Tag: Thriller

Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town by Adam Christopher

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Historical Fiction, Murder Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, Tie-in Novel2 Comments

Darkness on the Edge of Town Cover.jpg

Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 4 June 2019)

Series: Stranger Things

Length: 411 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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With the third season of the sensational and entertaining television show Stranger Things fast approaching (4 July cannot come fast enough), another tie-in novel, Darkness on the Edge of Town by Adam Christopher, has been released and offers another intriguing look into the wider Stranger Things universe. This story heads back into 1970s and focuses on the life of Hawkins police Chief Jim Hopper, portrayed in the show by David Harbour, and presents a thrilling and curious new adventure.

Stranger Things is one of the hottest televisions shows on at the moment, featuring a captivating plot, some incredible characters, amazing young actors and the fun use of 1980s nostalgia, all of which come together into one hell of a show. With the final season of Game of Thrones just wrapped up, the third season of Stranger Things is the next big release I am looking forward to (with the possible exception of Good Omens), and I fully intend to binge-watch it the weekend it comes out. It is not surprising that some tie-in material has been released to capitalise on the success of the show, and, truth be told, they have actually been a little restrained with it, with only one tie-in novel and one comic book series released so far. While I have not had a chance to the read the comic book series, The Other Side, which looks at Will Beyers’ time in the Upside Down in Season 1, I did previously read and review the first official Stranger Things tie-in novel, Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond, a few months ago. Suspicious Minds was set back in 1969 and looked at how Eleven was born and then subsequently stolen by the US Government, and it proved to be quite a thrilling read which explored some fascinating backstory to the television show.

As a result, I was very keen to check out what the next Stranger Things tie-in novel was like and what secrets it might reveal about the show. Darkness on the Edge of Town is set to be released on 4 June 2019, exactly one month before the release of Stranger Things’ third season, which is going to be set around Independence Day in 1985. Another Stranger Things book, which I will also try to get a copy of, Runaway Max, is also due out on 4 June, and this book will be aimed at a young adult audience.

Darkness on the Edge of Town was written by New Zealand-born author Adam Christopher, who has some experience with tie-in novels, having previously written three books that tie in to the Dishonoured video game and two books that tie in to the Elementary television show. Christopher is probably best known for his 2012 debut novel, Empire State, as well his Ray Electromatic Mysteries and Spider Wars series. I have not previously read any of Christopher’s work before, but several of his books, especially Empire State (a noir superhero thriller with parallel words, yes please!), sound like a lot of fun and I may have to check them out in the future.

Darkness on the Edge of Town’s story starts in December 1984, around two months after the end of the second season of Stranger Things. While enjoying a quiet Christmas with his adopted daughter, Eleven, Jim Hopper is suddenly brought back to his past when Eleven pulls out a cardboard box marked “New York”. Despite his reluctance, Hopper begins to tell Eleven the story of the greatest case he solved before tragedy forced him back to Hawkins.

On Independence Day in 1977, after returning from the Vietnam War, Jim Hopper is living in New York City with his wife, Diane, and his daughter, Sara. While the city deals with bankruptcy and a heatwave, Hopper, a rookie NYPD detective, finds himself investigating a series of brutal, ritualistic murders with his new partner, Rosario Delgado. The murderer has already killed three people, leaving a mysterious card at each crime scene. Before Hopper and Delgado can make any progress, their investigation is shut down by shadowy federal agents who order them off the case. Disobeying orders and putting his career on the line, Hopper continues to investigate the murders and is able to connect the deaths to the mysterious leader of the Viper gang, who is reputed to have paranormal powers. Going undercover to infiltrate the Vipers, Hopper makes some startling revelations about the scope and devastation of the gang leader’s sinister plans, and he must do everything he can to protect his city from an upcoming evil.

This was quite an interesting and engaging novel from Christopher, who not only manages to examine some interesting aspects of the Stranger Things television show but also creates his own intriguing story set during an interesting time in American history. The story is split between two separate time periods. Some of the story is set in December 1984 and follows the older Hopper as he tells the story to Eleven, while the majority of the book is set back in 1977 and follows Hopper and his partner as they investigate the brutal murders and the Vipers. Most of the book comes across as a dark murder mystery thriller that also spends significant time examining the psyche of its protagonist. I quite liked the murder mystery angles of the 1977 storyline, and it provides an interesting counterpoint to the more science fiction/horror/young protagonist focus of the television show.

The previous Stranger Things novel, Suspicious Minds, explored in detail events that featured in the show in flashbacks. Darkness on the Edge of Town, however, is a character study that may not have too much relevance to franchise’s overall story. While this might not appeal to some Stranger Things fans, it does allow Christopher a lot more freedom to explore the character of a younger Hopper. The result is a fantastic story that dives deep into the psyche of this great character and really lets the reader see what drives Hopper and what initially convinced him to become a police officer. There are some amazing parts to this examination of the character, but I personally liked the way that Christopher decided to focus on the lasting effects of Hopper’s service in Vietnam. This is explored in some detail, and the reader gets a really good idea of how emotionally vulnerable Hopper was even before his daughter became sick and his wife left him. I also thought that the author did a great job showing Hopper’s relationship with Eleven in the 1984 storylines, and their oddball father-daughter relationship comes across quite well.

In addition to the focus on the character of Hopper, this book also contains a few plot points that tie into the wider Stranger Things universe. The contents of the mysterious box Hopper had hidden in his house, which Eleven uncovered in Season 2, becomes a major part of this book’s story. In addition, there are several things that could potentially become significant in the future, and which the reader can leave to their own imagination. The first thing that comes up is a physic prediction about clouds or tendrils of darkness covering the world, mentioned a few pages in and repeated throughout the book. While events that occur later in the book do fit in with some of these predictions, the imagery of the Mind Flayer from the show comes to mind every time this vision is mentioned, and in some ways, it fits the predictions a little better. In addition, quite early in the book the antagonist is rumoured to have mental abilities as a result of government experiments. For a large part of the book, the reader is left wondering whether he actually has abilities like Eleven and, if he does, how he is connected to the institute that Eleven was being tested in. All of these, plus some other great references, will prove to be deeply appealing to fans of the television show, and I will be really intrigued to see if any of these references might appear in the third season of the show (do these authors have the inside track on the series?).

One of the most interesting parts of Darkness on the Edge of Town was its setting in 1970s New York City. The 1970s, especially 1977, were a pretty chaotic period in the city’s history, which serves as an excellent backdrop to this dark and gritty tale. Not only was the city suffering through a severe economic downturn but there was also a tremendous heatwave, especially in July of 1977, when the vast majority of the storyline is set. The Son of Sam killer was also active during this time, a fact commented on in several parts of the book, which also ties into the darker ‘70s crime nature of this book. I liked the way that Christopher was able to bring the atmosphere of this period to life in his book, as well as the way he was able to tie the story into a certain major event that occurred in New York in July 1977. This great use of setting really added a lot to the story and helped turn Darkness on the Edge of Town into quite a compelling read.

