Tag: Standalone Novel

Sins of the Fathers by John Byrnes

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Historical Fiction1 Comment

Publisher: Macmillan (Trade Paperback – 1 July 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 399 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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A rising author in the field of Australian drama and historical fiction, John Byrnes, had a very interesting book back in 2025 that I have been meaning to review for a while, Sins of the Fathers.

Byrnes is a relatively new Australian author whose work I have been rather enjoying in recent years.  Byrnes career started back in 2023 with his cool thriller Headland, a compelling modern crime fiction novel with some interesting dramatic twists around it.  Headland ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2023, and I made sure to read his next novel, the historical saga The Youngest Son (one of my favourite Australian novels of 2024).  It looks like Byrnes intends to continue his focus on Australian historical epics going forward, as his third book was the intriguing and exciting novel from last year, Sins of the Fathers, which followed several compelling characters through several major events of the 1910s.

Plot Synopsis:

In 1910s Australia, the sins of the fathers leave behind a bloody legacy in this historical epic saga, perfect for fans of Peaky Blinders.

Two fathers, their sons and the feud that binds them.

In the early years of the twentieth century, Billy and Tommy Smith are growing up on the mean streets of Sydney’s Millers Point. It’s a hungry, hard-scrabble life, made even worse when their violent father returns home from a long stint in prison.

In the wealthy eastern suburbs, Charles Davies is living an entirely different life, the beneficiary of his father’s business acumen and insatiable, unyielding greed. Charles wants for nothing – except perhaps his father’s approval.

When an incident on The Point leads to the deaths of both Charles’ and the Smith boys’ fathers, a hatred is born that will follow the three men through their lives. In an epic saga taking them from Sydney to Gallipoli and the killing fields of France in World War I, to the melting pot of Darwin and the opal fields at Lightning Ridge, the men’s paths all lead to one final revenge.

But in the end, what price must be paid for the sins of the fathers?

Sins of the Fathers was a very good historical fiction read that thrusts several damaged youths into the grinder of early 20th century Australian history.  Starting off strong, the book primarily begins in early 1910, when violent father of Billy and Tommy Smith is released from prison back into their already hard lives.  As the Smith children attempt to survive in harsh poverty, their lives take a dangerous spin when their father is murdered, and the evidence points to crooked businessman Arthur Davies, who soon also dies.  This leads to a life-long, mostly one-sided feud between the Smiths and the spoiled son of Davies, Charles, who is determined to get revenge for the slights against him.  This revenge plot also extends to the Smith’s young neighbour Angeline, who serves as a love interest to Tommy throughout the book.

After these early chapters, the plot of Sins of the Fathers keeps jumping ahead every couple of years, with the protagonists examining some key historical events that impacted Sydney in the early 1910s.  Naturally, this leads to the three male characters of the book getting enlisted in the Australian Army for World War I, with the Smiths and Charles Davies eventually ending up on the same battlefield, with disastrous results for all involved.  At the same time, Angeline remains in Sydney and serves as an interesting fourth point-of-view character, as she uses her business acumen to survive and gain status.  Back in Europe, the three male characters are eventually separated and start making their own way in the world in their own standalone adventures.  The exception is Davies, who continues to attempt to get revenge and gain money by attacking his apparent rivals.  Byres explores some interesting different historical locales and periods throughout the second half of Sins of the Fathers, with some intense and exciting adventures befalling the cast.  Everything eventually leads up to all the characters reuniting towards the end of the book, as the protagonists attempt to overcome one last plot from Davies.  The end result is a very compelling and intense standalone narrative, that drags you in with its fun characters and cool historical content.

At this point Byrnes has settled well into the historical fiction groove, producing a complex and layered narrative across several entertaining characters.  Making good use of a split between four key characters, Byrnes did an excellent job exploring the turbulent 1910s in Sins of the Fathers, with some great dives into key elements of early Australia and World War I.  This exploration of this crucial decade served as a captivating backdrop to the personal narratives of the four main characters, and the mixture of personalities and their separate struggles allows for a highly enjoyable read.

The resulting narrative is loaded with action, adventure and some excellent examples of personal determination, which allows for a very fast-paced read.  I also loved the thrilling intrigue that surrounds the book’s antagonist, Charles Davies, who is a devious and entertaining brat incapable of taking responsibility for his actions.  Byrnes did such a good job creating another repellent villain here with Davies, and watching his various schemes against the protagonists and others really amps up the stakes of the book as the reader is eager to see him fail.  I frankly had the most fun with Davies’s various chapters, and it was an entertaining foil to perspectives of the more likeable protagonists.  Throw in some interesting twists about the death of the Smith’s father and the resulting rivalry between them and Davies, and the entirety of Sins of the Fathers plot really comes together into a clever and deeply personal historical journey.

Overall, I was quite impressed with John Byrnes’s second dive into the historical fiction genre, and Sins of the Fathers proved to be a strong and highly exciting piece of Australian fiction that you could really sink your teeth into.  An addictive epic that expertly showcased some key Australian moments and locations in the 1910s, Sins of the Fathers was a great read, and I am excited for whatever historical adventure Byrnes comes up with next.

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Quick Review – Barren Cape by Michelle Prak

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Quick Review, ThrillerLeave a comment

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia (ebook – 2 April 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 352 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Australian author Michelle Prak takes aim at a serious issue in Australian society, with her intriguing standalone thriller, Barren Cape, a great book I had the pleasure of reading in early 2025.

Plot Synopsis:

An abandoned resort seems the perfect place to hide, but is Barren Cape a refuge or a trap?

Former housemates Mac and Erika are homeless.

Well, Erika is fine, she just has to live with her parents until she can find another rental. Mac’s situation is much worse – family isn’t an option and she’s surfing the couches of her increasingly exasperated friends.

Driving around one lonely afternoon, Mac discovers Barren Cape. Once destined to be a luxury escape, now it’s just wire fence and grey cement. It’s stark, but quiet. There’s no harm in staying here a little while …

From the bestselling author of The Rush, this is the chilling result of people pushed to the fringes of society and forced to make unthinkable choices.

Barren Cape was a very compelling read from Prak that combines a cool thriller narrative with an interesting look at the current dire housing situation in Australia.  Set around the city of Adelaide, Barren Cape follows three separate protagonists, including roommates Mac and Erika who find themselves homeless after losing their rental, and young teen Brex, whose family life forces her to leave home and try to find alternate accommodation.

