues his impressive run of elaborate and clever Mitch Rapp stories here, and Oath of Loyalty served as an outstanding sequel to the author’s previous book while perfectly continuing some amazing storylines. Exciting, intense and loaded with so much action, Oath of Loyalty is a very easy book to fall in love with, and I had a brilliant time getting through it.

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Enemy at the Gates by Kyle Mills (based on the series by Vince Flynn)

On November 15, 2021March 29, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller10 Comments

Enemy at the Gates Cover

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 14 September 2021)

Series: Mitch Rapp – Book 20

Length: 8 hours and 36 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Ready for another down-and-dirty spy thriller with America’s most violent secret agent, then make sure to grab a copy of the 20^th book in the bestselling Mitch Rapp series, Enemy at the Gates, by the series’ current author Kyle Mills.

One of the most consistently entertaining thriller series of the last few years has been the long-running Mitch Rapp series. The Mitch Rapp series is an iconic collection of thriller novels originally written by author Vince Flynn, and more recently by Kyle Mills, who took over the series after Flynn’s death. Mills has been doing an outstanding job with this series, and I have had an incredible time with some of his recent books, including Red War, Lethal Agent and Total Power. Now, 22 years after Mitch Rapp’s first appearance in Transfer of Power, the 20^th book in the series, Enemy at the Gates, has been released, and it was another dark and compelling novel with an awesome story.

Following the resolution of a coordinated terrorist attack aimed at taking down America’s entire power infrastructure, the lights are finally back on across America, and the country seems ready to return to its usual problems. A new president, Anthony Cook, has been installed in the White House, and many believe that he has the potential to turn the country around. However, the old guard of American intelligence, CIA Director Irene Kennedy and legendary agent Mitch Rapp, believe that there are dangerous ulterior motives behind many of Cook’s actions.

In Uganda, a high-tech research facility belonging to the world’s first trillionaire, Nick Ward, is attacked by a dangerous and deranged warlord, aiming to capture and ransom the lab’s brilliant head scientist. Ward, the richest man on the planet, claims to want to make the world a better place, and the research being undertaken by his Ugandan team is rumoured to have the potential to save billions of lives. Determined to save his people and against the wishes of President Cook, Ward hires Rapp and his friend Scott Coleman to recover his scientist before it is too late. However, their desperate battle in the jungle soon turns out to be the least of their problems.

As Rapp and Coleman brave the skilled militia in the jungle, a mysterious mole has managed to infiltrate the CIA’s secure computer network, stealing data on Nick Ward and his current security arrangements. To keep Ward safe and to flush out the source of the leak, Kennedy instructs Rapp to stay close to Ward, just in case. However, following a vicious and coordinated attack, it soon becomes clear that some very powerful people are determined to kill Ward at any cost. With all intelligence and communications with their usual sources in the CIA potentially compromised by the mole, Rapp and his team embark on an elaborate scheme to flush the true architects of the attacks out. But what happens when their plan puts them right in the cross of the ambitious new president who is determined to shape the chaotic world no matter the cost?

This was a high-intensity, action-packed thriller from Mills, who has produced another awesome and fun read. Enemy at the Gates contains a great narrative that sees its aging but deadly protagonist caught between the very powerful forces of the world’s richest man and the President of the United States. This is a very fast-paced story, with Mills quickly introducing the new characters, mainly Nick Ward and President Chisholm, as well as some of their key allies, and showcases the first stages of the president’s proxy war against Ward. From there, Mitch Rapp and his team are drawn into the conflict on Ward’s side, thanks to CIA director Irene Kennedy, resulting in a fun dust-up in the jungle. The story quickly moves on from there, forcing Rapp to face off against a crazed Ugandan warlord while also trying to uncover the mole in the CIA. This is an extremely fun story, with the story moving at a very quick and entertaining pace. Mills writes a great espionage story, and I loved the usage of tradecraft, over-the-top action and general dislike of politicians throughout the story. The author introduces a couple of great twists, especially around the identity of the mole, and it was excellent to see Rapp and his allies forced to deal with a crooked United States President. There is a ton of intensely violent scenes throughout this novel, and readers should be prepared for a couple of torture sequences and somewhat disturbing methods of killing (let us just say there is a strategically placed explosive). Just like all the previous Mitch Rapp novels, Enemy at the Gates is an easy book to enjoy, even for readers unfamiliar with the series.

One of the things I have enjoyed about Mills’s Mitch Rapp novels is the unique insights that the characters have about the world and the United States, and Enemy at the Gates is no exception. Most of the characters in this novel have been engaged in the political or espionage game for a long time, and all of them share a similar, cynical view about the state of America and its potential future. While you would mostly expect an ultra-positive American outlook from this sort of thriller novel, Mills apparently has a pretty grim view of the future, which is reiterated multiple times throughout the book. Making references to a lot of recent events and political schisms, the characters in this novel envision a future filled with increased factionalism, chaos, and political uncertainty, with many of these characters subsequently wondering how they will fit into such a potentially destructive future. This grim and surprisingly honest viewpoint from Mills sets the stage for the major conflict of this novel, with the president attempting to kill the richest man on the planet, who may be the best chance of saving America. It was certainly very fascinating to see the author’s views on the role of the uber-rich and corporations will have on the power structure in the future, and the introduction of a trillionaire philanthropist, certainly changed the scales around. All this political introspection gives Enemy at the Gates an extremely dark and brooding feeling to it, especially as most of the characters full accept this reality and are just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I personally found Mills’s views to be extremely fascinating and particularly realistic, and I think that he did a great job working them into the narrative and highlighting the impact these opinions could have on modern espionage and world events.

This was another interesting book for protagonist Mitch Rapp, the legendary spy feared throughout the world, especially by all rival intelligence operatives. Rapp continues to show off his credentials as a genuine badass in this novel, and I liked the fun storylines around the spy getting older and being forced to reconsider his methods and techniques. It was interesting to see Rapp more on the outs with the American intelligence community in this novel; with the new president in power, he is forced to use some alternative means to complete his missions. The author also introduces a few interesting storylines in Enemy at the Gates that examine Rapp strongly considering retiring. This allows the author to include a few emotionally rich scenes of Rapp attempting to settle into the quiet life with his family. However, despite his best efforts, he is eventually dragged back into the game by a new employer and some old friends. I liked these inclusions of the character’s personal life, and it was great to see him as a more conflicted figure. Despite all that, nothing can really disguise the fact that Rapp is a raging psychopath, even for a spy thriller protagonist, whose complete disregard for human life results in some major violence and natural fear and hatred from his enemies. While this does result in some entertaining moments, it is a bit hard to root for Rapp at times, which does slightly lessen the impact of some of the storylines. Still, Rapp is a fun character to follow, and it will be intriguing to see what happens to him and his family in the future.

