Top Ten Tuesday – Favourite Pre-2021 Novels

On December 7, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn List13 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. This week participants of Top Ten Tuesday get a freebie to list whatever topics they want. I am planning to take advantage of this by doing two lists. Not only have a done a movie-related list ranking the James Bond movies, but I am also going to start my annual end-of-year lists here by looking at my favourite pre-2021 novels that I read this year.

Each December I have a lot of fun looking at some of the best and most impressive books and comics that I have read throughout the year in a series of Top Ten Lists. While these lists usually focus on 2021 releases, for the last few years, I have also taken the time to list out some of the best novels with pre-2021 release dates that I have read in the last 12 months. There are some excellent older novels out there that I haven’t had the chance to read before this year, and it is always fun to go back and explore them. I ended up reading a bunch of awesome older books throughout 2021, including some pretty incredible novels that got easy five-star ratings from me and are really worth checking out.

To come up with this list I had a look at all the novels I read this year that had their initial release before 2021. This included several 2020 releases I only got a chance to check out this year, as well as a few older novels that I had been meaning to read for a while. I was eventually able to cull this down to a workable Top Ten list, with a descent honourable mentions section. This new list ended up containing an interesting combination of novels, although there was a bit of an overload of entries from the Dresden Files’ series by Jim Butcher, as well as some Warhammer 40,000 novels, both of which I really got into throughout this year. Still this honestly reflects the best pre-2021 novels I read throughout the year, so let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Trollslayer by William King – 1999

I have been meaning to check out the awesome Gotrek and Felix series of Warhammer Fantasy novels for ages and the recent release of the early entries on audiobook gave me the perfect opportunity to finally do so this year. The first book in this series was the fantastic, Trollslayer, which introduced the two mismatched companions, Gotrek the dwarven Slayer and Felix the human poet, and highlights some of their earliest adventures throughout the Warhammer Fantasy world in a series of exciting and fun short stories. This was an excellent initial entry by William King and it made me a massive fan of the unique tandem of Gotrek and Felix.

Skavenslayer by William King – 1999

I ended up loving Trollslayer so much that I immediately read its sequel, Skavenslayer, which proved to be just as fun as the first book. Skavenslayer has a more connected story that shows Gotrek and Felix getting caught up in a Skaven invasion of Nuln. I had an absolute blast with the humour in this novel, especially surrounding the bickering and backstabbing Skaven, and I powered through it in a couple of days.

The Return by Harry Sidebottom – 2020

An epic and clever historical read by the impressive Harry Sidebottom, The Return is a compelling read that sees a damaged Roman soldier return home only to encounter a series of dark murders. I was really glad that I got a chance to read The Return this year after missing out on it in 2020, and it ended up being a compelling read.

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson – 2020

Another 2020 novel I read towards the start of the year, Either Side of Midnight is a compelling Australian murder mystery that serves as a sequel to Stevenson’s first book, Greenlight. Either Side of Midnight had a brilliant thriller storyline, and it was one of the cleverest crime fiction books I had the pleasure of checking out this year.

Top Ten List (by original publication date):

First and Only by Dan Abnett – 1999

2021 was the year that I really dove into the Warhammer extended universe, a decision that I am very happy about as there are some exceptional works there. While the Gotrex and Felix novels were my go-to series for Warhammer Fantasy, when it came to Warhammer 40,000 the clear choice was easily First and Only by legendary Warhammer fiction author Dan Abnett. First and Only is the first book in the acclaimed Gaunt’s Ghosts series, which follows a group of Imperial foot soldiers as they fight and die across the myriad dangerous battlefields of the 41^st millennia. This first novel introduced the reader to the key Ghosts and takes them on a compelling and deadly series of adventures featuring war, death, and conspiracy. A wonderful and deeply exciting read, I cannot wait to enjoy the rest of the series next year.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher – 2000

Another series that I decided to really dive into this year was the exceptional Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. Generally considered the gold-standard of urban fantasy novels, this series blends fantasy and crime fiction elements in the city of Chicago. I fell in love with this series last year when I checked out the awesome 17^th novel, Battle Ground (one of the best books and audiobooks of 2020) which convinced me to go back and read some of the earlier entries. As such, I read the initial novel, Storm Front, towards the front of 2021 and I had a wonderful time with it. Storm Front contains an excellent story that introduces the protagonist, rogue wizard Harry Dresden, and follows his investigation of a series of magical murders around town. I had an absolute blast with this novel, and while it isn’t Butcher’s best work, it was an excellent debut that serves as a great first entry in this iconic series.