All three point-of-view characters are eventually drawn towards the abandoned building development of Barren Cape, whose cement rooms appear to be the perfect place to hang out while the protagonists try to find their separate ways in life.  However, the interactions between the three protagonists leads to a great layer of drama within the plot, which is thrown into overdrive when another resident of Barren Cape is discovered.  This leads to a dark, conflict laden second half of Barren Cape, which only gets worse with every single mistake and bad decision the protagonists make.  Prak constantly twists the story around, ensuring that you don’t know what’s going to happen next, and resulting in a complicated ending, where the characters try to move on to better things after experiencing some trauma.

I felt that Barren Cape came together extremely well, especially when it came to the author’s compelling examination of Australia’s housing crisis and its impacts.  Showcasing various levels of the struggle in one city, Prak paints a pretty desperate picture around the lack of accommodation for vulnerable people, enough so that camping out an isolated and abandoned building site seems like a reasonable option.  I really appreciated how Prak explored the characters’ desperation around this key issue, and the lengths they will go to maintain even this level of housing security.  The drama that flows from this desperation, which includes some characters even overlooking murder, is intense, and its connection to a real issue ensures that all the character’s struggles are quite relatable.

One issue I had with Barren Cape was that parts of this narrative weren’t as exciting as I had hoped, with the plot mostly resolving around interactions between relatively normal characters.  However, I think that this perceived lack of excitement was more on me as I was expecting a horror/slasher story, with some dangerous figures stalking the protagonists.  It did feel that Prak was setting that up at times, especially with a scene around a dangerous group on the beach and a stalker for one of the characters, two story elements that never really went anywhere.  One scene where a female character, who spends most of the book bodybuilding at the gym, was wrestled down by children, also took me out of the plot a little, although it led to some interesting follow-up moments.  Still, the rest of the book with its complex interactions and clever take on a major modern issue helped to balance these issues out, and I ended up having a good time with this compelling novel.

Overall, Barren Cape was an excellent Australian novel from Michelle Prak, who produced an interesting and thought-provoking read.  Moving, intense and diving into something that is causing a lot of concern in modern Australia, Barren Cape is well worth a read, and I’ll be curious to see what Prak writes next.

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Quick Review – Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Quick Review, Young Adult1 Comment

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (ebook– 18 February 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 464 pages

My Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for magic and drama with the young adult, dark academia novel from the always entertaining Lili Wilkinson, Unhallowed Halls.  Wilkinson is a pretty awesome Australian author, who has previously wowed me with some complex and memorable young adult novels, including the twisted The Erasure Initiative and the very impressive After the Lights Go Out.  Unhallowed Halls was an interesting new novel from Wilkinson that followed a young protagonist who finds herself enrolled in a mysterious and isolated English boarding school.

Plot Synopsis:

A teen girl travels to an exclusive boarding school located deep within the Scottish moorlands after a deadly incident at her old school, but the wood-paneled halls of Agathion are built over centuries of secrets—including an ancient society which may have ties to demonic magic—in this dark academia fantasy perfect for fans of Curious Tides.

Page Whittaker has always been an outcast. And after the deadly incident that destroyed her single friendship at her old school, she needs a fresh start. Which is why when she receives a scholarship offer from Agathion College, an elite boarding school folded deep within the moors of Scotland, she doesn’t even consider turning it down.

Agathion is everything Page has ever a safe haven full of dusty books, steaming cups of tea and rigorous intellectual debate. And for the first time in her life, Page has even managed to become part of a close group of friends. Cyrus, Ren, Gideon, Lacey and Oak help her feel at home in Agathion’s halls–the only problem is, they’re all keeping secrets from her.

Page doesn’t know it yet, but her perfect new school has dark roots–roots that stretch back to its crooked foundation, and an ancient clandestine society with rumored ties to demonic magic. Soon, Page will be forced to learn that not everyone at Agathion is who they say they are. Least of all, her friends.

Agathion claims to teach its students history…but some histories should stay buried.

Unhallowed Halls is a great and compelling novel that quickly enchants you with its quirky mysteries and dark young adult content as the author produces her own take on the dark academia narrative.  Wilkinson builds a great initial mystery around the secrets of the academy as the protagonist initially tries to understand the underlying weirdness of the place, which includes mysterious disappearances, strange professors, and even a demonic pig that seems to have it out for her.  Things inevitably take a dark turn as the protagonist tries to work out who to trust, and the author does an amazing job building tension as you get closer to the reveal of what’s really going down in Agathion.

While I had fun with the first half of Unhallowed Halls, especially with its great gothic themes and slowly building dread, I must admit that it didn’t do a lot to stand out from other young adult novels set in mysterious school settings.  However, a great and well built-up twist that reveals the plot of the antagonists, and an intriguing attempt to fight back against it, helped to enhance the overall narrative of this book, allowing for a very exciting second half.  There were some great stakes for the characters here, as well as some truly dark moments related the compelling background fantasy elements.  Readers come away quite satisfied with the result, and this worked out to be an excellent read.

Thanks to the clever storytelling of Lili Wilkinson, who excels at crafting intense and compelling young adult novels that can easily be enjoyed by readers of all age ranges, Unhallowed Halls proved to be an outstanding standalone novel.  Featuring a cool story, a great setting, and some very dark moments, Unhallowed Halls is a fantastic 2025 novel to check out, especially if you like twisty, gothic reads with intriguing young protagonists.

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A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage by M. K. Oliver

On By The Unseen LibraryIn ThrillerLeave a comment

Publisher: Hemlock Press (ebook – 31 December 2025)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 384 pages

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Brillant new author M. K. Oliver presents one of the more entertaining novels of early 2026, with the wonderfully devious and captivating book, A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage.

Plot Synopsis:

There’s a dead body in my living room.

I’ve not called the police because it was I who stabbed him. Seven times in all. The truth is, it’s surprisingly difficult to dispatch someone with a vegetable knife.

In case you’re wondering, the dead man is not my husband. I do resent our pitiful sex life and his woeful lack of ambition, but I wouldn’t murder him for it. Not yet, anyway.

Right now, I have far more pressing scheming to get my daughter into the perfect school; buying my dream home in Hampstead; and disposing of a corpse.

A woman’s work is never done. I’ve created the perfect life – and I’ll kill to keep it.

A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage was a fantastic and very amusing crime fiction thriller that I honestly couldn’t get enough of.  The debut novel of M. K. Oliver, A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage perfectly utilised it’s delightfully deceitful and pragmatic protagonist to tell an outstanding story.