Just like I have with the last few Mitch Rapp novels, I chose to grab a copy of Enemy of the Gates in its audiobook format. I must admit that the Mitch Rapp audiobooks, which are narrated by George Guidall, are not my absolute favourite audiobooks out there, but with a run time of just eight hours and 36 minutes, it was a quick way to enjoy Enemy at the Gates, which I managed to do in only a couple of days. Guidall, who has narrated hundreds of audiobooks throughout his career, has his own unique voice for these novels, with a lot of gravitas and cynicism, which helps translate the story extremely well, although he does sound a bit tired as he narrates, and he really does not try to vary his voice too much to distinguish between the various characters featured in the book. While I was never uncertain who was talking thanks to Mills’s writing, I do think that Guidall could make a little effort to make his narration a little more passionate and his voices a little more distinctive. Still, this is a fine way to enjoy this novel, and I did have fun getting through Enemy at the Gates. Despite some of my concerns about Guidall’s performance, I will probably enjoy the audiobook version of the next Mitch Rapp novel in 2022.

After 20 intense books, the Mitch Rapp continues to reign supreme as one of the most entertaining and captivating spy thriller series currently in print. This latest novel, Enemy at the Gates by Kyle Mills, is a fantastic addition to the series which sets the violent, titular protagonist on another action-packed adventure, this time diving deep into the political and social spectrum of America. I had an absolute blast listening to this awesome novel and Enemy at the Gates is a great book to check out if you are in the mood for a fun and exciting read. An overall very fun story that does a great job of continuing this long running series, while also leaving behind a few interesting storylines for later books.

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Later by Stephen King

On May 3, 2021July 12, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Horror, Murder Mystery24 Comments

Later Cover

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 2 March 2021)

Series: Standalone

Length: 6 hours and 32 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Since I started this blog, one major author that I have neglected is the master of horror fiction, Stephen King. King needs absolutely no introduction, with a decades-long career of amazing horror novels, thrillers and heartfelt pieces of fiction, most of which have been turned into iconic films and television shows. Despite this, I haven’t read many of King’s novels before, aside from Cell and the novel he co-wrote with his son, Owen King, Sleeping Beauties. Honestly, I have only started getting into horror novels in the last couple of years (it is still not my favourite genre TBH) and I have completely failed to make time to check out some of King’s more recent releases. However, his latest novel, Later, caught my eye and I decided that it would be a good opportunity to expand my Stephen King knowledge.

Jamie Conklin is a young boy with a very unusual problem: he can see and talk to the spirits of the recently deceased. The son of a struggling single mother, Tia, Jamie just wants to have a normal childhood. However, as his ability becomes more apparent, his mother cautions him to hide his strange gift, worried that people will abuse his talents, especially as the dead have no choice but to truthfully answer any questions that Jamie asks of them.

Content to keep his secret to himself, Jamie attempts to live like a normal New York City kid during the late 2000s. However, when his mother pressures him to use his abilities to help save her failing publishing business, it places him in the crosshairs of his mother’s lover, corrupt police detective Liz Dutton. Liz, desperate for recognition from her bosses, draws Jamie into the hunt for a killer’s final surprise, which only his dead spirit can reveal. However, not all secrets are easily taken from the dead, and soon Jamie must contend with a terrible force determined to torment him from beyond. Can Jamie survive what is coming for him, or will it drag him into insanity?

This was an extremely cool novel that makes we really want to go out and read some more Stephen King books. Later is a fantastic read which combines multiple genres together to create an exciting and fast-paced narrative loaded up with some real heart and memorable characters. I had an absolute blast reading this clever novel, and thanks to its shorter length and captivating narrative, I powered through it in a very quickly.

I deeply enjoyed the cool and complex story that King came up with for Later, which proved to be a powerful and intriguing character-driven tale that moved across the genres. Told in a first-person chronicle format by an older version of the main protagonist, Later details the childhood of Jamie Conklin and his early experiences of talking to the dead. Weaving in anecdotes of his childhood and depictions of his early life with his mother, the story quickly and effectively sets up how Jamie discovered he had his powers, and some of the most significant times that he saw and talked to the spirits of the departed. This proves to be a fascinating coming-of-age story that showcases how this unique talent twisted and altered the course of Jamie’s life and took him into some dark places. The author does a fantastic job capturing the style of a young man recounting major events from his childhood, and I very much appreciated the mixture of childlike innocence with cynical reflections.

While this chronicle of a child’s life forms an effective and powerful centre to this entire narrative, this is also a horror story, as Jamie is traumatised by several of the spirits he encounters, especially as King provides some harrowing descriptions of mutilated ghosts and bodies. These horror elements get even stronger and spookier when Jamie encounters a truly evil spirit who starts to haunt him. Several of the scenes featuring this being are pretty terrifying, and I liked how King strongly highlights the dark side of Jamie’s power.

The author also works in some intriguing crime fiction elements as well, as the protagonist get wrapped up in a murder investigation and the dangerous schemes of a police officer. The crime fiction features are pretty thrilling, and l appreciated the consideration of how Jamie’s powers could be abused. I liked this unique blend of genres, and it ended up creating a very compelling and powerful story, which King sets out at an incredibly fast rate. King sets the story up perfectly, and I found myself really getting pulled in as the narrative set off, thanks to its unique tone and intriguing selection of supporting characters. The entire narrative goes in some very interesting directions and I liked how interconnected all the events that the narrator is recounting fit together into a clever and moving tale of discovery and redemption. All of this comes together into an exciting and scary finale as the narrator comes face-to-face with several of the monsters in his life, and I think that King came up with a very satisfying and clever ending for the book, which has potential for a sequel. I did think that the final big reveal of the book was extremely unnecessary, but it was a particularly typical Stephen King twist, so I should not have been so surprised. Overall, this was an exceptional narrative that I cannot hype up enough.

Later is a standalone novel from King which features a whole new group of characters. As a result, it is very accessible to a wide range of readers, even for those people who have not previously enjoyed any of King’s novels. I personally found it really easy to get into this cool story, even with my limited knowledge of the author’s prior works, and it honestly does not take long to get hooked on his clever and unique story. This is also quite a good book for established fans. Not only does it contain a lot of elements of a classic Stephen King novel, such as a young protagonist on a journey of self-discovery who ends up losing their innocence, but there are also some intriguing connections to some of King’s most iconic works. One horror inclusion in the novel appeared to be a version of a creature from a previous book, and I think that King readers will really appreciate the clever references he chucks in. Due to all this, I feel that Later is a perfect book for any curious readers, no matter their experiences with King’s works, and this may end up being the novel that draws new readers into this compelling master author’s web. I personally will make a bit more of an effort to read more of King’s works in the future, and I already have my eye on his next novel, which is coming out later this year. I also kind of hope that we see more of the characters at some point, especially as King did such a great job setting them up in this novel, while also leaving their overall story very open-ended.