One of the reasons why Stranger Things is such a success is the show’s writers and creators have such an amazing ability to channel its viewers’ nostalgia for the 1980s into each episode. Writers of these tie-in novels also attempt to capitalise on this nostalgia by highlighting aspects of that decade’s culture in their writing. I previously felt that Gwenda Bond did an amazing job of that in Suspicious Minds, and Christopher also did his job exploring parts of that culture, specifically when it relates to New York City. As a result, there are several fun references to relevant movies, television shows, books, sports and music for fans of the 1970s to notice and reminisce about. Whether the characters are having fun thoughts about M*A*S*H or cheeky discussions about whether Princess Leia will end up with Luke or Han in Star Wars, there are some really fun inclusions throughout the book, and Christopher luckily does not go too overboard loading his story up with these references. I personally quite liked the way that the author envisioned the New York City gangs at this point, and the main one that Hopper encounters has a very Warriors vibe around it. An extended sequence later in the book kind of put me in mind of Escape from New York (although that was released in ’81). I really enjoyed the strong nostalgia included in the book, and it added a certain amount of fun to the book that fans of the show will greatly appreciate.

Darkness of the Edge of Town is a fantastic new addition to the burgeoning Stranger Things extended universe, and Adam Christopher does an amazing job of exploring one of the show’s main characters. The author’s examination of Jim Hopper is a deep and emotional dive into the character’s psyche, and it proves to be an effective and compelling centre to this book. Christopher is also able to utilise ’70s nostalgia and fan interest in the franchise quite effectively and turn this into an excellent tie-in novel to this complex and enjoyable show. The end result is an excellent character-driven story that will greatly appeal to fans of Stranger Things. This book is really worth checking out, especially before the third season of the show is released, and I look forward to seeing what other tie-in novels Christopher produces in the future.

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The Last Second by Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller1 Comment

The Last Second Cover

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Trade Paperback – 26 March 2019)

Series: A Brit in the FBI – Book 6

Length: 449 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Looking for a fun action thriller with a madcap villainous plot? Look no further than the latest book in the electrifying A Brit in the FBI thriller series, The Last Second, from bestselling author Catherine Coulter and her collaborator on this series, J. T. Ellison.

In the world of private space enterprise, no company is shining brighter than Galactus. Under the stewardship of its CEO, former NASA astronaut Dr Nevaeh Patel, Galactus makes its money launching communications satellites into orbit. However, Dr Patel has just secretly placed a nuclear-triggered electromagnetic pulse (EMP) device into the latest satellite Galactus has launched into space. If triggered, the EMP could not only knock out power on the planet’s surface but also devastate the satellites surrounding Earth, throwing humanity back to the Stone Age.

Dr Patel believes that while in space she was contacted by a race of aliens, known as the Numen, who have chosen her to introduce them to the world. Forced out of NASA, Dr Patel is convinced that if she destroys the satellites encircling the planet then the Numen will be able to journey down to Earth and proclaim her as their prophet. However, before she triggers the device, Dr Patel requires one specific item: the Holy Grail.

Dr Patel’s boss, the owner of Galactus, Jean-Pierre Broussard, is an avid treasure hunter who believes he has found the location of the Holy Grail off the coast of Malaysia. Dr Patel wants to use the grail to gain immortality so she can rule Earth together with the Numen. However, her attack on Broussard draws the attention of FBI Special Agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine, who quickly tie the assault with rumours of the impending detonation of an EMP. Racing against the clock, and competing with terrorists, spies and fanatics, Drummond and Caine must find a way to stop Dr Patel before it is too late and the world as we know it ends.

The Last Second is the sixth book in the A Brit in the FBI series, which spins off from Coulter’s long-running FBI Thriller series. Catherine Coulter is a true veteran of the fiction world, having been writing since 1978 with her debut novel, The Autumn Countess (or just The Countess). Since then she has written over 80 books, including her long-running The Sherbrooke series and the Baron, Night, Legacy and The Magic trilogies.

Coulter’s most famous work is probably her FBI Thriller series, which she has been writing since 1996. Currently featuring 22 novels, with a 23rd book on the way, the FBI Thriller series focuses on FBI agents solving a range of different crimes throughout the United States. A Brit in the FBI is a spin-off series that Coulter co-writes with fellow murder mystery and thriller writer J. T. Ellison. Ellison already has a number of her own books and series, including her Dr. Samantha Owens and Lieutenant Taylor Jackson series, but has been collaborating with Coulter since 2013.

A Brit in the FBI is set in the same universe as the FBI Thriller series and has featured some the characters from the FBI Thriller series in the past. The A Brit in the FBI books contain much more over-the-top adventures than the FBI Thriller books. For example, the fifth book in the series, The Sixth Day, features drones being controlled by a descendent of Vlad the Impaler assassinating major political figures throughout Europe.

I read the latest book in the Coulter’s FBI Thriller series, Paradox, last year and really enjoyed the clever and compelling murder mystery and thriller storyline it contained. As a result, I was interested to see what Coulter’s second series was like, especially after seeing some of the crazy-sounding plot synopses that the series has. The plot synopsis for The Last Second in particular also sounded pretty fun (aliens, EMPs and the Holy Grail, oh my) and I found myself in the mood for an exciting and over-the-top thriller. Luckily, I was not disappointed by this latest offering from Coulter and Ellison.

The Last Second is a deeply entertaining thriller with one heck of a crazy story that I had a very hard time putting down. It is chocked full of action, as the two main protagonists attempt to uncover the devastating plot in front of them and go through all manner of opponents and danger to save the world.

The story is told from a range of different perspectives, as nearly every major character in the book has at least one point-of-view chapter, often with a countdown timer at the front of it to let the reader know how much time remains until the EMP goes off. In addition to the stories set in the present, there are also a number of chapters that dive back into the past of the antagonist, Dr Patel. These chapters show how Dr Patel’s descent into madness began, and the factors that led her to launching an EMP into space.

Dr Patel’s backstory is pretty entertaining, and the reader is left wondering for a large part of the book whether the aliens Dr Patel believes she encountered, the Numen, are actually real or just in her head. The result was pretty much what I was expecting, but it was still a lot of fun to see where Coulter and Ellison took her story. I also liked the chapters which focused on her revenge against the people from her past who wronged her and got her kicked out of NASA, as well as the scenes where she worked to obtain the EMP. Dr Patel’s bodyguard/lover Kiera is another interesting inclusion. Adding a red haired, Irish terrorist trained lesbian to an already crazy story could be seen as overkill, but I quite liked it, especially as she had an amazing fight sequence with one of the protagonists near the end of the book.