Oliver pulls together an awesome and insane narrative for A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage, which follows a particularly compelling protagonist in Lalla Rook, a busy wife, mother and relentless sociopath, with dreams of a bigger home and getting her daughter into the perfect private school.  However, Lalla’s plans threaten to come crashing down around her when she brutally murders an intruder who breaks into her home before her child’s birthday party.  What follows is a deeply entertaining romp of secrets, lies and ambition, as Lalla tries to balance achieving her goals for the future with disposing of the dead body currently hidden in the house.  Oliver builds a very amusing and fast-paced story around this, as Lalla soon encounters problems with inconvenient witnesses, prying police, and a whole second murder.  These problems brought on by the inopportune murder blend with the protagonist’s other issues, including with her disinterested husband not working hard enough to achieve the career goals Lalla set for him, her controlling mother-in-law trying to destroy her marriage, her daughter is starting to showcase similar sociopathic tendencies that are ruining her chances at an elite academic institution, and the constant issues of her social-climbing friends.

These fun elements come together into a very entertaining story, and it is a ton of fun to watch A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage’s ruthlessly pragmatic protagonist deal with each of these issues in her own manipulative and intense way.  Of course, things continue to get further out of hand for Lalla as the narrative continues, with the mysterious dead man who started her recent misadventures having a connection to dark secrets from her past.  Worse, Lalla soon finds her carefully constructed life starting to come crashing down as her plans hit annoying snags as those closest to her are plotting against her.  I love how well Oliver showcases the protagonist losing control in the last third of this book, and it really ups the stakes of A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage, especially as you have no idea just how far his protagonist is going to go to achieve her goals.  The final part of this book came together extremely well, as the protagonist’s various schemes and problems blend into a series of manipulations and deadly encounters, which results in a highly entertaining and chaotic conclusion.  The result was pretty damn perfect, as nearly every character gets exactly what they deserve thanks to some hilarious and insightful carnage.

I must admit I was quite surprised when I found out that A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage was Oliver’s very first novel, as it was impressively well written.  Featuring a fast-paced narrative perfectly told from the first-person perspective of a particularly captivating protagonist, A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage blends a thriller narrative, loaded with personal tales of deceit and murder, with some fantastic humour set around an amazing protagonist.  This protagonist, Lalla, allows for much of the book’s comedic charm, as you watch her casually manipulate those around her to get what she wants.  Oliver does such a good job of capturing Lalla’s sociopathic nature with his writing, and I loved his take on this amazing female character.  The way this protagonist goes after what she wants with no shame or regret, while being completely aware and uncaring of the impact she is having on those around her, is very refreshing and entertaining, and while you know she is evil, you can’t help rooting for her.

It helps that even though Lalla is a murderous and manipulative figure, she honestly isn’t the most selfish character in the book, and it proves quite fun to see the resourceful Lalla go up against the spoiled upper-class housewives, corrupt businessmen and other elites in her quest to get what she wants.  This great character-driven humour is further enhanced by some amusing examinations of ambition and avarice in various forms, especially as some characters get exactly what they are looking for in some very unlikely ways.  This all deeply enhances Oliver’s very impressive story, and I really enjoyed just how hilarious and thrilling this story could be in equal measures.

Overall, A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage was an outrageous and hilarious debut thriller that I cannot recommend enough. M. K. Oliver did a remarkable job with this first book, and I loved the wildly entertaining scenario he created and the brilliant story he wrote around it.  Clever and funny in equal measure, A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage was an incredible read and I cannot wait to see what amazing books Oliver writes in the future.

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Quick Review – An Ethical Guide to Murder by Jenny Morris

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Quick Review, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (ebook – 16 January 2025)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 400 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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In the mood for a curious crime fiction read with a clever philosophical edge?  Then make sure to read the outstanding 2025 debut, An Ethical Guide to Murder by new author Jenny Morris.

Plot Synopsis:

How to Kill Your Family meets The Power in this entertaining and thought-provoking read, that asks:

If you had the power between life and death, what would you do?

Thea has a secret.

She can tell how long someone has left to live just by touching them.

Not only that, but she can transfer life from one person to another – something she finds out the hard way when her best friend Ruth suffers a fatal head injury on a night out.

Desperate to save her, Thea touches the arm of the man responsible when he comes to check if Ruth is all right. As Ruth comes to, the man quietly slumps to the ground, dead.

Thea realises that she has a godlike power: but despite deciding to use her ability for good, she can’t help but sometimes use it for her own benefit.

Boss annoying her at work? She can take some life from them and give it as a tip to her masseuse for a great job.

Creating an ‘Ethical Guide to Murder’ helps Thea to focus her new-found skills.

But as she embarks on her mission to punish the wicked and give the deserving more time, she finds that it isn’t as simple as she first thought.

How can she really know who deserves to die, and can she figure out her own rules before Ruth’s borrowed time runs out?

Early last year I had the very great pleasure of reading Jenny Morris’s very first novel, An Ethical Guide to Murder.  This excellent book featured a compelling plot focused on a protagonist Thea, with the ability to transfer life between one person to another.  After accidentally fatally utilising this power to save her friend, Thea soon finds herself tempted to tip scales between life and death to make a better world.  Working with an ambitious love interest, Thea soon sets up her own Ethical Guide to Murder and begins to target those she believes to be truly wicked.  However, not everything is as it seems, especially when Thea comes face to face with the consequences of her actions, and the dark side of choosing who gets to life and who gets to die.  The resulting personal conflicts with those closest to her, followed by shocking revelations about those she has placed her faith in, will push her over the edge especially when she comes face to face with the person responsible for ruining her life.

I really enjoyed the unique story that Morris came up with for An Ethical Guide to Murder, which proves very easy to get addicted to.  Morris does a good job setting the scene for Thea’s unique abilities in the first part of the book, as well as her stressful life and the people around her.  The transition towards a secret, life-taking vigilante is well written, especially with the inclusion of a seemingly noble love interest with his own plans for her abilities, and the reader is poised to support Thea with her plans.

The last half of the book continues this story in a fantastic manner, while also adding in some strong philosophical and ethical elements, as Thea finds herself torn about whether she was ever doing the right thing.  The resulting battle of morals, especially as Thea also finds herself under investigation and forced to try and contend with true evil closer to home, allows for some deep and heartfelt moments in the book, until you honestly don’t know what the right course of action is for Thea anymore.  Everything wraps up on a heartfelt note, as the protagonist comes to terms with their powers in their own way, while also addressing all their personal problems.  I think Morris’s strong choice of ending for An Ethical Guide to Murder fit the rest of the narrative extremely well, and you come away from this book very thoughtful and appreciative of Morris’s dive into her protagonist’s psyche, and the fantastic discussion about the value of life and the impact of those who misuse it.

Overall, An Ethical Guide to Murder was a very strong debut that I was glad I got the chance to read last year.  Clever, thought-provoking, and filled with some strong characters, An Ethical Guide to Murder was an outstanding read that is worth checking out.

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The Feeding by Anthony Ryan

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Science Fiction1 Comment

Publisher: Orbit/Blackstone Publishing (Audiobook – 14 October 2025)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 10 hours and 13 minutes

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed fantasy author Anthony Ryan continues to explore the horror genre with the fantastic post-apocalyptic vampire novel, The Feeding, an awesome and deeply addictive read that you won’t be able to read fast enough.