I quite enjoyed the relatively modern setting that King utilised as a backdrop to his plot. With the protagonist chronicling his tale in his 20s, presumably in the present day, most of his childhood took place in the late 2000s and early 2010s. This is a pretty interesting departure from some of King’s more recognisable novels that explore the childhoods of their protagonists, such as It and Stand by Me, all of which make excellent use of their 1950s or 1980s settings (I liked the awesome 1980s nostalgia you got in the latest It film, for example). Instead, King loads up Later with a ton of references to 2000s culture and movies, and I had a fun time remembering some of the things that the protagonist experienced as a child. King, through the medium of his protagonist, also cleverly mentions The Sixth Sense right off the bat, ensuring readers that this story is “not like that movie with Bruce Willis”, which I thought was very entertaining, and also quite true. The Great Recession also becomes a key plot point of the novel, and it was interesting to see how King was able to utilise it as a major motivator for various character actions. I also liked how the story was set in New York City, rather than the small-town American locations King’s books are known for. The author uses this city-based location to great effect throughout the novel, painting a fantastic picture of New York life, especially through the eyes of his young protagonist. Jamie ends up visiting various parts of the city throughout the events of Later, including several communities on the outskirts of New York, and I enjoyed this great use of location.

I also have to highlight the multiple jokes about novelists and publishers that King features throughout Later, mainly due to Jamie being born into a publishing family. You have to imagine that King had a lot of fun coming up with all the great jokes and comedic insights into Jamie and his mother’s experiences with writers, and it ended up being a really fun addition to the plot. I had a particularly good laugh about the descriptions of a certain series of trashy historical romance/adventure novels that Tia’s struggling publishing company relies on, and I loved how King explored it throughout this entertaining narrative, as well as cleverly featuring a mock-up cover of one of these fictional novels released as a bonus dust jacket for Later. This extra dust jacket (see below), was drawn by the same cover artist who did Later’s hardcover, and I enjoyed the similar styles and the excellent tongue-in-cheek testimonial from King, praising this book within a book. Fun little inclusions like this really helped to push Later up to another level, and I liked how the humour from the publishing jokes contrasted nicely with the dark horror and crime fiction elements.

The Secret of Roanoke Cover

While I probably would have enjoyed reading a physical copy of Later, I instead chose to enjoy this fun novel in its audiobook format, which ended up being a fantastic choice. This audiobook has an extremely quick run time of just over six and a half hours. This shorter length was one of the main reasons I decided to listen to Later, and I was able to get through it in a day or two, although a lot of that was down to how awesome the story was. This was an impressively fast-paced audiobook, and I really felt that this format worked well with the first-person chronicle style the author utilised, as it felt like the protagonist was the one vocalising the story to you. Later was narrated by actor Seth Numrich, and it is one of the first audiobooks he has lent his voice to. I really enjoyed Numrich’s work on this audiobook; not only did he do an amazing top capturing Later’s unique tone, but he also provided a range of great voices for the characters featured within the novel. His main voice, which represented the narrating protagonist, really encapsulated the innocence and pain of the character as he tells the story of his strange childhood, and it helped draw me to the protagonist. The rest of his voices were pretty good, although I thought the voice he used for female detective Liz Dutton sounded a little like John Leguizamo, which is probably not what he was going for. Overall, though, this was an exceptional audiobook, and I would strongly recommend it to those who want to check out Later. I also hope that Numrich considers narrating more audiobooks in the future as he displayed some real talent here and was an absolute treat to listen to.

Later is an outstanding and impressive novel from the legendary Stephen King, who creates a unique and powerful tale of life, death and coming to terms with both. Featuring an intriguing narrative that blends together clever horror and crime inclusions with a powerful coming of age story, Later is a truly memorable novel that is extremely easy to fall in love with. I had an exceptional time reading this book and it is a must read for all fans of King’s work and anyone who has ever been curious about his writing.

Later Cover 2

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Star Trek: More Beautiful Than Death by David Mack

On December 22, 2020August 20, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Alternate Timeline, Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Tie-in Novel2 Comments

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 11 August 2020)

Series: Star Trek – Kelvin Timeline – Book Two

Length: 8 hours and 16 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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Prepare to once again dive into the alternate timeline version of the Star Trek universe, known as the Kelvin timeline, in this latest exciting tie-in novel from acclaimed author David Mack, Star Trek: More Beautiful Than Death.

Set shortly after the events of the 2009 Star Trek film, in which the planet of Vulcan was destroyed by the mad Romulan Nero, Captain James T. Kirk is now captain of USS Enterprise. Given a new mission, the Enterprise and its crew are ordered to rendezvous with Spock’s father, Ambassador Sarek, and escort him to the planet of Akiron. Akiron, a resource-rich world containing a substantial amount of dilithium, has recently sent out a distress signal to the Federation, who are hoping to exchange aid for favourable trading rights.

Arriving at Akiron, they find the planet in a state of chaos as the population are under attack by demonic dark-energy creatures, known as wights, who strike from the darkness, eat energy, and appear to suck the life right out of any living being. Determined to save the people of Akiron no matter what, Kirk begins his preparations to investigate the wights. However, before he can act, Sarek orders Kirk to abandon the mission and leave Akiron.

Refusing to obey Sarek’s orders, Kirk attempts to find the cause of the terrible events on Akiron and save who he can. With the help of an old mystic who believes that Kirk has faced the wights in his prior lives the Enterprise crew are soon able to discover the source of the wights on Akiron and the deadly potential their invasion has. As Kirk and his crew attempt to save the entirety of the planet they must overcome several deadly attacks as well as the sinister agenda of Sarek’s Vulcan aide, L’Nel, who hatches a dangerous personal plan to kill Spock. Can the Kirk and the Enterprise succeed, or will darkness engulf everything it touches?

