Anthony Horowitz

Reviewed on 19th October 2025

Susan Ryland's third adventure sees her back in the UK, and hired to edit a 'continuation' novel that turns out to have all the same issues as the originals, including murder.

I got through the book slower than I expected, but it's a hefty paperback and I wasn't in my usual location, so that probably had more of an impact that the text itself.

There's some great jokes at the author's expense, but mostly it's just more of the same - another cleverly structured tale of book within book, with more trauma and tragedy.

I enjoyed finding out what had happened again - but I understand this is the last book in the series, and I think it works well as an ending. It's a clever structure, but probably not one that stands up to too many returns, and probably is quite hard to make work.

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Reviewed on 1st February 2025

Former editor turned hotelier Susan is back, as she’s dragged into a new investigation tied to a book she previously edited.

It’s a fun adventure for the most part - and Horowitz makes really good use again of the book-within-a-book format (this time without needing to use a hard-to-read typeface too).

I love that he can write one story with two styles, with such close relationships between the stories, and yet it takes right up until the end to actually see if all and how clever it is.

My only issue was with quite the swerve in tone near the end - it’s warned about, but even then felt like a bit of a let down that it had to be that way.

I enjoyed it though, and am looking forward to a third adventure.

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Reviewed on 24th August 2024

In this brilliant murder mystery inside a murder mystery, Horowitz has put together two incredibly complex plots that tie together beautifully into one story.

I found it took me only a few moments to get into the swing of the font change that sets aside the story from the one within it, and then found myself absolutely gripped. For an author to b able to construct something so compelling as this is amazing.

I’ve read quite a few of Horowitz’s novels before, but that’s has properly inspired me to keep a look out for more of his crime series.

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Reviewed on 17th September 2023

The third Power of Five novel introduces us to some new characters - a pair of twins who live a rather unfulfilling childhood in the USA, until someone tries to buy them.

Then it becomes the sort of adventure I’m used to from Horowitz, apart from a section in the middle of the story which twists to a pseudo-Lovecraftian horror escapade (I liked this part less, I don’t find I have the right sort of imagination for those sorts of horror).

It’s a good, well paced story, bouncing around and starting to tie together a bigger picture that’s clearly going to continue into the final two novels.

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Reviewed on 26th June 2022

Anthony Horowitz returns to the world of James Bond for a third and final time, on this outing giving us a view of Bond late career, following the last of Fleming’s original novels.

As before, the author is able to successfully emulate Fleming’s style - though I suspect that this might mean the tale doesn’t appeal too well to readers more used to modern thrillers, as this style is quite slow and cerebral compared to later tastes for fast paced action.

However unlike before, I’m janitor convinced that Horowitz has managed to quite balance the Fleming with a more modern viewpoint, with some aspects of story and character coming across as a bit too Fleming in their attitudes towards women.

Overall though a satisfying end to the Horowitz trilogy, and one that gives a deeper sense of character to Bond at least than I think I’ve seen in along time. I’m intrigued next to see what the next author, Kim Sherwood, will bring to the series.

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Reviewed on 19th December 2021

The second book in the series, we follow the adventure as Matt’s powers cause him problems, even as his enemies continue to chase him down.

We head off to Peru for part of this story, and it seems like it takes an educational twist as we explore some history, which feels a bit like traditional children’s novels, while still retaining a modern approach to high tech adventure.

I think better than the first book, and I’m certainly encouraged to keep reading onto the remaining three.

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Reviewed on 27th June 2020

I’ve read most of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series, and both his James Bond novels, so when I saw the first book of the Power of Five series on the shelf I thought I’d give it a go, and I was right to. Matt is the classic chosen one - an orphan with suspicions he has powers, living an oppressive home life that he wishes to escape from - and as always adventure ensues.

It’s a great introduction to the series, gradually revealing more about the world and the character and taking the reader to a place where they are keen to find out more from the rest of the series.

The plot moves at a good pace, with nicely proportioned chapters. It’s darker than Horowitz’s previous novels that I’ve read, with a focus on elements of horror that feel a bit like a contemporary Lovecraft, if Lovecraft wrote in a tone that was approachable and readable.

Certainly worth a read if you can cope with the horror elements, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the rest of the series once I get back to book shops.

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