Anthony Ryan is an author I’ve talked a lot about in recent weeks, primarily because his outstanding fantasy novel, Born of an Iron Storm.  The impressive second novel in the author’s Age of Wrath series, Born of an Iron Storm was one of my favourite books, audiobooks and sequels of 2025, and I am currently very excited for the third and final entry in the series, currently titled Upon a Forge of Battle, which is coming out later this year.  However, before we get to that I need to also highlight Ryan’s second book of 2025, the awesome horror novel The Feeding.  Released here in Australia under the pen-name A. J. Ryan, The Feeding is Ryan’s second major horror release after Red River Seven in 2023.  This new horror novel had a great plot behind it, as a desperate protagonist attempts to survive a twisted landscape filled with dangerous monsters.

Plot Synopsis:

Layla has spent her entire life in the Redoubt, one of the last bastions of humanity in a ravaged world. She’s never been beyond the Redoubt’s walls; only Crossers, with their special training and survival skills, are permitted to venture into the shadow-haunted wastelands.

When Layla’s father falls ill, she knows she needs to find a cure. But no such medicine can be found within the Redoubt. Instead, her only chance is to pass a series of gruelling trials to become a Crosser, and then to strike out into the wilderness.

Where the feeders are.

Internationally bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan – writing as A. J. Ryan – delivers a nerve-shredding horror novel where humans are no longer top of the food chain.

The Feeding was another extremely awesome novel from Ryan that I ended up powering through in no time at all.  A clever and intense vampire horror novel, The Feeding effortlessly keeps your attention with its impressive worldbuilding and fast-paced story.  I had such an incredible time with this book, and I deeply enjoyed seeing what Ryan could do in the horror space.

The plot of The Feeding was a great, grungy post-apocalyptic read that was a very interesting change of pace from the sprawling fantasy epics I’m used to from Ryan.  Featuring a much more fast-paced story, Ryan quickly and effectively introduces you to The Feeding’s protagonist, Layla, and the dark world she inhabits.  A lowly scavenger in the dying walled city of Redoubt, Layla finds herself desperate enough to become a Crosser, the city’s elite runners who leave Redoubt to trade in the wasteland, to find medicine for her dying father.  This leads to an excellent extended early section of the book where the protagonist needs to go through a compelling Selection process, featuring several trials designed to whittle down the applicants and ensure only true survivors can go over the wall.  This early sequence does an excellent job of hammering home just how dangerous the world outside of Redoubt is, as well as giving some intriguing insights into what the feeders, this universe’s vampire substitute, are capable of.  This first part of the book really sets the tone for the rest of the novel, and I was frankly hooked on The Feeding the second we got to Selection.

I felt that the second half of The Feeding, which takes place primarily beyond the walls, lives up to the expectations Ryan sets up in the first part of the book.  The protagonist and an interesting band of supporting characters enter the desolate wasteland and soon encounter all manner of horrors from wild feeders, even wilder humans, and the general abandonment of the outside world.  Ryan also starts working in an excellent overarching narrative threat that stalks the protagonists from a distance.  While you can easily guess at who or what this threat is, as well as a certain supporting character’s connections to it, the full impact and intensity of this looming danger keep hitting the protagonists hard and fast.  There are some brutal losses as the plot continues, and you are constantly on edge as everything closes in and the stakes keep on rising.

Everything leads up to an intense finale, as after another dark confrontation the protagonist finds herself at her most desperate.  Forced to rely on an unlikely ally, Layla attempts the impossible and soon finds herself stuck in the middle of someone else’s dark tale.  The raw intensity of the plot really grabs your attention at this point, and you are so very eager to see how the book will continue.  Ryan also throws in some interesting additional worldbuilding as the novel heads towards the conclusion, which provides some answers to the questions you’ve built up throughout The Feeding, while also ensuring you’re even more curious about what else is out in the wasteland.  After a gritty final confrontation, as well as some last-minute tragedy, Ryan ends The Feeding on a mostly hopeful and heartfelt note, which includes an excellent family moment bonding over a classic.  This proved to be an excellent end to The Feeding’s standalone narrative, although Ryan does leave the story open for a potential sequel going forward, which I personally would be curious to see.

Ryan pulls together a tight, complex and character-driven narrative in The Feeding that I think worked extremely well.  Grabbing the reader’s attention early, Ryan does an excellent job painting the post-apocalyptic scene, and I loved the complex world of walled cities and vampire-infested wastelands that emerged.  The combined tension of mass human desperation and the dark overwhelming threat of feeders surrounding the city ensures that the reader knows how deadly this version of the world is from the beginning, which ensures you are really invested in the protagonist’s personal journey.  The feeders themselves prove to be outstanding vampiric antagonists for much of the plot, especially with the combination of feral beast gamma feeders and more intelligent betas and alphas, providing some variation in the threat they posed.  Ryan crafts together some outstanding and scary sequences involving the feeders as the novel continues, and your pulse is guaranteed to race every time they appear, especially once the death toll starts to rise.  Combine that with Ryan’s proven ability to write good action scenes, of which there are some fantastic moments, as well as some excellent and compelling supporting characters (try not to get too attached though), and this really was a fantastically written novel.  I was honestly really impressed with how Ryan transitioned from his usual fantasy style to this powerful and moving horror novel, while also retaining his typical imagination and intense storytelling ability.

As has become my habit with all the previous Anthony Ryan novels I’ve enjoyed, I ended up listening to The Feeding on audiobook, which I’ve always found compliments the author’s writing style and worldbuilding extremely well.  This proved to once again be the case for The Feeding, with the format really enhancing the tension and fast-paced sequences loaded into this great horror story.  It helped that they got another very skilled narrator in the form of Devon Sorvari, who took on the role of the one perspective protagonist extremely well.  While it did take me a chapter or two to completely appreciate Sorvari’s narration style, once I got into her groove, I begun to really appreciate her take on the story and the intriguing characters.  Sorvari perfectly captures the damaged and determined spirit of the main character Layla throughout The Feeding, and the alternate accents and voices she brings for the rest of the cast also work really well.  Sorvari also keeps the pace of The Feeding constantly going, and the way she can enhance the tension of the audiobook through her voice work ensures you are constantly on the edge of your seat as you listen to it.  Thanks to this excellent narration, I got through the audiobooks roughly 10-hour runtime extremely quickly, and this proved to be a particularly amazing audiobook to listen to.

