1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast 2 00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:11,693 Speaker 1: from News Talks a'b. 3 00:00:12,813 --> 00:00:15,853 Speaker 2: Catherine Rain's our book reviewers here were this this morning. 4 00:00:15,933 --> 00:00:19,133 Speaker 2: Good morning, Catherine, morning Jack. Have you had a good summer. 5 00:00:19,973 --> 00:00:21,333 Speaker 3: It's been a lovely summer yourself. 6 00:00:21,493 --> 00:00:23,533 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, very good. Thank you. Yeah. I feel like 7 00:00:23,573 --> 00:00:25,693 Speaker 2: I'm just sort of starting to ease into the holiday now, 8 00:00:25,693 --> 00:00:29,373 Speaker 2: which is of course not there, not the way it's 9 00:00:29,373 --> 00:00:32,613 Speaker 2: supposed to be, but there, that's such as life. You've 10 00:00:32,653 --> 00:00:35,413 Speaker 2: got two great little recommendations for us this weekend, for 11 00:00:35,453 --> 00:00:37,973 Speaker 2: anyone who's to a bit of reading time left this summer. 12 00:00:37,973 --> 00:00:41,333 Speaker 2: So let's begin with The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath. 13 00:00:42,493 --> 00:00:46,213 Speaker 3: So this is where a group of surviving members of 14 00:00:46,213 --> 00:00:49,653 Speaker 3: a once popular band called the Centrics band they decided 15 00:00:49,653 --> 00:00:51,933 Speaker 3: to play. They pulled together really to play one last 16 00:00:51,933 --> 00:00:54,413 Speaker 3: concert with one a, the daughter of the lead singer 17 00:00:54,453 --> 00:00:57,973 Speaker 3: who had died eighteen years ago when an explosion killed him. 18 00:00:58,053 --> 00:00:59,933 Speaker 3: And they were really at their height of their fame 19 00:00:59,973 --> 00:01:02,413 Speaker 3: when that happened. And after that happened, the band fell 20 00:01:02,413 --> 00:01:04,613 Speaker 3: apart and they all going the separate ways, and this 21 00:01:04,693 --> 00:01:07,333 Speaker 3: documentary maker has decide to bring them all to this 22 00:01:07,413 --> 00:01:11,253 Speaker 3: remote island, hoping to film their own reunion. Not everybody's 23 00:01:11,293 --> 00:01:13,893 Speaker 3: really that happy to be there. The remaining three band 24 00:01:13,933 --> 00:01:16,573 Speaker 3: members don't really seem to get on it all. Their 25 00:01:16,613 --> 00:01:21,613 Speaker 3: manager irritates everyone has. Johnny's former partner, a woman called Ivy, 26 00:01:21,613 --> 00:01:25,733 Speaker 3: and the mother of his daughter, mon A. She just 27 00:01:26,013 --> 00:01:29,373 Speaker 3: very odd relationships going on there, and there's fame hungry people, 28 00:01:29,413 --> 00:01:33,373 Speaker 3: and there's the owners of the resort, and then all 29 00:01:33,373 --> 00:01:35,373 Speaker 3: of a sudden, the body is found and someone else 30 00:01:35,413 --> 00:01:37,773 Speaker 3: is missing, and everybody starts to realize that there's a 31 00:01:37,813 --> 00:01:40,653 Speaker 3: lot more going on here than their first thought. And 32 00:01:40,693 --> 00:01:44,293 Speaker 3: the story unfolds with multiple points of view, and interesting enough, 33 00:01:44,373 --> 00:01:47,333 Speaker 3: this guy called Ricky who runs the Cedric's band fan 34 00:01:47,413 --> 00:01:50,373 Speaker 3: Brog and he's their number one fan, and these different 35 00:01:50,453 --> 00:01:53,093 Speaker 3: characters and they're behind the scenes gossip and this interesting 36 00:01:53,133 --> 00:01:55,533 Speaker 3: mix of characters, some who really likable and some who 37 00:01:55,653 --> 00:02:00,333 Speaker 3: really aren't. And it's suspense fallen atmospheric and these unreliable 38 00:02:00,453 --> 00:02:04,453 Speaker 3: characters and hidden motives, and it's undercurrent of unease, mainly 39 00:02:04,453 --> 00:02:06,213 Speaker 3: because you're said on this remote island and it has 40 00:02:06,573 --> 00:02:09,693 Speaker 3: isolation and paranoias are associated with it. That just keeps 41 00:02:09,693 --> 00:02:13,533 Speaker 3: you guessing to the end, and that tension really ramps 42 00:02:13,613 --> 00:02:17,093 Speaker 3: up and that undercurrent of things going on, and Rebecca 43 00:02:17,173 --> 00:02:20,933 Speaker 3: Heath writes this really well executed, page turning novel with 44 00:02:20,973 --> 00:02:23,453 Speaker 3: twists and terms that are really unexpected. 