Jay Tinsiano's 3 favorite reads in 2025

I picked up Westwind out of curiosity; it’s the “lost” Rankin novel from 1990, revived after years out of print. It also ticked my boxes of interest when it comes to my favourite thriller reads: surveillance, conspiracy, geopolitics, and technological dependence, all themes that feel even more relevant today.
Known for his Rebus crime series, Rankin here tries his hand at a Cold War-style techno-thriller. The setup is classic late-20th-century paranoia: satellites fail, an astronaut is stranded, and strange deaths follow on Earth. It’s fast, conspiratorial, and already shows flashes of Rankin’s sharp pacing.
Still, the book shows its age. The tech is dated, the dialogue wooden in places, and the plot sometimes stretches credibility, but you can sense an author still finding his voice.
For me, the book works best as a time capsule; a snapshot of Rankin before he became Ian Rankin. It’s a fast, pulpy read with an old-school vibe, and while it doesn’t reach the sophistication of his later novels, it’s fun to see his early storytelling instincts taking shape.

Unbelievably, this is the first Ken Follett book I’ve read (listened to). I picked Paper Money because it sounded like a nicely rounded thriller set in London/UK, which I am always a sucker for. Don’t worry, I’ll be reading plenty more, and like Westwind by Ian Rankin, this was, apparently, an early effort, written before his big hits. It’s set over a single day in London, weaving together bankers, journalists, politicians, and criminals as a major financial deal spirals into chaos.
The story moves fast, switching viewpoints almost every chapter. You can already see Follett’s gift for pacing and plotting, the sense that everything is connected and heading toward collision. It’s a sharp setup and, for the most part, it works.
Paper Money is an entertaining glimpse of Follett in his early days; energetic, clever, and full of promise. I’m undecided which of his books to go for next, but there’s a list waiting.

I do like any thriller set in the Second World War, and the setting of this first in a series by Scarrow is very compelling: Berlin, 1939, a city darkened by Nazi rule. It’s a tense, atmospheric thriller where the fear of the regime is as potent as the fear of a killer on the loose.
The main character, Inspector Horst Schenke, is easy to root for. He’s trying to do his job honestly in a world where truth can get you killed. His investigation into a young woman’s murder pulls him into dangerous political territory, and Scarrow does a good job showing how hard it is to stay decent in such a corrupt system.
The plot moves at a steady pace, not breakneck, but always interesting. Some parts feel rushed or unresolved, but the mood and atmosphere make up for it. You can almost feel the cold air and the dread hanging over every scene.
Blackout is more than just a whodunit. It’s about courage and survival when right and wrong are blurred, and a solid historical thriller that promises a compelling deep dive into Nazi Berlin with the rest of the series. On the TBR pile!