Fans of the A Brit in the FBI Thriller series will love to see the two FBI agent protagonists, Drummond and Caine, back in action and the authors have made sure to bring back several recurring characters from the previous books in the series. Those readers who have not read any of the previous novels in the FBI Thriller or the A Brit in the FBI series should have no problem getting into this book. Coulter and Ellison ensure that their story is quite accessible to new readers, and anyone interested in enjoying a new thriller will easily be to have fun with this book.

The Last Second by Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison was everything that I hoped it would be and more. The authors make great use of their fantastic and crazy plot to create an electrifying and captivating novel that does an amazing job of entertaining the reader. A fantastic new addition to the A Brit in the FBI Thriller series, I cannot wait to see what sort of crazy adventure or plot Drummond and Caine will find themselves in next time.

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Waiting on Wednesday – The Institute by Stephen King

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

Stephen King is one of the most, popular fiction authors in the world today, producing a huge number of thrilling and inventive books over the years, many of which have been turned into iconic works of film.  Stephen King mania is pretty strong these days, with the It movies and the Castle Rock television show in particular being extremely popular, although there is are a huge plethora of other recent or upcoming films and television shows highlighting the author’s popularity.  His latest book, 2018’s The Outsider has garnered over 91,000 ratings and over 10,000 reviews on Goodreads alone.  As a result, I am sure that King’s upcoming book, The Institute, is already set to become one of the bestselling books of 2019, and I imagine quite a few reviewers and bloggers are just as eager as me to review this book.

I have not read as many Stephen King novels as I perhaps should have, having only read Cell and Sleeping Beauties, which he wrote with his son Owen.  However, I really enjoyed both of these books and I am extremely keen to check out some more of the author’s work.  I have previously mentioned how I deeply regret not getting around to reading The Outsider last year, and I still intend to read it at some point.  I am extremely keen to check out this latest book.

The Institute is set to be released on 10 September this year, and some interesting details of this book have already been released, including two separate plot synopses and two intriguing looking covers, although the first cover is my favourite of the two.

The Institute Cover 1.jpg
Synopsis 1:

Deep in the woods of Maine, there is a dark state facility where kids, abducted from across the United States, are incarcerated. In the Institute they are subjected to a series of tests and procedures meant to combine their exceptional gifts – telepathy, telekinesis – for concentrated effect.

Luke Ellis is the latest recruit. He’s just a regular 12-year-old, except he’s not just smart, he’s super-smart. And he has another gift which the Institute wants to use…

Far away in a small town in South Carolina, former cop Tim Jamieson has taken a job working for the local Sheriff. He’s basically just walking the beat. But he’s about to take on the biggest case of his career.

Back in the Institute’s downtrodden playground and corridors where posters advertise ‘just another day in paradise’, Luke, his friend Kalisha and the other kids are in no doubt that they are prisoners, not guests. And there is no hope of escape.

But great events can turn on small hinges and Luke is about to team up with a new, even younger recruit, Avery Dixon, whose ability to read minds is off the scale. While the Institute may want to harness their powers for covert ends, the combined intelligence of Luke and Avery is beyond anything that even those who run the experiments – even the infamous Mrs Sigsby – suspect.

Thrilling, suspenseful, heartbreaking, The Institute is a stunning novel of childhood betrayed and hope regained.

The Institute Cover 2.jpg
Synopsis 2:

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”

In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.

Both of these synopses sound incredibly fascinating and have really stoked my interest in this book.  The whole government institute full of psychics reminds me a bit of Eleven in Stranger Things, but I am sure that King will add a much darker edge to his story, probably with some child murder.  King has a proven ability to bring young child protagonists to life and have them lead a horror or thriller novel aimed at an adult audience, so I have high hopes for how this book will turn out.

The Institute is set to be the latest hit from the master of modern horror and thriller fiction, Stephen King, and is currently high on my list of books to read for September.  No doubt this will be one of the year’s major releases and I am really looking forward to checking out another piece of King’s magic (or psychic powers in this case).  With a deeply intriguing plot, I am sure that I will enjoy this and the eventual film of television series that results from it.

Treason by Rick Campbell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller3 Comments

Treason Cover

Publisher: St Martin’s Press (Hardcover Format – 19 March 2019)

Series: Trident Deception

Length: 320 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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The world is once again heading towards war in the latest military thriller from Rick Campbell that sets the United States against Russia in a battle for domination.

After Russia’s last attempt to take control of the countries on their western border ended in disaster, the Russian military is eager for another invasion that will restore Russia’s place as a superpower.  However, even with America’s forces weakened after recent conflicts, Russian President Yuri Kalinin is reluctant to challenge NATO again.  His generals have no such reservations and initiate a sudden military coup, arresting Kalinin and taking Russia to a war footing.

America is once again ready to oppose Russia’s advance into Europe, until a routine weapons test sends several ballistic missiles hurtling towards Washington DC and crashes several of America’s B2 Bombers.  The Russians have apparently found a way to disarm America’s nuclear arsenal and are using this to keep the US out of the latest conflict.

As several European countries are overrun, America must find a way to regain control of their weapons and push back the Russians.  Their only hope may lie in the hands of Christine O’Connor, the President’s national security adviser, who was being entertained by Kalinin at his official residence when the coup occurred.  After freeing Kalinin, O’Connor hatches a plan to return him to power in exchange for an end to the invasion.  Can America achieve this with only one submarine and a small team of SEALs, or will NATO and Russia be forced into a destructive war for Europe?

This is the fifth book from Campbell, and it follows on his military thriller storyline that was started in his 2014 debut, The Trident Deception.  Treason follows on the storyline from these previous books, and once again sees America fighting against its iconic adversaries the Russians in an intriguing story of war, espionage and treachery.  I have been on a real military thriller kick recently, so I was quite excited to pick up Treason.  This book is an extremely fun piece of fiction that I really enjoyed and was able to get through quite quickly.  Campbell tells an entertaining story that, while connected to the storylines of the previous books in the series, is fairly inclusive and able to be enjoyed by those readers who have not had the chance to read any of Campbell’s previous works.

This is a pretty good example of military fiction, as two superpowers face off against each other for control of Europe.  The story is a great combination of imaginative storytelling and real-world politics, as Campbell is able to bring in elements of current international relations into his already established fictional version of our world.  This allows for some more realism behind the story, especially when combined with the sheer amount of military detail Campbell injects into the story, showcasing how both sides would prepare for and enact the early stages of a war to control all of Europe.  Treason is told from a huge range of different character perspectives as the author attempts to show as many sides of the story as possible.  While this does result in the book having a somewhat distractingly high number of quite short chapters, it does allow for a much fuller story, especially as it shows the plans of the book’s Russian antagonists.  This also allows for a story that is slightly less “America good; all opponents evil” direction that many military thrillers turn into, as the Russian characters’ motivations and perspectives are taken into account, although America does come out of this book looking pretty good.  Still, this is a very intriguing military thriller book, and I quite enjoyed reading Campbell’s view of how war between the US and Russia could potentially start up, while also leaving room for additional conflicts in future books.