45 00:02:23,813 --> 00:02:26,933 Speaker 2: Cool. Great. So that's the last Encore by Rebecca Heath. 46 00:02:27,293 --> 00:02:29,693 Speaker 2: Next up, Anne Packer has just published a new novel, 47 00:02:29,773 --> 00:02:30,853 Speaker 2: Some Bright Nowhere. 48 00:02:32,133 --> 00:02:34,853 Speaker 3: So Elliott and Claire have been married four decades and 49 00:02:34,893 --> 00:02:37,973 Speaker 3: they raised two children together and they're now retired. But 50 00:02:38,093 --> 00:02:41,093 Speaker 3: Claire is dying of cancer and Elliott's been her caretaker 51 00:02:41,133 --> 00:02:44,453 Speaker 3: for the past seven years. And right at the start 52 00:02:44,533 --> 00:02:46,853 Speaker 3: of the book, Elliott and Clear say goodbye to the 53 00:02:46,893 --> 00:02:50,413 Speaker 3: oncologist who's treated her breast cancer for nine years because 54 00:02:50,533 --> 00:02:52,733 Speaker 3: the ends near him, there's nothing more that he can do. 55 00:02:53,173 --> 00:02:54,853 Speaker 3: And so the book kind of takes us from that 56 00:02:54,973 --> 00:02:58,413 Speaker 3: point in their lives until the end and where we start. 57 00:02:58,413 --> 00:03:01,013 Speaker 3: It's the dynamic that's difficult for both of them. The 58 00:03:01,093 --> 00:03:03,413 Speaker 3: relationship hasn't got a lot of joy left. They feel 59 00:03:03,413 --> 00:03:05,853 Speaker 3: like they're just managing the days and comfort and this 60 00:03:06,013 --> 00:03:09,093 Speaker 3: looming future for Elliott, and the story is told from 61 00:03:09,133 --> 00:03:12,653 Speaker 3: Elliott's perspective, and you see his isolation and his struggle 62 00:03:12,693 --> 00:03:16,133 Speaker 3: to communicate and understand, and he thinks a lot about 63 00:03:16,173 --> 00:03:17,973 Speaker 3: what's gone on in the past, and he's a very 64 00:03:18,053 --> 00:03:21,773 Speaker 3: kind man, but he's forced to examine what he really 65 00:03:21,813 --> 00:03:23,533 Speaker 3: means to Clear and what she means to him, and 66 00:03:23,573 --> 00:03:25,693 Speaker 3: come to terms with what his life looks like when 67 00:03:25,733 --> 00:03:29,333 Speaker 3: Clear is not there, and Clear's friends Holly and Michelle 68 00:03:29,373 --> 00:03:31,533 Speaker 3: start to become the center of her world and Elliott 69 00:03:31,533 --> 00:03:34,333 Speaker 3: feels his isolation even more. It becomes really well for him, 70 00:03:34,733 --> 00:03:37,693 Speaker 3: and it's very powerful book. It's complex, and this book 71 00:03:37,733 --> 00:03:41,573 Speaker 3: about this strong marriage and how it heads on when 72 00:03:41,853 --> 00:03:45,973 Speaker 3: life's really disrailed it. And it's almost a simple story, 73 00:03:46,013 --> 00:03:48,693 Speaker 3: but it's complexity is forcing you to ask questions and 74 00:03:48,853 --> 00:03:52,213 Speaker 3: confront life and the ethics and morality and nothing has 75 00:03:52,253 --> 00:03:55,733 Speaker 3: easy answers. But it's beautifully written, and it's a very quiet, 76 00:03:55,773 --> 00:03:59,613 Speaker 3: introspective family story where those questions and thoughts stay with 77 00:03:59,653 --> 00:04:02,053 Speaker 3: you long after you've finished. And there was a really 78 00:04:02,053 --> 00:04:03,973 Speaker 3: interesting read from quite a different perspective. 79 00:04:04,173 --> 00:04:07,613 Speaker 2: Right Okay, that's some right nowhere by Anne Packer, and 80 00:04:07,693 --> 00:04:10,933 Speaker 2: Catherine's first pick was The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath. 81 00:04:11,093 --> 00:04:13,133 Speaker 2: Both of those will be up on The News Talk's 82 00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:14,173 Speaker 2: EDB website. 83 00:04:14,693 --> 00:04:17,813 Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live 84 00:04:17,893 --> 00:04:21,053 Speaker 1: to News Talks EDB from nine am Saturday, or follow 85 00:04:21,133 --> 00:04:22,693 Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio