Ben’s Book Club

Sunshine Coast Libraries are excited to participate in Ben’s Book Club, a monthly online event hosted by Ben Hobson best-selling author of Snake Island.

Join Ben Hobson in conversation with author Louise Milligan to discuss her novel Pheasants Nest.

During this digital book club, guests will have the opportunity to ask questions, interact with the authors, and enjoy a well-rounded bookish discussion.

Date and time	Registration
Tuesday 28 May, 7.30-8.30pm (AEST)	Ben’s Book Club featuring Louise Milligan A Zoom link will be sent via email upon registering

About the book

She wonders if they have discovered her missing yet. Has it broken in the news? Who has been assigned to cover her story? Have they started spooling through her social media and pulling out photographs? Constructing a narrative about who she is and what possible reason any person has to kidnap or (let's be frank) kill her? She tries not to let out the whimper that's building in her sternum, at the thought that he might. Kill her, that is. He might kill her. Kate Delaney has made the biggest mistake of her life. She picked the wrong guy to humiliate on a girls' night out and now she is living every woman's worst nightmare. Kate finds herself brutalised, bound and gagged in the back of a car being driven god knows where by a man whose name she doesn't know, and she is petrified about what's in store for her. As a journalist who is haunted by the crimes she's had to report over her career, Kate is terrifyingly familiar with the statistics about women who go missing-and the fear and trauma behind the headlines. She knows only too well how those stories usually end. Kate can only hope the police will find her before it's too late, but she's aware a random crime is hardest to solve. As the clock ticks down, she tries to keep herself sane by thinking about her beloved boyfriend and friends, escaping into memories of love and happy times together. She knows she cannot give way to despair. As the suspense escalates, Kate's boyfriend Liam is left behind, struggling with his shock, fear and desperation as the police establish a major investigation. The detectives face their own feelings of anguish and futility as they reflect on the cases they didn't solve in time and the victims they couldn't save. They know Kate's chances of survival diminish with every passing hour.

About the author   

Louise Milligan is a multi-award-winning investigative journalist for ABC TV's Four Corners, the Australian national broadcaster's flagship current affairs documentary program. She is the author of two bestselling non-fiction books: Cardinal, The Rise and Fall of George Pell and Witness, An Investigation into the Brutal Cost of Seeking Justice. Her books have been awarded multiple prizes.

Ben Hobson

Ben Hobson is a teacher, and an author, based in Brisbane. To Become a Whale, his debut novel, was released in 2017. It was longlisted for the ABIA Debut Fiction award and shortlisted for the Courier-Mail's People's Choice Award. His second novel, Snake Island, a literary thriller, was released in 2019. The Death of John Lacey, released in February 2023, is his third novel.