Daemonslayer by William King – 2000

Out of the three Gotrek and Felix novels I have so far had the pleasure of reading, I think that Daemonslayer is probably the best. This cool novel sees the titular protagonists journey to the most dangerous place in the entire Warhammer Fantasy universe, the Chaos Wastes, to face daemons, monsters and warriors of Chaos. This novel has a more complete and linear story than the preceding two entries, which makes for a stronger tale. An extremely exciting and action-packed epic, I look forward to reading more of these novels in the future.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher – 2001

The second Dresden Files novel I checked out in 2021 was the fantastic Fool Moon, which I found to be one of the strongest overall entries in the series. Fool Moon pits the protagonist against multiple tribes of werewolves, each of whom have their own magical origins, as he attempts to solve the murder of a friend and clear his name. This was a very clever and intense novel, and I deeply enjoyed the excellent story and powerful scenes that Butcher was able to craft together.

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher – 2002

I really got into the Dresden Files novel this year and quickly read Grave Peril right after finishing off Fool Moon. Grave Peril was another exceptional read that saw Dresden face off against vampires, elves and a nightmarish being of pure evil. This was another awesome novel that added in some great key characters, new antagonists, and substantial universe expansion. Featuring some truly dark moments and some major character development, this was an outstanding novel that I had a lot of fun with.

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher – 2002

The fourth and final Dresden Files book I managed to get through this year was the awesome Summer Knight. This book sees Dresden forced to work for the Winter Court of the elves who need him to solve a murder. Summer Knight has a great story that moves at an extremely quick pace and takes the protagonist to some awesome new places. I had an excellent time with Summer Knight, and indeed all the Dresden Files books I read in 2021 and I look forward to further exploring this series next year.

The Gray Man by Mark Greaney – 2009

Another series that I decided to go back and check out this year was Mark Greaney’s epic Gray Man spy thriller series. I have been deeply enjoying Greaney’s more recent Gray Man novels, such as Mission Critical, One Minute Out and Relentless, and I thought that it would be good to back and check this series out from the start, especially as there is a movie adaptation coming out next year. I ended up having an incredible time with The Gray Man which set’s the protagonist, Court Gentry, against a horde of professional hit teams. An exceptional and action-packed thrill ride, I cannot wait to see how the movie version of this turns out. I am also extremely excited for some other Greaney books coming out in the next couple of months, as they should be pretty damn awesome.

Star Wars: Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber – 2014

2021 was a great year for new Star Wars novels, many of which were pretty damn exceptional. However, one of the downsides of this was that I had less time to read some older Star Wars novels. I did however get a chance to read Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber, whose previous Star Wars novel, Death Troopers, was an awesome horror read. Lockdown has an awesome (and currently non-canon) story about Maul being sent to infiltrate a maximum-security space prison that runs a series of death fights. This was a great and compelling read, and I loved all the fun elements featured within. I am hoping to check out a couple more earlier Star Wars novels next year, and there are a few that I currently have my eye on.

State of Fear by Tim Ayliffe – 2019

Another excellent book I checked out this year was the 2019 novel State of Fear by Australian author Tim Ayliffe. I had been hoping to read this one for a while, especially after enjoying Ayliffe’s first novel The Greater Good, and I finally got the chance this year in the lead up to Ayliffe’s third novel, The Enemy Within. State of Fear was a great Australian thriller that set the protagonist against a dangerous terrorist threat both in Sydney and in London. Featuring some intense emotional moments and an impressive story, State of Fear is an excellent read and I look forward to checking out more of Ayliffe’s novels in the future.

Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty by Josh Reynolds– 2019

The final entry on this list is the incredibly awesome Kal Jerico: Sinner’s Bounty, which is part of the Necromunda sub-series of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Sinner’s Bounty was initially released in 2019, but an audiobook version came out last year, which was a lot of fun to listen to. Featuring one of the best characters in the Warhammer 40,000 canon, notorious bounty hunter Kal Jerico, this novel takes the protagonist and his team to an obscure Underhive town to get a rich bounty. Forced to contend against monsters, religious zealots, rival bounty hunters and an army of mutants, the protagonists have a cool and fun adventure, filled with intense action, fun humour, and a ton of treachery. An amazing and deeply enjoyable read, I am very glad I decided to check this book out.

And that is the end of this list. As you can see I have managed to check out a bunch of epic pre-2021 novels this year. Each of the above were exceptional and fun reads and I would strongly recommend them, especially if you are in the mood for some fun fantasy or science fiction adventures. I look forward to reading some other older books in 2022, and it will be interesting to see what makes my next version of this list then. I imagine it will end up looking a little similar, especially as I have plans to continue several of these series, especially the Dresden Files, as well as examining some other outstanding Star Wars and Warhammer novels. Make sure to check back in next week for some other end-of-year lists as I continue to highlight some of my favourite reads from 2021.

Throwback Thursday: The Gray Man by Mark Greaney

On September 17, 2021February 2, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Thriller, Throwback Thursday28 Comments

Publisher: Audio Studios (Audiobook – 29 September 2009)

Series: Gray Man – Book One

Length: 11 hours and 11 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon Book Depository

Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For this latest Throwback Thursday I check out the debut novel of impressive thriller author Mark Greaney, The Gray Man.

Over the last few years, I have been really enjoying some of the latest novels from the amazing Mark Greaney, one of the leading authors in the spy thriller genre. Having previously worked with Tom Clancy on his Jack Ryan series, Greaney is probably best known for his awesome Gray Man series. I have managed to check out the last three novels in this great series, which have been some pretty awesome reads, including Mission Critical, One Minute Out (one of the best books and audiobooks of 2020) and Relentless (one of the best books and audiobooks I have so far read this year). I also really enjoyed the outstanding military thriller he did with H. Ripley Rawlings, Red Metal, which ended up being one of my top books and audiobooks of 2019). I have long been meaning to go back and check out the earlier books in the Gray Man series, especially as there is a big Netflix adaption coming out soon (directed by the Russo brothers and starting Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans). I finally got the chance a few days ago to read the first Gray Man novel, which was also Greaney’s debut book, and I am extremely gad that I did as The Gray Man proved to be an exceptional novel with boundless action.

Court Gentry was the very best operative the CIA ever had, and for years he helped take down vital targets the world over. However, his career in government espionage came to a violent end when Gentry was set up and burnt, becoming one of the most wanted men in the world with a shoot-to-kill order on his head. With the entire intelligence community gunning for him, Gentry disappeared into the shadows, becoming a private assassin. Despite his murky profession, Gentry keeps his humanity by only accepting contracts on those people he believes deserve to die. After years of taking out the very worst gangsters, war criminals and terrorists in impossible situations, Gentry has gained a legendary and is known throughout the business as the Gray Man.

However, after his latest job sees him assassinate a high-ranking member of the Nigerian cabinet, Gentry suddenly finds himself under attack like never before. The outgoing president of Nigeria now wants the Gray Man dead, and with a powerful French company on the hook for a billion-dollar contract, he has the perfect tool to get his vengeance. Led by former CIA officer Lloyd, the French company have organised for a team of hitters to take Gentry down for good, but when their first strike fails, they must get inventive.