While Treason does not turn into the full-on total war story action junkies might be hoping for, there is a substantial amount of battles and fighting in this book.  A large amount of the action is between covert squads of Americans and Russians, and it always fun to see SEAL teams kick ass against more numerous opponents.  Without a doubt, the most impressive sequence in this book is the superb submarine fight between opposing US and Russia vessels.  These scenes are pretty epic, and they really highlight the author’s writing ability as he drags the reader into the battle.  His quick change of perspectives between the opposing submarines means that the reader is aware of every action being undertaken and they get a spectacular view of the intense battle occurring beneath the waves.  Campbell’s past as a commander aboard a US Navy submarine clearly comes into play here, as he describes all the aspects of submarine combat in extreme detail.  This results in the reader getting an outstanding idea of the various tactics and weapons both sides utilise in these incredible battles, and it was amazing how the fight between submarines felt like a game of chess.  These extended submarine battles are easily the best sequences in the whole book, and I really loved reading them.  This book is perfect for those readers who love to read a good action sequence, and I am looking forward to reading any additional submarine battle scenes that Campbell comes up with.

Overall, Treason is a fantastic military thriller and well worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre or of Campbell’s previous books.  I am intrigued to see how the author will continue this series in the future, and I especially hope to see more of the superb submarine-on-submarine combat sequences.  Treason is a very entertaining and enjoyable book and is perfect for those who are looking for something fun and exciting to read.

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The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry – Audiobook Review

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller30 Comments

The Malta Exchange Cover

Publishers: Hodder & Stoughton and MacMillan Audio (5 March 2019)

Series: Cotton Malone – Book 14

Length: 13 hours and 31 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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From the brilliant mind of international thriller sensation Steve Berry comes the 14th book in his acclaimed Cotton Malone series, The Malta Exchange.

When the pope unexpectedly dies, opportunity and chaos grips the Vatican.  As the world’s cardinals arrive in Rome in preparation for the conclave to elect a new pope, one cardinal, the controversial Kastor Gallo, suddenly leaves for an impromptu visit to Malta.  He has been summoned for a clandestine meeting, the results of which could hand him the papacy.  The only witness to this meeting is United States Justice Department operative Luke Daniels, whose covert observations of the meeting is quickly compromised, forcing him to fight for his life.

While Daniels attempts to uncover what is happening in Malta, his former colleague, Cotton Malone, is in Italy working for British intelligence.  An Italian collector claims to have letters between Churchill and Mussolini that could prove extremely damaging to Churchill’s legacy, and MI6 is eager to recover them.  What is meant to be a quick mission for Malone is complicated when armed men kill the collector and steal the letters.  Malone is able to trace his assailants to the legendary Knights of Malta, and his chase to recover the letters leads him into a hunt from a mysterious document from the reign of Emperor Constantine.

This document, revered by the Knights of Malta and feared by the church, has been lost for hundreds of years.  Hunted by some of history’s greatest tyrants, including Napoleon and Mussolini, this secret document not only has the potential to influence the current concave if revealed, but it could also tear the church down completely.  As a secret society within the modern incarnation of the Knights of Malta and elements of the Entity, the church’s intelligence organisation, both attempt to claim the document, Malone and Daniels once again team up to recover the document and destroy the conspiracy threatening to envelope them and the entire Catholic world.

Steve Berry is a veteran author of thrillers that focus on complex conspiracies, having written a number of exciting books since his 2003 debut.  While Berry has written four standalone novels, including The Amber Room, The Romanov Prophecy and The Third Secret, he is probably best known for his long-running Cotton Malone series of books.  The Cotton Malone series, which began in 2006 with The Templar Legacy, is made up of 14 books, each of which features the series titular character, retired U.S. Justice Department operative Cotton Malone as he is forced to investigate a series of elaborate conspiracies or secrets with origins in history.

The Malta Exchange features several characters from the previous books in the series.  While this is the 14th book in the series, The Malta Exchange can easily be read as a standalone book, as no prior knowledge of the Cotton Malone series is required to enjoy this story.  While there are some mentions of previous adventures in the series, none of these brief references are really relevant to this book’s story.  Likewise, the series’ recurring characters are re-introduced in some detail, and no pre-existing knowledge of them is needed.  Those readers who are already familiar with this series will enjoy another amazing thriller from Berry, although there may be some repetition, as the protagonists once again dive into another elaborate conspiracy centred with a secret order associated with the Catholic Church.  As one of my reviewer colleagues who is somewhat more familiar with this series than me stated, “How many conspiracies can one man wander into?”  Still, for those people who have enjoyed Berry’s stories before, The Malta Exchange is another exceptional read with a thrilling mystery that is a lot of fun to unravel.

While I received a physical copy of this book to read, I ended up listening to the audiobook format of The Malta Exchange narrated by Scott Brick.  This book was an absolutely fantastic piece of thriller fiction as the reader is thrown into an extremely intriguing and wide-reaching conspiracy involving hidden documents, major historical figures and deep dives into the history and background of several fictional and real-life organisations.

This is an excellent book for thriller fans, as The Malta Exchange contains a number of intense and complex conspiracies and plots overlayed across each other to create an addictive and enjoyable read.  The main plot focuses on the search for a long-lost document that originated during the reign of Emperor Constantine, which has the potential to damage or destroy the Catholic Church.  As a big fan of the historical fiction genre, I loved how this central mystery cleverly utilised a number of massive historical events and figures in its overall conspiracy.  For example, this central conspiracy has ties to Emperor Constantine, the founding of the Catholic Church, Napoleon, Mussolini, the Crusades and important events in World War II.  It even features a number of cool flashbacks to Mussolini and Napoleon’s life, showing how they were embroiled in this conspiracy.  This results in a treasure hunt so large, mysterious and potentially world-changing you cannot help but be intrigued and eager to see how it ends.  On top of that, a number of secret organisations with conflicting agendas and plots are duking it out around the hunt for this document and the reader is uncertain of their true motivations until later in the story.  All these story threads come together incredibly well at the end of the story, resulting in an intense, intelligent and entertaining thriller storyline that I could not wait to fully uncover.

Except for a couple of chapters featuring flashbacks to historical figures like Mussolini or Napoleon, The Malta Exchange is told from the point of view of four main characters: Cotton Malone, Luke Daniels, Cardinal Kastor Gallo and a mysterious ‘knight’ who remains unnamed for most of the book.  Malone and Daniels serve as good central protagonists, and I liked the contrast in their styles and personalities.  While Malone is the older, wiser and occasionally more careful protagonist who puts together the various clues around the hidden location of ancient document, Daniels is the younger, more action orientated character who does a number of crazy stunts throughout the book while also hiding his intelligence and cunning behind a convincing “good ol’ boy” routine.  The unnamed knight is The Malta Exchange’s main antagonist, whose identity remains hidden for much of the book.  This knight is an interesting character, and it is always fun to see the antagonist’s point of view as they attempt to outwit the protagonists.  While the reveal of this character’s secret identity is somewhat obvious due to there only being a few significant secondary characters, the antagonist’s overall plan was quite ingenious and devious.  Kastor Gallo is another interesting character; a self-serving Cardinal who wants to become Pope, he skirts the line between protagonist and villain in this story.  While the character considers himself an honest and pious priest, he is not particularly likeable due to his extremely conservative religious views and unbridled arrogance.  Still it was fun watching him try to manipulate the other characters, as well as his plot to try and gain the papacy.  There are several other fantastic side characters whom I will not discuss in any detail lest I hint at the identity of the unnamed knight above, but they really add a lot to this story.

