Book Review: Heavenfield

Title: Heavenfield

Author: L.J. Ross

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: August 4, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Heavenfield is the third book in LJ Ross's DCI Ryan series, and I want to say upfront: don't start here. This one continues immediately from the previous two installments, and you need that history to understand who these characters are and why the stakes feel so personal.

The setup is a gut-punch: Ryan, already suspended and cut off from his own team, finds himself the prime suspect in a murder at the remote church of Heavenfield. What starts as a seemingly impossible crime spirals outward into something much bigger, as members of the shadowy Circle begin turning up dead one by one. Ross scatters clues and red herrings with a steady hand.

The real standout for me was the escalating confrontation between Ryan and his own boss, Detective Chief Superintendent Gregson. The eventual standoff between the two of them, with lives literally hanging on the line, is the highlight of the novel — tense, well-earned, and satisfying.

The corruption subplot running underneath it all, with Circle members seemingly embedded at every level of authority, adds a nice layer of paranoia to the proceedings. You're never quite sure who Ryan can trust, and neither is he, which keeps the pacing tight even in the quieter investigative stretches.

A big thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

@PosisonedPenPress @NetGalley

Book Review: Cold Sunset

Title: Cold Sunset

Author: William Boyd

Publisher: Grove Atlantic

Publication Date: November 3, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

William Boyd has done it again. With Cold Sunset, the third installment in his Gabriel Dax series, he delivers a spy novel that feels less like genre fiction and more like literature.

It is 1964, and Cold War Moscow is doing what Cold War Moscow does best: simmering with paranoia, secrets, and the constant threat of exposure. Gabriel Dax, that most reluctant of spies — a travel writer who somehow keeps finding himself in the killing business — is tasked with delivering another mysterious
drawing to Kit Caldwell, a celebrated triple-agent living large as a Hero of the Soviet Union. Caldwell, convinced the KGB is closing in, wants Gabriel to do the unthinkable: smuggle him across the Russian border to Finland. With his enigmatic handler Faith Green pushing him forward, Gabriel is once again pulled into a world where loyalty is a moving target and trust is a luxury no one can afford.

Readers who came to Boyd through le Carré will feel right at home here. Cold Sunset inhabits the same shadow-drenched moral universe as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy — all Cold War fog and psychological tension, with precious little in the way of gadgets or car chases. This is character-driven espionage at its most literary, and Boyd's storytelling genius is on full display. The prose is elegant, the atmosphere immersive, and the ethical murk that surrounds Gabriel genuinely uncomfortable in the best possible way.

As for Gabriel himself — three books in, he is now a three-time killer, which sits uneasily on a man who never asked for any of this. He is no James Bond. He does not sip martinis shaken not stirred; he drinks whatever he can lay hands on, and plenty of it. He shares his bed with three women in the course of this story, yet there is nothing glamorous about it. Boyd resists the seductions of the spy fantasy at every turn, keeping Gabriel grounded, flawed, and utterly human. That is precisely what makes him such compelling company.

My only caveat — and it is less a complaint than an observation — is that the ending is deliberately ambiguous, the kind of conclusion that leaves threads dangling rather than tying them off. It is both satisfying and maddening at once, clearly designed to presage, if not outright demand, a fourth and possibly final book to close things out properly. Consider yourself warned, and consider yourself hooked.

A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#ColdSunset #NetGalley

Book Review: The Power of Beliefs

Title: The Power of Beliefs

Author: Shawn Achor

Publisher: Crown Currency

Publication Date: May 5, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Drawing on two decades of research and his work with organizations ranging from NASA to the NFL to a third of the Fortune 100, Shawn Achor makes a compelling case that our beliefs don't merely reflect reality — they bend it.

At roughly 180 pages, The Power of Beliefs is a brisk and accessible read, yet it carries real weight for positive change. The book is organized into three parts. The first lays essential groundwork, exploring how beliefs function as predictive engines for our health, success, wealth, and relationships. The second and meatiest section examines what Achor identifies as the seven core beliefs most predictive of a flourishing life:

1. My behavior matters — The foundational belief that your actions shape your outcomes, preventing a victim mentality.
2. I matter — Recognizing your inherent self-worth independent of external achievement or validation.
3. I am not alone — Understanding your deep connection to community, which builds psychological safety and combats loneliness.
4. This work is meaningful — Finding intrinsic purpose in your daily labor, which fuels long-term motivation and resilience.
5. I have things to be grateful for in the present — Choosing a baseline of abundance and appreciation rather than chasing what is missing.
6. I have something to give — Believing you possess valuable gifts, skills, or kindness to contribute, reinforcing agency.
7. There is something greater than me — Connecting to a higher purpose or collective human experience that transcends individual worries.
   

The third section addresses "the Great Drift" — the alarming rise of what he terms the Four Horsemen of the Modern World: burnout, anxiety, loneliness, and depression. This is where the book turns practical, offering six research-tested strategies for changing beliefs at the individual and communal level:

1. The Disaster Elevator — Change what part of the brain processes the world.
2. The Memory DeLorean — Change the memory.
3. Stopping Negative Mantras — Change the language.
4. Creating a Neural Tribe — Change the sources.
5. Starting the Wave — Change the contagious actions.
6. Common Texts, Common Action — Change the texts.

Throughout, Achor balances rigorous science with vivid storytelling, drawing on his work everywhere from Wall Street to impoverished schools in Africa, from Camp Pendleton to Camp David. That blend of anecdote and research makes for a compelling read that never feels dry or academic.

If I'm being honest, the final section felt slightly less satisfying than the first two — it's where the book's brevity shows most. But even there, the strategies are actionable and worth adopting. I was particularly drawn to The Disaster Elevator and Creating a Neural Tribe, both of which I intend to put into practice in my own life.

In a world where anxiety and disconnection feel increasingly unavoidable, The Power of Beliefs offers something rare: genuine, evidence-based hope — and a clear path forward.

A big thank you to Shawn Achor for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: It's Not What You Think

Title: It's Not What You Think

Author: Clare Mackintosh

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Publication Date: September 22, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I've read enough Clare Mackintosh to know she doesn't disappoint, and this one sits comfortably near the top of her output. She is at her best here — controlled, bold, and fully in command of her craft. It's Not What You Think is a tightly constructed, deeply satisfying thriller that pulls you forward with quiet insistence from the very first pages.

The setup pulls you in with the familiar architecture of domestic suspicion: Nadeeka is convinced her husband Jamie is having an affair. She knows the signs. She's been here before. But when she arrives home ready to confront him, Jamie can't explain himself — because Jamie is dead, and the house is now a crime scene. It's a sharp pivot, and it works beautifully. A twist arrives early — genuinely shocking — and it transforms what might have been a competent domestic thriller into something far more urgent and obsessive. From that point, Mackintosh keeps ratcheting up the tension with precision and confidence.

What gives the novel its particular resonance is its thematic backbone. At its core, this is a story steeped in the fear and fury surrounding immigration — extreme right-wing ideology, the demonization of the foreign-born, the very real danger that rhetoric becomes when it finds a body to act on. With Nadeeka as a central figure of Asian heritage, Mackintosh grounds these ideas in human consequence rather than abstraction. It's the kind of fiction that feels ripped from current headlines, whether you're reading it in England or the United States.

Adding a key human dimension to the investigation is the pair of detectives leading the case — who happen to be engaged and mere days away from their wedding. Their impending nuptials create a constant undercurrent that both complicates and crystallizes their pursuit of the truth. It's a clever structural choice that keeps the personal and the procedural in productive tension throughout.

#ItsNotWhatYouThink #NetGalley