August 2025 Reads

I had a little more downtime than normal in August, so I managed to read twelve books, alongside listening to three audiobooks. The month was predominantly thrillers, and what a fantastic selection they were. There were four 5-star thrillers this month, a couple of them are going to stay in my mind for quite a while. With summer over, thoughts now turn to cosy reads. I’ve got one lined up for September so far. Does anyone have any cosy reads planned?

The month began with Bad Actors by Mick Herron, the only book I had left to read in the Slough House/Slow Horses series. This is very much centred around the political machinations of a special advisor to No. 10 and the head of MI5. The slow horses do become embroiled, eventually, and when they do, chaos erupts. Filled with classic lines and sarcasm.

One of my favourite reads of 2024 was Blood Like Mine from Stuart Neville. I was really excited to read the sequel, Blood Like Ours. The book opens only days after the previous one ended. Rebecca Carter wakes in a strange room and finds her worst fears have come true. Her only concerns are survival and finding her daughter. Rebecca finds herself forming an uneasy alliance with the partner of the FBI agent who was hunting her down in the first book.

The Cut Throat Trial by The Secret Barrister/S. J. Fleet blew me away. A legal thriller where three youths are on trial together for the brutal murder of an old man. The story is told from multiple perspectives: the three accused, each of their barristers, the judge and the prosecuting barrister. We get inside each person’s mind, but even then, the truth of what happened on the night in question isn’t obvious.

The Final Vow by M. W. Craven has been eagerly awaited by fans of the Washington Poe series. I’m sure that those fans, just like me, were left speechless by the opening pages. A sniper has the country living in terror. Over the space of six months, he has murdered seventeen random people. It’s up to Poe and Tilly to figure out who the sniper is, with devastating consequences. This is an edge-of-your-seat read.

Since discovering author Laura Pearson, I’ve enjoyed her novels, which tend to offer a quirky take on the uplifting genre. The Life She Could Have Lived introduces us to Anna and a decision she has to make on her first wedding anniversary. The novel then becomes a “sliding doors” scenario, where we meet the two versions of Anna on the same date each year and discover the direction her life has taken depending on the decision she made. I loved the way in which the author showed that neither version was necessarily better than the other.

I finally got around to reading the second book in the David Raker series by Tim Weaver. I’ve been promising myself I’d read The Dead Tracks for ages, and I’m now kicking myself that I put it off for so long. The police seem to have given up looking for a missing teenager. When Raker is hired by her parents, events move quickly. Raker discovers that the girl isn’t the first to go missing under the same circumstances. Links to organised crime and a long-dead serial killer make for a sinister read.

I was jumping for joy when the publishers gave me an advanced copy of Clown Town by Mick Herron, the new book in the Slough House/Slow Horses series. Diana Taverner and Peter Judd are at war, and Taverner has blackmailed an old spy network to help her win the battle. Everything is meticulously planned until the slow horses become involved, with devastating consequences. Fans will not be disappointed, and we see Jackson Lamb drop his front for a very brief moment.

My book group read for August was Bear Is Broken by Lachlan Smith, a legal thriller. Newly qualified lawyer Leo Maxwell is hoping to work with his older brother Teddy when Teddy is shot. With Teddy hovering between life and death, Leo tries to track down the person responsible. I thought this was a fairly run-of-the-mill thriller.

Left In The Ashes by Anna Britton is the third book in the Martin & Stern series. Book two left readers with an ominous cliffhanger. Book 3 opens with the pair of detectives investigating a series of arson cases, where the latest one has taken the life of a young woman. The big question is whether the death was accidental or deliberate. At the same time, the latest child victim of a serial killer is discovered, the same killer responsible for the death of Gabe Martin’s brother. We see Gabe disassemble before our eyes as she is thrust into the spotlight once again, particularly as she has never come to terms with the past.

The Transcendent Tide by Doug Johnstone, the third book in the Enceladons trilogy, has filled me with such mixed emotions. I’ve loved this series following a race of aquatic aliens who make Earth their refuge, but I was heartbroken with the direction the story took in this latest book. The author has shone a light on Western culture and attitudes, and what we see is shocking and saddening.

59 Minutes by Holly Seddon is one of those books that will fill you with terror. The south of England is given a 59-minute warning that a missile is on its way. Panic sets in and chaos ensues as we follow three women over the space of the hour. Carrie is desperate to get across London to her family, Frankie and her husband are hunting for supplies to stock their rental cottage, and Mrs Dabb doesn’t know where her teenage daughter is. The short time frame and alternating perspectives keep you turning the pages.

I enjoyed the first book in the Holmes, Marple & Poe series by  James Patterson far more than I expected to, so I was really looking forward to the second book, Holmes Is Missing. Unfortunately, this time around, the storyline lacked the mystique of the first book. Instead of capitalising on the mystery surrounding the background of the three main characters, the storyline focused on their personal lives. There was a crime to solve, the disappearance of babies from a hospital; however, the investigation was a bit madcap, with lots of chasing from one location to the next.

My first audiobook of the month was the psychological thriller Two Perfect Couples by Renita D’Silva. Two families plan a dream holiday together in Goa. On their first night, one of the children disappears. Has Ajit wandered off, or has he been kidnapped? You get a real sense of the panic the mother feels as the search uncovers nothing. When the police become involved, a whole host of secrets are revealed.

Stillwater by Tanya Scott grabbed my attention a it was recommended for fans of Lee Child, and I can see why. Just like Jack Reacher, the main character of the book just wants to live a quiet and unassuming life, but trouble seems to find him. The reason trouble finds Luke Harris is that he has a past; as a youth, he worked for a hardened criminal. He’d hoped that moving away and changing his name would be enough to escape his past, but when he returns to his hometown, he finds himself dragged right back in.

My final audiobook of the month was The Note by Alafair Burke. I enjoyed the gossipy style the story initially took, with three friends meeting for a weekend away. After an altercation with another driver, they leave a nasty note on his windshield. When the driver goes missing, they try to cover up being in the area on the night in question. As the police dig into the mystery, lots of secrets are uncovered.

Publication dates to watch out for:-

Clown Town by Mick Herron will be published on 11/9/25 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Life She Could Have Lived by Laura Pearson will be published on 12/9/25 in hardback, paperback and ebook format.

59 Minutes by Holly Seddon will be published on 25/9/25 in paperback, ebook and audio format

The Note by Alafair Burke will be released on 1/10/25 in audio format (paperback and ebook are available now).