Over the last couple of years, I have had a great pleasure of reading/listening to several amazing pieces of Star Trek fiction and I always love seeing the unique and varied tales that the talented team of tie-in authors can come up with. More Beautiful Than Death is an excellent example of this as it features a fantastic and captivating tale of exploration and desperation within an interesting part of the Star Trek canon. This latest novel is written by a true veteran of Star Trek fiction, David Mack, who has not only written a ton of different tie-in novels but who also has writing credits for two episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. More Beautiful Than Death is set in the alternate timeline introduced in the 2009 film Star Trek, known as the Kelvin timeline. This is the second Kelvin timeline novel I have read this year after previously enjoying The Unsettling Stars, and it set between the events of Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness. More Beautiful Than Death ended up being an impressive and exciting Star Trek novel, and I had an amazing time listening to it.

Mack has come up with an excellent narrative for More Beautiful Than Death which sees the crew of this alternate timeline Enterprise attempt to defend an alien planet from a series of demonic creatures. The author writes this much like an episode of a Star Trek series, with the crew arriving at the planet, analysing the situation, facing all manner of conflicts, getting beat up and then engaging in a course of action to save the day. I felt that this worked extremely well for the novel and readers are treated to a captivating and dramatic science fiction story that easily keeps the attention from start to finish. The stakes are high throughout More Beautiful Than Death, and Mack keeps the tension and excitement going through much of the book, focusing both on the mission at hand and on the contentious personalities aboard the ship. There are a number awesome action-packed sequences throughout the book, and I especially enjoyed the various scenes that showed the Enterprise being attacked by the wights, forcing the crew to flee from an opponent they cannot even touch. There is also a particularly good subplot around the Vulcan characters aboard the Enterprise, with the mysterious character of L’Nel apparently plotting to kill Spock. I really enjoyed the way that Mack explored this subplot, showing L’Nel’s attack on Spock as a prelude to the rest of the book, and then slowly exploring the events that led up to it in the main story. This subplot combined with the main narrative extremely well and the result is a deeply compelling overall novel that I had an amazing time listening to.

Like many Star Trek tie-in novels, More Beautiful Than Death is best enjoyed by those readers who have some familiarity with the franchise. However, I felt that Mack made his latest book extremely accessible to new readers, and anyone can have a great time enjoying the fast-paced and intriguing novel with minimal knowledge of Star Trek lore. There are a lot of fun Star Trek elements associated with this novel, and I really enjoyed the author’s intriguing additions to the canon. Not only does this book serve as an excellent follow-up to the 2009 movie, showing the early missions of this younger Enterprise crew, but Mack also utilises the alternate timeline setting of this novel to come up with clever alterations to the classic Star Trek lore. One part of the book’s narrative ends up being an extremely ingenious homage to a key episode of The Original Series. Mack cleverly inserts this compelling altered version of this episode throughout the book, and it was deeply fascinating to see it unfold, especially as the events of the Star Trek film have ensured it is sufficiently different. This revision of a classic Star Trek episode was extremely impressive and it was one of my favourite parts of the entire book. All of this makes for an amazing Star Trek read, and fans of the franchise are in for a real treat with this book.

In addition to some cool call-backs to The Original Series, Mack also does an exceptional job bringing the Kelvin timeline versions of the Enterprise crew to life. The author ensures that all of the main characters in this book are portrayed slightly differently to how they are in The Original Series. For example, Kirk is a lot more impulsive, younger and combative than the classic version. Spock is a little stiffer, as he has only been influenced by Kirk a short while. Uhura is a lot more combative and emotional, mainly due to her relationship with Spock. Scotty is a lot more humorous, channelling his inner Simon Pegg, while McCoy is a lot gruffer and even more reluctant to get involved in the usual crazy Enterprise adventures (if that was possible). All this makes for a tie-in novel that is a lot more in line with the newer generation of films and I personally appreciated the effort from the author. I was tad disappointed that Sulu and Chekhov were not featured as heavily as the other major characters in the novel (something I have noticed in other Star Trek tie-in novels), but this was still a great novel for Star Trek characters.

I also appreciated how Mack takes the time to explore the psyches of several of his major characters, especially as it produces some compelling and dramatic results. This includes a deep dive into this version of Captain Kirk, such as exploring his mental state after the events of the 2009 film, with a particular focus on the guilt and hopelessness he felt over watching the destruction of Vulcan, which has made him more determined to save entire worlds. There is also an intriguing inclusion about Kirk’s past lives, with a couple featured as part of the plot. This leads into some great discussion about how the character is destined to be thrust into great and tumultuous events, which I quite enjoyed. Spock also gets a major focus in More Beautiful Than Death, thanks to the author’s inclusion of other Vulcan characters like Sarek and L’Nel. Spock’s complicated relationship with his father and other Vulcans is a major theme throughout the novel, and aspects of his life aboard the Enterprise, particularly Spock’s romantic attachment to Uhura and his loyalty to Kirk, increase the tension. This adds an excellent amount of drama to the narrative and it plays extremely well into the clever subplot around L’Nel, resulting in an intriguing and compelling narrative arc. I had a great time diving down into several of these characters, and it helped to produce a much more complete and emotionally driven narrative.

As I do with most Star Trek books, I ended up checking out More Beautiful Than Death in its audiobook format rather than getting a physical copy. The More Beautiful Than Death audiobook has a run-time of just over eight hours, making it an extremely easy audiobook to get through quickly. I had an amazing time listening to this audiobook, especially as it features the vocal talents of the outstanding Robert Petkoff. I have mentioned Petkoff before in several my reviews as he is the go-to narrator for any piece of Star Trek fiction that gains an audiobook format, due to his fantastic ability to perfectly replicate the cast members of both The Original Series and The Next Generation television shows. Petkoff did another exceptional job in More Beautiful Than Death, expertly bringing every key member of the Enterprise’s crew to life and providing fantastic voices for each of them. While they do sound more like The Original Series cast than the actors from the 2009 Star Trek film, this was still excellent work from Petkoff, and listeners are well aware which character is speaking at every point in the audiobook. I also liked the voices that Petkoff utilised for the various supporting characters in More Beautiful Than Death, and there are some great differentiation in tones between the various alien species, such as for the Vulcan characters Sarek and L’Nel. All of this makes for an epic listen, and Star Trek fans are strongly advised to check out More Beautiful Than Death in its audiobook format.

With his latest novel, David Mack continues to explore and add to the Star Trek expanded universe, this time diving into the intriguing Kelvin timeline. More Beautiful Than Death is an excellent and entertaining read that takes the reader on a gripping adventure in space. Thanks to the author’s excellent use of characters, Star Trek elements and his fantastic and unique narrative, More Beautiful Than Death is a fantastic Star Trek tie-in novel which will really appeal to established fans of this franchise. Highly recommended.

