PanMacmillan Archives

Book review: Room for Rent by Noelle W Ihli

April 28, 20262 min read

Room for Rent by Noelle W Ihli features a really likeable lead character. I warmed to Nya immediately. We quickly learn she’s defied her religious family and upbringing to leave home and study nursing at college. She’d been living with her bestie who graduated earlier so Nya has to find affordable accommodation to get through her last semester before starting her real life – and be reunited with her bestie again. When she finally finds a share-house within her budget she assumes her room-mate / landlord Sidney is female, but when she arrives she discovers it’s a really creepy guy.

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Book review: The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall

February 18, 20262 min read

The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall is a twisty and addictive read. It opens with a search and rescue team on the trail of a missing toddler… who’s thankfully found and there are #nospoilers there as that’s unrelated to the rest of the book 😉 . It is however while searching on private property (where she shouldn’t be) that school counsellor and search and rescue volunteer Audrey finds ‘witch beads’ (a talisman of sorts used by teens to ward off a local legend). Beads she believes could have been belonged to a local girl (Meghan) who recently disappeared, believed by police to have run away.

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Book review: And The Corpse Wore Tartan by Stuart MacBride

February 1, 20262 min read

And The Corpse Wore Tartan by Stuart MacBride is apparently officially the second in the ‘Steel and Tufty’ series, though MacBride points out it’s the first to solely feature DS (demoted from DCI) Roberta Steel who’s a regular in the Logan McRae books penned by the Scottish author. MacBride tells us he started this as a novella just before the first Covid lockdown so it’s simmered for a while before becoming a short novel. I’ve only read one of two of the Logan McRae series and didn’t remember Roberta (Robbie to her wife Susan, who features prominently here). And it has to be said, Robbie is certainly an acquired taste. If she were male she’d certainly be considered lecherous and/or lascivious and I was kinda horrified on Susan’s behalf how outwardly pervy Robbie is toward other women in her presence.

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Book review: The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens

November 20, 20252 min read

The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens is the latest novel by the Canadian author, who was one of the first authors I started to follow on social media as I loved her debut release Still Missing. And I think I’ve read all but one of her books. As for this book – OMFG what a ride!!! Literally…

It opens in 1976 and I read so many dual timeline books I was waiting to switch to the present (and the aftermath of whatever happens in 1976) but we stay there in fact… with Alice and Tom, a couple recovering after a tough year, taking a roadtrip in their brand new RV. They come across hitchhikers Jenny and Simon not long after setting off and end up offering them a lift when it’s obvious the young pair are far from prepared for camping.

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Book review: Last One Out by Jane Harper

October 22, 20253 min read

Last One Out by Jane Harper is the popular Aussie author’s latest release. It’s a standalone and beautifully balances the suspense / mystery element with some complex topics and deeper issues worthy of discussion. I loved the commentary Harper provides on regional and rural communities, particularly those impacted by fluctuating industries. In my day job with government I’m privy to A LOT of conversations about the impact that mining (not to mention gas and renewables—wind and solar farms)—has on landowners and communities. Here in Queensland we’ve seen some small towns fight for survival after a mine closes and certainly the north-western town of Mt Isa has featured prominently in recent media. I’m conscious there’s also the challenge of small businesses and primary producers trying to compete for workers when large mining corporations can offer much better salary packages, and locals being priced out of housing markets. Of towns left to wither and die when the land is drained of its bounty and mines or projects are decommissioned .

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Book review: To Die For by David Baldacci

October 29, 20243 min read

To Die For by David Baldacci is the latest in the series featuring former Army Ranger, now Homeland Security ‘fixer’, Travis Devine. It opens with Devine facing an attempt on his life. I must confess I had no memory of ‘the girl on the train’ or reasons for the bounty on his head and was initially a little disappointed that Baldacci didn’t give us the backstory, as he’s usually great at recapping for newcomers or those with memories like a goldfish like yours truly. Later however we learn that even Devine really wasn’t sure ‘why’ he was being targeted and all is eventually revealed.

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Book review: A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci

March 24, 20243 min read

It’s a terrible thing to admit but I’ve little interest in history (or real life in general – hence my hatred of non-fiction), so avoid books set… anytime before the 1960s basically. A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci is however set in the late 1960s. Around the time I was born in fact. Thankfully I enjoyed the ‘mystery’ on offer (not to mention the unfolding plot) because as a non-American I know very little of the time and events referenced here. It didn’t impinge of my enjoyment of the book, but I’m fairly sure I skimmed bits about politics and legislation that would be known by, or of interest to, Americans.*

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Book review: The Professor by Lauren Nossett

January 4, 20243 min read

The Professor by Lauren Nossett is the second book I’ve read by the former professor. In my review of The Resemblance I talked about it being obvious that she was ‘writing what she knew’ which is an old adage for authors. It too was set at a university and meant that readers were privy to the innermost workings of life-on-campus (and behind closed professorial doors).

This started a little slowly for me. Dragging to the point I was tempted to put it down just after starting, which would draw its reading out and I’d feel less inclined to get back to it, ultimately resulting in a reading slump. However… the action picks up significantly about two-thirds of the way through and Nossett throws in some twists so the novel finishes on a high.

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