Anthony Ryan continues to greatly impress with his captivating and highly entertaining horror novel The Feeding.  Featuring an outstanding vampire-focused narrative in a complex post-apocalyptic world, The Feeding was a very fun and emotionally charged read, that I couldn’t get enough of.  I had such a brilliant time with The Feeding, and it comes very highly recommend as a result.  I will be seeking out more of Ryan’s dives into the horror genre going forward, and I cannot wait to see what other creepy tales he has planned.

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High Rise by Gabriel Bergmoser

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Harper Collins (Trade Paperback – 1 August 2025)

Series: Standalone/The Hunted spin-off

Length: 309 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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Prepare for carnage as rising Australian author Gabriel Bergmoser presents a high-octane and beautifully brutal thriller, High Rise, an outstanding and deeply entertaining novel with some real intensity behind it.

Gabriel Bergmoser is an intriguing author who has written some compelling and exciting pieces of Australian fiction over the last few years.  Originally known more for his work as a playwright, Bergmoser has been more active as a thriller author in recent years with his Hunted books, as well as the standalone novel The Caretaker.  High Rise serves as continuation of Bergmoser’s previous Hunted books, The Hunted and The Inheritance, as well as some of the author’s separately released Audible Originals, and follows a supporting character from The Inheritance on his own brutal adventure.

Plot Synopsis:

After a year of searching, rogue ex-cop Jack Carlin has finally found his estranged daughter, Morgan, holed up in the top floor of a rundown, grimy high-rise building. The trouble is, Jack’s unconventional policing and information-gathering methods in the past has made him some serious enemies. And what Jack doesn’t know as he heads into the building, intent on saving his daughter, is firstly, that Morgan doesn’t want to be saved – particularly not by him – and secondly, that the entire criminal underworld in the city are on their way too… There’s a bounty on his head, and they’re after his blood – and they don’t mind if Morgan is collateral damage.

As bounty hunters and gang members converge on the building, father and daughter are thrown into a desperate fight for survival through fifteen storeys of deadly enemies – with only each other to rely on. Die Hard meets The Raid, but the funnier, grittier Australian version. Fast, furious and ferocious, this is thriller writing at its nail-biting, unputdownable best.

Now that was a load of fun.  High Rise was a highly entertaining and relentlessly exciting Australian novel, as Bergmoser unleashes one of his dangerous protagonists on a horde of criminals.  Featuring a continuous blast of action, violence and family drama, High Rise was an amazing and addictive novel that I absolutely powered through.

I had a great time reading the ultra-exciting narrative featured within High Rise, especially as Bergmoser eagerly created an Australian thriller in the same vein as some classic over-the-top action films.  Starting off fast with an effective reintroduction to protagonist Jack Carlin, Bergmoser sets up the main points of the narrative extremely well, and you soon get stuck into the main part of the book, with Jack finding himself trapped on the top floor of a high-rise building filled with petty criminals, bikies, thugs and even some professional hitmen.  What follows is an entertaining blitz of outrageous and brutal action as Jack, and his daughter Morgan, attempt to fight their way downstairs.

Unsurprisingly for an action-packed brawl against criminals and killers, the plot of High Rise moves at a very quick pace.  Bergmoser does a good job splitting the narrative between the two main protagonists, Jack and Morgan, which allows the author to dive into their strained relationship, as well as their own complicated pasts.  Thanks to some creative splitting up, both characters have some interesting solo moments in the middle part of the novel, which also features some unlikely allies.  The climax of the story comes on fast, and there are a couple of good twists there, as well as the appearance of a figure fans of Bergmoser will be very familiar with.  While the identity of the main antagonist of the novel isn’t too surprising, some of the supporting villains were quite fun, especially as the author made good use of the character history he introduced in this novel.  Everything leads up to an intense and emotionally charged finale, which features even more over-the-top action for the reader to enjoy, including some very unique weaponry for an urban Australian setting.  The conclusion of the High Rise was quite poignant and served as a good wrap up to the character development Bergmoser had been exploring throughout the book.  This was an overall exciting and intense narrative that has a lot of great moments for action fans.

Bergmoser did a great job of showcasing his action-packed story throughout High Rise, and this proved to be a very entertaining and addictive read as a result.  The many, many fight sequences I have already gushed about are well-written, and readers can easily visualise these brutal battles and over-the-top sequences thanks to Bergmoser’s descriptive style.  The author also successfully kept up his frenetic pace the entire way through, which allowed me to easy power through this book quickly.  There is a certain level of humour to High Rise, especially with a range of clueless goons and other entertaining characters, and things do get a little ridiculous at times.  This bit of comedic charm is well balanced by the deeper personal issues of the two protagonists, whose dysfunction is further showcased by various flashback sequence, which Bergmoser works into the plot without slowing the pace of the book down.  As such, there are no impediments to powering through this book quickly, and I guarantee most readers will knock this off in only a few sessions.

As I mentioned at the start of the novel, High Rise serves as an extension to the author’s Hunted series.  The protagonist has previously appeared in some of Bergmoser’s previous novels and audiobook releases, most prominently The Inheritance, while another of the author’s protagonists is reintroduced later in the novel.  Despite being part of a larger series, any reader interested in checking out High Rise should be able to follow the plot of this novel without any issues.  Indeed, I personally haven’t had the chance to read Bergmoser’s previous books, and I was able to enjoy High Rise quite easily.  While there are references to previous events from the series, and the author is a little cagey at first about the protagonist’s connections to Maggie, the main character of The Hunted and The Inheritance, Bergmoser quickly fills in any necessary gaps with his accessible writing, and new readers should be able to follow along easily.  As such, High Rise is a great book for any thriller reader, and indeed it works quite well as an introduction to Bergmoser and his writing style.

While I did decide to read High Rise mainly because of its fun-sounding plot and the excessive violence it promised, I came away appreciating the great character work that Bergmoser featured.  Most of the book follows main protagonist Jack Carlin and his daughter Morgan, both of whom have a troubled past and a tense relationship with each other.  The author does an excellent job diving into their complex personal history, especially with the novel’s regular split in perspective, and you get some intriguing insights into their pasts, much of which impacts their current motivations and reactions.  This includes Carlin’s regretful history as a corrupt cop, much of which impacted his relationship with Morgan, who herself suffered a dark childhood due to her mother, as well as her own alcohol induced mistakes.  These character elements become cleverly entwined with the main narrative, and the antagonism and mistrust between the two added to the drama of the plot.  I think that Bergmoser handled this troubled relationship very well, and it was a great highlight of High Rise’s plot, especially attempt to address it in their own troubled way.