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Star Trek: Discovery: Die Standing by John Jackson Miller

On November 10, 2020August 20, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Tie-in Novel11 Comments

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 14 July 2020)

Series: Star Trek: Discovery

Length: 12 hours and 15 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of the leading authors of media tie-in fiction, John Jackson Miller, returns with his second Star Trek: Discovery novel, Die Standing, an awesome and captivating read that follows the adventures of an excellent protagonist, the evil version of Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou.

After the dramatic conclusion of the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, Emperor Philippa Georgiou, former ruler of the Terran Empire, a power-hungry and xenophobic human interstellar empire from a twisted alternate universe, has been stranded in the main Federation’s universe. Biding her time while trapped on the Klingon home planet of Qo’noS, Georgiou is finally given a the opportunity she has been waiting for when Starfleet’s covert spy organisation, Section 31, offers her a chance to work as one of their agents. However, Georgiou is far more interested in gaining her freedom and plotting to use Section 31’s resources to flee beyond Starfleet’s control.

Georgiou’s plans change when she receives news about a mysterious attack on one of Starfleet’s military vessels by a malicious and dangerous cosmic entity, one that her counterpart in this universe may have seen years before. Intrigued by the description of the attack, Georgiou decides to remain with Section 31, especially as it bears a striking similarity to a powerful superweapon that was kept from her when she was Emperor.

Determined to use this weapon to regain her stolen power and take control of this weaker universe, Georgiou accepts Section 31’s proposal to travel to an isolated section of space where the creature was first witnessed. Travelling with two mismatched minders who are already well out of their depth, Georgiou attempts to contact an old flame of this universe’s Georgiou, one who has a lot of influence in this quadrant of space. Forced to conduct a subtle investigation amongst the secretive alien races of the sector, Georgiou and her companions follow the clues that will lead them to the entities they seek. But what will happen when the former Terran Emperor has ultimate power within her grasp? Will she ensure the safety of the Federation she despises, or will another universe bow before her might?

This was a fun and impressive new novel from bestselling author John Jackson Miller. Miller is an interesting author who has a lot of experience writing tie-in stories, having previously written several pieces of Star Wars fiction as well as some notable Star Trek novels. I have not previously read anything from Miller before, although I think that will have to change due to how much I enjoyed Die Standing. Miller has written a couple of books that have been on my radar for a bit, including a previous Star Trek: Discovery novel, The Enterprise War, and the Star Wars: A New Dawn novel, which ties into the Star Wars: Rebels animated show. This latest novel from Miller is an exceptional read, as he has come up with a wildly entertaining and clever novel based around the excellent character of Philippa Georgiou. Backed up with an extremely compelling story, some interesting side characters and some wonderful universe-building, this is one of the better if not the best Star Trek novels of 2020, and ended up being an awesome read.

At the heart of this fantastic novel is a captivating and intense narrative that sees the protagonist and her companions venture into an unknown area of space in search of a creature with deadly potential. This was an extremely clever and well-written character-driven story that features an excellent Star Trek narrative, filled with all manner of espionage, betrayal and war. I really liked the way that the author blended together familiar Star Trek elements with a thrilling espionage narrative, especially one that was centred on a morally ambiguous protagonist who plans to betray everyone she encounters. This makes for a number of great scenes, and I really liked the fascinating and clever places that the story went. There are a number of particularly good twists featured throughout the book, and while I was able to predict where some parts of the story were going to go, I found myself pleasantly surprised and intrigued at some of the other reveals. I also enjoyed the way in which Miller worked in some compelling comparisons between the two mirror universe, one mostly good and the other mostly evil, and it served as a clever and distinctive part of the book, especially as Miller does a lot with only one scene set in the Terran universe. All of this makes for an exciting and powerful story that readers are going to have a wonderful time reading. I really enjoyed the dark, thrilling and twist laden narrative and it honestly did not take me long to become hopeless addicted to this incredible Star Trek novel.

Die Standing is one of those tie-in novels that require some prior knowledge of its associated content to fully enjoy. In this case, readers really do need to have a good understanding of the Star Trek: Discovery television show, as much of the story is derived from key events in the first and second seasons. In particular, knowing the full tale around the character of Philippa Georgiou (both versions) is quite essential to fully appreciate the book’s story elements and character work. At the very least, having some general knowledge of the Star Trek universe and the events of some of the shows would be useful, especially as the book is fairly dependent on some established story elements, such as the evil alternate universe. That being said, Miller does do a really good job making this novel accessible to those readers whose knowledge of the genre might be lacking, and many of the key elements are explained in sufficient detail to follow the story and enjoy it. However, this is definitely a novel most suitable for established Star Trek fans, especially as the author loads it up with a ton of fun or clever references to Star Trek: Discovery and some of the other television shows. For example, this novel features the great inclusion of a younger version of the Dax symbiont (see more below), and I personally really liked how a major part of the book’s plot revolved around a key moment from Captain Kirk’s backstory (from The Original Series episode Obsession), not only showing the event from a different perspective, but also adding in some explanation for its origins and the reaction from Starfleet. Die Standing also serves as a rather good bridge between the first and second seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, and it does an excellent job setting up the main character for her reintroduction to the show.

While this book did have an exceptionally captivating story and some cool Star Trek elements, the absolute highlight of this book has to be its wonderful protagonist (and occasional antagonist), the evil Terran version of Philippa Georgiou. Die Standing features Georgiou in all her evil glory and she quickly makes an impression of the reader, especially after one particularly brutal and entertaining prison break sequence at the start of the book. Pretty much every scene that features Georgiou is highly entertaining, and the snarky, arrogant personality she displays to anyone she meets proves to be spot on to how she is portrayed in the television show. While I really enjoyed this character in Star Trek: Discovery (she is easily one of the best parts of the show) I personally felt that Miller actually helped to make Georgiou an even more compelling character throughout the course of this book. The author really dives down into her personality and motives, showing just how twisted and self-serving she can be while also reflecting on all the things she has lost and the changes she is forced to deal with. Georgiou goes through some fascinating self-examinations in Die Standing, especially when she is confronted with the legacy of her dead counterpart in this universe, and this serves as a fantastic emotional centre of the book. The author’s impressive use of this fantastic character works extremely well, and it certainly helps Die Standing stand out from some of the other Star Trek novels of 2020.