One of the things that really impressed me about this book was the way that Berry dived into several organisations and locations in extreme and intriguing detail, particularly when it comes to two specific organisations.  The first of these organisations is the Knights of Malta, otherwise known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta or the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta.  Throughout this book, Berry spends a significant amount of time exploring this order, from their origins as the Knights Hospitaller and the Crusades, to their current existence as a massive charitable organisation.  Berry examines a large amount of their history, how they are organised, where they are located, what they do, their political status and how they have evolved over the years, and this amazing examination is further extended out into the incredible history of the nation of Malta.  Even the order’s leadership crisis between 2016 and 2018 is somewhat represented in the book, as the author describes a similar crisis affecting the organisation featured within The Malta Exchange.  All of this is deeply fascinating, and I really enjoyed the author’s examination of this organisation and how he was able to utilise the Knights of Malta’s actual history to the degree he did, with only a few alterations to fit his story.

The second organisation that Berry dives into is the Catholic Church, as a number of key aspects of the church and the Vatican come into play throughout the plot.  Like with his deep dive into the Knights of Malta, the author included a number of detailed examinations about church history, organisation and key events, like the selection of a new pope, that I quite enjoyed learning more about, and which fit incredibly well into the story.  The part of the examination into the church that I enjoyed the most was the look at the church’s supposed intelligence organisation, the Entity.  While the church has never confirmed they have an official intelligence organisation, several historical books have discussed its potential activities, and a number of thriller writers have utilised such an organisation, often known as the Entity, to great effect.  Perhaps because thrillers are not a genre that I read an awful lot of, this was the first book I have read that featured a church intelligence agency.  I really liked the idea of a secret intelligence organisation working for the Vatican, and Berry really utilises them well throughout his book, making them out as one of the most elite and effective intelligence organisations on the planet, who people really should not mess with.  I absolutely loved all the Catholic Church inclusions that the author featured and that, combined with the captivating examination of the Knights of Malta, helped turn this into an amazing overall story.

As I mentioned above, I chose to listen to the audiobook version of The Malta Exchange, which was narrated by Scott Brick.  This was not a massively long audiobook, only clocking in at around 13 and a half hours, and I was able to power through this really quickly, especially as I become more and more enthralled with the book’s compelling story.  I was quite glad that I chose to listen to this book rather than read it.  While you do lose out on some of the book’s visual elements, like some of the diagrams of anagrams or secret codes that feature throughout the physical copy, I found that listening to The Malta Exchange really helped me absorb the massive conspiracy storyline, as well as the history and organisation examinations, a hell of a lot more.  Brick has an amazing voice for thrillers, and I quite enjoyed listening him narrate this fantastic novel.  The voices he creates for the various characters in this book are quite good, and I liked some of the accents that he came up with.  I would strongly recommend the audiobook version of The Malta Exchange, although readers will still be able to get a huge amount out of the physical copy of the book.

The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry is an incredible and addictive ancient conspiracy thriller that I had an amazing time reading.  Once you get sucked into the book’s various conspiracies and mysteries it is hard to pull yourself out until each and every one of them is untangled.  What I enjoyed most about the main conspiracy was the author’s ability to explore fascinating history and famous organisations in outstanding detail, and then use these events to really enhance his story.  The end result is an awesome novel that comes highly recommend from me.  Appealing and accessible to established fans of the Cotton Malone series, as well as other fans of the thriller genre, I was really glad I decided to check this book out and I am curious to see what historical conspiracy Malone uncovers next.

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Waiting on Wednesday – Spaceside by Michael Mammay

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Science Fiction, Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

Spaceside Cover.jpg

For this week I look at Spaceside by Michael Mammay, the sequel to one of my favourite books from 2018, Planetside.  Planetside was an incredible debut from Mammay, who blended together mystery and science fiction elements to create an outstanding space military thriller with an absolutely explosive ending that I still cannot get over.  As a result, I have huge hopes for Spaceside, which is set to be released in August, and I am very excited to see how Mammay tops his amazing first book.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Following his mission on Cappa, Colonel Carl Butler returns to a mixed reception. To some he is a do-or-die war hero. To the other half of the galaxy he’s a pariah. Forced into retirement, he has resettled on Talca Four where he’s now Deputy VP of Corporate Security, protecting a high-tech military company on the corporate battlefield—at least, that’s what the job description says. Really, he’s just there to impress clients and investors. It’s all relatively low risk—until he’s entrusted with new orders. A breach of a competitor’s computer network has Butler’s superiors feeling every bit as vulnerable. They need Butler to find who did it, how, and why no one’s taken credit for the ingenious attack.

As accustomed as Butler is to the reality of wargames—virtual and otherwise—this one screams something louder than a simple hack. Because no sooner does he start digging when his first contact is murdered, the death somehow kept secret from the media. As a prime suspect, he can’t shake the sensation he’s being watched…or finally succumbing to the stress of his past. Paranoid delusion or dangerous reality, Butler might be onto something much deeper than anyone imagined. But that’s where Butler thrives.

If he hasn’t signed his own death warrant.

I have to say that the plot for this new book sounds really intriguing.  I am looking forward to seeing Butler investigate another complex science fiction crime.  I like that that author has taken the story into a somewhat new direction, focusing on a corporate crime, but I hope the story spends a good amount of time exploring the repercussions of his actions in the first book.  There are so many ways that the awesome story that was started in the first book could be continued, and I look forward to seeing if the conspiracy he uncovered in Planetside plays into this new mystery.

I am very confident that this book will be pretty epic, and Spaceside is currently sitting at the top of my must-read list for 2019.  I have not decided if I will get a physical copy of this book or try and get the audiobook version.  R. C. Bray did an incredible job narrating the audiobook version of Planetside, so I would like to listen to the sequel.  However, if I get an advanced copy of the trade paperback of this book, I very much doubt I will be able to restrain myself enough to wait for the audiobook version.  Sigh, life is so hard when it comes to awesome upcoming books.

Nemesis by Rory Clements

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Thriller7 Comments

Nemesis Cover.jpg

Publisher: Zaffre (Trade Paperback Format – Australia – 3 March 2019)

Series: Tom Wilde – Book 3

Length: 317 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Historical thriller and murder mystery author Rory Clements returns with the third book in his electrifying and clever Tom Wilde series, Nemesis.

