Simon Mayo's Books Of The Year Ora Et Labora

Crime writer Abir Mukherjee joins Simon and Matt to discuss his new novel, Hunted.
Abir is known for his Wyndham and Banerjee series, set in 1920s India, however this book is his first stand alone.
They chat about the importance of writing something contemporary, the issues that he wanted to tackle and why it has taken so long to finish.

Here's a little more on Hunted:
IN A RACE AGAINST TIME, WHAT IF THE GREATEST THREAT WAS YOUR OWN CHILD?
It’s a week before the presidential elections when a bomb goes off in an LA shopping mall…
In London, armed police storm Heathrow Airport and arrest Sajid Khan. His daughter Aliyah entered the USA with the suicide bomber, and now she’s missing, potentially plotting another attack.
But then a mysterious woman called Carrie turns up at Sajid’s door after travelling halfway across the world. She claims Aliyah is with her son Greg, and she knows where they could be.
Back in the US, Agent Shreya Mistry is closing in on the two fugitives. But the more she investigates, the more she realises this case is far from as simple as it seems.
Hunted by the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to find their kids before the FBI does and stop a catastrophe that will bring the world to its knees.
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Bestselling author and screenwriter, David Nicholls, chats to Simon and Matt about his writing processes, what he's reading at the moment and some of his favourite authors.
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A new David Nicholls books is always an exciting event, and his new novel, You Are Here, does not disappoint.
He joins Simon and Matt for a chat about the writing process, creating his characters, the latest adaptation of One Day and how he came to the music choices in this new novel.
They also discuss the influence and importance of the pandemic on stories, and how we will be talking (and writing) about it for many years to come.

Here's some more info on the book:
Marnie is stuck.
Stuck working alone in her London flat, stuck battling the long afternoons and a life that often feels like it's passing her by.

Michael is coming undone.
Reeling from his wife's departure, increasingly reclusive, taking himself on long, solitary walks across the moors and fells.

When a persistent mutual friend and some very English weather conspire to bring them together, Marnie and Michael suddenly find themselves alone on the most epic of walks and on the precipice of a new friendship.

But can they survive the journey?

A new love story by beloved bestseller David Nicholls, You Are Here is a novel of first encounters, second chances and finding the way home.
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Journalist and author Tom Burgis joins Simon and Matt for our bonus Q&A episode.
He talks about the authors he admires, the stories and scandals he wishes he had discovered, and who he would invite to his fantasy dinner party.
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Investigative journalist, Tom Burgis, joins Simon and Matt to discuss his fascinating new book 'Cuckooland: Where The Rich Own The Truth'
They discuss the dangers involved in his job, what goes in to researching such incredible stories and why he continues to do it.

Here's more info on the book:
Everywhere, the powerful are making a renewed claim to the greatest prize of all: to own the truth. The power to choose what you want reality to be and impose that reality on the world.
For three years, Tom Burgis followed a lead that took him deeper and deeper into Cuckooland – the place where the rich own the truth. The trail snaked from the Kremlin to Kathmandu, Stockholm to the Steppe, from a blood-soaked town square in Uzbekistan to a royal retreat in Scotland. Burgis hunted down oligarchs, developed secret sources and traced vast sums of money flowing between multinational corporations, ex-Soviet dictators and the west’s ruling elites. And he found one man who wanted the power to bend reality to his will.
This book tells an astonishing story: a tale of secrets and lies that reveals how fragile that truth can be. Whether it’s in Kazakh torture chambers or the UK’s High Court, the lords of Cuckooland are seizing control of the truth. They decree what stories may be told about war and money and power, what we are permitted to know – and more importantly, what we are not.
From the bestselling author of Kleptopia, Cuckooland is a deeply reported work of non-fiction that reads like a thriller. It is a story of how globalisation and technological revolution have combined to imperil the foundation of free societies: that the truth belongs to the many, not the few.
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Bestselling author and journalist, Erin Kelly, joins Simon and Matt to answer some Questions about her writing and reading habits.
She also tells us about the last book she really really enjoyed, who she'd invite to her fantasy dinner party - and answers a question from fellow author, Jane Casey.
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