Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall

Philippa opens with a brief history lesson — the word "blurb" was invented in 1907 by a writer mocking self-congratulatory publishers, and his fictional creation Miss Belinda Blurb gave us the word we still use today. Then it's three book reviews and a wide-ranging, genuinely fascinating conversation with David Baldacci — over 200 million books sold — about his latest novel Hope Rises.
📚 Three Book Reviews
The Compound – Aisling Ruhl
Ten women wake up in a desert compound, cameras rolling, waiting for men to arrive. A dark, thought-provoking take on reality TV culture — more layered than it first appears.
They Called Us the Enemy – George Takei
A graphic novel memoir by the Star Trek actor recounting his family's imprisonment in Japanese American internment camps during World War II. Essential, heartbreaking, and — given it has now been banned in some US libraries — more important than ever.
Mad Mabel – Sally Hepworth
81-year-old Elsie Fitzpatrick has a curious history of people around her coming to a foul end. A beautifully narrated audiobook that defies easy genre labels — somewhere between a slow-burn thriller and the Thursday Murder Club, but entirely its own thing.
🎙️ David Baldacci on Hope Rises
Walter Nash did everything right — worked hard, earned well, built the American dream. Then an FBI agent turned up the night of his father's funeral and told him he had a choice: help bring down the criminal organisation he'd unknowingly worked for, or lose everything anyway.
David and Philippa discuss:
Why Walter Nash is a metaphor for everyone wondering where they fit in a world being reshaped by AI
The three-year class action lawsuit David and other authors brought against major AI companies — and the nine-hour deposition in which he was asked whether he'd copied Charles Dickens
Why he writes in a Greek deli near his Virginia office, where he has an unofficial plaque above his usual table
Being both an introvert and an extrovert — and why total isolation is actually his nightmare writing location
The reading crisis: why he stopped letting "I just don't have time to read" go unchallenged at book signings
The Wish You Well Foundation and why forcing children to read specific books is the fastest way to kill a love of reading
Growing up in segregated Richmond, Virginia, and why books were his "body armour against bigotry"
What he's reading: essays by Jesmyn Ward, a Toni Morrison biography, James by Percival Everett, Kurt Vonnegut's Jailbird, and ARCs from Ann Cleeves and Michael Koryta
The expression he hopes to see on readers' faces at the end of Hope Rises: a contented sigh, and a little more empathy
Biscuit answer: Cheez-Its — reduced fat, but consumed in quantities that would alarm a nutritionist. His son ate two boxes and then went out to buy a replacement, then ate that one too.
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Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.
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Philippa sits down with Robert Peston — ITV political editor, bestselling author, and reluctant biscuit convert — to talk about The Kill Switch, the third and final book in his Gil Peck thriller trilogy, and why he felt compelled to put artificial intelligence and the fragility of democracy at its heart.
🎙️ Robert Peston on The Kill Switch
When the prime minister dies in mysterious circumstances, journalist Gil Peck finds himself at the centre of a conspiracy that may or may not involve artificial intelligence. In a world of misinformation, fractured democracy, and technology that is rewriting the rules of everything, who — or what — is really pulling the strings?
Robert and Philippa discuss:
Why AI had to be at the heart of this book — and why he believes we are living through the most dangerous moment for democracy since the 1930s
The acknowledgment that stopped Philippa in her tracks: "Don't take democracy for granted. Our way of life is more at risk than at any time since the 1930s. This is the fight of our lives."
How the trilogy was always planned as three eras: New Labour 1997, the financial crisis of 2007-08, and the AI revolution now
Why writing fiction is joyful and writing nonfiction feels like work — and why he may never go back
How COVID gave him the time and space to finally finish a novel he'd been putting off for decades
The nightmare writing scenario: not a place but a moment — Trump inaugurations, government collapses, and the relentless news cycle taking over every inch of available brain space
His dream writing location: a central Lisbon Airbnb over Christmas and New Year — sunny, beautiful food, friendly strangers, and a scene in the novel as a thank-you to the city
Why he doesn't have a current auto-buy author but is devoted to Dorothy L. Sayers, John Buchan, and Isaac Bashevis Singer
The endless agony of book titles — including the battle to keep WTF on the cover of a Waterstones-stocked book
What he hopes readers feel at the end: hope, and curiosity about what comes next
What he's reading: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe and Mariana Mazzucato's The Common Good Economy
Biscuit answer: A chocolate man first and foremost — his go-to is the Choco Leibniz. Introduced mid-conversation to the M&S chocolate-drenched custard cream, which he had already discovered and confirms is "totally addictive." Castle Chocolates in Carlisle and their chocolate-covered lemon sponge are now firmly on his radar for the next book.
💬 Get in touch
Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com
Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philippa is joined by T.M. Payne — and her co-conspirator Susie — for what may be the most gloriously chaotic episode in Quick Book Reviews history. There are kitchen implement debates, merch updates, a real duck called Crispy, and a live Penguin biscuit demonstration that will genuinely change how you eat biscuits forever. Oh, and there's a brilliant book to talk about too.
But first, three book reviews.
📚 Three Book Reviews
The Reader on the 6.27 – Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
Please don't read the blurb — just pick this up. Under 200 pages, beautiful and surprising. All Philippa will say is: what Gillian does for a living will floor you.
Queenie is Working on It – Candice Carty-Williams
Queenie is back — still fallible, still gorgeous, still making questionable decisions — and that's exactly why she's so loveable. If you loved book one, you'll love this.
Heartstopper Volume Six – Alice Oseman
The final chapter of Nick and Charlie's story. Not what Philippa was expecting — but on reflection, exactly right. She needs to talk to someone about it. Get in touch when you've read it.
🎙️ T.M. Payne on One Bad Deed
DI Sheridan Holler is back — and this time she does something she never thought she'd have to do. That's all Tina will say.
