New releases coming in February. FICTION My Own Dear Brother, by Holly Müller: An unforgettable, nightmarish coming-of-age story set in rural Austria towards the end of the Second World War (Bloomsbury Circus, RRP $33). I’ll See You in Paris, by…
Author: Jillian Allison-Aitken
Latest Roy Grace book a good read
You are Dead, by Peter James (Macmillan Publishers, RRP $34.99): Best-selling author Peter James is back with the 11th book in his Roy Grace crime series. Nick Walton’s fiance Logan has just driven into the underground car park of the…
Fairy-tale life that turned sad
Empty Mansions, by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr (Atlantic Books, RRP $40): It’s human nature that we have a fascination with the lives of the rich and famous, but sometimes the lives of the incredibly wealthy are also…
Patterson provides good holiday reading
Gone, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Century, RRP $37): James Patterson is always a good option for holiday reading and the sixth novel in the best-selling Michael Bennett crime thriller series is – as always – easy to read…
Inspiration top of ill teacher’s list
The Priority List, by David Menasche (Allen & Unwin, RRP $35): The word “inspirational” is often bandied about when it comes to biographies of the famous and wealthy, but this story of a teacher who simply wanted to carry on…
Fresh insights into what makes Reacher tick
Personal, by Lee Child (Bantam Press, RRP $38): There’s nothing quite like getting your hands on a new Jack Reacher adventure and this one’s a cracker. Action hero Reacher, the ex-military cop who is now something of a one-man army, is…
Poster a trip down memory lane
The average Kiwi fish and chip shop these days is a bit different from those of my long-ago youth: they’re as likely to feature framed prints, arty menus, glossy plants and fancy-schmancy tartare sauce as they are a pile of…
Misogyny distracts from juicy plot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wTQL9zaR_0 Cop Town, by Karin Slaughter (Century, RRP $37): Set during the 1970s, this book came across as trying to be as much of a history lesson as it was a murder mystery, telling the story of the women who…
Return to the manor a treat
Dog Gone, Back Soon, by Nick Trout (Allen & Unwin, RRP $37): I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but I missed the buzz over author Nick Trout’s earlier novels. The biggest buzz of all has been about 2013’s The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs. I eventually managed to…
Grylls delivers – and some
True Grit Junior Edition, by Bear Grylls (Corgi Juvenile, RRP $20): I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy this book but am pleased to say I was proved wrong. Let me begin by owning up to one thing in particular: I’m not…