Die Standing also features an excellent cast of side characters who add a lot to the story. There are two characters who particularly stand out, Emony Dax and Sean Finnigan, who both serve as alternate protagonists, with significant parts of the book told from their perspective. While Dax and Finnigan are nowhere near as dynamic as Georgiou, they are both distinctive in their own ways, and Miller does a good job at making them both likeable and compelling parts of Die Standing. Emony is a young Trill gymnast who is the third host of the Dax symbiont. This makes her an earlier incarnation of the Dax character who appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine television in two different guises (Jadzia Dax and Ezri Dax). Thanks to her youth, both as a symbiont and a host, this version of Dax is a little more unsure and scared then her later counterparts, but is determined thanks to the terrible things she witnesses at the start of the book. While she is initially extremely cowed by Georgiou’s overwhelming personality, Dax grows throughout the book and is eventually able to influence Georgiou. Deep Space Nine fans will no doubt enjoy seeing this earlier version of Dax, and I rather appreciated the excellent character growth she experienced. The other main character, Sean Finnigan, is definitely one of the more entertaining characters in this book. Finnigan is an unashamedly Irish character who serves as the book’s comic relief. A wild and unruly former Star Fleet officer, Finnigan is drafted into the mission due to an interesting connection he has to Georgiou, as a murderous, brainwashed version of himself served as the Emperor’s assassin in the mirror universe. While Finnigan is a mostly entertaining character, joking, drinking and socialising with all everyone he meets, there are some deeper elements to his character, especially as he spends a good part of the book trying to balance his real personality with the more insane version of himself that Georgiou tries to bring out. Dax and Finnigan form a compelling team with Georgiou, and they ended up being an extremely good trio the anchor the story around.

I also quite enjoyed the intriguing Star Trek universe-building that Miller featured throughout Die Standing. A key part of this book’s story is set within an isolated section of space that is home to three distinctive alien races who are attempting to stay separate from the Federation. All of these species are quite intriguing and inventive, and include a race of giant living spindles, an intensely warlike species of living tanks and a group of gaseous psychics. Miller does an exceptional job exploring each of the three new alien species throughout the course of the book and giving them each unique characteristics, histories, and personalities. Not only are these aliens quite fascinating in their own right but each of their specific traits plays into the overall story extremely well, with some fantastic twists tied into them. In addition, Miller also spends time exploring some of the differences between the main Star Trek universe and the mirror universe that contained the Terran Empire. Not only is there an excellent opening sequence set in this mirror universe that showcases the brutal nature of this alternate reality, but there are a number of fantastic discussions that examine how different these universes could be. Miller ensures that the protagonist Georgiou spends a good amount of time recounting some of the horrifying details of her universe to her companions (mostly to unnerve them), and it proves quite entertaining to hear all of her various stories, especially as most are apparently not exaggerated. I also loved the fun way that Miller altered famous historical quotes to show how different the universes could be, with a number of classic lines twisted into something far more brutal and cynical, such as “Let them eat field rations” from General Antoinette. The book itself is also broken up into five separate sections, based upon the Terran stages of grief (for coping with a loss of status): defiance, murder, plundering, destruction and vengeance, with each sections starting up with a quote from the Terran universe that describe its history. Needless to say that Star Trek fans are going to love the cool additions that Miller works into the expanded universe in this novel, and I personally had a wonderful time seeing all the inventive and entertaining things that the author could come up with.

Like most of the Star Trek books I have had read in the past, I chose to check out Die Standing’s audiobook format. This was, as always, an excellent way to enjoy this clever Star Trek novel, and I had a wonderful time listening to the story unfold. Die Standing has a run time of 12 hours and 15 minutes, which is actually the longest Star Trek audiobook that I have so far listened to, but I was still able to breeze through it in relatively short order once I got hooked on the story. In order to tell this amazing book, Die Standing makes use of the vocal talents of narrator January LaVoy. This is the first audiobook I have heard narrated by LaVoy, although she did voice a minor character in Star Wars: Dooku: Jedi Lost. She has also served as narrator for several books I have physically read, such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire, Star Wars: Last Shot and The Night Swim, and she has also narrated a couple of books I am hoping to checking out in the future, including Star Wars: Phasma. I have to admit that I was initially a little thrown to have LaVoy as narrator, as this was the first Star Trek audiobook I have listened to that was not narrated by Robert Petkoff. However, it makes a lot more sense to feature LaVoy as narrator due to the female lead, and I really enjoyed listening to her narration of this book. LaVoy did an incredible job bringing the characters to life throughout Die Standing and she ascribed some very apt and distinctive voices to each of them. I was particularly impressed with the fantastic voice she utilised for Philippa Georgiou, and I felt it was very similar to how the character was portrayed in the television show. LaVoy makes sure to channel all of Georgiou’s scorn and sarcasm to the reader, and it was an absolute treat to listen to her villainous rants throughout the book. I also quite enjoyed the voice that LaVoy utilised for Sean Finnigan, Irish accent included, and it helped to enhance him as a fun and entertaining character. All of this leads to quite an exceptional Star Trek audiobook and I would strongly recommend this format to anyone interested in checking out Die Standing.

Star Trek: Discovery: Die Standing is an amazing and impressive Star Trek novel from John Jackson Miller that was an absolute joy to read. Miller has crafted together a captivating and clever narrative for this book that follows several excellent protagonists on a high-stakes adventure through all manner of intrigue and betrayal. Featuring some compelling story elements, fantastic world-building and an awesome evil protagonist, Die Standing was an exceptional novel and it ended up being one of my favourite Star Trek novels I have so far had the pleasure to read. A highly recommend piece of tie-in fiction, fans of the Star Trek: Discovery television show really need to check this fantastic book as soon as possible.

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Total Power by Kyle Mills (based on the series by Vince Flynn)

On October 20, 2020March 29, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller13 Comments

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 15 September 2020)

Series: Mitch Rapp – Book 19

Length: 9 hours and 27 minutes

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed thriller writer Kyle Mills returns with his latest entry in the long-running Mitch Rapp series, Total Power, a haunting and compelling new book that portrays a devastating and country-altering attack on America.

America’s top spy and assassin Mitch Rapp is back in action, and this time he’s racing to keep America from falling into the Dark Ages. After eliminating his nemesis, Sayid Halabi, the head of ISIS, Mitch and his team have been working to clean up the remnants of Halabi’s operation before they can reorganise for another attack. When the CIA manages to locate ISIS’s top technology expert, Mitch leads a team to intercept him and makes a disturbing discovery: the expert was on the way to meet someone who claims that they can turn out all the lights in the United States.

A rogue genius has discovered a way completely incapacitate America’s power grid and is now seeking help to make his dark dream a reality. An attack of this magnitude has the capacity to severely incapacitate the entire country, bringing about anarchy, destruction and an unimaginable loss of life. Desperately trying to find out who is behind this attack before it is too late, Mitch can only watch helpless as the plan is implemented and the country he loves falls dark.