Taking Gentry’s handler and his family hostage, Lloyd gives Gentry an ultimatum, travel to their compound in Normandy within the next day or he will kill the hostages, including two young girls. Determined to save his friend’s family, Gentry is forced to traverse the entirety of Europe to get to his target. However, between him and his destination are 12 elite kill teams from around the world, each of them competing for a massive bounty on his head. With every eye on the continent watching out for him and no possible backup, Gentry will need to fight his way through more than 100 killers if he is to succeed. For most men this would an impossible task, however, the Gray Man is anything but ordinary and he is about to show the world why he is the absolute best.

Well damn, now this was an incredible thriller. I actually managed to power through the audiobook version of The Gray Man in two days especially once I got stuck into the incredible story. Loaded with a ton of action of spy thriller excitement, this was such a fun and action-packed read that gets a full five-star rating from me.

I deeply enjoyed The Gray Man’s exciting and compelling narrative, which takes the reader on a wild ride through death and destruction. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the book started, as the slaughter of Taliban soldiers in Iraq seemed a tad over-the-top for an introduction scene, it honestly does not take long for the rest of the story to get incredibly addictive and fun. The moment that the antagonists start targeting Gentry, all bets are off and what follows is an incredible blend of action, adventure and spy tradecraft that is very hard to put down. I loved the central story concept of Gentry forced to fight his way across Europe, and Greaney did a great job setting this entire scenario up. This results in an awesome central section of the novel, where Gentry slowly moves through Europe towards his goal, with everyone in the way trying to kill him. The action and intensity of these scenes are first rate, and I loved the slow, deliberate war of attrition that the antagonists wage against Gentry, with the protagonist forced to contend with a lack of equipment, allies, and later in the book, blood. This exceptional story eventually leads up to a massive conclusion, with a wounded Gentry storming the castle and facing off the people who have expended a lot of effort into killing him. The entire story is wrapped up extremely well, and readers are left very satisfied and happy with how everything turns out. I had a fantastic time getting through this outstanding story, and there was honestly not a single second that I wasn’t amazingly entertained.

Due to its status as the initial novel in the series, The Gray Man has a very self-enclosed narrative, which ensures that all the main storylines are wrapped up by the final page. While it does serve as a really good introduction to the protagonist and his unique situation, I found The Gray Man works well as a standalone novel, and it does not rely too heavily on details revealed in the later novels. There are a lot of great features to this book, and I must highlight the incredible action sequences. The intense violence and powerful fight scenes are beautifully written, and the reader gets a good sense of the characters interactions with his foes. I also really appreciated the author’s depiction of tradecraft and spy skills, with the characters using all manner of intelligence tricks and assets to try and win. Greaney makes really good use of multiple character perspectives throughout The Gray Man to highlight the battle of wits between the various players, and I liked how it also increased how impressive and brutal some of the action scenes were. While I could have probably done without the sections told from the perspective of one of the eight-year-old granddaughters, the rest work extremely well to create a detailed and richer spy thriller. I loved seeing the opposition put their plan into action to hunt down Gentry, and it was really great to see all the sides of this adventure. It was particularly fun to see the antagonist’s reactions as Gentry continues to survive against the odds, and the added note of desperation was pretty entertaining.

I also must highlight the great characters featured within The Gray Man, which really helped to enhance this already awesome story. They are led by impressive action hero Court Gentry (a great name, BTW), who is perfectly built up throughout the novel as a superhuman spy, thanks to his skill, intelligence, and pure stubbornness. Gentry has a hell of an ordeal in this novel, forced to fight against impossible odds while being hunted by literally everyone in Europe. Greaney does a good job introducing the key parts of his protagonist’s personality and history throughout the novel, and you really get a good sense of who Gentry is. I also loved how Greaney showed Gentry slowly getting worn down as the novel progressed, which felt pretty realistic, especially after all the opponents who try to kill him. These various injuries slow him down and make him sloppy as the narrative progresses, so much so that he is barely standing by the time he gets to the final showdown. It was fun to see the other characters debating the truth behind Gentry’s previous missions, especially as he has built up a reputation for impossible tasks. The constant discussion about what he achieved is really entertaining, especially as it causes several antagonists some major apprehensions. While substantial parts of his history, such as why he was betrayed by the CIA, are not examined here, you still get some great details about him, and I look forward to seeing what else is revealed in the books I haven’t read yet. In some ways Gentry was a little one-dimensional in The Gray Man and could have used some more depth, especially around his motivations and his feelings about his betrayal from the CIA. However, this was a great introduction to this ruthless killer with a heart of gold, and readers will enjoy this first great adventure.