While High Rise is primarily focused on Jack and Morgan, several other characters do get their moment to shine.  This includes Maggie, the protagonist of several of the author’s previous books, who has a more supporting role in this novel after appearing later in the plot.  Due to her lack of perspective chapters, Maggie does have less of an impact than the author’s previous novels, but her intense personality and unique friendship with Jack ensure she stands out.  Other key figures, including a Swedish assassin and the violent former member of a bikie club that Jack and Maggie previously destroyed, add some interesting flair to the plot, especially when some unlikely alliances form, and both had some memorable histories and appearances here.  Throw in an army of low-level thugs and criminals who also attempt to claim the bounty on Jack, including some who have history with him, and High Rise features a very entertaining cast of characters, and it was very fun to see them try to kill each other.

Gabriel Bergmoser continues to produce extremely thrilling and entertaining Australian crime fiction content with his latest novel High Rise.  A relentlessly brutal novel, loaded with action, bloodshed and some fantastic emotional depth, High Rise was a great read that I had an amazing time getting through.  Highly recommended!

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Retreat by Krysten Ritter (with Lindsay Jamieson)

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Sphere (Trade Paperback – 25 March 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 265 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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In the mood for a highly entertaining thriller from a famous face entering the thriller fiction scene?  Then look no further than the excellent and compelling novel Retreat by actress Krysten Ritter, cowritten with the assistance of editor Lindsay Jamieson.

Plot Synopsis:

Even for a con artist, Liz is about to take things way, way too far . . .

Liz has always had a knack for charming people and gaining their trust. That’s what makes her such a talented con artist. But lately the pressure’s rising – Liz’s past crimes have started snapping at her heels. So she leaps at the chance to escape to the Mexican coast to decorate a socialite’s new villa, planning to lie low, enjoy paradise, and behave herself for once.

When Liz is mistaken for her absent employer, Isabelle, she can’t help getting drawn into this glamorous seafront community. But dangerous secrets lurk beneath the surface, and it’s not long before Liz realises that this time, she might be in over her head . . .

Spoiler: it’s going to be carnage.

Retreat was a fun novel that I ended reading thanks to the interesting combination of Ritter as author, as well as the above entertaining synopsis.  Serving as Ritter’s second novel after her 2017 debut, Bonfire, Retreat was a clever and highly compelling thriller that I ended up having a great time reading, especially as I coincidentally got through it while also embarking on an exciting international trip.

The plot of Retreat has an excellent start as it introduces the reader to the protagonist, Liz, a struggling con artist in New York who finds the city very unwelcoming to her after one con too many.  Offered a legitimate decorating job, Liz travels Punta Mita on the Mexican coast and discovers a society of rich socialites and businesspeople living in fancy beachside villas.  Noticing her similarity to her new employer, Isabelle Beresford, Liz has fun pretending to be Isabelle, using the socialite’s status to enjoy the exclusive clubs and facilities of the luxurious community.  However, her seemingly harmless scheme hits some real trouble when she comes across the bodies of Isabelle and her husband, who apparently died while on a hike.  Despite her misgivings, Liz eventually decides to hide the bodies and take on Isabelle’s persona full time, becoming addicted to the rich lifestyle of Punta Mita.  However, trouble is on the horizon as secrets from both Liz and Isabelle’s past comes back to haunt her, while the schemes and backstabbing politics of the uber-rich social scene threaten to overwhelm her.  Worse, when new bodies start to drop, Liz begins to realise that her employers might have been murdered, and a dangerous killer is now stalking her.

I really enjoyed how this cool story unfolded, and Liz proves to be a fascinating central character to follow, while Ritter also excels at portraying the vibrant coastline and elite luxury of the Mexican villas.  The con artist nature of the protagonist pairs well with the dark secrets of the elite social circles she finds herself in, while the lies, schemes and affairs she encounters, add some fantastic and scandalous spice to this great thriller narrative.  Ritter also throws in a great deal of desperation for the protagonist, as she attempts to keep her many stories straight and maintain the Isabelle Beresford persona.  However, this becomes more difficult the further into Retreat we get, as Ritter throws in more wrinkles and problematic new characters, each of whom threatens the protagonist in different ways.

All this clever storytelling leads up to the thrilling and captivating final third of the novel, which is loaded with cool twists and shocking reveals, especially as Liz learns more about the person she’s impersonating.  After an ill-advised relationship leads to even more trouble, Liz enters a series of deadly confrontations when both her freedom and her life are threatened.  After an intense sequence where romance turns to murder, Ritter drops the book’s big bomb, with a great reveal that changes everything you thought you knew about the plot.  While I saw parts of this twist coming, the full extent of it was surprising, and I loved how dramatically Ritter swerves both the reader and her protagonist.  This great twist is followed up by a really cool alternate perspective chapter that reveals everything and brings the reader to the big conclusion of the story.  Ritter has fun leaving the ending on an ambiguous end, which honestly is the perfect follow-up for such a fantastic twist, which also ensures Retreat sticks in your mind as you wonder about the full implications of the last two chapters.  I honestly really loved how this entire novel came together, and Ritter did an exceptional job turning a cool thriller with great characters and a dive into modern high society, into something extremely twisted and special.

With some excellent writing and a very clever story, Krysten Ritter successfully presents her compelling second novel, Retreat.  A highly exciting read loaded with surprises and shocks, Retreat had me hooked very early on, and I really enjoyed how the entire plot came together.  An overall very impressive read, and one that makes me curious to see what Ritter writes next.

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Artifact by Jeremy Robinson

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Thriller3 Comments

Publisher: Podium Audio (Audiobook – 26 August 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 9 hours and 56 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of my very favourite authors of outrageous fiction, Jeremy Robinson, returns with another intense and horrifying science fiction thriller, Artifact, a captivating and powerful novel I couldn’t get enough of.

Jeremy Robinson is an outstanding author who has a fantastic career writing clever, fun, and occasionally terrifying thrillers, often featuring intriguing science fiction elements.  Best known for his Antarktos Saga, Chess Team and Nemesis Saga series, Robinson has written a staggering amount of fiction over the years, including additional cool series and standalone reads.  I personally got into Robinson’s work a few years ago when I read a few books from his massive, interconnected Infinite Timeline series, including Tribe, The Dark and Mind Bullet (the latter two of which were amongst my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), all of which were incredibly fun and addictive.  I have also started getting into Robinson’s standalone novels, such as last year’s fantastic novel Point Nemo (one of my favourite audiobooks of 2024), which contain some amazing stories.  As such, I was very excited when I got a copy of Robinson’s awesome new novel, Artifact, on audiobook, which sounded extremely amazing.  I honestly started listening to Artifact the same day I found out about it, and boy was I glad that I did.

Plot Synopsis:

In an isolated Alaskan town, the local sheriff uncovers a secret lab where generative A.I. and bioprinting have unleashed grotesque, living anomalies—and now, something monstrous is loose.