As panic and confusion reigns across the country and the whole world reels from the sudden shift in power, the government desperately attempts to get the electricity flowing again. However, due to the sheer scope of the attack and the chaotic nature of America’s power grid, repairs could take months or even years. The only way to avoid the complete destruction of the United States is for Mitch to find the person responsible for the attack and convince him to reveal how to undo the damage and reroute power to the country. However, this will be a search unlike anything he has done before, as he is stuck in the middle of a failing nation with no communications, no internet, no gas and with every single system he knows failing around him. Can Mitch get the power back before it is too late and America collapses completely, or have the terrorists Mitch has spent his whole career fighting finally won?

This was another fun and addictive thriller from Kyle Mills, who continues to keep the Mitch Rapp books going strong after the passing of the series’ original writer, Vince Flynn. Total Power is the sixth Mitch Rapp novel written by Mills and the 19^th overall novel in the series, and it features the latest adventure from the titular character and his associates. I have been really enjoying the Mitch Rapp novels over the last couple of years and I have had an amazing time reading the last two entries in the series, Red War and Lethal Agent. This latest Mitch Rapp novel is another exciting and compelling book which makes use of an excellent concept and once again sets the series’ extremely dangerous protagonist on a destructive warpath.

Total Power is an excellent modern thriller novel that presents the reader with another exciting and action-packed narrative as American agent Mitch Rapp engages in another desperate manhunt for a new dangerous madman targeting America. This was a really fun and compelling narrative, set around the fantastic story concept of all the power going out in the United States. Total Power was a very fast-paced book, and the reader gets an excitement overload as they watch the protagonists attempt to stop the disaster and the subsequent frantic efforts to get the power back on. The author makes good use of multiple point-of-view characters to tell his story, with most of the novel told from the perspective of Mitch Rapp and the main antagonist. These two characters allow for a very interesting opposing view of the events occurring throughout America, and it is also fun to see the various moves and countermoves the two made in a bid to outsmart the other. Other point-of-view characters were used a little more sparingly and presented a larger picture of the events occurring around the main narrative. These disparate perspectives come together extremely well and help to create an overall captivating novel with a really fun story attached. Mills makes sure to include all the typical Mitch Rapp hyper violence (with a few gnarly torture scenes that some readers will find a bit uncomfortable) and commentary on American politicians and foreign policy, and readers are in for an entertaining over-the-top novel as a result.

When I first heard that this book was coming out, the thing that really drew me to it was the awesome-sounding plot concept of all the power going out in America, which I thought would be a really cool basis for a thriller story. Mills delivered in spades, and I was really happy to find out just how amazing a story concept it really was. The author spends a substantial amount of time exploring how such a catastrophic blackout event could occur in America. It was deeply fascinating, if a little troubling, to learn more about America’s power grid, as well as how potentially easy it could be for something like this to occur. Indeed, Mills makes a note at the start of the audiobook that he actually had to invent very little of this concept and that a lot of the novel is based off historical events and public reports (although he does alter or fictionalise some details and locations). Mills also makes sure to explore just how severe and deadly a sustained, nationwide power outage could be. Spoiler alert: it would apparently get pretty damn bad. There are some riveting and disturbing depictions of America completely devoid of power, with all manner of lawlessness, looting, and anarchy as the country quickly falls apart and people have no ability to keep themselves alive. Mills does not pull punches in these depictions and I personally found them to be realistic, especially after seeing what happened in America in 2020, and a little terrifying. Naturally, this fictionally powerless America proves to be an amazing setting for this thriller novel, and it was fantastic to see Mitch Rapp and the other characters attempt to navigate around the broken country. All the subsequent barriers and issues that pop up add a lot of tension and excitement to an already action-packed narrative, especially as it’s entirely possible that Mitch could be taken out by citizens of the country he has long tried to protect. All of this is an outstanding story concept and I am extremely glad that Mills ended up using it in one of his novels even if it did leave me a little paranoid (here’s hoping that our power grid is a little more stable down here in Australia).

If I had to level any real criticisms towards Total Power, it would probably be around the characters. While I did enjoy seeing the various characters attempt to navigate their way through this latest crisis and the wasteland of a United States without power, most of the characters were really over-the-top and a bit unrealistic. For example, Mitch Rapp is his usual ultra-violent, sociopathic self, hardly ever hesitating to kill someone, even a bunch of American citizens who are in his way. While he is a fun action star to follow after, it was hard to root for him when he is constantly being a cold-hearted murderer the entire time. I also was not the biggest fan of the main antagonist, the genius who shuts down the power. Mills portrays him as a supremely arrogant man, completely high on himself and obsessed with becoming a major historical figure like Caesar or Genghis Khan (you know, history’s greatest role models). While I can appreciate Mills wanting to make him an unlikeable villain for the sake of the reader he might have gone a tad overboard with this as pretty much every sentence or thought that the antagonist makes is either something extremely egotistical about himself or insulting towards the people he is seeing, often with sexist or racist overtones. That being said, it was extremely satisfying to see this villain’s plans going up in smoke around him as Mitch closes in on him, especially since you do want to kill him yourself after listening to him for a few hours. I did like the fun side character, Jed Jones, a survivalist who gains celebrity status in the post-blackout America thanks to his informative radio shows. Jed was a rather entertaining figure and I liked the idea of a backwater doomsday prepper becoming the most famous person in the country thanks to his knowhow. The book ended up featuring an interesting array of side characters who added some interesting diversity to the cast and showed some of the different experiences facing the American people. Indeed, one of the few things that they had in common were similar opinions about America’s politicians and political elite, in that all of them are pretty much all useless parasites, something that gets mentioned multiple times. Overall, the characters for this novel weren’t too bad and while some of these characterisations are a little distracting it did not really disrupt my enjoyment of Total Power, and I had a fantastic time seeing how they dealt with the problems in this setting.

Rather than grab a physical copy of this latest Mitch Rapp novel, I ended up enjoying the audiobook version of Total Power. The Total Power audiobook has a run time of around nine and a half hours and is narrated by veteran audiobook narrator George Guidall, who is one of the most prolific audiobook narrators in the world. This proved to be a rather easy audiobook to get through and I was able to finish it off in a short period of time. It was fun to listen to listen to Total Power’s story and I felt myself getting drawn into the narrative as a result. I do have to admit that Guidall is really not one of my favourite vocal talents. Do not get me wrong, Guidall does a great job with this book, especially as his deep voice has a lot of gravitas to it which works well with thriller novels. However, Guidall does sound a bit tired at times (to be fair, he is in his 80s), and his range of voices is a tad limited. Despite this I still really enjoyed the Total Power audiobook and it is definitely an excellent way to check out this latest Mitch Rapp novel.

