Agent Palmer

Margaret Stohl is back with the sequel to her best-selling Black Widow: Forever Red with Black Widow: Red Vengeance, and just like a Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel, it takes the foundation of its predecessor and upgrades the stakes.

The Magus is both our romanticized past and timeless future all rolled into the fabric of something completely unique to the eye of the reader. It’s a linear story that hints at larger meanings and thoughts.

London Match, the final piece in the first trilogy centered on Bernard Samson, does well to both stand on its own and build off of its predecessors, Berlin Game and Mexico Set. As expected, author Len Deighton delivers everything you could ever want in spy fiction with the bonus of Bernard Samson being, well, Bernard Samson!

Essa Hansen’s debut novel, Nophek Gloss, is a must-read for everyone. To imply that it’s just for science fiction fans would diminish the well-crafted world, creative characters, and poignant dialog that Hansen has created.

It’s hard to say anything more than Mexico Set is a brilliant second act to Berlin Game’s first. Deighton picks up the plot where he left off and Samson is perhaps even more relatable in dealing with the aftermath or fallout of that first act.