August 1939.  War is on the horizon, and while most of the world is preparing for the next great conflict, Cambridge Professor Tom Wilde is enjoying a holiday in France with his partner, Lydia.  That is, until a mysterious man alerts him to the fact that one of his former students, an idealistic young man by the name Marcus Marfield, is currently being held in an internment camp on the France-Spain border after his involvement in the Spanish Civil War.  When Wilde finds Marfield at the camp he moves quickly to secure his release, and they flee the country just as the Germans begin their invasion of Poland.

Back in England, the country moves to a war footing, as the Allies attempt to persuade America to join them against the Nazis.  While many Americans oppose joining the war, the sinking of the passenger ship the SS Athenia may be the spark that brings them into the war.  With the Nazis attempting to convince the world that Churchill orchestrated the sinking of the Athenia to galvanise American support against Germany, Wilde and his companions return to Cambridge.

Once back in the city, Wilde begins to notice a change come over Marfield.  At first attributing it to his shell shock following his battles in Spain, a series of mysterious deaths around Cambridge all seem to link to the recently returned Marfield.  These events are tied to a deadly conspiracy to keep America out of the war for good.  A spy ring is active in Cambridge, and Wilde must find a way to uncover it before it is too late.  Can Wilde once again avert disaster, and what role does Marfield play in this conspiracy?

After the excellent first two books in his Tom Wilde series, Corpus and Nucleus, Clements continues the adventure of his series’ titular character, Tom Wilde, as he investigates a series of Nazi espionage activities around Cambridge in the lead-up to World War II.  I have quite enjoyed this series in the past and was looking forward to continuing the story in Nemesis.  The latest book is a thrilling story that takes place just at the outset of the war and utilises the several historical events and figures to turn this into quite an intriguing tale.

Nemesis is a really good historical thriller which combines a great spy story with the historical context of early World War II.  The previous books in the Tom Wilde series have all contained compelling and complex mysteries with huge implications for England and the allies, and Nemesis is no different.  Clements has crafted together an excellent mystery that has massive, worldwide implications, and I really enjoyed unravelling the mystery, especially as the author presents all sorts of doublecrosses, twists, cover-ups and mysterious deaths to confuse the reader away from the main goal of the antagonists.  The antagonists’ master plan is quite out there, and it is one of those plots that would have had massive historical implications.  I quite like the role that new character Marcus Marfield played in this plot, as the protagonists and the reader are constantly trying to work out what his secrets are and what kind of person he truly is.  Overall, I found the thriller and mystery elements of this book to be quite clever and captivating, and readers will enjoy uncovering the full extent of the antagonist’s overall plot.

One of the most interesting parts of the Tom Wilde series so far was its setting during the chaotic pre-World War II period.  In Nemesis, Clements sets his story right at the start of the war and immediately shows all the panic and preparation that followed this declaration of war.  Clements did a fantastic job portraying the low-key sense of dread and paranoia that the inhabitants of England would have felt in the build-up to the war in the previous books in the series, and in Nemesis these feelings are realistically amplified now that the war has begun.  The author has quite a good grasp on a number of historical events and feelings during this period, and I quite liked seeing the Cambridge viewpoint of the war.  The Cambridge setting has always been a fantastic highlight of this series, but it was quite intriguing to see the author incorporate all the various changes to the city that occurred as a result of the war into his novel.  Clements dives deep into the Cambridge lifestyle when it comes to the war, whether it involves the removal of the rare books from the colleges, the preservation of the stained glass windows, the roles that the professors were being assigned in the war effort or even the many Communist professors throwing away their party membership cards when it became clear that the Soviets were supporting the Nazis.

Clements also ties his story in quite closely with one of the more interesting early events of World War II: the sinking of the passenger liner the SS Athenia as it sailed across the Atlantic.  I was deeply fascinated not only with the depictions of this event, but the discussions and conspiracy theories that resulted from it.  This was especially true when it came to the examination about the sinking of the ship being used to bring the United States into the war.  The likelihood of America joining in the war became a major part of the story, and it was interesting to see what the European characters thought about America’s reluctance to enter the war, especially as one of the protagonists is an American character, and one of the chief architects of America’s isolationist policy, Joe Kennedy, was the United States Ambassador to England at the time.  I thought that the historical elements that Clements explored were a real highlight of this book, and readers will enjoy his literary examination of these events.

While the main focus of the book’s story is a conspiracy and the start of the war, Clements does take his time to continue to develop a number of the characters introduced in the previous books.  For example, Wilde continues to deepen his relationship with his romantic partner, Lydia, and I quite liked the role that Lydia played in investigating the case alongside Wilde.  There is also a significant focus on Wilde’s American friend Jim Vanderberg and his family, especially as Vanderberg’s family are passengers aboard the Athenia.  Phillip Eaton, the British spy who was hit by a car in the last book of the series makes a return in Nemesis, and the reader gets to see his struggles to recover from his horrific injuries while still working as an intelligence officer.  A number of intriguing new characters are introduced in this book and it will be interesting to see what role they and the existing characters will play in any future entries in this series.

In the latest book of his enjoyable Tom Wilde series, Nemesis, Rory Clements once again delivers a captivating historical thriller that brings the reader into the early days of World War II.  Featuring an incredible overarching mystery and some detailed examinations of intriguing historical events and settings, Nemesis is a deeply interesting book that is well worth checking out.  I am very curious to see where Clements takes the series next, and I look forward to seeing what impact Thomas Wilde will have on the rest of World War II.

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Throwback Thursday – The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Science Fiction, Thriller, Throwback Thursday1 Comment

The Andromeda Strain Cover.jpg

Publishers: Brilliance Audio (Audiobook Edition – 26 May 2015)

                        Knopf (12 May 1969)

Series: Standalone/Book 1

Length: 8 hours 15 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

For this week’s Throwback Thursday I take a look at a classic techno-thriller from legendary author Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain.

The Andromeda Strain was released nearly 50 years ago, in May 1969, and represented a bold new direction from Crichton, who had previously done several pulpy crime novels, such as Odds On and Scratch One, under the name John Lange, as well as the medical crime thriller A Case of Need, which he wrote under the name Jeffrey Hudson.  The Andromeda Strain was considered to be part of the new techno-thriller genre and is still considered to be a major example of this genre.

I have only read three of Crichton’s books before, including Jurassic Park (for obvious reasons), The Lost World and Pirate Latitudes.  While I have always intended to go back and read some more of Crichton’s works, I have never had the time to do so.  However, with the recent announcement that The Andromeda Evolution is being released in November to correspond with the 50-year anniversary of The Andromeda Strain, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to check out one of Crichton’s earlier books.  For that reason, I listened to the audiobook version of The Andromeda Strain narrated by David Morse.