Total Power by Kyle Mills is a great new entry in Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series that I ended up really enjoying. Featuring an excellent thriller story set around an impressive and compelling plot concept, Mills presents the reader with an exciting and bloody adventure across an America without any power. Total Power proved to be quite an exciting and awesome read, and I am really glad that I listened to it.

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Star Trek: Agents of Influence by Dayton Ward

On October 15, 2020August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Tie-in Novel4 Comments

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 9 June 2020)

Series: Star Trek: The Original Series

Length: 11 hours and 41 minutes

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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One of the leading figures in the Star Trek expanded universe, Dayton Ward, returns with another exciting and compelling novel about the Enterprise, Star Trek: Agents of Influence.

For years, the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire have been engaged in a dangerous cold war, with each side trying to gain an advantage over the other through any means necessary. Starfleet Intelligence has launched an ambitious secret plan to infiltrate the Klingons with surgically altered spies. Thanks to radical surgery, advanced technology and intensive cultural and linguistic training, these undercover agents have managed to infiltrate the highest echelons of the Klingon government, obtaining some of the most sensitive intelligence about Klingon technology, military plans and political ploys.

However, Starfleet’s three most highly placed agents have somehow been discovered. With their cover blown, the agents manage a daring escape from the Klingon home world and engage their emergency extraction procedure. The agents successfully make their rendezvous with the USS Endeavour at the edge of Klingon space before everything goes terribly wrong. A Klingon warship suddenly engages them in combat while mysterious energy fluctuations ensure that both ships are destroyed.

With hostilities between the Federation and the Klingons building, Starfleet dispatches Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise to the crash site in the hope of salvaging the situation. Forced to comb through some of the most dangerous territory in the entire galaxy, Kirk hopes to find the remnants of the Endeavour and any survivors of their crash. However, mysterious events are occurring within the border zone and the Enterprise soon encounters unnatural conditions, pirates, Klingon warships and a top-secret weapons experiment. Kirk and his crew must navigate through all these dangers carefully if they are to avoid another destructive war. However, it soon becomes clear that Starfleet are not the only ones with highly placed spies and Kirk must find a way to uncover an enemy agent if his crew are to survive.

Dayton Ward is a veteran science fiction author who is easily best known for his work on the Star Trek expanded universe. Ward has written a significant number of Star Trek novels over the years, which tie-in to several of the different Star Trek television series and movies. I have so far only read one of his books before, Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, Available Light, which I really enjoyed. This new novel from Ward, Agents of Influence, is a brilliant standalone novel that follows the Enterprise during the period that Star Trek: The Original Series was set.

One of the things that I really like with Star Trek extended fiction is the amazing range of different stories that the authors can produce within the expanded universe. Agents of Influence is a really good example of this, as Ward has come up with an excellent story that highlights a very interesting aspect of life in this universe: espionage between the various alien races. This proves to be a really cool plot basis which the author utilises to his full advantage by producing an exciting and action-packed narrative. This is a fast-paced book that sees the various characters involved in all manner of danger and intrigue as they attempt to extract the spies and thwart the efforts of their Klingon opponents. There are several excellent action sequences designed to get the blood pumping, including a couple of fights between starships and one particularly cool pitched battle between two large opposing forces in spacesuits in the bowels of an asteroid. There is also a really compelling storyline that sees the protagonists attempt to locate a spy aboard their ship, with a number of potential suspects adding in intrigue and drama as a result. The author makes effective use of multiple narrators to tell his story and this ensures that the reader gets to see every side of this exciting and enjoyable narrative, including from several antagonist characters. This helps to really pump up the intrigue and action, and I really appreciated seeing the different sides of the conflict, especially as you get to see rival plans go up against each other. The various character perspectives also helps to build up all the major side characters present throughout the book, allowing the readers to get a good idea of who they are and what their stakes in the plot are. All of this comes together into an exciting and compelling overall read that is very easy to enjoy.

Agents of Influence was also excellent piece of Star Trek fiction, set during the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. Ward once again does an incredible job capturing the tone and feel of the original Star Trek television series into this book and it actually felt like I was watching an episode of the original show. The author is really talented at bringing iconic Star Trek characters to life in his novel and each of The Original Series characters featured in this book gets their chance to shine throughout the narrative. Like most novels that tie in to a particular media franchise, Agents of Influence is a book that will mainly appeal to dedicated Star Trek fans, who will appreciate Ward’s latest contributions to the extended universe. There are a variety of fun references to various episodes of The Original Series, including some of the episodes that featured characters using plastic surgery to alter their appearance and disguise themselves as members of other species, such as the iconic episode The Trouble with Tribbles. Ward also makes several references to some of the other novels in the Star Trek expanded universe, especially those featured in the Star Trek: Vanguard series of books. This includes the USS Endeavour and its crew, who previously appeared in these novels, with some of their previous adventures and their interactions with the Enterprise explored throughout the course of the book. However, all of these references are really well explained to the reader and even people who have less familiarity with Star Trek and some of the expanded fiction should still be able to enjoy this novel without any issues.

I ended up checking out the audiobook version of Agents of Influence, which turned out to be an extremely fun and easy way to enjoy this fantastic book. The Agents of Influence audiobook has a run time of nearly 12 hours and is narrated by Robert Petkoff. This is a fairly typical length for a Star Trek audiobook, and I found that I was able to power through this one’s intriguing narrative in rather short order while getting a feel for the plot and the characters. One of the main reasons for this is the exceptional narration provided by Robert Petkoff, who is easily the most prominent narrator of Star Trek fiction. Petkoff is an amazingly skilled narrator whose work I have really appreciated in a range of previous Star Trek audiobooks, including The Unsettling Stars, Picard: The Last Best Hope, The Captain’s Oath and The Antares Maelstrom. Petkoff has the amazing ability to replicate the voices of the various cast members of The Original Series (as well as the cast members from The Next Generation), and this is on full display in the Agents of Influence audiobook. Petkoff once again did an outstanding job bringing all the key Enterprise crew members to life, and at times you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between some of the voices he did and the original crew. This, combined with the amazing species specific voices that Petkoff produces, really helps to bring the reader into the story, and I had an awesome time listening to the story unfold.

Star Trek: Agents of Influence is a compelling and clever standalone Star Trek tie-in novel that takes the reader on a bold new adventure back with the cast of The Original Series. Dayton Ward has produced a slick and enjoyable Star Trek novel chock full of action, intrigue and references, that I had an amazing time listening to. A highly recommend read for those fans of the Star Trek franchise which will also appeal to more casual viewers and science fiction readers.

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