Books like Blood Pact

It's controversial! But I think this is one of the very best Gaunt's Ghosts novels - maybe even the best?Perhaps it's after the relative disappointment of The Lost arc and in particular its ending, but Blood Pact feels remarkably coherent, fun, and lacks most of the faults that have historically dogged the series.The book is basically the complete inverse of the similarly excellent Traitor General as the Ghosts find themselves protecting a key imperial asset from an elite team of Blood Pact who have inserted into a familiar imperial world. Much like in that novel we see both sides' perspectives, and much like in that novel we glean a huge amount of information into the daily lives of soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Tension increases as the book goes on, and by the final confrontation - taking place in one of my favourite locations in any 40k novel - things are truly breathless.By design the book has a range of antagonists with clear personalities, and even touches on some deeper themes such as memory, grief, and the inherently violent nature of soldiers. I would have loved to see these themes developed further, and it does feel like a missed opportunity particularly given the emotional resonance of the ending arena, but Abnett goes further here than in pretty much any other Gaunt's Ghosts novel. Within the confines of such a novel, it's truly 5 stars. It's not going to win the Nobel prize for literature, but as a 40k novel, and specifically a Gaunt's Ghosts novel, it's truly sublime. Very different from Necropolis and Sabbat Martyr and in many ways superior to the inverse novel Traitor General is this the best novel in the series to date?