What in God’s Name?
by Simon Rich
(1 Review)
Welcome to Heaven, Inc., the grossly mismanaged corporation in the sky. For as long as anyone can remember, the founder and CEO (known in some circles as "God") has been phoning it in. Lately, he's been spending most of his time on the golf course. And when he does show up at work, it's not to resolve wars or end famines, but to Google himself and read what humans have been blogging about him. When God decides to retire (to pursue his lifelong dream of opening an Asian Fusion restaurant), he also decides to destroy Earth. His employees take the news in stride, except for Craig and Eliza, two underpaid angels in the lowly Department of Miracles. Unlike their boss, Craig and Eliza love their jobs - uncapping city fire hydrants on hot days, revealing lost keys in snow banks - and they refuse to accept that earth is going under. The angels manage to strike a deal with their boss. He'll call off his Armageddon, if they can solve their toughest miracle yet: getting the two most socially awkward humans on the planet to fall in love. With doomsday fast approaching, and the humans ignoring every chance for happiness thrown their way, Craig and Eliza must move heaven and earth to rescue them - and the rest of us, too... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 23rd October 2022

Paradise City
by Elizabeth Day
(1 Review)
Paradise City is an audacious, compassionate state-of-the-nation novel about four strangers whose lives collide with far-reaching consequences. Beatrice Kizza, a woman in flight from a homeland that condemned her for daring to love, flees to London. There, she shields her sorrow from the indifference of her adopted city, and navigates a night-time world of shift-work and bedsits. Howard Pink is a self-made millionaire who has risen from Petticoat Lane to the mansions of Kensington on a tide of determination and bluster. Yet self-doubt still snaps at his heels and his life is shadowed by the terrible loss that has shaken him to his foundations. Carol Hetherington, recently widowed, is living the quiet life in Wandsworth with her cat and The Jeremy Kyle Show for company. As she tries to come to terms with the absence her husband has left on the other side of the bed, she frets over her daughter's prospects and wonders if she'll ever be happy again. Esme Reade is a young journalist learning to muck-rake and doorstep in pursuit of the elusive scoop, even as she longs to find some greater meaning and leave her imprint on the world. Four strangers, each inhabitants of the same city, where the gulf between those who have too much and those who will never have enough is impossibly vast... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 1st May 2022

Hamnet
by Maggie O’Farrell
(1 Review)
Winner of the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction
Two extraordinary people. A love that draws them together. A loss that threatens to tear them apart. On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home? Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week. Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright: a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 2nd April 2022

The Wind City
by Summer Wigmore
(1 Review)
Wellington. The wind city. New Zealand’s home of art and culture, but darker forces, forgotten forces, are starting to reappear. Aotearoa’s displaced iwi atua – the patupaiarehe, taniwha, and ponaturi of legend – have decided to make Wellington their home, and while some have come looking for love, others have arrived in search of blood. A war is coming, and few can stand in their way. Saint (lovably fearless, temporarily destitute, currently unable to find a shirt) may be our only hope. Tony, suddenly unemployed and potentially a taniwha herself, has little choice but to accept the role her bloodline dictates. And Hinewai, who fell with the rain? If she can’t find her one true love, there’s a good chance that none will live to see the morning. Wellington will never be the same again... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen 23rd October 2022

As It Should Be
by Shawna James
(1 Review)
As It Should Be is the second book in Shawna James' They Loved Collection. Forced to flee Norway, now someone is following his daughters. How can Andrew protect his family? Andrew and his wife, Stephanie, thought they had bought their safety and freedom. Just as they had settled into an idyllic life in Norway, the table turn again, into a living nightmare. They are forced to move back to Canada and run through yet another convoluted maze. Upon arriving back to the country in which they met, a man in a blue Jetta begins following Stephanie and their daughters. Can Andrew protect his family from the looming threats? And who is following Stephanie? Even in the midst of dramatic events, Andrew and Stephanie stay positive and strong for their daughters, hoping that someday the curse will be lifted... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen 1st May 2022

Despite the Devil
by Shawna James
(1 Review)
Stephanie gazed at Andrew’s clean-shaven, long and slender face. His dark green eyes were captivating. His brown hair was neatly combed to the side. His eyebrows were thick and kind of joined in the middle, and his nose looked even sharper from the angle at which Stephanie was now looking at him. Girl, he’s handsome! Stephanie thought, And that accent! There they stood, both having embarrassed themselves by saying foolish things and not wanting to say anymore. When Stephanie meets Andrew Simmons, she believes she's found the perfect man: smart, handsome, kind, and athletic. But as their romance begins to blossom, Stephanie learns that Andrew’s dark past could haunt their life together. His dangerous earlier life may destroy the happiness the two of them share... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen 2nd April 2022