Good For The Soul by Philip Rennett

Good For The Soul

 by Philip Rennett

Good For The Soul by Philip Rennett

 was published on 25th April 2025 by Pea Arr Books.

My thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the Tour.

About The Book

Good For The Soul

is an acerbic, heartrending and laugh-out-loud satirical rollercoaster. It rips chunks out of politicians and oligarchs, spits them onto the ground, then grinds them into a mush, before wiping its feet on the doormat and heading inside for a cup of tea.

Six months after assisting the UK’s missing prime minister and avoiding two assassination attempts on the same day, Simon Pope is on holiday with friends, trying to cheer up a man who finds retirement depressing. But Pope also has a secret mission, which requires him to remain unobtrusive. He must assess whether specific individuals in the small Irish town of Clonbrinny are in mortal danger from a criminal overlord. Failing miserably to maintain the desired low profile, Pope and his group become embroiled in events outside their control and discover all is not as it seems.

Perceptions dissolve, revealing a far more dangerous reality.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Andrew Blackwell’s self-imposed media silence has made him more popular than ever. His Path Finder philosophy generates global intrigue and excitement, despite nobody knowing what it is – including him.

When a secret conference on Ireland’s west coast goes badly wrong, Blackwell must evade a media manhunt and return to London, relying on old friends and new acquaintances for help.

Subsequent events and a meeting of minds raise the tantalising prospect of an unlikely collaboration, creating the foundation of a movement that could transform the world.

Good For The Soul is the second book in the Path Finder series and follows on from the award-winning Paths Not Yet Taken.

My Thoughts

This book definitely lives up to its title. I have not laughed so much whilst reading a book for a long time. In fact I spent almost the same amount of time apologising to my husband for my laugh out loud moments, and on a couple of occasions spraying coffee everywhere, as I did reading it.

Good For The Soul is the second in The Pathfinder series from Philip Rennett and , although I haven’t read the first one , Paths Not Yet Taken , this reads equally well as a standalone in its own right. however, no that I have read Good For The Soul I will be going back and reading the first one and I am definitely looking forward to the third book in the series which will be published later this year.

The characters are very well thought out and the sharpness and wit of their depiction and escapades is second to none.Simon Pope’s character is brilliant and he will have you in stitches as he embarks on his “secret” mission. As to Andrew Blackwell and Mindy, well they are another couple of brilliant characters that are very well thought through with a superb satirical eye. 

Philip Rennet is an author I had not come across before who has now found himself on my hit list to read everything he has written, past , present and future. I was a huge Tom Sharpe fan, back in the day, and Good For The Soul gave me the same reading experience I used to get from Tom’s books. It has that brilliant mix of comedy and satire together  that I absolutely love and have missed for so long.

My soul is in a far better place after this absolutely brilliant 5 🌟 read. Thank you so much Phil - you are an absolute breath of fresh air in the world of comedy and satire.

About Phil

His career started as a public relations officer for a police force in the Middle East. Experiences included crash-landing in a plane whose pilots forgot to lower the undercarriage; flying in another plane with a dead body knocking against his leg; and gate-crashing a reception at the Sultan's palace where he bumped into the UK prime minister and the Sultan.

In an unrelated incident, he spent a couple of uncomfortable minutes sitting in his Volkswagen Beetle while three very angry soldiers pointed guns at his head through the open driver’s window.

Opting for a quieter life, he returned to the UK and worked in newspaper advertising before starting his own public relations consultancy, which he ran for thirty years.

After decades of news releases, case studies, articles, advertisements, websites, award entries, major bids, mail shots and newsletters, he started writing for himself when he retired in 2020.

His first novel – Paths Not Yet Taken – was published in April 2024.