Tina, Susie, and Philippa discuss:
The tongs vs spatula debate — and the merch empire that has got completely out of hand
Why Sheridan Holler is deliberately not a flawed, angst-ridden detective, and why her warmth comes from Tina's real 14 years as a police case investigator
Whether you need to start at book one (Tina says ideally yes, Susie and Philippa respectfully disagree)
The extraordinary true story behind the book's deaf character: a chance encounter with a hotel receptionist in Portsmouth who had been deaf since birth, who lip-read Tina from 12 feet away, and whose voice was then perfectly captured by audiobook narrator Heather Bleasdale — who will never be able to hear it
The dream book festival: a pop-up travelling event on a Routemaster bus, driven by Tina in a cap, pulling up outside people's houses when they can't get to a festival
The nightmare book festival: anywhere near a beetroot factory
Crispy the Duck — real, found on the Norfolk Broads, returned to the following year
The smell of One Bad Deed: duck poo and water
Philippa gets a mention in the acknowledgements of book six — alongside broccoli
Biscuit answer: Penguins — but not eaten normally. Bite off both ends, submerge in warm tea, suck the tea through the biscuit, shove it in your mouth at once. Three have been posted to Philippa. Videos are expected.
💬 Get in touch
Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com
Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.
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Philippa sits down with the brilliant Jo Spain — 13 bestselling thrillers already published, translated into 17 languages, TV writer and producer — to talk about her extraordinary new novel Never to Be Found, which sparked a bidding war from some of the biggest names in television before it was even published.
🎙️ Jo Spain on Never to Be Found
In Japan, up to 100,000 people every year voluntarily evaporate from their lives — a phenomenon known as jōhatsu. Entire industries exist to help them do it, providing new identities, documents, and a clean start. Veronica Paige has brought this concept to Britain, running a business disappearing people — until she discovers she's helped a murderer vanish.
Jo and Philippa discuss:
How a lunchtime article led to the entire concept of the book — and why Jo raced to write it before anyone else could
The once-in-a-career bidding war: Sam Mendes' production company, Amazon MGM, and The Walking Deadshowrunner Angela Kang all in pursuit of the same book
Why Jo always writes books for the love of them and scripts for the money — and why those two things are entirely separate
The three categories people fall into when they hear about jōhatsu: those who want to vanish, those horrified by abandonment, and those who think they'd be brilliant at making people disappear
How Veronica justifies what she does — and the moral question at the heart of the book
Why layers matter more than first drafts, and what it looks like from the outside when Jo is deep in the editing stage
Her dream writing location: the coast path between Moville and Greencastle in Donegal — where the Wi-Fi barely works and the day takes its time
Her nightmare: a writer's room, surrounded by other writers, expected to create on demand
The pressure of reader expectations for twists — and why she's made peace with the fact that she can't please everyone
BookTok: how she joined to keep an eye on her children and ended up addicted, embarrassing them daily, and discovering her last three books there
What she's reading: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, the latest Jane Harper, and London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
Biscuit answer: A committed biscuit addict who has written an entire novel powered by ginger nuts. Current favourite: shortcake with sultanas, dunked, and firmly classified as healthy eating.
💬 Get in touch
Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com
Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philippa opens with an update on the Great Book Parcel Saga — a box of holiday reading, a Greek customs office, a handwritten letter explaining why a normal person would post books to themselves, and the very real possibility of being detained at passport control. Then it's three book reviews and a long-overdue conversation with Tim Sullivan, creator of the beloved DS George Cross series, about his eighth book The Tailor.
📚 Three Book Reviews
The Pinnacle – Abir Mukherjee ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A washed-up Hollywood actor wakes from a drunken stupor to find his Bollywood superstar wife murdered in their Mumbai penthouse. Told from multiple perspectives across one luxury skyscraper — brilliantly written and Philippa's favourite Mukherjee yet.
Table for One – Emma Gannon
A woman's carefully constructed life falls apart, and she has to rediscover herself from scratch. Philippa read this on a train surrounded by serious businessmen while experiencing silent heaving sobs. Deeply moving and not what you might expect.
The Divorce – Freida McFadden
A woman whose husband has left her for a younger woman refuses to accept defeat and spirals into dangerous obsession. Gripping, compulsive, and — toward the end — absolutely unhinged in ways Philippa did not see coming.
🎙️ Tim Sullivan on The Tailor
A bespoke tailor is found murdered in the lavatory of the Bristol to London train. George Cross can tell immediately it wasn't opportunistic — and follows the evidence wherever it leads, even into territory that makes him deeply uncomfortable.
Tim and Philippa discuss:

Why George Cross belongs in the tradition of Dupin, Holmes, and Poirot — and why his autism is his gift, not an accessory
The rule Tim never breaks: we never laugh at George, only with him or at others' reactions to him
Why this is absolutely not cosy crime — and why the original covers did the books a disservice
Writing longhand with fountain pens (a collection of Pelikans, Montblancs, and Lamys), and why the family complain less if there's no laptop open
Writing book nine without knowing who the second killer is — and why not plotting keeps the writing organic
Being turned down by agents for neurodivergent appropriation, self-publishing the first two books, and being embraced by the autistic community instead
Why he's reluctant to sell TV rights — and why protecting George's authenticity matters more than a screen deal
The exclusive interview with George Cross hidden inside the hardback first edition (George found the whole thing fairly pointless)
What he's reading: Northanger Abbey, Bleak House, and an advance copy of Ian Rankin's new book
His one remaining ambition: to look up on the Tube and see a stranger reading one of his books
Biscuit answer: Flapjacks or white chocolate cookies — and absolutely no dunking. George would never allow it.
💬 Get in touch
Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com
Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.