Tag: thriller

Book Review – The Coming Fire by Greg Mosse

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About the Book

First came the darkness. Then the storm. Now it’s time to face the fire.

Following a fighter jet crash in the Haitian hinterland, special agent Alex Lamarque is taken captive by a violent gang, the lone authority in this lawless territory.

His only allies are busy on the other side of the world, facing a crescendo of dangers: the AI viruses crippling the digital state; the breakdown of law and order; and some unexpected, terrifying news from a Paris observatory.

With no hope of rescue, Alex must take on his greatest challenge entirely alone. Survival will take every bit of strength he has.

Format: Paperback (192 pages) Publisher: Moonflower Books
Publication date: 17th July 2025 Genre: Thriller, Dystopian

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My Review

The Coming Fire is the final book in the trilogy which started with The Coming Darkness and continued with The Coming Storm. The book accommodates those who haven’t read the earlier books by providing some recaps of events so far. However, I would suggest for maximum enjoyment, read the first two books. They’re fast-paced and you’ll race through them as I did.

The Coming Fire is set in 2037 in a world severely affected by climate change. Some parts of the globe have become uninhabitable which has led to mass migration. Those in possession of essential resources have power, the rest do not. Technology is familiar but has developed beyond what we have today. For example, there are fully autonomous vehicles. Just as today though, countries’ economies, infrastructure and vital services rely on digital communications relayed via satellites orbiting the Earth.

Imagine if all that came to a halt. Even worse, imagine that there are some who view that prospect not as a catastrophe but as the first stage in a reset for the planet, a chance for humanity to start all over again but on a smaller scale. And perhaps scariest of all, imagine there are people actively trying to bring this about.

The Coming Storm finished on an epic cliffhanger with the reader not knowing which of the main characters (all left in perilous situations) would make it out alive. The Coming Fire picks up directly from that point. In the case of Alex Lamarque, hailed as ‘saviour of the world’ for his role in defeating The Coming Darkness conspiracy, he’s mid-flight on an out-of-control aircraft with the cabin door locked. It’s just the first of a series of seemingly impossible situations from which he must extricate himself.

Every action hero demands a suitably villainous opponent. The author delivers this in style, introducing the reader to a man without morals, utterly ruthless and willing to sacrifice the lives of millions in pursuit of his warped objective. Those he needs to help him achieve it are used, and then discarded. Ironically his use of experimental medical treatments aimed at increasing his longevity has left him a husk of a man, reliant on others for his bodily needs. Unfortunately, his evil brain is still intact and if anything his immiment demise has made him even more fanatical.

A small island off the coast of Haiti is the location for the final showdown. Can Lamarque and his colleagues save the world from the catastrophic effects of a deadly cascade of events? Actually, perhaps it’s not just the action of humans we should fear. Maybe the universe has something against us as well.

The Coming Fire is a pacy action thriller that takes you on a whirlwind journey through a nightmare future.

My thanks to Moonflower Books for my digital proof copy.

In three words: Gripping, action-packed, immersive

About the Author

Greg’s first career was in theatre as actor, director and writer. He has lived and worked in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Madrid. Having worked as an interpreter at a variety of international institutions, in 2015 Greg returned to theatre. Since then, he has written and produced 25 plays and musicals. He took advantage of 2020’s lockdown to fulfil a long-term ambition to write a powerful thriller, and the Coming Darkness trilogy was the result.

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Book cover of The Coming Storm by Greg Mosse

Book Review – Kane by Graham Hurley #Kane @seasidepicture @soph_ransompr

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Kane by Graham Hurley. To make it even more special, today is publication day! My thanks to Sophie and Ellie at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Head of Zeus for my review copy via NetGalley

About the Book

Washington DC, 1941. Quincy Kane, hero of the Boston Police Department and scourge of organised crime, is now a Secret Service agent. His meteoric rise means he’s trusted to guard the most important man in the country: President Roosevelt.

Then Imperial Japan attacks the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.

For Kane, American entry to World War II means the most crucial mission of his career: a complex scheme of bribery and subterfuge that will see him cross the Atlantic. He could change the course of the conflict and save thousands of Allied lives.

First, though, he will have to survive a return to the world of organised crime via the City of Angels itself: Los Angeles, where every gangster has Quincy Kane in their crosshairs.

Format: Hardcover (432 pages) Publisher: Aries Fiction
Publication date: 19th June 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I’ve become a great fan of Graham’s books which combine the drama of real historical events – often revolving around key turning points in 20th century history – with the excitement of a thriller. (If you don’t believe me check out my reviews of three of his most recent books: Dead Ground, The Blood of Others and Katastrophe.) Although all the books are part of the ‘Spoils of War’ collection, the great thing is they are non-chronological so can be read in any order or as standalones.

In this case the historical starting point is the Japanese bombing of the US naval base at Pearl Harbour in December 1941, described by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the time as “a date which will live in infamy”, and which triggered the US’s entry into WW2.

Quincy Kane’s position in the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President, places him close to the heart of things. He can see the difficult decisions the President must grapple with as well as Roosevelt’s day-to-day struggles with the physical consequences of the polio he contracted as a young man. The author creates a neat personal connection between the two men and, much later, another character.

Kane also witnesses first-hand the difficult relationship between Roosevelt, who favours order and routine, and the mercurial Winston Churchill who seems to thrive on chaos. However, what Roosevelt and Churchill do agree on is the need to stop French ships falling into German hands. A plan is hatched which requires Kane to revisit the organized crime case he solved years before which made him the toast of the Boston Police Department. The only trouble is the people involved are still serving prison time.

From this point on we’re into full-on thriller territory with Kane reunited with a former colleague with a love of reptiles and the music of Wagner. Soon however Kane comes up against a human reptile with an ego the size of a planet, a penchant for violence and a dangerous fascination with the woman in Kane’s life, LA Times journalist Lou Mahoney. Mahoney is surely every red-blooded heterosexual man’s dream: smart, attractive and skilled in the bedroom. It’s a distraction from the mission Kane has been assigned and things become even more difficult when anti-Japanese sentiment scuppers an essential part of the plan.

It’s fair to say Kane doesn’t get through unscathed. Actually, let’s be honest, he’s pretty battered and bruised by the end of the book and makes some death-defying escapes of which James Bond would be proud. The end of the book finds Kane in a different part of the world, possibly leaving things open for a future reunion.

In three words: Compelling, action-packed, dramatic
Try something similar: Betrayal by David Gilman

About the Author

Graham Hurley is a documentary maker and a novelist. For the last two decades he’s written full-time, penning nearly fifty books. Two made the short list for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year, while Finisterre – the first in the Spoils of War collection – was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Award. Graham lives in East Devon with his lovely wife, Lin.

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