Sheriff Colton Graves prefers the quiet life in Raven’s Rest, Alaska, a remote town accessible only by tunnel and home to a hardy mix of locals and secrets buried in the ice. But when a camel wanders down Main Street—its head grotesquely sprouting a dozen eyes—Colton knows his quiet days are over. The bizarre incident leads him to NovaGen, a nearby research facility constructed inside a Cold War bunker, buried in the mountains above town. There, a trail of blood and eerie silence hints at something far more sinister than an escaped animal experiment.

With his deputies—the sharp-witted Tali and rookie Ethan—Colton recruits a few trusted locals, including the unshakable Marit, Tali’s sister, the intimidating ‘Grizz’ Norval, and Edgar ‘Old Red’ Rydell, an aging man plagued by demons from when he worked at the bunker during its covert cold war days.

Together, they investigate the abandoned lab. What begins as a search for missing scientists soon reveals chilling evidence: pools of blood without bodies, cryptic warnings left behind, a bloody six-fingered handprint, and the revelation of a new technology: a generative A.I. capable of printing living organisms. As they descend deeper into the lab, it becomes clear that the answers they seek may come at a terrifying cost—and that what was made in the dark may not be content to stay there.

Jeremy Robinson once again greatly impresses with his new thriller Artifact.  A complex and deeply clever read loaded with weird science, fantastic humour and incredible action, Artifact was an exceptional read that had me hooked very early on and kept my attention all the way to the end.  A particularly intense novel with so many amazing elements to it, Artifact gets a full five-star rating from me, especially on audiobook, and I ended up powering through it so damn quickly.

I deeply enjoyed the compelling and fast-paced narrative that Robinson featured in Artifact, which amps up the intrigue and excitement quickly and keeps it going all the way to the very end.  Starting with an enticing inciting event of a multi-eyed camel arriving in the middle of a snowed-over Alaskan town, the initial narrative of Artifact is quick and effective, with the protagonists quickly realising that something dark has occurred at the nearby and mysterious NovaGen facility.  Pulling together a band of scrappy locals, the group begin their decent into the facility, only to encounter mysterious creatures and tragic death.

Robinson soon takes the novel into twisted science fiction territory as you are shown the variety of experiments taking place in the facility.  In particular, the staff of NovaGen are bio-printing monsters and other creatures, which has inevitably gone wrong.  Forced to put an end to the experiments and save the town from potential destruction, Colton and his team continue to descend the various levels of the facility, all while being hunted by the worst monsters humans can imagine.  The author does an excellent job of building and maintaining tension throughout Artifact’s story, and you are expertly drawn into the personal struggles of the characters as they try to understand and withstand the horrors of the facility.  There are some outstanding twists and sudden deaths as the story draws towards its conclusion, and I enjoyed the mixture of shocking moments and well-crafted reveals many chapters in the making, which results in an outstanding novel where you never quite know what is happening next.  Robinson ends the book on a mostly hopeful note, along with an amusing cliffhanger, and this proved to be an impressive standalone narrative that is guaranteed to entertain.

I felt that the author pulled Artifact together in a very entertaining manner that allowed for the maximum thrills, tension and character development.  Perfectly utilising the first-person perspective that Robinson is so fond of, Artifact is a great standalone read that requires no prior knowledge of the author’s other works to enjoy (although there are a few fun references established fans will chuckle at).  The author does an excellent job of effectively setting out the key elements of Artifact throughout its run, including with the advanced science elements of the book.  These science elements are both compelling and quite interesting, and you can tell that Robinson did a bit of research into the subject.  This research allowed the author to envision some dark and horrifying creations of potentially realistic science, and I loved how the creatures the protagonist encounter was a combination of weaponised efficiency and dark human imagination.

These fantastic science fiction creations, and the dark conspiracy that birthed them, work well with the author’s Michael Crichton inspired scenario, to create a lot of excellent tension and uncertainty that keeps readers constantly on the edge of their seat.  I loved the constant uncertainty of what traumatising event was about to come out of nowhere next, and there are some great twists and reveals scattered throughout this captivating novel.  Throw in a series of particularly thrilling action sequences as the protagonists face off against printed monstrosities and the other disturbing denizens of NovaGen, and there is a lot to love about how Artifact was written, especially as it perfectly enhances Robinson’s fantastic and captivating narrative.

My favourite elements of Artifact were the complex and compelling characters whom Robinson set his narrative around.  Robinson has always excelled at creating entertaining characters, and I think he did a wonderful job pulling together a layered cast of Alaskan outcasts and rogues to fill the pages of Artifact.

The most prominent of these characters is main protagonist Sheriff Colton Graves, from whose perspective we see the events of this book unfold.  Colton is a widowed lawman who enjoys the simple life at Raven’s Rest, but who quickly rises to the challenge when strangeness invades his town.  Effectively established as a compelling and solid centre to the book’s plot, Colton is an easy character to like thanks to his fun humour, clever insights and leadership skills.  However, Robinson makes Colton even more interesting as the book continues by revealing some fascinating character details that are expertly weaved into the story.  This includes a new romance for Colton that helps him to move forward from his dead wife and serves as his inspiration to continue pushing through the horrors of the NovaGen lab.  In addition to this, the story reveals that Colton has autism and hypersensitivity, and these conditions have strong impacts on the plot and the way the perspective protagonist interacts with the world.  Robinson does an exceptional job really diving into these fascinating aspects of his protagonist, and it was clear that the author was trying to showcase the conditions as accurately as possible based on his own personal experiences.  I think that Robinson really succeeded in showcasing these character elements, and while certain aspects are no doubt enhanced to fit in with the science fiction aspects of the book, it was mostly realistic.  I really enjoyed how Robinson made Colton a particularly likeable and relatable protagonist, and he helps to make Artifact a very distinctive read.

In addition to Colton, Robinson loads up Artifact with a great collection of memorable supporting characters who are perfectly utilised in the narrative and add some entertaining spice on top of the protagonist.  Highlights for me include the troubled and mysterious Old Red, a survivalist with dark connections to facility, who serves as the groups guide and secret badass.  I also had a lot of fun with Grizz, a tough, bear-killing lady with the scars to prove it.  Colton’s deputy, Tali, was the perfect backup for the protagonist, while her sister, Marit, proved to be an excellent love interest to Colton, which resulted in some complicated and emotional sequences.  The rest of the cast, including some unique figures found in the bunker, are also quite entertaining, be they friend, bio-engineered organism, or evil antagonist, and I loved some of the amazing interactions that emerged.  I will warn readers not to get too attached to any characters, as most figures don’t last as long as you’d want, but Robinson makes full use of every character he features, even if they only have a brief life in the book.

