I don’t typically like (overly-long) Fantasy novels. But this one worked for me.

Foundryside (2018) by Robert Jackson Bennett is a high-stakes fantasy heist novel set in the city of Tevanne, where industrialised magic—known as “scriving“—is used to convince inanimate objects to disobey the laws of physics. 

The Core Storyline:

• The Heist: Sancia Grado, a highly skilled thief with the unique ability to “feel” how objects are scrived, is hired to steal a seemingly ordinary, heavily guarded box from a merchant house warehouse.
• The Discovery: Upon opening the box, Sancia discovers it contains an intelligent, ancient artifact (named Clef) that holds the secrets of the “Hierophants”—an ancient civilization that once used this magic to reshape reality.
• The Conflict: Powerful, ruthless merchant houses want this artifact to monopolize the technology and rewrite the world to their advantage. Sancia, now a target, must go on the run to protect the item.
• The Alliance: Sancia teams up with an unlikely group, including a disgruntled soldier named Gregor Dandolo, to prevent this technology from falling into the wrong hands.
• The Resolution: The plot unfolds as a series of action-packed heists and chases, forcing Sancia to learn how to manipulate the magic herself to survive and stop the merchant houses from unleashing a new, dangerous era of reality-warping technology. 

Ofelia Dandolo: Gregor’s mother, the fiercely formidable woman who runs the Dandolo Campo and plans on making sure it stays on or near the top.

• Orso and Berenice: the master scriver of Gregor’s House and his “Fab” (think the “builder” to his “architect”), both driven by intellectual curiosity and a desire to further their craft.
• Claudia and Giovanni: scrivers who failed out of the campo system and now do scriving work in the black market.

Foundryside is the first book in the Founders trilogy and focuses on themes of corporate greed, the ethics of AI, and the power of technology

You can’t help but cheer for 75-year-old Lottie, a likeable old murdering grandmother.

Too Old for This (20250 by Samantha Downing is a dark comedy.

Lottie Jones, a retired serial killer living a quiet life who is forced back into her old habits when an investigative journalist shows up asking questions about her past.

– AI

People magazine review – A Serial Killer’s Secret Is on the Line in Samantha Downing’s Thriller Too Old for This

Beautiful Ugly is a 2025 psychological thriller novel by Alice Feeney.

The book follows Grady Green, a once-successful author who retreats to a remote Scottish island after his wife Abby’s disappearance, only to encounter unsettling events and a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Not normally a fan of anything horror,— or even creepy — this book was interesting enough to keep me going.

The twists and turns are not believable — but it’s still worth reading.

The 33rd book in the Lucas Davenport series is excellent. One of the best.

In Judgment Prey (2023) Davenport and Flowers are brought in to help with the investigation of the murder of a federal judge and his two young sons.

As they track down various suspects, they aren’t getting very far.

With each potential lead flawed, Davenport and Flowers are determined to chase every theory until they figure out who killed the Sands. But when they find themselves being stonewalled by the most unlikely of forces, the two wonder if perhaps each misdirection could lead them closer to the truth.

I’ve resumed reading Clifton Chronicles.

• Only Time Will Tell (2011)
• The Sins of the Father (2012)
• Best Kept Secret (2013)
• Be Careful What You Wish For (2014)
• Mightier Than the Sword (2015)
• Cometh The Hour (2016)
• This Was a Man (2016)

Archer is a terrific story teller.

The book picks up after the events in The Sins of the Father, with the House of Lords having to decide who will be the heir to the fortune of Hugo Barrington.

The vote ends with a tie, which prompts the Lord Chancellor to vote in favor of Giles Barrington.

This leaves Clifton free to marry Emma Barrington …

It goes on from there.

Personally, I most liked the story thread of Sebastian Clifton and his sister.

Sebastian returns to school and is focused on gaining admission to Cambridge University. However, he is rusticated because of certain misdemeanours …

Running off to London, Sebastian is robbed by a pickpocket. Without money, he visits his friend Bruno Martinez.

Bruno’s father (a crook) offers the 17-year-old 100 pounds if he carries a sculpture to London from Argentina.  It contains eight million pounds in fake £5 notes originally produced by the NAZIs.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Wow. An original book.

Nothing to See Here (2019) by Kevin Wilson

I loved the unusual and believable dialogue. A convincing, if odd, friendship.

Lillian is 28 and in a dead-end job.

Years ago, she was a scholarship student at an elite boarding school but was wrongly expelled when her privileged best friend Madison was caught with drugs.

Now Madison is married to a US senator and has two problem stepchildren who spontaneously combust whenever they get angry or upset.

Madison employs Lillian as the children’s guardian for the summer and the trio of outsiders discover they have much in common.

Funny, surreal and tender, Nothing to See Here portrays an unconventional, dysfunctional family in need of repair.

Guardian review

Roberta Stalzer:

I’m giving it a 5 star rating for its originality and the author’s ability to make me believe the idea of kids starting on fire when stressed, didn’t seem particularly odd. A fun read.

Taffy Brodesser-Akner

“I can’t believe how good this book is…. It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect….

Wilson writes with such a light touch….

The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming.

You’re laughing so hard you don’t even realize that you’ve suddenly caught fire.”