Books last, they endure,” he says. “I love going into a bookshop, or the supermarket while doing the weekly shop, and seeing copies of my novel. There’s something very gratifying about that. It feels solid, like an accomplishment. And I do like that.” Joining Greatest Hits Radio was an exciting prospect,” he says. “I knew there was potential there because it was at the beginning of its story. When they approached me and said they wanted me to take over the drivetime show, I thought about it for all of 10 minutes. I knew it was exactly the right thing to do. This second, solitary career suits him very well. He liked the quiet time in the pandemic, although also loved having his three grown-up children at home with himself and his wife Hilary Bird, a former Radio 2 producer.

Traits and personalities shone through as the stress and tensions multiplied. Even Rose became less despicable as the book wore on, although her naivety was a constant bugbear.He takes a lead from his longtime broadcasting partner. “As Mark Kermode says,” he adds, “film critics don’t make any difference to the success or otherwise of a movie, and it’s the same with books. If a book critic in one of the big papers doesn’t like my book, it doesn’t make any difference. Word-of-mouth, book festivals – those are the kinds of things that matter.”

Well, BBC Radio presenter Simon Mayo sure can write a darned good thriller! I really enjoyed his last book Knife Edge and eagerly anticipate this one and I’m most definitely not disappointed! An excellent conspiracy theory thriller, it's exciting, full of danger... it's riveting and hard to put down' There was obviously a lot of research that has gone into the book on these topics and I thank Simon Mayo for the way he discusses them. He says: “It’s cringey of course – where did that jumper come from? Look at that suit. Eighties’ suits were so baggy and loose with big shoulder pads – clearly not a sensible option. There has been plenty to celebrate in the interim. He adores being on Drivetime at Greatest Hits, is drawing a young fanbase with Kermode on their Sony podcast, and was awarded a MBE last year.Also in 2012, Simon Mayo was the announcer for the concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Which books has Simon Mayo written? The now 64-year-old joined Radio 1 in 1986 and became its breakfast show presenter in 1988. He stayed until 2001, when he transferred to Radio 5 Live’s afternoon show. In 2010 he took over Radio 2’s drivetime slot, but found his career there crashing to an untimely halt in 2018 after one of the Beeb’s routine shake-ups. Before you know it, it spreads. Elsewhere across the globe, it emerges, small outbreaks at first, contained groups of people, young and old, and suddenly it's a plague - and ten days later it's killing people. The hospitals are overflowing and there is no cure. There is a paranoid panic which sets friend against friend, neighbour against neighbour. Where does the world go from here? The station’s controllers decided he needed a co-host for his show, and paired him with Jo Whiley. Things did not gel, and they failed to connect with listeners. The fallout was as swift as it was brutal: after six months, Whiley stayed and Mayo walked.

But their investigation throws up more questions than answers until they realise the mystery behind the illness is even bigger than they could have imagined... Itch is currently being turned into an opera, commissioned by Opera Holland Park and written by composer Jonathan Dove and librettist Alasdair Middleton. It will premiere this year. It's not a typical route for a children’s novel, but the drama, adventure and subject matter has a great appeal and Itch has also been made into a TV series. So does Simon picture his books for the screen, or stage, as he writes? A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Doubleday in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ** It took an awfully long time to get to the nitty-gritty or the meat of the story. But the book did not suffer in the least bit for that as it started to set the scene for the real eye-opening reveal. The truth about Porton Down, Lilly's father and friends and it's experiments. And that is only the start of a minefield that the three main protagonist have just walked into.The son of teachers, he cut his teeth on hospital radio and BBC Radio Nottingham, his ambition always to climb to the top at Radio 1. The breakfast show, landed in 1988, was a dream. In an increasingly affected north London school, teacher Kit Chaplin is struggling to understand what he is witnessing. Even Lilly Slater, his partner and an eminent vaccinologist, can't work out what's happening. As it spreads, little by little, they are inexorably drawn into the mystery behind the illness. And what they discover will change the world as they know it...

Wow. What may seem like an improbable premise via the use of actual evidence the author makes the whole thing feel all too plausible and just to reassure those who don’t want to read about Covid - this is not a Covid story. It’s a well developed thriller where tension builds incredibly well so you actually feel the rising fear factor. It’s very intriguing and although I do figure out part of the story early on, there is no way I figure most of it out, not by any stretch of the imagination! This is an excellent conspiracy theory thriller, it’s exciting, full of danger especially from feral behaviour provoked by fear and knowing what we do now is sadly all too believable! It���s riveting and hard to put down. If you’re going to write a book about a new global pandemic with unusual, unheard of symptoms I highly recommend you don’t open with a scene where the virus is in full swing, and everyone is in the know – except the reader – who has no idea what is going on in what turned into a very long scene with people acting crazy with no explanation given. I shouldn’t have to read the synopsis for a book to make sense. My opinion – only a really short teaser scene would’ve worked here. Exciting and urgently contemporary, this piercingly insightful novel tells the story of a global catastrophe through the eyes of the three people at the heart of the storm. I like the well chosen setting for much of the action which I won’t mention as it could be a spoiler and the characters are well rounded and clearly portrayed. I really like Rose who is full of gumption and bravery, Kit is kind, caring and a great dad and Lilly is dogged in support of them These days, his tinnitus – the inspiration for his new novel and probably caused by loud music in his early career – makes social events harder.Between 1995 and 1998 Mayo presented a TV version of his popular radio feature, Confessions. From 1999 to 2001, Simon Mayo was the original host of the National Lottery game show Winning Lines.