When a military satellite comes down in the small town of Piedmont, Arizona, nearly all the residents in the town die.  They are victims of a mysterious new pathogen that either instantly clotted all the blood in their body or drove them to suicide.  The military quickly activate the Wildfire protocol, and a small government team of scientists and doctors take command of Piedmont and the satellite.

Believing that the satellite contains an extraterrestrial organism, the team bring it and the two survivors of Piedmont, an old man and a baby, to a secret and secure underground Wildfire laboratory for study.  Deep in the laboratory, the team attempt to identify and categorise the organism which has been given the codename Andromeda.  However, Andromeda is evolving a way no member of the Wildfire team believed possible, and not even the laboratory’s nuclear bomb safeguards may be enough to keep it contained.

After listening to The Andromeda Strain over a couple of days, I found it to be an extremely thrilling and complex novel that I really got into and which I am eager to review.  However, after 50 years and thousands of reviews I am not too sure how much I can really say about this book that has not already been said.  That being said, when looking at this book from a 2019 perspective, I feel that The Andromeda Strain is still an extremely strong techno-thriller, with some expert storytelling and an in-depth scientific base that is still relevant in this modern era.

In this book, Crichton utilised a very dry, detailed and scientific approach to his writing, slowly covering every aspect of the events unfolding before each of the protagonists, while also providing the reader with backstory on the characters and briefings on the various relevant scientific and political components of the book.  Despite this somewhat less exciting writing style, Crichton is still able to create quite a thrilling atmosphere throughout the book as the story gets closer to the inevitable disaster part of the plot.  Crichton really adds to the suspense by mentioning the various mistakes that the protagonist are making and hinting at all the problems going on around them that will eventually lead to the release of the Andromeda microbe.

I did feel that the book ended rather suddenly, and I was surprised that the investigation part of the story was still going with only a short amount of the book left to go.  I found it interesting that the part of the story that dealt with the release of Andromeda and the subsequent race to stop the nuclear explosion about to wipe out the lab was introduced so late in the book and solved so very quickly.  I was expecting a large portion of the story to focus on the main characters getting past all of the impressive contamination protocols in order to stop the nuclear explosion.  Instead, this was all solved within about 10 minutes of audiobook narration, or probably five to 10 pages of a normal book.  While I was surprised about this, I suppose it does make sense in the context of the rest of the story, where the characters and briefing material did mention several times that there was a three-minute delay between the bomb arming and the explosion.  This was all extremely thrilling, and I felt that the book is still capable of keeping authors on the edge of their seats.

One of the things that really surprised me about the book was the advanced level of technology that was featured within a story written and set in 1969.  Perhaps this is simply ignorance as a result of being a child of the 90s, but I feel it is more likely the result of Crichton having a great understanding of technology and potential future advances that might be utilised within a high-level government laboratory.  Certainly, the scientific features of this book are extremely impressive, and I felt that they were still extremely relevant and understandable in a 2019 context.  For example, all the extreme quarantine methods surrounding the Wildfire laboratory sound like perfectly reasonable steps that modern laboratories could use to keep pathogens contained.  All the discussions about viruses and micro-organisms were also incredibly detailed, and I felt that much of the information discussed around those is still relevant today, and modern audiences will still be able to understand and consider it quite easily.

I did find the concept of the Odd-Man Hypothesis to be extremely interesting.  In essence, the Odd-Man Hypothesis states that out of all the humans in the world, unmarried men are the most likely to make the best and most dispassionate decision in the face of an emergency.  This becomes a key part of the story, as one of the characters is designated as the Odd-Man and is the only person with the ability to shut off the laboratory’s nuclear self-destruct device.  Now this is one theory that does not translate to more modern times, although, in fairness, most of The Andromeda Strain’s characters did not take it that seriously either.  That being said, it was an extremely intriguing element to read about, and I enjoyed the discussion around its viability and use within the context of the story.

As I mentioned above, I chose to listen to The Andromeda Strain in its audiobook format.  There are actually a number of different audiobook versions of The Andromeda Strain out there, each with different narrators, such as an earlier version narrated by Chris Noth.  I ended up listening to the most recent audiobook version of this book, although I imagine a new version is sure to follow soon, especially with a sequel about to come out.  The version I listened to was narrated by actor David Morse and was released in 2015.  This version is 8 hours and 15 minutes long, and I found myself powering through it very quickly.

I think that the audiobook was a really great way to listen to The Andromeda Strain, as it allows the reader to absorb the huge amount of scientific detail and discussion a lot easier.  I felt that David Morse was an excellent narrator for this book, and that his basic narration voice perfectly fit the books tone and style.  Morse also comes up with some great voices for this book, and I was particularly impressed by his weary old man voice.  As a result, I would highly recommend the audiobook version of The Andromeda Strain, as it is definitely an outstanding way to the listen to this fantastic story.

Overall, I loved this dive back into the past and I had a lot of fun listening to this classic techno-thriller.  Crichton is an amazing author, especially when it comes to a more science-based story, and I am incredibly impressed that his story still holds up 50 years after it was first published.  I am extremely curious to see where the upcoming sequel, The Andromeda Evolution, takes the story, and how well new author Daniel H. Wilson replicates Crichton’s style.  This book has also encouraged me to check out some more of Crichton’s works, and I am looking forward to reading some more of this author’s excellent techno-thrillers, as well as some of his intriguing historical fiction pieces.

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Waiting on Wednesday – The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton and Daniel H. Wilson

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Science Fiction, Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday3 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

The Andromeda Evolution Cover

In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I take a look at The Andromeda Evolution, the recently announced sequel to Michael Crichton’s game-changing novel, The Andromeda Strain.

Michael Crichton is one of the most iconic authors of the last 50 years, having written a series of varied and highly regarded novels, many of which were turned into movies.  It goes without saying that you have heard of his most famous novel, Jurassic Park, which was adapted into the movie of the same name.  Between his debut in 1966 and his death in 2008, Crichton released 28 full-length fiction books, including Congo, Sphere, The Lost World, Rising Sun, Binary and Eaters of the Dead (also known as The 13th Warrior).  These books were mostly released under his own name, but several novels were released under the pseudonym John Lange.

One of Crichton’s most famous books was his 1969 release, The Andromeda Strain, his first foray into the science fiction genre.  It followed a group of scientists as they attempted to contain and study an extraterrestrial microbe, known as Andromeda, within a high-tech government laboratory.  While not his first book, this was the novel that helped launch his career, and was highly regarded by reviewers at the time of its release.  It is also considered to be one of the first books of the techno-thriller genre, and its success no doubt encouraged Crichton to write more science fiction works, such as Jurassic Park.

It was announced only a couple of weeks ago that a sequel to The Andromeda Strain will be released later this year to mark the 50th anniversary of its release.  The Andromeda Evolution will be released worldwide on 12 November 2019 and has been written by bestselling science fiction author Daniel Wilson.