In addition to Gentry, Greaney came up with an excellent group of supporting characters who serve as alternate point-of-view characters throughout the novel. Due to the plot being about Gentry being hunted by everyone in Europe, most of the alternate perspectives are antagonists, and I had fun with the cool group of villains that Greaney featured in this novel. Each of these antagonistic characters are well utilised and introduced, even if they have a short shelf-life, and I appreciated some of the time put into building them up. My favourite, or least favourite, of these is central antagonist Lloyd. Lloyd is a former CIA analyst turned private-sector lawyer who, after stuffing up and forcing his company to work for the Nigerians, sets his company after Gentry. Greaney went out of his way to make Lloyd as unlikeable as possible, with the character being extremely arrogant, petty, insecure, and vicious, especially as the novel proceeds and he faces setback after setback. Every scene he is in is a lot of fun, mainly because he is such an annoying figure in them, and this ensures that the reader is constantly barracking for Gentry, hoping that he wins so that he can punch Lloyd in the face. I had a wonderful time hating Lloyd throughout this book, and I cannot wait to see Chris Evans’s take on him in the upcoming film adaption.

As I mentioned above, I ended up checking out The Gray Man on audiobook, which proved to be an awesome way to enjoy this excellent book. The Gray Man audiobook has a decent run time of just over 11 hours, and I found myself flying through it in no time at all. This audiobook format proved to be the perfect way to enjoy this great book, especially as the many intense action sequences come to life extremely well while being narrated. I absolutely must highlight the book’s amazing narrator, Jay Snyder, who has since narrated all Greaney’s Gray Man novels. Snyder has an amazing voice for thrillers, and he ensures that the plot of this book moved along at a quick and exciting pace. I also deeply enjoyed the various voices that he produced, as every character featured within this novel had a very fitting and distinctive voice. I particularly appreciated the slimy and cocky voice that he gifted to main antagonist Lloyd, which gave the man a cowardly, bureaucratic voice (it honestly reminded me a little of Cyril from Archer), and really helped to make him even more unlikeable. Snyder also does some fantastic accents for the various international characters featured in the novel, and each of them worked extremely well. Overall, this was an exceptional way to check out this book, and I would strongly recommend the audiobook format to anyone interested in this novel.

The Gray Man is an incredible and deeply entertaining debut from Greaney and it is one that I had an outstanding time listening to. This great book had an awesome narrative, loaded up with a ton of action, mayhem and fun characters, and it swiftly turned into an intensely addictive and thrilling read. Greaney sets up a lot of elements for his future series, and I am really glad that I went back to see where this fantastic series started. This book comes highly recommend, and if you are a thriller fan, you will love this book. I am definitely going to have to check out the rest of the Gray Man novels I am missing, and I am looking forward to seeing what over incredible stories that Greaney has in store for me.

Amazon Book Depository

WWW Wednesday – 15 September 2021

On September 15, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday1 Comment

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

The Riviera House by Natasha Lester (Trade Paperback)

I just started reading a fantastic historical drama with The Riviera House by Natasha Lester. The Riviera House is a compelling and exciting multi-generational story that follows the attempts of some brave women as the attempt to safeguard France’s art from the Nazis.

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (Audiobook)

I was in the mood for something fun to listen to, so I decided to head back to the awesome Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. After previously enjoying Storm Front, Fool Moon and Grave Peril, I knew I would have a great time with the fourth book in the series, Summer Knight. This fourth book sees Dresden caught between two warring faerie courts and forces him to investigate the murder of one of their champions. I am making some good progress with this book and should hopefully finish it off in the next few days.