{"id":4945,"date":"2025-11-26T15:40:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4945"},"modified":"2025-11-26T15:40:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:40:00","slug":"book-review-next-in-line-by-t-w-baker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4945","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Next In Line by T.W. Baker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Next In Line<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by T.W. Baker<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Literary Fiction \/ Humor<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798891328587<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 296 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Atmosphere Press<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A small pharmacy team navigates adventures big, small, and magical in this deeply original comedic offering.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The team of Mortar and Pestle RX face a daily onslaught of customers, chaos, and countless near disasters in Next in Line<\/em> by T.W. Baker.<\/p>\n

The pharmacy team at Mortar and Pestle RX are an eclectic bunch: there is Mik, the frazzled head pharmacist; Monika, the organizational powerhouse; Janice, the social media-addict; Bronco, the \u201cresident charmer\u201d<\/em><\/strong> who diffuses trouble; and Sammy, the shy and clumsy intern. Together, the five of them confront new, bizarre, and sometimes hilarious situations that each day brings. For this intrepid crew, \u201cthe anarchy, after all, was a strange kind of comfort.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After a brief introduction to these characters, the book brings forth a new adventure\u2014or misadventure\u2014in each chapter. From the chaos of misplaced and spilled medications, labeling errors, and knotty insurance complexities, the pharmacists find ways to work together and solve problems with laughter. After all, the customers at Mortar and Pestle RX have eccentric needs, including the man who claims his sleeping pill prescription is for his pet hamster. But there is much more where that came from, and Mik has his hands full trying to maintain calm with his boisterous bunch of colleagues.<\/p>\n

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While each chapter introduces a fresh emergency (and even the fantastical), the diverse strengths of the team bubble up to manage the situations, no matter how irreverent. Monika\u2019s laser-focus and demand for accuracy helps Sammy overcome his early mistakes and gain confidence. Bronco\u2019s warm charm and legendary wink capture the hearts of even the most bellicose customers, as well as his coworkers, especially Monika. Janice\u2019s good intentions are often subsumed by her apathetic approach to her job\u2014which requires a suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader\u2014and can be blamed on her smart phone addiction.<\/p>\n

The restocking and refilling of the pharmacy is a fertile playground for comedic interactions among the team, as well as the customers, including \u201cThe Great Pharmacy Robbery Incident,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> which turns out to be something quite innocuous indeed.<\/p>\n

But Baker does not stop with the mundane, oh no. The arrival of \u201cmagical birds\u201d<\/em><\/strong> one day transforms Mortar and Pestle RX into a mythical place where Mik can understand their chirps about rescuing a rare and potent herb necessary for society\u2019s survival. And then there are the \u201cmini-Victorians,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> who are fun size Victorian stereotypes who have traveled to the pharmacy through a mysterious portal. After each scenario, the team discovers the ways they have grown stronger. As Mik muses, perhaps \u201ccatastrophe was the best ingredient for forging strong bonds after all.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Each scenario is creative, quirky, and somewhat separate from each other, almost like a series of The Office episodes set in a pharmacy. Character growth outside of the pharmacy is limited, and while some characters reveal superficial changes\u2014Bronco\u2019s new girlfriend, Sammy\u2019s growing confidence in his job\u2014they remain largely the same, existing to serve up lessons in leadership with a laugh track. The repetition of phrases about the team\u2019s ability to bond and trust each other after every crisis can sometimes hit the same note too often, but there are well-turned laugh lines throughout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe formulary, it turned out, was more confusing than the instruction manual for a nuclear reactor. It contained enough fine print to wallpaper the entire pharmacy.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Comic and episodic, Next in Line<\/em> is the prose version of wacky, off-the-wall television sitcoms that pave the way for easy chuckles and workplace entertainment.<\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading Peggy Kurkowski\u2019s book review of Next In Line <\/em>by T.W. Baker! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: Next In Line by T.W. Baker<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next In Line by T.W. Baker Genre: Literary Fiction \/ Humor ISBN: 9798891328587 Print Length: 296 pages Publisher: Atmosphere Press Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski A small pharmacy team navigates adventures big, small, and magical in this deeply original comedic offering. The team of Mortar and Pestle RX face a daily onslaught of customers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}