No real plot details for this book have been released yet, and it will be interesting to see where the story goes.  The Andromeda Strain ended with Andromeda evolving and being released into the upper atmosphere, where it was severely impacting the space programs of the United States and the Soviet Union.  From what very little is known, it appears that in the new book the microbe will somehow evolve again to become a much more serious threat.  I am deeply intrigued to see how this new book will continue the story told in The Andromeda Strain, especially as the author could take the story in so many different directions.  I am very curious about what causes the disease to evolve again, and what new impacts this will have on Earth.  I imagine that this book will be set in more modern times, which also offers up a range of possibilities.  In particular, this might create an alternate timeline for Earth, as the lack of a space race might have severely altered history.

I am quite excited for the author chosen to continue this story, Daniel Wilson.  Wilson is one of the most intriguing authors of science fiction at the moment, having written several bestselling techno-thrillers, including his epic Robopocalypse series.  I think that Wilson’s writing style and imagination will mesh quite well Crichton’s original concept, and the resulting collaboration will be something special.

I am a bit uncertain whether The Andromeda Evolution will be based on any notes Crichton left behind, or whether it was only inspired by the original novel.  The three previous Michaels Crichton novels that were released after his death (Pirate Latitudes, Micro and Dragon Teeth) were either completed or partially written by Crichton himself.  However, as Wilson is credited as the author on the cover, I am thinking that the story is mostly based on his ideas.  This new perspective on the story may prove to be extremely interesting, and it could be the first in a new wave of Michael Crichton inspired techno-thrillers.

The Andromeda Evolution should prove to be an extremely interesting release for later in the year, and I am very eager to check it out.  Check back here tomorrow for a throwback review for The Andromeda Strain, and I may update this post later when more plot details about The Andromeda Evolution become available.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Kremlin Strike and Red Metal

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday3 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

In this week’s instalment of Waiting on Wednesday, get ready to fight the Ruskies in the Third World War with two upcoming novels that sound like they will be action-packed thrill rides which I am very much looking forward to.  Now, usually military thrillers are not within my usual wheel house, unless there is some historical, fantasy or science fiction element to them.  However, in the last year, I have gone out of my way to read a few of these books, such as Red War by Kyle Mills (based on the series by Vince Flynn) and The Moscow Offensive by Dale Brown, both of which had outrageous plots that deeply appealed to me.  These books turned out to be really awesome, and I had a real blast reading and reviewing them.  I loved the extreme action, the intriguing considerations these authors had put into planning out conflict between modern day countries as well as the interesting use of Russia as America’s main antagonist once again.  While they are somewhat over the top, these books were awfully fun, and I am now very keen to check out some more military thrillers as I know I will really enjoy them.

As luck would have it, two extremely entertaining-sounding military thrillers are coming out in the next couple of months, and I am really looking forward to both of them.  The first of these books is The Kremlin Strike by Dale Brown.  It will be the 23rd book in the author’s Patrick McLanahan series and is set to be released in May 2019 (although it will probably have a later release date in Australia).

The Kremlin Strike Cover.jpg

In this exciting, visionary, and all-too-plausible next chapter in the legendary Dale Brown’s New York Times bestselling techno-warfare series, Brad McLanahan and the Iron Wolf Squadron must fight the Russians on a dangerous, untested battlefield: outer space.

The previous administration’s ineffective response to the growing Russian threat has left America vulnerable. Setting a bold course for America’s defense, the decisive and strong new president, John Dalton Farrell, intends to challenge Russian aggression head on. Brad and Patrick McLanahan and the formidable Iron Wolf Squadron—including the recently injured Nadia Roz, rested and back to fighting form thanks to a pair of state-of-the-art prosthetic legs—are ready and eager to join the battle.

But even with their combined forces, the Russian menace may prove too great for the Americans to overcome. Done with provocative skirmishes and playing for small stakes, the Russian president has set his sights on the ultimate prize: controlling the entire world. Expanding beyond earth’s bounds, the Russians have built a new high-tech space station and armed it with weaponry capable of destroying US satellites as well as powerful missiles pointed at strategic targets across earth.

Devising a cunning plan of attack, Brad, Nadia, and the Iron Wolf warriors will take to the skies in their advanced space planes to destroy the space station, check the Russians’ plan for dominance, and save the world. But is it already too late?

As I mentioned above, I had a lot of fun reading the previous book in the Patrick McLanahan series, especially as it featured America and Russia going to war with advanced piloted robots.  Honestly, I found The Moscow Offensive to be one of the most entertaining books of 2018 and I have high hopes for this next book.  I am especially excited as it sounds like The Kremlin Strike will be just as fun, as the author once again takes the battle into space.  A war in space has a lot of entertainment potential and I am curious to see how Brown will utilise this unique environment in his story.

The second book that I am looking forward to in this article is Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Lt. Col Hunter Ripley Rawlings (USMC), set to be released in July 2019.

Red Metal Cover.png

A desperate Kremlin takes advantage of a military crisis in Asia to simultaneously strike into Western Europe and invade east Africa in a bid to occupy three Rare Earth mineral mines that will give Russia unprecedented control for generations over the world’s hi-tech sector.

Pitted against the Russians are a Marine lieutenant colonel pulled out of a cushy job at the Pentagon and thrown into the fray in Africa, a French Special Forces captain and his intelligence operative father, a young Polish female partisan fighter, an A-10 Warthog pilot, and the captain of an American tank platoon who, along with a German sergeant, fight from behind enemy lines in Germany all the way into Russia.

From a daring MiG attack on American satellites, through land and air battles in all theatres, naval battles in the Arabian sea, and small unit fighting down to the hand-to-hand level in the jungle, Russia’s forces battle to either take the mines or detonate a nuclear device to prevent the West from exploiting them.

I only came across Greaney’s thriller work quite recently, when I read and reviewed the latest book in his Gray Man series, Mission Critical.  I quite enjoyed his spy thriller work and I am extremely intrigued to see how he will go with this different thriller subgenre, although his experience writing Tom Clancy novels will no doubt prove invaluable.  I am also very curious to see how Greaney will go writing with his new co-author, especially as Rawlings brings some significant real-life military knowledge and experience to the table.

From the details above, Red Metal appears to be a standalone novel (although I imagine sequels will follow if this one is successful) that will follow the events of a future World War III in a large-scale story that goes for just over 600 pages.  I am really looking forward to reading a novel that completely chronicles a total war occurring around the globe, and I am very eager to see how it will turn out, especially because I am sure all sorts of cool technology or massive battles will come into play.  I am very excited about the range of characters described in the plot summary, as it looks like the authors will split the story between the various theatres of war that occur throughout the book.  I also like that many of the characters are European in origin; it will be very interesting to see how all these different nations come together and fight this war.  The example battles that are listed at the end of the plot synopsis also sound particularly thrilling, and the sheer range of different action sequences that could result out of these have so much potential.

Both of these upcoming military thrillers sound like they will be extremely exciting, and I am already very confident that I will have one hell of a good time reading them.  Onwards to war!