As with all the previous Robinson novels I’ve enjoyed, I chose to check out Artifact on audiobook, which was a ton of fun.  I have always found that Robinson’s novels come across particularly well on audiobook, and Artifact was no exception as I powered through its near 10-hour long runtime very quickly.  Part of the reason why I had such a great time with this audiobook is the return of one of my favourite audiobook narrators R. C. Bray.  Bray, who has lent his voice to most of Robinson’s audiobooks, is a truly exceptional narrator, and I just love any story read out in his gravelly and distinctive voice.  This was particularly true for Artifact, where the intense action and the horrifying descriptions of the laboratory’s contents were so much more impactful thanks to Bray’s calm and powerful take on events.  Bray also expertly showcases each of the key characters of the novel, and I felt he developed fitting and personal voices for each of the members of the cast.  While I love Bray’s voice for Old Red and the slacker Jimmy, his best work was saved for main protagonist and point-of-view character Colton.  Bray has long perfected voicing Robinson’s various first-perspective protagonists, and he always manages to cover their complex personalities, dialogue and interactions extremely well.  His take on Colton was very moving in Artifact, and I felt that Bray really enhanced Robinson’s depictions of this character’s quirks and unique viewpoints on life.  Due to this impressive narration, and Robinson’s general cinematic writing style, the Artifact audiobook is exceptional, and it’s easily the best way to enjoy this novel.

With all the chaotic action, crazy science fiction elements, and great character I’ve come to expect from Jeremy Robinson, Artifact was an outstanding novel I had a blast getting through.  Featuring a thrilling plot, laden with shocks and monsters, Artifact grabs the reader’s attention early and refuses to let go.  This book comes very highly recommended from me, especially on audiobook, and anyone keen for a horror-filled and deeply intense thriller is going to have an outstanding time with Artifact.

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Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery1 Comment

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (ebook – 19 August 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 310 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Those looking for a fun and very meta murder mystery that looks back at the classics should check out the very amusing new novel from Australian author Sulari Gentill, Five Found Dead.

There are few Australian crime fiction authors whose works have entertained me over the years as much as Sulari Gentill’s have.  An amazing author who knows how to combine unique premises with compelling mysteries, Gentill has written some great novels over the years.  I am a particular fan of her Rowland Sinclair series about an unlikely gentleman protagonist in the 1930s who solved crimes loaded with historical cameos, while some of her more recent standalone novels, such as Crossing the Lines, The Woman in the Library and The Mystery Writer, have also received critical acclaim.  As such, I was very happy to get my hands on her latest novel, Five Found Dead, which had a very fun plot behind it which resulted in quite an exciting and fast-paced read.

Plot Synopsis:

On a train, there are only so many places to hide…

Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe’s muse awake, and he’ll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just what the doctor ordered…

And then some. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. The pair soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead—and one still missing. Now Joe and Meredith must fight once again to preserve their newfound future and to catch a cunning killer before they reach the end of the line.

Gentill brings the fun with this very compelling and exciting crime fiction novel that serves as a great love letter to a classic Agatha Christie novel.  Bringing together a colourful array of characters, including an overabundance of cliche detectives and setting them loose against an apparent serial killer, Five Found Dead was a very easy book to fall in love with, and I ended up powering through it in less than a day.

The plot for Five Found Dead had a lot of interesting elements to it, which resulted in a very fast-paced novel that hit a lot of entertaining notes.  Starting off with some quick introductions to the lawyer protagonist and her author brother, you soon find yourself aboard the iconic Orient Express.  A natural setting for any murder mystery, Gentill brought together an amusing array of characters inspired by classic crime fiction novels, many of whom are revealed to have law enforcement backgrounds, as well as a very similar grudge.  The story naturally soon devolves into a compelling murder mystery when a guest disappears from their blood-soaked room.  Thanks to a new strain of coronavirus infecting part of the train, the passengers find themselves stuck on the rails, and it falls to the protagonists and the various assembled detectives to solve the case.  However, a series of additional murders quickly unfold across the train, resulting in chaos and anarchy, especially when the normal passengers of the train attempt to escape the growing massacre.

I loved the excellent and fast pace of Five Found Dead as Gentill cleverly lays out the respective murders and keeps increasing the stakes of the plot.  While much of the story is intentionally silly, including the appearance of so many stereotypical detectives with connections to the initial victim, the author works it into a great investigation angle, and I had fun working out who was behind the killings.  There are some fantastic twists and turns throughout the book, and while I saw a few reveals coming thanks to the featured clues, the identity of the actual antagonist hit me by surprise.  Some of this was due to the clever red herrings and potential alternate suspects that Gentill included, although I must admit the brilliantly crazy disguise utilised by the killer helped a lot.  This led to a very exciting and over-the-top conclusion, where all the secrets come out and the various fun storylines come together.  I had an absolute blast getting to the end of Five Found Dead, and Gentill crafted an extremely exciting murder mystery here that served as an homage to the classic, while also bringing its own flair to the occasion.

While Five Found Dead is loaded with amazing and familiar characters, I feel that I need to highlight protagonist Meredith Penvale and her brother Joe as the two best written characters in the novel.  A pair of Australian twins, Meredith and Joe have journeyed to the Orient Express to celebrate Joe’s recent cancer remission and to rejuvenate his writing muse.  While much of the story revolves around Meredith’s inadvertent role as amateur detective aboard this train of suspicious souls, Gentill also spends time examining the emotional health of these two main characters, and as a result dives deep into the impacts of cancer and the effects it can have on both the sufferers and their loved ones.  In this case, Meredith is the loyal sister who sacrificed a successful career to care for her brother and, now that he’s recovered, is wondering where her life will go and whether to follow her true passions.  Joe, on the other hand, is a seemingly light-hearted figure who has an amusing meta initial arc about a murder mystery set onboard the Orient Express.  However, there is also a lot of hidden fear in Joe about his cancer returning, which sees him literally running from bad news, while also trying to keep this potential truth from his long-suffering sister.  You can tell that Gentill put a lot of herself into these two characters, and their personal focuses outside the mystery are extremely realistic and powerful.  Indeed, these personal concerns and the powerful writing that accompanies them gives Five Found Dead some much needed emotional heft that helped to evolve this novel into something truly special.  Throw in all the additional eccentric figures that accompany Meredith and Joe onto the Orient Express, and Five Found Dead has a truly amazing cast who enhance the entire story.

Overall, I found Five Found Dead to be an addictive and engaging novel that I honestly couldn’t stop reading.  Sulari Gentill’s latest standalone novel was a wonderful blend of mystery, charming humour and complex characters, that came together into something extremely awesome.  I really enjoyed Five Found Dead, and it is an excellent read for someone in the mood for a light-hearted murder mystery with some amazing heart to it.

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