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annieb123's review
5.0
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
What Doesn't Kill Us is the 18th PI procedural mystery featuring McKenzie written by David Housewright. Released 25th May 2021 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately; it makes it so easy to find information with the search function.
This is a departure for this series because it's told in first person retrospective. McKenzie himself has been shot and is unconscious and in a coma for most of the book. Though it's the 18th book in the series, it works pretty well as a standalone and the author is adept enough to give enough background without overloading readers with unnecessary detail.
The plotting is well crafted with several subplots including solving McKenzie's shooting, the criminal underworld, and a well connected ultra-rich tech fortune family complete with infighting and inheritance disagreements. McKenzie is an inveterate favor-granter to his friends and this time he's gotten himself mixed up in something that's nearly gotten him killed.
The whole book felt like a visit with characters the fans of the series have been following for almost 20 years. I did appreciate that the author didn't leave the "did he die or not" plot element hanging, he resolved it from the first page, with McKenzie himself narrating. There's plenty of dramatic tension to be found throughout and I also liked that the supporting ensemble of characters get a starring role in this book.
Recommended for fans of PI procedurals. The language is R rated. There's some light sexual content, but nothing on page. There is some violence and blood.
Four and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
What Doesn't Kill Us is the 18th PI procedural mystery featuring McKenzie written by David Housewright. Released 25th May 2021 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately; it makes it so easy to find information with the search function.
This is a departure for this series because it's told in first person retrospective. McKenzie himself has been shot and is unconscious and in a coma for most of the book. Though it's the 18th book in the series, it works pretty well as a standalone and the author is adept enough to give enough background without overloading readers with unnecessary detail.
The plotting is well crafted with several subplots including solving McKenzie's shooting, the criminal underworld, and a well connected ultra-rich tech fortune family complete with infighting and inheritance disagreements. McKenzie is an inveterate favor-granter to his friends and this time he's gotten himself mixed up in something that's nearly gotten him killed.
The whole book felt like a visit with characters the fans of the series have been following for almost 20 years. I did appreciate that the author didn't leave the "did he die or not" plot element hanging, he resolved it from the first page, with McKenzie himself narrating. There's plenty of dramatic tension to be found throughout and I also liked that the supporting ensemble of characters get a starring role in this book.
Recommended for fans of PI procedurals. The language is R rated. There's some light sexual content, but nothing on page. There is some violence and blood.
Four and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
zombeesknees's review
5.0
Full review can be found here: https://www.criminalelement.com/book-review-what-doesnt-kill-us-by-david-housewright/
mreadsbooksnfics's review
4.0
This is a one sitting type of book, enjoyable and engaging.
I had not read the series, so I was not able to compare to the others. This is a solid police procedural novel that will keep fans of the genre reading. I was not a fan of how often it was switching between the people, it was like whiplash slightly. Still, it was a quick read and not disappointing,
I had not read the series, so I was not able to compare to the others. This is a solid police procedural novel that will keep fans of the genre reading. I was not a fan of how often it was switching between the people, it was like whiplash slightly. Still, it was a quick read and not disappointing,
tonstantweader's review
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What Doesn’t Kill Us is the 18th installment in the P.I. Rushmore MacKenzie series and a real surprise. Early in the book, Mac is shot and spends the majority of the book in a medically induced coma while his friends and associates do the detecting. This gives us several separate investigations tracking the various threads that take them far afield while circling back with delicious synchronicity.
His best friend is police Lt. Bobby Dunston who absolutely cannot lead the investigation so he assigns his partner, a woman decidedly not fond of Mac. But there are the people he has done favors for in the past and they are returning the favor with brilliance and diligence. It is a delight to see how the disparate investigations following different trails all end up at the same place. Frankly, there is a hilarious, nearly slapstick denouement. I loved it.
I love Mac and it almost feels disloyal to love a book where he is unconscious through most of it, but I loved What Doesn’t Kill Us. It was a delight to see his friends take up for him. I loved how some of the less-than-legitimate friends were just as effective as the cops. So I love camp and I love capers and this felt like both and with Mac narrating the entire story in the past tense, there was no real sense of jeopardy to temper our enjoyment of the caper.
- What Doesn’t Kill Us at St. Martin’s Press | Macmillan
- David Housewright author site
- From the Grave by David Housewright review
- Darkness, Sing Me a Song by David Housewright review
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2021/06/14/9781250756992/
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